When small business owners study brand strategy and look at examples of excellent brands, their first reaction is, “Sure, if I had a company the size of FedEx and an in-house marketing team that occupied three floors, I could build a revolutionary brand, too. But how do these multinational branding techniques apply to me?” 

If you think a brand is just a logo, then no, you can’t compete with corporate giants on logo recognition. But branding is something else.

Your brand identity includes your logo and the colors you use for your website and marketing material. But it’s so much more than those things. Branding is about building relationships and creating human connections. And that’s where small businesses have a huge advantage. Small businesses can connect with their local audiences because they can truly relate to them. And recognizing a corporate logo is no match for recognizing the names and faces of the real individuals you’re doing business with.

Small Business Branding: Can you do it?

When you go into business for yourself, you may have a grand vision to become known and recognized throughout your community, your industry, and perhaps the world. You want to get your logo out there on billboards, on the sides of buses, and in national ad campaigns. But without a brand strategy, saturating the public with your logo is almost useless.

As a matter of fact, in today’s climate of instant communications and uber-informed consumers with high expectations, the local business actually has a huge advantage over the faceless corporate Goliath. Like David, you just need to know how to leverage your advantage with tact and agility. 

Brand strategy is the art and science of building relationships and psychological connections with your customers and potential customers. That means understanding the in and outs of your audience. And in order to do this, you really need to have a feel for their emotional state, their hopes and dreams, their fears and pain points. The bigger your business and the broader your audience, the more difficult this becomes.

Getting to know one another

With a smaller audience, whether they’re very local or they all share some narrow set of values and interests, it’s much easier to get to know them. You can get a real sense of what makes them tick. And you can address them in a way they feel like you’re talking to them.

The point is to really understand them, and to let them know you understand them. That’s what makes a meaningful relationship.

Having fewer employees and fewer contact points, the small business can exercise far greater control over its brand persona. The face of a small business is often the face of the owner. Corporations spend millions to create what the small business already has, a sense of authenticity. It’s so much easier for the little guy to provide customers with a consistent voice and experience. All they need is a cohesive strategy to bring their small team on the same page. 

Brand Persona and authenticity

Big businesses spend vast sums of money trying to create the illusion of what your small business probably already has: a human personality that clients and prospects can relate to. Instead of grieving over the ways you can’t measure up to your corporate competitors, why not focus on developing and refining your brand persona? 

The marketplace is overflowing with products and services, to the point where consumers are literally inundated. They’re desperate to find something to spend money on. But they are starved for connection and authenticity. And they’d love to find something they can spend money on AND feel good about.

As a smaller brand, authenticity is your number one asset. So don’t be shy about it. And don’t try to hide behind your logo.

With every interaction, you can remind your audience of who you are and what you stand for. Let them know who you are, and let them know that you know who they are. Make deeper connections and don’t let this asset go to waste! 

Level up your strategy

Rely on expert advice to grow your business or practice with a memorable Brand Persona and winning Brand Strategy. Be sure to check out some of our other articles and services.

• An Introduction to Brand Archetypes
• Adopting Brand Personas
• Speaking with Brand Voice
• Audience Journeys and Brand Storytelling

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