A brand is important to the small business, it is not the sole domain of large corporations.
For years, I focused on direct marketing techniques for my business, not worrying too much about my brand.
The result? I had to keep pumping in money, keep hoping for that next transaction to keep the business afloat.
The fact is, that is what most businesses do, pump in money, make a good offer and make the transaction.
Nothing wrong with that, but it sounds a bit tiring doesn’t it?
Well that prompted me to do a heck a lot of research starting in 2010 and by 2013 I figured it out.
It’s comes back to the brand. What do you and your business stands for. This is the first and most important thing in your business. To decide what your brand stands for. The secret is that in the Internet age this is closely tied to your keywords.
For instance, if you want to be the specialist expert cleaning company for car engines, you need to demonstrate this expertise when people search for “cleaning car engines”. That’s where you need to show that you are the expert.
Then you need to seek prominence for this keyword. The thing about the digital age is that whoever produces the best content gets the most eyeballs. So aim to produce great content that is related to your set of keywords and your brand.
You want people to find you on Google, Bing, Youtube and other social media sites for your keyword. The only way to do it is to demonstrate you are an expert on that field by created good content that people will want to read
That is only sustainable if you create good content on a regular basis that will build your brand as an expert in your area.
Once you attract them with content. The next thing is to make sure your brand is remembered for something.
How do you do that?
Well, what is the ONE big thing that you can do better than anyone else that they can take away from using your service?
If you don’t have one, time to come up with one.
If you have something like, “We use our special cleaning technique to ensure you won’t need another clean for at least 2 years” then that is something people will remember your brand for.
If you can back up that claim with a money back guarantee or service guarantee, like “If you need to get your car engine cleaned again in the next two years, we will do it for you for free, plus give you a full refund”.
That’s going to be powerful.
That’s going to get word of mouth and get people remembering you.
That’s the power of a brand.
