Small business brand awareness increases. Call it an epic battle between the ill-matched. From uptown New York to downtown Sidney, the number of small businesses outnumber the number of blue chip multinational corporations doing business. Which makes it even more tragic that while these small businesses warrant statistical data and crowds, it’s the blue chip type companies that get the attention.
What do I mean? Well, large companies can have a reputation ranging from great to good or bad and they are the ones that investors and customers know. On the other hand, while small business form the pack of the global economy, they, are the ones that are barely known.
Small business brand awareness has been a struggle to leverage it as a move of strategic behavior and branding. And, the gravity of the challenge increases if the reputation is bad.
Fortunately, we have the digital ecosystem. By utilizing tools such as online reputation management, small businesses can look forward to reinventing the rules of competition in the market.
Small Business Brand Awareness Challenges
From having an optimized website to investing in social media marketing, there are tons of financial feasible things a small business can pursue. The key is to take note of the rules of engagement and get the basics right.
Along with digital marketing initiatives and online reputation management, enhancing your online presence requires a change in mindset.
The following benchmark practices can empower your small business to be more and do more with your brand:
(1) Enhance team collaboration with small business brand awareness
It’s important to unite your departmental structure into a single thread to ensure one voice for brand consistency. When each department delivers the same message across all platforms, there’s a sense of authenticity. This one voice creates an inevitable reach of your business.
But, to always be on the hot list, you need to consistently enhance your customers’ experience.
(2) Create a rich user experience across all platforms
Online visitors seek a rich user experience and content that relevant to their quest. Not content that you think is awesome, but completely ignores your target audience. For search engine ranking, user experience is one of the first factors to consider. Failing that can cost your business traffic and potential customers.
As a small business brand, you need to study your data and focus on the areas where you lack perfection. Then, work in accordance to create a rich user experience for your visitors.
(3) Choose a domain extension that complement your brand
We tend to show strong trust in domains with .com, .org or .net domain extensions. It’s partly due to the authenticity we have associated with them. And, that’s exactly what you should do for your business. Choosing the right domain extension for your business can build a sense of trust and authenticity in your brand.
(4) Link your online presence to your current domain name
Social media is one of the most effective tools for augmenting your online reach. Link your social presence to your domain name, product and service pages.
(5) Incorporate branded emails into your work flow
If you really love Gmail. No problem. You can get a custom business email through G Suite and look more professional when communicating with customers. An @gmail.com is not a professional look when your business name is @awesomeproducts.com.
If you already have business email addresses created, but still prefer using Google, you can setup those business email addresses in G Suite also.
A branded email address augments your online reputation and builds consistency of your brand throughout the internet chain.
I hope the above mentioned elements serve as value addition to your online reputation management. You can look forward to not just competing, but winning against big brands. Yes, at Envisager Studio, we believe in the small business.
About the Author
Hazel Burgess is the Founder and Creative Director of Envisager Studio, a premier website design agency specializing in WordPress website design, development and content marketing promotion. The company is based in San Diego, CA and works with companies that range from small business to enterprise level. Follow +EnvisagerStudioSanDiego on Google+ as well as Twitter.
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