You’re developing a brand strategy for a small business. What are the most important things to consider?

Too often, brand is thought of as somehow separate to the commercial needs of the business. When that happens, the marketing function ends up with a nice piece of paper with a mission, vision and values written on it that has zero impact on the organisation and which everyone quickly puts aside and forgets about. The first thing to do is agree how brand can help drive the commercial success of the organisation. Complete this sentence: we are creating a brand strategy in order to… Then get the CEO and CFO to sign it off. If you’re not able to do that, you’re probably starting in the wrong place.

When creating a brand strategy for my clients, majority of which are small businesses, I include the following: - Brand Core: MVVP (mission, vision, values and purpose), Brand Story, Elevator Pitch - Brand Positioning: TAM (total addressable market), TAM Muses, Consumer Insights, Competitor Analysis, and Brand Positioning (category, key benefits, differentiators, reason to believe - emotional, societal and functional) - Brand Persona: Primary Archetype, Sub Archetype, Brand Muses + Mentors, Tone of Voice, Guidelines, Key Messaging and Tagline Hope this helps!

Knowing your goals could be a hard task. Before establishing your personal brand, it is necessary to know what your objectives are, what your message is & then plan things. It's okay to not have everything figured out in the beginning but you need to have a rough roadmap of your plan which aligns with your goals & aim. Keep consistency, keep the way of conveying your message simple.

When developing a brand strategy for a small business, several key considerations are paramount. Take Mailchimp, for example. They've succeeded by focusing on simplicity, accessibility, and customer-centricity. Similarly, I prioritize understanding our target audience, defining our unique value proposition, and ensuring consistency across all brand touchpoints. Additionally, crafting a compelling brand story and visual identity that resonates with our audience is crucial. Moreover, staying agile and adaptable to market changes and customer feedback allows for continuous improvement and growth. By keeping these factors in mind, we can develop a brand strategy that effectively differentiates us in the market and fosters long-term success.

Para criar uma estratégia de marca que seja efetiva é preciso, na minha visão cuidar de 5 pontos. 1) a história que será contada; 2) a verdade que a marca irá entregar; 3) o design e a logo propriamente dito; 4) sua relação de preço e valor; 5) a engajamento com o público alvo; Se esses pilares forem bem trabalhados o dever de casa estará bem feito.

Diverse audiences need diverse content. Some type of content is common but it's a difficult task to build your brand identity among the wrong audience. To find your right audience, it's important for you to focus on your content & attract people. If you have a competition, study & analyse what the audience works for them. Interact with your audience to understand what type of content works for them. Ask.

Here are some of the most important things to consider when developing a brand strategy for a small business: Know Your Why: Define your brand's purpose. What is the core reason your business exists? What value are you bringing to the world? This "why" will guide your future decisions and resonate with your target audience. Target Market: Identify your ideal customer. Who are you trying to reach? Understanding their demographics, interests, and needs is crucial for crafting messaging that resonates.

While we use the standard buyer personas, customer journeys, and surveys to get our arms around a particular audience's profile, the most critical thing we need to uncover is their psychological motivations for wanting or desiring a brand or, in some cases, a solution for which a brand doesn't exist or specifically solve. Want is the key word because what we want is usually based on seeing others in a peer group or society "wanting" the same thing or coveting it because they've already acquired it. Although we think what we want comes from the purity of our hearts and originality of our minds, it's almost always influenced by a succession of people and events. Tracing things back to their core source takes time but is deeply revealing.

When visiting a new city, you can ask people to name some of the best places to get a burger, a steak, or seafood. Or the best place to buy furniture, see live music, or picnic in their city. Most people can recall 1-3 names/places, but the human brain struggles to remember many top-of-mind names beyond that. Humans are a categorizing machine, and we automatically place things in categories and positions of 1, 2, and 3. Brands need to be clear about what category they're trying to own and then determine where they fall on the list of 1-3. Do they need to dislodge a brand to get in the top 3? Or are they trying to hold onto one of the top 3 positions? Becoming number 1, 2, or 3 requires distinctiveness, high visibility, and extreme clarity.

Para uma pequena empresa saber em qual posição está dentro de um mercado competitivo, se você é da área de educação, por exemplo, é educação para negócios, mas para o mercado de PMEs ou de grande empresas? Saber ocupar um território vai otimizar o tempo de trabalho (equipe reduzida) e o orçamento destinado. Também é importante não se ater a uma arquitetura de marca mais enxuta para da mesma forma otimizar o orçamento e ao crescer refazer a plataforma de marca para se ajustar aos novos objetivos, mas primeiro crescer o negócio.

It’s imperative for any brand or business to create a strong identity for themselves. Your personality, ethos and agenda need to be well communicated in a way that creates a positive brand recall. For instance, associating your brand with a color or a totem and consistent presence on digital platforms as well as physical networking events can make your brand more memorable. Your identity should be authentic, simple and easy on the senses. Anything that flashes too much fetches irritability. So make sure to establish a sophisticated identity for yourself, that genuinely speaks about the brand and its services. Aim at creating a timeless presence through elegance.

As humans, we imbue the things around us with human qualities. We name our pets, boats, and dolls with names and assign human qualities and personalities to them. Therefore, the best way to determine a brand's identity is to uncover their human essence. Or in other words, to personify them and make them relatable to others. When studying a brand, it's often helpful to ask: If the brand were a car, what kind would it be? If it were a movie, what movie would it be, or what actor would it be? And so on. You can better understand the brand's personality, values, image, and beliefs by getting your client and teammates to explain and defend why the brand would be that particular car, movie, or actor, which helps set a consistent brand identity.

As an architect who works extensively in the brand experience world, I believe in manifesting the brand in visual, visceral, and tangible forms. As one of our clients said: "If I can't touch the brand, it ain't real!" While we can't always touch, feel, taste, or smell a brand, we can help consumers feel the emotions and sensory qualities of hot chocolate, puppy hugs, or the awe of a forest. Movies and commercials ignite these feelings regularly, even making us cry, laugh, or scream. Brands can do this, too, as long as they know to tap into human emotions by creating evocative scenes or imaginary mini-worlds that transport consumers to another time and place in the mind. Touchstones and touchpoints serve as vehicles and portals of meaning.

As the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt put it, “The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.” To get into the public's mind, start with a story. Every customer is the hero of their own life, fighting tough battles, having their character called into question, and facing hard decisions. But customers often wonder if anyone sees their story, journey, hardships, and quest. Great brands see their customers and empathize with their struggles. They help advance them along their journey and put them into a world full of meaning. They provide a sense of belonging and help their customers connect to life's bigger mysteries. Brands must allow us to be characters in their story and feel like we’re key participants in the brand quest.

Since it's a small business, you can't afford to spend a heavy amount of money on marketing. Having a personal brand is more than that, it's about gaining the faith from your audience & connecting to them on a personal level. Collaborate with like minded people & organisations. Be there, tell people about yourself, your visions & mission. That'll help you to leverage as a personal brand and ultimately the business too

Namming é na minha visão a etapa mais difícil e complexa da criação de uma marca. Nomes carregam significado, nomes são o primeiro chamado de uma marca é devem ser simples, de fácil pronúncia e adaptável a outras linguas. Escolher um bom nome leva tempo, tenha paciência, esgote as possibilidades e sobretudo certifique-se que o domínio .com está livre para registro. Acredite isso é o mais difícil hoje em dia.

My brand strategy framework consists of: CLARITY: Your DNA, your purpose, your inner magic, your unique and authentic superpower you bring to the world. CONFIDENCE: The ideal products and services you offer and whom you offer it to: your dream client, your SOUL community or SOUL tribe. CONNECTION: Your story, your visuals, your design (logo, colours, fonts etc.) and how you create SOUL-aligned visibility and gain impact. CONVERSION: Pave your conversion path for your SOUL business to drive sustainable growth (with the right strategy, channels and tools).

Above of all Define your Unique Value Proposition (UVP): Identify what sets your business apart from competitors and clearly articulate your unique value proposition. Your UVP should communicate the benefits and advantages of choosing your business over others in the market