Building a successful business starts with branding. Your brand's voice and style give it personality, and that personality makes it relatable (or not) for potential customers. It's easy to go down a rabbit hole with different styles and voices when you're (re)branding. But once you determine a style for your brand, you should stick with it. Make sure that everyone who works on your brand knows how to use it; it will help people identify your brand faster.
If you're going through the branding or rebranding process, here are five branding tips to help increase your visibility, recognition, and awareness.
1. Have a single voice and unified style that defines the brand
Brand awareness is not just about a logo or a tagline—it's about the entire experience your customers have with your car wash or service. Your brand image and brand message should be cohesive and consistent across your marketing strategy, from how you speak to your customers to how you present yourself in photos and videos.\
Having a single voice and unified style makes it easier for your customers to understand who you are, what you stand for, and why they should choose you over other businesses.
2. Know who you're talking to
Get to know your audience and customer base. You won't be heard by trying to appeal to everyone. Instead, brand your car wash to be able to reach the audience you want and be consistent with your message. From search engines to social media, building a strong brand demands an online presence and the ability to connect with your demographic where they spend their time and in meaningfully consistent ways.
Conduct research and apply that to your marketing campaigns. To make your brand unique and easily understood by your audience, you should gather as much demographic information as possible. First, think about the target customers for your business and what they need from you. Once you have framed your target audience’s needs, think about what kinds of experiences you can create through the design that will most effectively meet their needs. Then start creating it!
3. Use precise language and images
Creative content marketing is much like building a house. First, you need a solid foundation (SEO) and blueprints so your dream home will be strong enough to make it through the test of time.
Branding is about creating an identity that your target market and new customers can relate to, engage with, and remember. It involves creating a story and user experience through every aspect of your brand – including your marketing collateral.
Your creative digital marketing materials should be clear and accurate, focusing on suitable topics and being easy to read. Use precise language in all your messaging. Images are also essential, as they help convey a feeling of trust, quality, and design.
4. Have one consistent style
A consistent style speaks volumes about your brand and leaves a favorable lasting impression. In addition, consistency helps establish credibility and builds trust with your target audience by showing them that they can trust your brand for quality and reliability.
Use the same fonts, colors, and styles consistently to create a more unmistakable look for your car wash. Focus on this consistency in your marketing efforts and across campaigns and platforms. This includes any email marketing, social media marketing, hashtags, guest posts, podcasts, webinars, or infographics that are all easily relatable and identifiable.
5. Once it's in place, protect it
Once you've established your business's brand identity, protect it by ensuring that all of your marketing materials consistently follow the same design principles. From social media platforms to commercial signage and advertisements make yourself easily recognizable. Something else to consider is brand imitators.
Small business owners may use similar brand names or logos, which could lead consumers to believe that their brand experience is the same as yours. In this instance, imitation is not flattery and could be illegal. The challenge is to prevent these imitators from mimicking the same look as your brand. The best way is to search for them in Google Images and ensure they're not infringing on your trademark. This will help to enhance word-of-mouth marketing and referrals.
Bonus Content: As we enter the year's second half, several pivots have been necessary, but nothing has probably taken a bigger hit than your budget. However, you still have to run your car wash and market it.
Here are our favorite small business brand-building tools and resource recommendations, especially if you're on a budget.
ChatGPT - An AI tool for natural language processing and generation.
Wordtune - Google Chrome extension that uses AI and machine learning to improve written communication by rewriting or rephrasing sentences.
Grammarly - Online tool for checking spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery.
Copy.ai - AI-powered copywriter that creates high-quality content.
Canva - Online tool for creating high-quality marketing content.
Fiverr - Connects businesses with freelancers offering 500+ categories of creative services.
