Marketing Articles

Branding Your Business

May 13, 2009

Branding your business will say a lot about it, whether you are operating a small home-based business or a large worldwide organization. A strong branding will enable you to differentiate yourself from others offering similiar (or seemingly similiar) products and/or services. While a logo, letterhead, and business cards are important, branding goes far beyond these items.

Why is branding important?

1) Set Your Business Apart

Visit any search engine and enter the term web hosting and see the list of results that appear. Enter the term cheap web hosting and see what results appears. Chances are you are not the only one offering the types of products or services your business is offering. In order to stand out for all others offer similiar items, you need to develop a niche. Something that cries out to potential customers to choose you.

The most often used items in web hosting for instance seem to be price, support, uptime. Never allow price alone to be your niche, unless with all other things being equal, your prices are insanely low compared to what others charge. Keep in mind, charging too little can be just as detremental to your business as charging too much.

2) Effective, Efficient Marketing

Allow your branding to work for you. Imagine that when you first meet a potential customer, they already know what your business does and how it does it. This can save you both time and money involved in explaining your business. It can free you to focus on making sales.

Additionally, when you promote the brand you will also indirectly be promoting the products or services offered by the business.

What do I need to create a branding?

Before you can build your own brand, you need to have a clear understanding of who you are, what you do, and how you do it. In order to define who you are or what your business has to offer, there are a few items to keep in mind. These items will aid you in developing your brand.

1) What is Offered

Make a list of what the business plans to offer. This can be products, services, or a combination. If you have a long list of items, try catergorizing them. Keep in mind, if this is a new business, do not overload yourself with too many products or services.

2) Target Audience

Targetting the right people, those who will use your product or services, is vital to your business. Age, gender, and income might be some pieces of information which will help you determine your target audience. Location might be another factor, if you are focusing on offering the product or service locally only or perhaps to a specific area.

3) Mission Statement

A mission statement will provide a snapshot of the business to potential customers. It should take into account the product or service offered, the target audience and 2-3 items you believe will steer potential customers to the business.

An example of a mission statement might be: "To provide affordable and reliable, family-oriented, technology-based services and training." This mission statement defines the services as being technology-based, focused towards users of all ages (family-oriented). Additionally, the services are described as being both affordable and reliable.

Article composed by Michael Mann, owner of Simplistic Technologies and a Moderator of HostNexus' forum.