However big or small your business venture may be, getting your branding right can be make or break. Being a huge contributor to first impressions, your branding should represent your business culture and show off your personality, resonating with your target audience to draw them in from the offset. To help you create a winning image without breaking the bank, we’ve pulled together a top level guide to cost effective branding to get you started.
Getting to know your market
However much time and money you invest into creating a professional looking brand image that looks the part, creating it for the wrong demographic can be a costly mistake. Start by establishing your ideal consumer, creating a profile that you can use as a base when designing your branding so you can attract those who matter the most. Consider age, gender, location, income, profession or interests that may be relevant to really narrow down your target market and establish your gap in the market.
Establish your unique offering
With all of us coming across hundreds, if not thousands, of brand communications every single day, what makes yours stand out? The market is incredibly saturated so finding your niche and offering value to your customers is key to success. Look into your competitors and see how they are promoting themselves, putting yourself in the consumers shoes to consider why they’d choose this brand over another. This is your opportunity to find your gap and jump on it, establishing that all important market share by offering something brand new and exciting. When it comes to cost effective branding strategies, make sure your unique selling point is a key focal point, getting the word out there so you get noticed straight away.
Design your business front
Whether a potential customer notices your store front, an online advert or even your printed bags out and about, where will they go to find more information? Your online presence is a huge part of your cost effective branding strategy, being one to focus on in today’s day and age. Maintaining a consistent brand image is key when building up a reputation, ensuring your logo, brand name, colour scheme and any tag line is always present at the forefront. Once you’ve figured out the aesthetics, never cut corners when it comes to the messaging; your tone of voice should resonate with your target market and any information should be checked for grammatical errors and accuracy.
Pay attention to the finer details
One key mistake that businesses make when taking the cost effective branding route is not paying attention to the finer details. For example, physical stores can utilise the power of printed kraft bags with every customer purchase, getting their name known in the local area by having their eye-catching logo on printed plastic bags or printed paper bags. By considering every aspect of your business and maintaining a consistent appearance, your customers can start to become familiar with your image and notice you from afar.
