When someone says “brand”, the first thing that might come into your mind are names, who have a giant corporate value in the market. But larger companies such as McDonald’s or Apple can spend millions of dollars for building a strong brand, but small businesses who are just finding their way into the water cannot afford to do the same. Already burdened with a limited budget, they now will have to create a brand for themselves. But thanks to the social media revolution, this task is easily achievable. There are plenty of ways to grab your customer’s attention without emptying your pockets. In this article, we are listing 5 powerful brand building strategies to take your small business to the next level:

LIST YOUR BUSINESS ON GOOGLE

Google My Business offers a fantastic opportunity to come under the Google search results, but the cherry on top of the cake is that it’s free. Google My Business provides you with the ability to list your business location on Google Maps and display important information about your business, including the opening/closing times, contact details, or a link to your website. It should be regarded as a necessity by all businesses as Google owns more than 60 percent of the traffic.

START A WEBSITE

Having a strong online presence such as a website makes you different from the rest, who aren’t able to proudly display the reviews and testimonials as they don’t own a website. For small or local businesses, creating a website is crucial for attracting a loyal audience and growing over time. It makes you look more professional.

Displaying your products on the website gives the customers a chance to purchase them immediately, making sales along the process. Also, a business website is a platform for learning about your audience. It opens an opportunity to collect information about your customers and then tailor your interactions to their preferences. For example, collect email addresses of site visitors to learn who visits your website and later on turn them into potential audiences.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA 

There are now 4.2 billion active social media users, almost twice as many as there were just five years ago. Those users spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes on social channels every single day. These 2 hours and 25 minutes bring an opportunity to promote the business across all the major social media platforms, develop customer relationships and even make sales directly through social media. Through social media, you can even monitor your competitors and know the market. The best part? It’s very cost-effective. 

USE FREE MARKETING TOOLS

We know you are in a bind and don’t have the personnel or resources to shell out for countless expensive marketing tools. So, there are numerous free or affordable marketing tools out there to help you optimize your marketing efforts and make a name for yourself. When it comes to analytics, Google Analytics is the go-to followed by Kissmetrics or Gooddata.

For content marketing, WordPress is the tool you should have followed by Grammarly. Similarly, for lead capturing and email marketing, it has to be Optinmonster and MailChimp. For SEO and PPC you can count on WordStream, SemRush, and Google AdWords. For design, it has to be Pexels and Canva.

If you are looking for affordable project management tools which you may think are impossible then allow Slack, Asana, and Evernote to prove you wrong. Lastly, for social media optimization Buffer, Hootsuite and SproutSocial will help you automate and optimize for greater reach and engagement.

COLLABORATE WITH OTHER BUSINESSES OR INFLUENCERS

Influencers are authorities within your niche that have a huge impact on a targeted audience. They could be Bloggers, Instagrammers, YouTubers, and users with a large Twitter following. Collaboration with other influencers is a great way to develop professional relationships to meet your goals

Collaborations are a great way to have fun while producing new content for your readers. It also brings a fresh perspective to the readers. But before investing in your Influencer be sure to know the medium in which the Influencer is the most active and if that aligns with your business. Be very clear and direct with the Influencer about the kind of goals you’re looking for. Lastly, make sure to achieve a win-win profit situation so that it leaves both you and the Influencer on a positive note. 

If you are looking to get your startup boost in the market, register for the Al-Tijarat-al-Raabehah business incubation program as it has a well-structured program for different audiences and standardizes to new learning. In this program industry, experts shall provide functional and technical knowledge for all the domains. 

If you are looking for the right solutions for your small or medium business, we are willing to provide a good mentorship with an appropriate process to lift business click here

Also read: Why digital marketing is important for small businesses?