Small business guide to building a brand

Your brand can be a crucial element of success for small businesses because it shapes how customers perceive and interact with your company.  

Many customers make quick decisions based on first impressions (external link) and experiences with your brand. A strong, consistent brand identity can generate recognition and trust, which might make customers more likely to choose your business over competitors. Effective branding can also build customer loyalty by creating emotional connections that keep them returning.  

When customers perceive brand value, they can be more willing to pay (external link) premium prices and recommend the brand to friends, supporting steady, long-term growth for your business.  

Various elements combine to create a cohesive brand identity, including:  

• Name: The foundation of your identity that customers identify and remember you by.
• Logo: The visual symbol that represents your business and appears across all marketing materials and platforms.  
• Visual identity: Cohesive colours, fonts, imagery, and other design elements that create brand recognition.
• Voice and messaging: Your company's personality, including the tone, language, and style you use to communicate with customers.  
• Values and mission: Core principles that guide your business decisions and resonate with your audience.
• Personality: The human characteristics and traits that define how your business behaves and interacts with customers. This includes your brand's overall character and approach to customer service. 

Building a solid brand identity can help convey the right message to your target audience and attract new customers.  

Brand identity encompasses everything from your logo and colour scheme to your tone of voice and company values. For small businesses, a well-defined brand identity can help differentiate your business from competitors, creating a lasting impression that encourages customer loyalty and trust.  

To define their brand identity, many small business owners:  

• Research their target audience and competitors to help them understand the market landscape.  
• Clarify their business’s core values, mission, and unique selling point (USP) to define their identity.  
• Develop the visual and verbal elements that will communicate their brand identity to customers.
• Check that all brand elements work together and test them with their target audience to ensure they create the correct impression and emotional response.  

Visual identity

The visual elements that represent your brand are what make up your visual identity, including your logo, colour palette, imagery, and overall design aesthetic. These elements can create the first impression customers have of your business, often before they encounter your products or services. Studies reveal that 94% of first impressions (external link) are design-related, making it especially crucial for new and small businesses entering the market to craft an effective and cohesive visual identity.  

A well-designed visual identity can communicate professionalism, build trust, and make your small business memorable in a crowded marketplace. Consistency across all visual elements – from the font on your website and business cards to the images on your packaging and social media – can reinforce brand recognition, helping customers differentiate your business from competitors.  

Brand voice

Brand voice is the tone, personality, and communication style that your business uses across all customer interactions. It encompasses how you speak to customers, the language you choose, and the emotional approach you take in your messaging. From the tone of your website’s chatbot to the writing on your product’s packaging, what you say and how you say it matter.

Consistency can help customers familiarise themselves with your brand’s personality and distinguish you from competitors – whether it's fun and quirky or sincere and professional. When customers encounter the same voice across your website, social media, and customer service, they can begin to understand and value your brand.

Testing  

Many small business owners develop and test their brand elements systematically. This often includes considering visual components, messaging, and brand personality traits to ensure they work together. Cartoonish images and vibrant graphics might not work alongside a professional tone of voice and serious subject matter. On the other hand, austere graphics and technical jargon might not work with colourful fonts and light-hearted themes.

Continuously testing what works best for your brand can be the most effective way to develop your identity while making improvements. Brand identity development is typically a process that requires refinement as your business evolves. 

An online presence has become essential for many small businesses. In today’s digital world, customers increasingly research brands online before making decisions, even if they prefer to buy in-store (external link). Online branding will often inform customers’ first impressions of your business.  

Building an effective online presence typically involves:

• Creating a professional website that reflects your brand identity and provides key information about your products and services. There are no set rules here, but Google encourages creators to produce web content that is helpful, reliable, and people-first (external link).  
• Optimising your website to be mobile-friendly, quick to load, and easy to navigate and read.
• Implementing search engine optimisation (SEO) , which can help ensure customers find your business when searching for related products, services, terms, and queries online.  
• Listing your business on online directories, review platforms, and local business listings can also make it easier for customers to discover and connect with your business.  

Many small businesses encounter the same challenges when developing their brand identity. Identifying these common pitfalls can help you avoid them:  

• Copying competitors – Mimicking successful competitors can make your business appear unoriginal and untrustworthy, and even invite legal action through copyright or trademark infringement.  
• Inconsistency across platforms – Using different logos, colours, fonts, tones, and voices on various platforms and marketing materials can confuse customers and impact brand recognition.
• Focusing only on visual elements – Creating a nice logo is great, but neglecting brand values and personality can impact customer relations.  
• Overcomplicating your brand – Using too many colours, fonts, or design elements can appear chaotic and make your brand identity less recognisable.  
• Failing to evolve with the business – Sticking with the same branding as your business grows can make your business appear irrelevant or outdated.  

A strong, consistent brand can help small businesses build trust, attract loyal customers, and differentiate themselves in a crowded market. Taking time to define your brand identity and align it with your values and target audience can help you lay the foundations for long-term success.