5 High-Impact Tips to Creating a Unique Brand Identity
When thinking of your product or service what comes to mind? What do people envision? What characteristics do they attach to what you provide? And does it stand out from your competitors?When building a memorable business brand, these are important questions to consider; otherwise, you risk losing valuable business because your brand isn’t differentiated enough from others who are going after the same target audience as you.Your brand should invoke an identity, an emotion, characteristics and something that makes you, you. This is where that differentiation comes into play – tapping into and relaying your uniqueness.Through brand marketing, we connect the consumer’s experiences and perceptions to your unique offerings. Your brand then becomes highlighted in their mind as they grow a connection to it and, ultimately, makes it much easier to convert them to loyal customers.Many brands offer similar things and, therefore, can become muddled in their marketing, which translates to a muted brand in this ever-growing sea of services and commodities.Never compare yourself to the competition but strive to be so unique that there is no comparison.This quote is so true because who you are can get you far! Meaning, how you choose to define yourself, your brand identity and all the branding that supports it will determine your success.Here’s where some work and investment come into play because you want to get it right from the beginning.To ensure your best ROI (return on investment) to be the most cost effective and efficient with your budget, consult a brand expert right from the start to develop your unique brand identity and strategy fully.Sadly, many small businesses or entrepreneurs just getting started try to go the more cost-effective route of attempting to do it themselves or paying a friend who “knows computers”, but often their efforts fall short and end up costing them more time and money in the long run.Not to mention lost sales due to their brand not resonating with their ideal target audience.When working with a brand expert, you will have a clear idea of what makes your brand stand out to attract the right people who are happy to pay for your products or services.You will also know how to apply your custom branding strategy for all your business marketing needs that includes your unique branding concepts, guidelines, logo, website, marketing materials, social media and print materials.READ:Why Cheap Websites Are More Expensive Than YYou ThinkDuring one of my usual jaunts on Facebook, I came across a post where someone was making the argument to invest properly in a website, and they listed all the reasons to do so.
Heck, I could have written that post myself! And as per usual, then came many responses that all pretty much said the same thing: “But what if I have no money?”Keep reading to discover why your website may be under-performing.Read more on our website.A brand with individuality has a unique competitive advantage.
Think of your favourite current products or services. Why are they your favourite? What makes them different? Does something stand out?For example, when we think of our favourite Boutique Inn or fitness center, it might be their logo, the range of services, their quality of product, the customer service, the people or the feeling you get from going there.These things alone are important but together make your product or service unique!Standing out can sometimes be thought of as a negative, but in branding it is the highest compliment.Embracing what makes you different is what makes you stand out. When you are authentic you will exude a vibe that attracts your tribe of supporters and will boost you to be the best.In order to stand out in today’s market, try these 5 tips:

Be authentic

Try not to compete with other similar brands but instead focus on you and your product or service.

Before developing a logo and website, make sure you fully evaluate your product or service and identify all the things that make your business unique so your brand is differentiated with your ideal target audience. It needs to resonate with them!

Integrate what makes you different into your branding, marketing, website, social media and physical space or product design.

Thrive in your vibe

A vibe is a feeling that expresses your uniqueness. It’s your brand voice. By capturing that vibe and incorporating your brand’s unique voice in all of your marketing materials, you will create an undeniable synergy.

Maintain your vibe in all that you do, right down to your social media posts, and continually check to make sure that what you are conveying is the vibe your customer is experiencing.

Don’t compromise your vibe for the current trends; always ensure you stay true to your brand identity.

Connect with your target audience

Now more than ever it’s important to not just provide a product or service, but create a community around it. This community of your ideal target audience and potential clients will become your tribe of loyal supporters.

Much like the TV show Survivor, your tribe can “vote you out” so it is important to foster those relationships and connect with your community in an authentic way.

Social Media presents an opportunity to grow your tribe and future loyal customers by engaging with them in new ways. On these platforms you can create groups, pages, stories, share photos and videos so they learn more about you while you also learn more about them. This information, connection and engagement is invaluable.

Strive to be the best

Of course, you want to be the best product or service available but beyond that ask yourself how you can be better? Often thinking about how you can create a memorable brand experience can help elevate you to the next level.

Provide the highest quality of service, product, support, and customer care possible. It’s amazing how many brands fall short in these vital areas and lose a lot of business as a result. Here’s your chance to shine above them and win over these new customers!

Going above and beyond will automatically make you stand out. Your loyal customers will not only continue to buy from you, they will also refer you to others.

Be Empathetic

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes to better serve them. Unlike sympathy, which is feeling compassion, empathy means imagining yourself in another person’s situation. The more your potential customers realize you “get” them and understand what they are going through, the more they will trust you to do business with.

Tap into your ideal client’s emotional triggers. What emotions drive your customers’ behaviour?

Listen to your customers. A 2018 study by M&C Saatchi reveals how 18% of consumers had stopped using a brand because of a broken promise. Are you following through with the quality and service that your customers deserve?

Remember and respect differences. People from different geographic locations, generations and genders aren’t all going to necessarily want the same thing from you. By developing unique marketing personas, you’ll have a much better idea of how to approach-and appeal to-your audience by offering them relevant services and content they will appreciate receiving from you.

While there are many other ways to stand out, these brand-building strategies will make the biggest impact.Along with an expert, create a foundation by clearly differentiating your brand and building a memorable brand identity that you can apply to all that you do.Your uniqueness is something to harness and incorporate throughout your branding in order to capture your current and potential customers.By being authentic, creating a vibe, connecting to your tribe and striving to be the best you undoubtedly will stand out in the sea of mediocrity.We’re a full-service brand, marketing and web development agency that can create your unique brand identity and boost your brand presence to be so attractive your pipeline will be full so you can make more money you can spend! Contact us for a free consultation.To your business success,Susan

Finding the right Small Business ERP for your company
Small Business ERP is a unique category of enterprise software. It typically needs to have all the functionality of large corporate ERP software, but it needs to have as few clicks and screens as possible to ensure that the users are not overburdened with a lot of time spent entering data. The size of the business does not necessarily change the functionality required in the software. Rather, the small company often has a need for higher efficiency since they cannot afford the manpower to maintain the system.When you look at ERP software, there are three tiers of applications. Tier 1 is large multi-national software solutions, such as Oracle, SAP, and JD Edwards. Tier 2 is the mid-market level. These applications are suitable to businesses in the range of 50M to 250M. This is the sweet spot of the market. Like any bell curve, the mid-market has both the most customers, as well as the most product offerings. The last tier is the Tier 3 offerings which is the small business ERP category. These are systems suitable for 1 person start-ups to about the $50M level, although some of these products become inefficient if they have more than 20 users on the system. So while they claim to be Small Business ERP offerings, they are for the smallest of companies.Things to look for in Small Business ERP
When evaluating small business ERP solutions, it is important that you properly screen the potential software candidates to ensure you get a software that fits your business. If you don’t you will run into many different issues. Here are some tips:1. Make sure that the small business ERP software you are looking at fits into your niche.
2. Make sure that the data entry is simple and efficient
3. Make sure that the database platform can be managed by you or your staff
4. Look at the support offerings of the small business ERP provider to ensure that it is tailored to your needs
5. Determine that the small business ERP reseller provides enough training to properly get your staff up and runningLet’s discuss these points. First you need to make sure that the software you are looking at fits within the business model or industry that you work within. A retail store should not use a software designed for distributor. See what other customers that the software provider has worked with in the past and ask for specific examples of companies in your industry.You need to make sure that the users do not become slaves to the system. Make sure that the data entry screens are simple, efficient and do not require a lot of bouncing around to other screens to input simple things such as invoices or purchase orders.The heart of the system is the database. You need to make sure that the database does not require a full-time system admin to maintain it. It should be designed to be self maintaining and easily managed. Learn a little bit of the technical requirements from the Small Business ERP solution provider. You do not want to be in the situation where you need to bring in a specialized database administrator if later something goes wrong.Small Business ERP should have support designed for you the small business owner. You should easily be able to call in and immediately speak to a rep for support. You don’t want to have to wait for days to get answers. Be careful of small systems with small support staffs. Especially be wary where the system is developed and maintained by one or two people. Yes, they are also a small business, but it will be a big problem when they are not available to assist you.Lastly, you and your staff need to have enough training to properly operate the application. Do not skimp on this point. You need more training than you think. In fact, it would be good to plan on training to go live and at least one other training session a month after go-live to answer any questions and resolve any problems from a lack of knowledge. You won’t become experts on the system in a day, so plan on future training sessions.The future of Small Business ERP
The future of Small Business ERP seems to be one of two paths. There are those systems that will continue to be operating on a small network of computers and do quite well on them, such as QuickBooks or DBA Software. The other path is that of small business ERP companies such as NetSuite, who are leading the charge to bring small business ERP to the cloud. This means that you will have access to the application through a browser and no installed software will exist on your site. You are licensing access to a system that stores your data remotely and operates via an internet connection.People often are concerned with this model as your data lives somewhere else. The fact of the matter is it is probably safer there than on a computer sitting in your back room. The data center security policies and the high-levels of authentication that are enforced by cloud computing providers truly lock down your data and its accessibility. Whereas your server in your back room is often open to anyone who happens to wonder by. This seems to be riskier. Nonetheless, whichever path you choose, you can be assured that the small business ERP industry is continuing to grow and develop.