Branding is about how a business stands out from the crowd and reaches the audience. It is not about how much one spends on advertising and media. In the clutter of big brands, branding has a major role to play to increase the competitive edge of small business. Branding is useful to small businesses to differentiate themselves and capture new markets more effectively.

So here is your guide for branding your small scale business

1. Brand name should be chosen carefully (2)

Choose wisely when it comes to finalizing your brand name. Your wrong name could ruin your branding. A brand name can have a harmful effect on overall brand awareness, so choose carefully.

2. Knowing your audience is the most important task
   Firstly one should know what will resonate with your audience, before investing time and money in developing a brand. The target audience should be known inside out.
3. Thinking about the brand

Small businesses tend to focus on day-to-day internal aspects of the business. Thinking about the brand is also important. Only thinking about a product doesn’t help, try to think it from a customer point of view. Find out what the customers want, listen to them and interact with them.       

4. Colour and designs are your first impression

Colour and design matter a lot in branding. Consumer’s first encounter with your brand is your visual identity. So make a right impression.  Brand identity should be consistent across all media channels. The best way for this is to create brand guidelines. Consisting detailed information of the colour palette, fonts, designs along with other elements such as the vision and mission of your brand, advertising materials and stationery etc.

5. Go Beyond Your Logo
   It is very easy to get confused between branding and your logo. Your visual identity in not just your logo. A brand is much more than a logo, its important to differentiate between the two.

Most of the businesses have one thing in common – BRANDING. They have established themselves by building a strong brand.