The psychology of small business branding

How to make potential customers choose your business with good branding

You may have heard people say something is ‘on brand’, but what does that really mean? And what is the psychology behind branding for small businesses?

Before you roll your eyes, we get it. As a small business owner, you may feel that branding falls last on a long list of priorities. However, branding is actually one of the most powerful things you can do to express why customers should pick you.

What is branding?

Branding is the expression of your business’ identity. It’s the way your business is personified across every customer touchpoint, including your physical store, website, logos and social media channels.

Branding creates a sense of familiarity and trust – helping your customers build a relationship with you. Like any relationship, building trust starts with an understanding of who you are and your values.

Why is branding important?

While a nice logo and website is vital, it’s not all there is to good branding. Branding should be a true representation of your business and the industry you belong to.

For example, if you’re a creative agency and your website has low-quality images, non-responsive design or broken links – it’s not a good look. You have to practise what you preach and be authentic, always.

Now, let’s dive into the psychology of small business branding and how it can help your business stand out in all the right ways.

Branding creates trust

Let’s be real – your customers are bombarded with choices, and our purchase decisions are directly linked to trust. Good branding helps your business stand out as the clear option and it can help create brand loyalty.

Unfortunately, like getting those cheese-grater abs, building trust doesn’t happen overnight. Branding helps communicate to your customers ‘why you’ – what your values are and why you’re different from the rest.

Remember, trust is all about matching words with actions. Make sure you do what you say you’ll do so there’s no room for disappointment (i.e. an expectation gap).

Points to consider:

• Authenticity – be honest and follow through with your claims
• Encourage a two-way relationship with your customers – be open to the good, bad and ugly

Branding helps you stay consistent

Consistency is king when it comes to branding. People don’t interact with your business in a bubble – it should be consistent across every touchpoint. From your website to your social media and emails, your brand identity should guide everything you do.

For example, it’s great if you provide top-notch service, but if you fall down on social media you could be giving yourself a bad name or hurting your credibility.

Branding improves recognition

Imagine you’re in the car and see a glint of a giant golden arch on the horizon. Know where we’re going with this? One of the most iconic brands in the world is McDonalds. McDonalds’ golden arch branding is so well established that it’s instantly recognisable across different age groups, cultures and countries.

Define your vision and ask yourself how your brand is going to sound, feel and look. These branding concepts are what come together to form our experiences with a brand.

Creating a distinctive branding style through your marketing assets, like your website, logo, business cards and other branding collateral, helps your customers understand and identify your brand.

Branding helps give you an edge over competitors

Branding has multiple layers. It’s a powerful tool to express your point of difference over your competitors to show why you’re the best.
Think about what it is that makes you different. It could be:

• You offer a different or specialised product or service
• Your customer service is top notch
• You offer the best price.

Check out Hubspot’s article on 10 companies that have done a smashing job at differentiating themselves with branding.