Image from YT Foods website
Standing out from others is probably one of the edges available for business survival, and can determine whether a business is going to thrive or just be there. Most of the time, entrepreneurs give all their efforts and attention to the product or service they are rendering and fail to implement one of the most important prerequisites for business development which is branding. But what is branding and why is it important for small startups?
Business branding is not about the development of a catchy brand or a nice logo. Branding is the totality, how you would like people to perceive your business, the beliefs you hold, the commitments you give to people, your customer experience, etc. It is the aspect that distinguishes and attracts customers to your business from competitors.
However, for small startups, proper branding can be the difference, they help one compete with big business institutions. It is not about having a lot of funds for advertising and marketing campaigns; it is about building strong, consistent branding that is meaningful to the target audience.
So, how Branding benefits small startup businesses? The first thing it does is help reach agreement with customers. In this day and age where customers have an array of options in terms of products and services, a strong brand serves as a quality and assurance stamp. It outlines to prospective customers what they will be expecting from you in terms of services and products.
Branding also fosters customer loyalty. When people hook up with a brand on an emotional level, they are much more likely to turn out to be regular customers and brand advocates. This emotional connection can be especially effective for startups, as it can cause word-of-mouth advertising and marketing, one of the simplest and ever-green kinds of promotion.
Moreover, effective branding can justify top prices. When customers understand your brand as amazing or resonates, they're often inclined to pay extra for your products or services. This branding can extensively impact your business line, allowing you to grow profit margins without always raising prices.
But how can a small startup with limited resources create effective branding? It begins with knowing your business core values and particular promoting proposition. What makes you unique? What problem do your products solve for the customers? Once you have identified these key elements, you can begin to build a brand identity that reflects them.
This is where creativity comes into play. There is no such a big investment which is required in order to establish a powerful brand, it is simply a matter of looking for ways to devise creative solutions. A perfect example of this is the story of a campus lady entrepreneur in Nigeria who repackages the common food snack into a must have branded product for everyone in her school campus.
Garri and groundnut, a famous blend in Nigeria, had long been sold and bought in simple plastic bags or newspaper wraps. It has been a survival staple for most university students, but it was never considered anything unique until one innovative entrepreneur spotted an opportunity.
This savvy female enterprise took the humble garri and groundnut and repackaged it in custom-designed rubber bottles, each proudly showing a unique bran name on a professionally designed label. Suddenly, this regular snack wasn't simply just a meal, it turned into something special, a brand, and a logo.
The effect turned into something no one ever expected. In a marketplace flooded with similar offerings, this branded product stood out. Students were not simply buying garri and groundnut anymore; they were buying into a life-style, an identity. The expert packaging allowed for top rate pricing, growing profit margins without alienating the market goal.
This case illustrates many key principles of effective branding for small startups:
1. Differentiation is vital. Even in a saturated marketplace, there is usually room for a unique method.
2. Consistency builds recognition. The entrepreneur maintained a uniform appearance across all branded bottles, reinforcing the logo identity with each sale.
3. Packaging is a powerful branding device. How you present your product can drastically effect its perceived price.
4. Start small, however think big. The entrepreneur probably started out with a small batch of custom bottles and labels, but the impact became big.
5. Understand your audience. The branded garri resonated with university students as it tapped into their choice for survival that mirror their identification.
For small startups trying to make an impact, this case gives valuable lessons. Begin by developing a clear brand identity. What are your values? What personality do you need your logo to bring? What makes you unique in the marketplace?
Once you have described those factors, spend money on expert layout, even an easy, well-designed brand and consistent color scheme can appreciably affect brand notion. Look for innovative methods to package your service or product that align together with your logo identification.