What’s in a great brand?
Ever thought about what goes into a great brand for a small business? We have! If you’re like most small businesses, your brand needs to have at least these three elements:
- Core Promise – The unspoken promise to your clients.
- Tagline – The spoken promise to your clients.
- Marketing Message – How you fulfill your promise to your clients.
These three building blocks are essential to the growth of small business brands. If you follow these fundamentals with a little bit of creativity, a dash of dedication, and a truckload of consistency, your business will see the strength of its brand grow.
Core Promise.
A lot of companies like to make promises that seem ideal, lofty, and humanitarian. Unfortunately, those are bad for your brand for one simple reason: they can’t be fulfilled. A core promise should emphasize that which your business does best for its clients. It is also important to state that the core promise is an internal message that you don’t share directly with others, but use as a barometer for your business decisions. Here are a few bullet points for creating a great core promise:
- The Core Promise is unspoken.
- Capture the nature of your value to your clients.
- Use as few words as necessary; only a short sentence.
- Can you fulfill your core promise?
- Example: Disney, ‘Entertaining the child within.’
When a core promise has been defined for your business, it should be given years to grow. The core promise should only be changed if the nature of your business changes and the core promise is no longer relevant.
Tagline.
The tagline for a great small business brand should succinctly convey to clients a market position based upon the core promise. Your brand uses the tagline to quickly communicate information to prospects. It’s amazing how a few well-chosen words can articulate the purpose of your business, provide differentiation, and reveal characteristics. Here are a few ideas for creating a great tagline:
- The tagline is spoken and shared.
- Alliteration and wordplay will help keep it memorable.
- Be careful when claiming attributes such as trust or best. As Margaret Thatcher said, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
- Use as few words as necessary.
- Example: Disneyland, ‘The happiest place on Earth.’
A tagline should be used as long as it is relevant to the core promise and the current focus of your business. As your business matures, you may find that your services and client base are trending in new directions. Keep your tagline up-to-date and relevant.
Marketing Messages.
The last leg of the core elements of a small business brand are marketing messages. Marketing messages should provide specific communication about your small business in regards to relevant issues. We recommend that our clients use marketing messages to help provide additional definition about their brand when a prospect or client chooses to learn more. Here are a few points on creating strong marketing messages:
- Use marketing messages to position your brand.
- Highlight issues that you are well prepared for.
- Avoid the ‘curse of knowledge’ – speak plainly and simply.
- Be timely and succinct.
The scope of a marketing message should be limited to a single idea or event.
Thanks for reading and remember – A great brand will make your business leap!