Check your brand against these seven key attributes

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When you’re running a small business, the emphasis must always be on working smarter, not just harder. The same goes for your brand, too. Wherever it appears – on marketing material, business cards, on the web – it needs to be more than simply a pretty picture; it needs to convey the right messages and support your marketing effort, in order to be really effective.

Here are seven key points against which to benchmark your brand. How does it measure up?

Trustworthy

Your brand needs to inspire your customers to trust you and your organisation. Those customers must be able to think of your brand as one that delivers on its promises – that does exactly what it says it will do. Whether your offer is quirky or straight-faced, luxury or budget, be sure that your brand is believable and aligned to your core offer; that’s the only way to build trust with customers.

Credible

By being clear and consistent in its appearance, your brand builds credibility in the minds of customers; it should exude an air of expertise to allow them to understand you are an established leader in your field. And for those not yet customers, the consistency of the brand will help build an image in their minds that will help turn them into customers over time.

Communicative

How does your brand tell your story? It needs to say why you are in business, what you aim to do for your customers and the way you will do it. And you need to communicate your point of difference, so that a customer can work out for themselves what makes you unique – and gives them a compelling reason to choose you rather than your competitors.

Confident

A strong, well worked-out brand will give you and your team added confidence when out there selling in your marketplace. And that confidence increases the willingness of customers to invest in your business, products and services. By providing marketing materials and messages that are set at the right level, customers feel more confident about parting with their money.

Memorable

Your appeal to your market needs to be to all the senses, but it is the visual one that is most important. Every day, we are exposed to hundreds of visual marketing messages, and the better they are, the more we remember. Ensure your logo, colour scheme, typeface and backdrop on your marketing materials are carefully considered, for maximum positive impact.

Making a brand memorable means it gets locked into a customer’s mind, from the first time they see a business card; and it is reinforced by each exposure through marketing material, a newsletter or website visit. Succeed and they will call you first, when they need a product or service you provide.

Growing

Your brand needs to help your business as it grows, and should be flexible enough to expand into new marketing channels as you use them for the next stage of your business promotion. Apart from appearing on brochures, letterhead and websites, your brand may need to appear on all manner of promotional materials, from corporate clothing to mugs and pens. Online it needs to adapt to the latest new media, including video, animation and social media that are increasingly being used to promote brands.

Distinctive

Keep a close eye on your brand. It should be standing apart from those of your competitors – and from any other brand in the wider marketplace – and needs to set out your stall as a highly professional provider of the goods or services you deliver, clearly better than your rivals. Not just out there, it needs to be head and shoulders above your rivals’ brands.

In summary, your brand needs to remain flexible and responsive, reacting to the world around you. But establish it right from the outset, and your brand will set out your offer to the marketplace you are in; and its clarity of message will support your wider marketing efforts as you grow your business. Good luck!

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