Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

Think of a megabrand—Coca-Cola, Apple or McDonald’s. Their logos and brand colors immediately jump to mind, right? Unfortunately, omnipresence isn’t achieved overnight. So let’s forget about logos and design for a moment. Not that those aren’t key elements when building a brand, but as a small business with limited resources, you’ll have to tap into other ways to make people remember your brand and your product.

One of the most effective—and cost-effective—brand identity tools is storytelling. A good story doesn’t just create a connection between you and your customers, it’s also something they’re likely to share with others.

Take, for example, Gerbola Vin, a wine merchant in Copenhagen. Instead of setting up shop in one of Copenhagen’s regular retail spaces, the Gerbola brothers found a location that has the ideal temperature and humidity for wine: an underground air-raid shelter, built in 1942 and located in a small park. Customers aren’t just buying a carefully chosen bottle of Italian wine—they’re buying the experience of entering a candle-lit bunker, and the opportunity to share that story with their friends. So examine your product or service. What’s special about your company’s history, or how you manufacture your product, or how you sell it? Dig up remarkable elements and turn them into an engaging story that will stick in people’s minds.

Storytelling is about actions as much as it is about words; if you can’t buy mass marketing, your branding efforts involve what you do as much as how you present yourself. Which means that it pays to go the extra mile. Another example: back in 2006, a small Brooklyn company called Zen Home Cleaning caught our attention. Not just because they were one of the first to offer eco-friendly home cleaning, but because of how they enhanced their service, burning essential oils while they worked, and leaving organic chocolates on their clients’ pillows. Do some serious brainstorming and figure out what you can do to delight your customers in unexpected ways—it doesn’t have to cost much, but it’s sure to leave a lasting impression.

And embrace being small. It’s easier to tell a compelling story in your own, personal voice than if you’re pretending to be a large corporation. Smaller companies often try to hide their size by referring to an undefined “our team” instead of “me, Fred.” But potential customers are quick to spot artifice, and they’re more likely to trust and remember an identifiable fellow human. So play off your strengths and ditch the generic corporate pretense in favor of transparency and personality.