During the past couple of years, a bunch of us have been discussing amongst ourselves some of the bigger societal shifts that have been happening around us. Notwithstanding the pandemic, politics, the climate, and the usual cultural firestorms that accompany all those, we’ve been talking about one, in particular, that seems to have affected any number of individuals that we know – the Great Resignation.

A lot of people have left their jobs in droves. Just up and quit.

Maybe it’s the sense they have of better things on the horizon or the continuous stream of “you do you” advice that all of us seem to get, but many of these individuals have made a choice to strike out on their own and branch beyond the usual corporate grind.

We, of course, applaud them for doing this. As we well know going into Year 2 of our own business, it’s so freeing in many ways, yet also terrifying for the things we didn’t know yet as new entrepreneurs. And that’s certainly true for a lot of small company owners, not just us. For instance: A lot of those who go into business for themselves may understand what they want to sell or how they plan to make money, but we find a number of people may not always consider one main area as they rush headlong into a business: how to build a brand.

After all, there’s no real playbook for this. And there are a million ways to go about it:

• • Some might focus on social.
  • Some might advertise (if they have capital) or raise capital for that purpose.
  • Some do video, podcasting or create/broadcast other forms of content.
  • Some might do PR-related activities to get media attention.
  • Some focus on other influencers or their network.

We’re not going to suggest one particular channel is better than another because each has its own merits and much depends on the unique circumstances of the business. However, having worked with a number of different companies and also analyzed hundreds more for our digital marketing class over the years, we can certainly point to commonalities among those that have built what you might consider a “brand” in their space. From those learnings, we can glean 6 lessons from those who have done it successfully:

Lesson No. 1: Put Yourself Out There, Constantly

When it comes to building a brand, there is no substitute for visibility, especially when it comes to a business owner taking the lead and putting his or her face out front. While that might seem obvious to some (such as those whose main business revolves around themselves), many owners we know are still reticent about self-promotion, preferring others to take the lead. And we get it. We hear it all the time from them: “I want to build my company’s brand. Not necessarily my personal brand.” But the thing is unless you have capital upfront and can spend the money for ads/distribution, the visibility of any new business may be more limited than your personal one when you start out. Also, it’s a simple marketing truth: Audiences naturally respond more to other people, especially individuals they know. So, in other words, it’s time to get over any reticence you might have about self-promotion.  Anyone that builds a “brand” – whether that’s for themselves or their company – knows they themselves or their company has to be out there all the time in order for individuals to think of them when it comes time to purchase products or services in their particular line of expertise.  

Bottom line: Don’t take the Field of Dreams approach – “if you build it, they will come,” which is not a recipe for success in anything related to marketing. Put yourself out there constantly and don’t be shy, including you as the primary owner.   

Lesson No. 2: Focus on a Narrower Area at First

Remember Amazon? Well, it started out only in the book business. And became great at that category before branching out and dominating nearly every aspect of e-commerce. Nike? It was all about shoes at the beginning. Focus matters when you’re starting out. It’s OK if it’s a smaller niche, what’s most important is that you become known in that particular niche. Maybe it’s marketing for real estate agents or plumbers? Maybe it’s catering to a particular, set demographic of retirees? Maybe it’s even narrower – retirees in a more fixed-income bracket.

The more you focus up front the bigger the benefit from a marketing standpoint, for two reasons:

• • You’ll be able to hone your messaging more specifically to the target audience, which will create better response rates.
  • You’ll establish expertise in that particular area more quickly and have a bigger opportunity to dominate whatever market there is.

Bottom line: Once you’ve saturated a particular niche (similar to the examples above), you can then expand if you like to other areas or broaden your scope. At that point, you’ll also have the learnings from the particular specialty you started in, so that you can ramp up either horizontally (add new topical areas) or vertically (building up additional products or services in the same topical space).

Lesson No. 3: It’s All About Content

Yes, if you’re a large company, the need to put out content is perhaps dwarfed by your ability to reach audiences through advertising. But most companies don’t have those kinds of ad budgets. And even large companies put millions of dollars into content production. If you think about the top YouTube brands, for example, they might produce 80 videos a month. 80! That’s a lot of content just in video alone. For a small business, you may not reach that level. However, content is the one differentiator that can boost your visibility. And it’s cost-effective, as it typically only takes your time and effort. As we often say, content is the guerilla marketing of today. What types of content? You have so many options here but much will depend on the type of business you have (whether you’re the face of it) and other considerations. In this blog post, we provide an example of 6 types of small business content (6 approaches) – all of which elevate the brand.

Bottom line: To be a strong brand, you should consider becoming a content machine, promoting your content on YouTube, social networks, email, and even advertising to spread awareness of your authority in a chosen space.

Lesson No. 4: Take Care of Customers and Get Good Word of Mouth

One of the ways you build a successful brand is you take care of any customers you get in the door. Now again, that may seem obvious to some. But in practice what that really means is that you should “go over and above” whenever possible for the people who pay you money. Doing that little bit extra helps you develop a great reputation in the market. On a practical level, it will also translate into great word-of-mouth (customers will tell their friends about you), you’ll get testimonials and case studies you can use to sell to new audiences, and even a proof-of-concept that will help you validate the need for your products and services if you had any question. This also means listening to your customers when they have complaints or fixing functionality or processes that frustrate them.

Bottom line: Great brands always serve their customers well. And in doing so, add value to their brand reputation and legacy. That doesn’t mean you’re going to make every customer happy. (Lord knows, some may never be happy.) But if you go to the wall for them, more often than not, people will recognize that.

Lesson No. 5: Pay Attention to Details

If you ask chef Thomas Keller, the proprietor behind French Laundry and Per Se, what the difference is between a good and great meal, he’ll tell you: It’s something he terms finesse – or attention to detail. Why does that matter? Because everyone is doing the big things – let’s say in this case it’s serving fresh food, seasoning it, making it taste good. It’s the little things that are going to define the top brands and make them stand out such as: creating a beautifully artistic dish, combining flavors others don’t, building a dining experience where every need is taken care of at the right moment, and at the right time. That takes rigor to set up. If you think about marketing, it’s the same thing. It’s the reason why Target encourages audiences to subscribe to its YouTube channel at the end of every video, as that’s a best practice. It’s the reason why Apple only uses one font (SF Pro) and a limited color palette that always reflects the rigor around how the company projects the brand.

In the same vein, paying attention to the needs of customers (such as what we suggested above) also fits here. Maybe that’s you as an owner making a commitment to meet every customer. Maybe it’s a small gift you send customers on their birthdays. Whatever the case, those little things will help you stand out.

The bottom line: The little things will add up to building a bigger brand. And it will be one of the main differentiators for you in the marketplace in a world of average.

Lesson No. 6: Have Patience and Think Long-Term

It’s no secret that many small business owners would love to grow exponentially overnight, and have the biggest brand possible. But you know what? That’s just not realistic in most cases. A lot of the marketing you do requires time for it to take effect. That’s not an excuse. That’s just reality. So, it’s critical to have patience and allow your brand to build over time. Even those with access to large amounts of capital often don’t simply rush into growing profitably. Consider again, Amazon. The company wasn’t profitable for decades but its backers knew that long-term, their investment would pay off. You may not have that kind of time horizon, but the big brands never just think about tomorrow’s dollar. They’re thinking about next year’s and the year after – and so on.

The bottom line: If you can, balance your time horizon and your outlook for growth, especially from a marketing standpoint. That means not pouring all your eggs into your lower-funnel basket (focusing only on in-market individuals) as it were. In the end, if you have the patience, you will see a bigger brand boost that will carry your company long into the future.

Need help developing your brand or a marketing strategy catered to your company? Contact us at Marketing Nice Guys. We’ll schedule a free consultation and discuss the best ways we can support your growth.  We’re here to help you excel in digital marketing