{"id":276294,"date":"2015-10-29T14:07:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T03:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/au\/pro-education\/branding-tips-small-business-marketing-budget-experience\/"},"modified":"2015-10-29T14:07:41","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T03:07:41","slug":"branding-tips-small-business-marketing-budget-experience","status":"publish","type":"au-pro-education","link":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/pro-education\/branding-tips-small-business-marketing-budget-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Branding tips for small businesses with no marketing budget – or experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"budget<\/a><\/p>\n

A\u00a0strong brand identity\u00a0is the heart and soul of any business. For companies\u00a0like oil giant BP, branding is a very deliberate exercise resulting in a $211,000,000USD logo.<\/a>\u00a0Companies like Nike on the other hand (who\u00a0got lucky with\u00a0their iconic $35USD swoosh<\/a>) chanced\u00a0their way to branding success. Here’s how your business\u00a0can make deliberate branding decisions and<\/em>\u00a0get lucky with timeless, unique and ubiquitous\u00a0branding – without the BP budget.<\/p>\n

Design a\u00a0logo you LOVE<\/h2>\n

A professional logo (or logo refresh for those looking to reinvent or modernise dated designs) doesn’t have to cost a bomb. Websites like Upwork<\/a>, Freelancer<\/a>\u00a0and 99designs<\/a> offer logos from as little as $30-$50. Be sure to weigh up unbelievably cheap project costs against quality of designers’ previous work, ratings and feedback, and review their Terms and Conditions (number of design changes and file formats included) before commencing a contract.<\/p>\n

The more creative direction you give designers, the more likely you are to reach your dream design in\u00a0the least amount of changes. Mood boards\u00a0are great for\u00a0helping designers realise your vision. As Creative Bloq<\/a>\u00a0explains, mood boards “can instantly convey a whole assortment of concepts and feelings that are central to your pitch, but difficult to get across verbally”. Try these\u00a016 great tools for creating mood boards<\/a>\u00a0to get your designer on the same page, without penning a 15-page brief.<\/p>\n

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Source: Etsy<\/a>\u00a0logo, $39.54AUD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Find your uniqueness<\/h2>\n

A well thought out logo and slogan can communicate the overall style, feel and price-point of your brand; luxurious, handmade, haute couture gowns vs. quality secondhand formalwear\u00a0for eco-conscious couples. But what does your<\/em> luxury brand\u00a0offer that the boutique down\u00a0the road\u00a0doesn’t? Promoting cheaper prices is\u00a0inconsistent with high-end positioning, and you’re both creating one-off wonders….\u00a0How can\u00a0you differentiate?<\/p>\n

You need a USP\u00a0(unique selling proposition). USPs can manifest in the form of a guarantee (“From measurements to wedding-day-ready in three weeks or we’ll include a\u00a0veil for free”<\/em>), or a complimentary inclusion with purchases (“Receive\u00a0a bottle of Champagne Cattier<\/a> with every\u00a0dress purchased”<\/em>).<\/p>\n

When you’ve found\u00a0your uniqueness, be it company values, product\u00a0promises or accomplished\u00a0staff, ensure this is communicated across all your consumer touch points: website copy, brochures, packaging,\u00a0email marketing<\/a>, content marketing<\/a>, social media<\/a> and customer service.<\/p>\n

\"branding<\/a>
Source: Cattier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Treat customers\u00a0brilliantly<\/h2>\n

Branding is so much more than just a consistent\u00a0colour palette\u00a0and delivery van decal. Exceptional\u00a0customer service\u00a0for both online and physical stores can\u00a0be the most powerful branding your business\u00a0has – and it doesn’t\u00a0cost a\u00a0fortune.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s express posting an exchange item free of charge to arrive in time for the wedding, arranging an after-hours tasting for a busy CEO, or giving a client your personal number in case of emergency, the word of mouth resulting from these\u00a0positive brand experiences can be lasting and financially rewarding.<\/p>\n

Accidentally double-booked a venue, only to realise the following day? Now’s your time to shine!\u00a0As Mashable<\/a> explains, mistakes are “actually blessings in disguise \u2014 you can use the opportunity to show off your customer service skills and turn the customer’s experience around”. For more ideas (that don’t require making mistakes) read\u00a010 ways to take your customer service to the next level<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Create share-worthy\u00a0content for your blog and social media<\/h2>\n

Creating social media business profiles – touch wood – is still a, largely, free branding exercise. Think of your social bios as free advertising space and optimise this real estate. Every\u00a0social media\u00a0profile should contain\u00a0your website URL, a business description telling people who you are and what you’re about (including your USP, character limits permitting), and your logo as your display\u00a0pic to make you instantly recognisable to new and returning customers.<\/p>\n

You don’t need to be on every platform, but doing a great job on two or three of the key photo-sharing\u00a0players like Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Pinterest<\/a> will increase the reach of your wedding\u00a0brand. Using your own or\u00a0copyright-free images<\/a>, you can\u00a0watermark pics<\/a> with your brand and add tips and quotes to maximise reach from shares and get your logo in front of more brides’ eyes.<\/p>\n

As CEO of Just In Time PR<\/a>,\u00a0Dominic Hiatt, says “The good thing about content is that it doesn’t matter<\/a> how big your competitors are, you can create better content than they can if you put your mind to it and have the desire to.”<\/p>\n\n

\"Source:<\/a>
Source: Easy Weddings’ Instagram<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Consistency<\/h2>\n

Creating a key messages document can be a valuable tool in determining the most important messages you want to communicate to\u00a0potential customers (or media). When you’ve written no more than five to six\u00a0succinct, informative statements about your brand answering the who, what, where, when, why and how of your business, use this document as a checklist to ensure\u00a0your key messages are consistent across all your online and offline communications, including your Easy Weddings profile. As business management guru Tom Peters says<\/a>, \u201cIn a competitive environment, only those who have a strong, unified message, who create and sell quality and value, will survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Does your business have any shoestring\u00a0branding strategies you’ve found to be effective? Let us know in the comments! And before you go, remember to keep\u00a0your Easy Weddings profile up to date to earn as many Supplier Badges<\/a> as possible, showing\u00a0potential customers quickly and visually how active your brand is on Australia’s No.1 wedding website.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":269044,"template":"","au_pro_edu_tags":[],"class_list":["post-276294","au-pro-education","type-au-pro-education","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","au_pro_edu_categories-share-worthy-articles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-pro-education\/276294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-pro-education"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/au-pro-education"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"au_pro_edu_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_pro_edu_tags?post=276294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}