Leads are the heart and soul of your business. Here’s your playbook for securing your small business’s financial future.

Branding is one of the most powerful tools in a small business’s arsenal. Why? Because

71% of people will make more purchases from a brand they trust. This data suggests that the quality of a small business’s branding directly translates to conversions and long-term customer loyalty — which are always worth the investment.

Don’t leave money on the table. Below, we’ve put together 10 of the most powerful small business branding tips to fast-track your business growth next year, giving you the roadmap you need to scale.

1. Create Your Platinum Messaging

Defining and refining your messaging and tone isn’t just a step for the pre-launch stage. In fact, many business owners find value in revisiting this part of their branding as they evolve and deliver their services. Establishing how your offer differs from competitors and weaving your brand story throughout every part of your business is one of the best ways to win your prospects over.

There are four core elements to consider in your Platinum Messaging:

• Appeal: This one is easy. Just ask yourself: “Why should my audience care about this offer? What makes me stand out?”

• Exclusivity: Customers want to feel special. Make your messaging exclusive to further differentiate yourself (and them) from the “norm.”

• Clarity: A lack of clarity leads to low conversions and brand messaging disasters. Make sure your Platinum Messaging is clear from the start, keeping it as simple and straightforward as possible for best results.

• Credibility: People invest in what they trust. Take every opportunity to establish yourself using your brand’s Platinum Messaging to further differentiate your brand and offer.

Once you learn your market and establish your Platinum Messaging, we recommend shifting the narrative from the traditional question of: “What makes us different from our competitors, and how do I market those differences?” to “What do my clients need at each stage, and how do I overdeliver on those needs?”

Sure, differentiating yourself from the competition is a powerful move to establish yourself in the market —but there’s equal value in knowing your audience so well that you’re able to anticipate their next move and deliver there, maintaining their trust and investment in your brand.

2. Create a Consistent Brand Identity

If you haven’t already, it’s time to create a consistent brand identity that speaks to your offer and industry — and if you have, it may be time for a refresh. Elements to consider in your identity include logos, fonts, colors, and other visual elements that work together with your messaging to tell a story that converts.

If you’re unsure where to start, grab a blank document or a sheet of paper and consider: “What should my clients know us for or see when they search my business?” Then, make it bold, authentic, and unapologetically yours—and continue to come back and refresh your brand identity as needed.

3. Develop a Compelling Brand Voice

Even though it’s inanimate, your brand needs a “voice,” or guiding tone, that will remain consistent across your channels and customer touchpoints. This will be the part of your branding that stays in people’s minds long after interacting with your company.

The best part? There are few rules when it comes to this small business branding tip, giving you total freedom to personalize your messaging and customer experience. Consider what your competitors are doing, how you can differentiate from them, and the type of tone that will resonate with your target audience.

4. Invest in a High-Quality Website

The quality of your website directly impacts the ROI of your branding strategy. It’s your modern-day business card, communicating what people should know about your offer and brand. As such, it should be easy to navigate, optimized for mobile use, and be visually appealing, drawing the eye with your unique branding elements.

5. Leverage Social Media for Brand Awareness

Social media gives you new places to share and amplify your voice and brand, connecting with your audience wherever they flow. Consider extending your branding to your social channels and maintaining a regular posting schedule so you stay fresh in your customers’ minds.

6. Use Customer Testimonials and Case Studies

You want your brand to be known as the tried-and-trusted alternative that beats the competition — every time. The fastest way to solidify that thought in your prospects’ minds is to publish the real-life experiences of your current client base. If you haven’t yet, we recommend creating a system to capture these experiences — good and bad — and use them to refine, improve, and market your offers. Video content is typically the highest-performing, but text-based reviews are great, too.

7. Optimize Your Branding for Search Engines (SEO)

Small business branding tips aren’t just about visuals and tone. There’s an unseen technical side that small businesses need to consider to really make their branding strategy hit the mark — and that unseen side is your complementary SEO strategy.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a set of strategic steps that help your pages get “seen” in Google. It uses keywords to show your pages and assets to consumers in need. If you haven’t yet, we recommend consulting with an SEO specialist to learn how using keywords and other SEO tools could amplify your current brand and messaging strategies.

8. Offer Value — Everywhere, Everytime

As a small business owner, you want your brand to be associated with value. That’s why it’s important to create value that’s brand-specific and tangible for your customers — such as branded videos, webinars, white papers, and other assets that help them maximize their benefit from your offers. Over time, they’ll associate your outputs and brand elements with value, subliminally — and they’ll be looking for other ways to engage with your business.

9. Make an Impact in Your Community

Branding isn’t just for your website or web presence. It also extends to your surrounding community. 84% of businesses found that localized marketing efforts brought higher revenue. Luckily, this is easy for most — taking the form of local sponsorships and partnerships or your business’s presence at community events in town.

This effort not only displays your company’s level of commitment to your local clients; it also serves as a visual reminder and solidifies your brand with value, effort, and benefit in your specific niche. This then results in higher brand awareness over time.

10. Keep It Personal

We’ve saved one of the most powerful small business branding tips for last — maintaining and refining your personal brand.

We know it’s easy to neglect this step if you’re in the throes of small business branding and operations, but you shouldn’t. People connect with people. While they can benefit from a unified branding presence from your small business, they’ll likely initially connect more with the face behind the brand — you — and want to see what you can offer through your business. Not the other way around.

Make Your Pipeline Encore-Worthy With Rockstarr & Moon

Small business branding is no easy feat. Defining your Platinum Messaging, launching a site, maintaining your socials, and keeping up with local outreach requires all of your attention. That’s why our rockstarrs put together this list of small business branding tips to get you started.

If you’re looking for more, don’t worry — we’ve got more. We are offering you a VIP ticket to sustainable marketing growth and profitability, courtesy of our marketing rockstarrs. Contact us today, and learn how you can leverage the proven, tested strategies that have been helping small businesses scale their operations — quickly.