Importance of branding for startups and SMEs

Importance of branding for startups and SMEs

 Hundreds of new businesses are set up every day and business owners are trying hard to reach to potential buyers. With all new marketing tools available in market visibility and setting up a brand recall may sound simple.But to gain confidence of the customers, develop a positive reputation and for overall growth of the business, establishing and maintaining a brand image is important.

 For example –Rita is good at making cupcakes and wishes to start a small scale business with minimum investment. She wishes to deliver cupcakes as per the order. But how does she implement her goal. How would her audience know about her venture? She can do so by creating brand awareness for her product. Brand awareness can be spread through word of mouth, leaflet or brochure distribution and many other marketing tools. Once a customer is satisfied, they recommend it to others and thus the cycle of the brand kick starts

Keys to creating brands –

     Identify your potential customers and needs.

     Plan your business strategy, and build business models

     Position you product with promoting techniques

     Convert all potential buyers into buyers with right branding techniques.

 

Elements of Branding and why they are important for SMES and startups-

     LOGO - 'Branding' is an integral part of the business cycle.Branding is not only advertising. In fact Logo is the starting point of all brands. Logo is visual presentation of your vision. It shows how company wants to position itself in front of its customers. Branding involves logo designing –shape, color, texture, font, and everything.

     Brochure/Leaflet/Catalogues/stationary/ hoardings-For promotion of any startup, Leaflets and brochuresare very important pieces of communication with the target audience.Furthermore, hoardings and advertising are advanced mediums of establishing communication. These promotion methods provide visibility and builds brand image in minds of the customers.

     Online marketing –Youth today are mostly connected via social media and internet. Most of us look up to google for information and service providers. For this very reason web services like web designing, web development, graphics, maintaining the website and online marketing becomes a must for businesses. Online presence, online marketing and web optimization therefore become critical stages of brand building.

 

To summarize, brand building does not only involve advertisements. It runs much deeper and lies in best business models, best strategies, best product and it's after sales services. Brand building can earn customer loyalty, satisfied customers and repeat purchase and recommendation.

Source : articlesbase.com