Getting noticed can be one of the trickiest aspects of running a small business. However, while attracting attention isn’t always easy, it’s necessary if you want customers to find you.
As soon as you’ve sorted out company formation, it’s time to get out there and promote your business.
In this article, 1st Formations outlines practical ways that small businesses can get noticed.
Why getting noticed is harder for small businesses
It’s often harder to get noticed as a small business as you’re trying to market yourself with smaller budgets, teams, and brand recognition than your established competitors. It will take time to build up awareness of your business and what it does. But results should become visible over a longer period.
As a small business owner, it’s perfectly normal to still be working out your business’s identity in the early days. However, having an unclear positioning can undermine visibility. An audience may notice you, but they can just as easily forget your business if its name, logo, or offering keeps changing. Some adjustments will be unavoidable, but the earlier you define your business’s proposition, the sooner you can build it into a memorable brand.
Consistency can improve results by making it easier for customers to recognise your business. There are several things small businesses should keep in mind to improve their chances of getting noticed.
Getting the basics right before trying to stand out
While every business has to start somewhere, there’s little point bringing customers into a business that isn’t ready to trade. Taking the time to sort out formal company formation and establish an online presence will help potential customers trust the business.
To get your business ready for marketing, ensure that it has:
- A clear name
- Appropriate legal structure
- A professional online presence (i.e. website and email with custom domains)
- Consistent branding
Ensuring consistency and professionalism across your physical premises and virtual presences reduces friction for customers. When you’re a new business, customers may be less likely to trust you. If they can see that everything adds up online and appears legitimate. They may be happier to do business with you.
Formally forming your company can also help signal trustworthiness to customers, as it shows the business is likely being run in a structured way.
How small business branding helps you stand out
Small business branding starts with the core elements you control as an owner: your name, logo, and colour palette. There is another big element: how others perceive your business. While you can’t control what others think, you can improve recognition by having a strong brand and improve positive associations by offering consistently good products and services.
It’s also important that your early branding communicates who you are and what you do. While abstract advertising campaigns might work for big firms with large marketing budgets, small businesses typically need to be more explicit about their offerings to raise awareness. For example, a well-known pizza takeaway can entice customers with posters of their recognisable logo, as some people will already have a positive association with the brand. However, a new competitor would likely be better off using photos of their food and sharing price points to tempt people to try them.
Effective small business branding needs to help potential customers:
- Recognise the business – What is it called?
- Understand what it offers – What does the business do and where can I find it?
- Feel confident choosing it – Can I trust this business?
Whatever type of branding you go for, it’s important to be consistent. Inconsistent branding can confuse customers, whereas a consistent brand can help build trust. Put yourself in a customer’s shoes: would you rather book for a dog-walking service that has a customised van and an online presence or one with inconsistent logos across social media and a personal (rather than business) email address? You’ll likely perceive the well-branded dog walking service as more professional and therefore be more likely to trust them to look after your pet.
Making your message consistent across channels
Customers often come across a business multiple times before they part with their money. For example, somebody may travel past a restaurant, see photos of its dishes on social media, and view its menu online before booking a table. It’s important that these experiences align together, as consistency builds trust. If a restaurant’s marketing features dishes that aren’t on its menu, it can puzzle customers and lead them to go elsewhere.
It’s worth making sure that your messaging and branding is consistent across all of your business’s touchpoints, including its:
- Website
- Social media
- External listings (i.e. Google Business Profile)
- Offline materials, like flyers
- Physical premises
If your opening hours say one thing on your Google Business Profile, another in your Instagram bio and vary again on your door, it’s hard for customers to know when you’re open. It’s important that you have the same, accurate information across all your presences so that customers can trust you. You should also use branding consistently. While you’ll likely make slight adjustments for different platforms, your business’s tone of voice and visual branding should remain recognisable.
Using promotional products strategically
Promotional products for small businesses can be one way of getting noticed. Physical touchpoints can reinforce brand recognition in ways digital marketing can’t.
The best promotional products for small businesses are useful, well-branded, and relevant to the business’s target audience. If you’re a gym, branded resistance bands may appeal. If you offer tutoring, notebooks might be particularly good. However, if you’re a chocolatier, putting your company name on a fidget spinner is likely irrelevant.
If you’re considering investing in promotional products, focus on usefulness. Poor-quality products can damage perception. For example, those who are environmentally conscious may negatively view your business if the promotional products are seen as novelty, throwaway items. However, appropriate promotional products still have their place – particularly at local events or as a thank you to customers.
If you’re unsure about outlaying funds for promotional products, you can still embrace physical branding. For example, you can put your brand name on in-store shopping bags and mailing packages. Anyone who sees this packaging will be exposed to your brand. Plus, it offers more brand reinforcement for the purchaser.
Building visibility over time
While it’s understandable that you want your small business to get noticed as soon as possible. It’s important to be realistic that success won’t happen overnight. It takes time to build up a reputation and become a recognisable brand.
By committing to making sure your branding, messaging, and customer experiences are consistent from the beginning. You’ll set yourself on a path to gradually build momentum. If you combine this with some well-targeted adverts, attendance at local events, and relevant promotional products, you’ll hopefully get your business in front of more people who you can then potentially turn into long-term customers.
How early decisions can support long-term visibility
How easily you can build momentum is often shaped by some of the decisions you make early on in your business journey. For example, initial branding choices can determine whether it stands out. Even earlier than this, though, how you’ve set up your company can influence how much time you can invest in getting your business noticed.
Nurturing a consistent, external brand is easier if your internal processes are organised. Admin frustration, compliance confusion, and other behind-the-scenes distractions can interrupt your marketing momentum.
One of the early decisions that can influence your business long-term is company formation. Some businesses use an external organisation, such as 1st Formations, to help with company formation and compliance admin. Which can free up time for brand-building.
Ultimately, getting noticed as a small business requires a combination of tactics – and patience. By putting the right foundations in place, small businesses put themselves in a stronger position to capture the attention of an audience that they can then gradually convert into customers and clients.
