How to Make Your Small Business Stand Out

Whether you’ve just started creating your own unique product or service or if you’ve been managing your small business for a few years, we all understand how intimidating it can be to get your name out there. In the crazy world of commerce, standing out can be a real challenge, especially for us small business owners. We don’t have entire teams dedicated to advertising and marketing like large corporations, which can afford to spend thousands on billboards, social media ads, and commercials. Instead, most of us are running solo-shows, and we all know how hard it is to juggle all of our tasks in just one day, let alone spend hours of our precious time trying to figure out how to brand ourselves.

But fear not! Building your small business from the ground-up is a continuous process. There’s no need to create and implement all of our strategies in one day. Instead, let’s take some time to learn how to slowly get your name out there so you can begin your own journey of self-marketing.

Create an Effective Branding Strategy

Branding is everything for any business, whether you’re selling homemade goods or providing a dog-sitting service. One look at your website or social media page should give your current and potential customers a good idea of what your business is, who it caters, and what it stands for. If you don’t have a steady, recognizable brand, how will your customers differentiate you from another company in your industry?

Think about it like this: when you think about Starbucks, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Probably coffee and breakfast items, but did you also imagine its iconic green mermaid with two tails? What about Nike? Yes, it sells sneakers and other sports items, but the words, “Just do it,” and its swoosh logo were probably the first things to pop up in your mind. Why’s this? Because of their great branding. They’ve found a way to make their brand memorable, and as a small business owner, it’s your job to find a way to accomplish this.

As you try to figure out your own brand, make sure to always go back to your target audience. They’re your business’s lifeline, after all. Make sure that your brand resonates with your ideal customers.

If you want to learn more about branding, check out our article here: Branding, Branding, and More Branding

Learn How to Use Social Media

In the age of the Internet, we all know how prevalent social media is in our lives. Most of us check our personal social media pages, like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok right when we wake up in the mornings or right before bed. But actually managing our own social media pages for our small business? That’s where it can get a bit tricker.

Yes, social media is a fun way to pass the time and to update others about our own lives, but we have to be a bit more careful when it comes to posting for our small business. Most of us probably aren’t updating our personal pages daily, but what happens if we have that same attitude for our small business’s page? We run the risk of disappearing amongst the millions of other social media pages.

So how do we stand out from the crowd? By adhering to our brand, regularly updating our pages, promptly answering any direct messages, and using our pages not just as advertisements, but making sure that the content we create is useful, entertaining, or relevant to our followers.

Social media is also a great place to access some important data about our target audience, such as their age, gender, and location. It also provides statistics about our progress, such as new follower counts, interactions with posts, and popularity of our posts. Social media isn’t just a way to get our small business out there, but it’s an important place to receive some very useful pieces of information.

Participate in Local Events

Local events, such as conferences and trade shows, are great ways to market and promote your small business. There, you can showcase your brand, fine-tune your networking and people skills, and develop relationships with other professionals in your field. Participating in these kinds of events also allows any potential customers to personally interact with you, which allows them a chance to interact with your brand in a positive way. The best thing about these events is its personable aspect. Whether you’re talking to professionals or customers, you are practicing your ability to market yourself in-person. It’s easy to write an email or make a phone call about your business, but trying to convince others that your small business is important and relevant in-person is a completely different game. These local events provide you the perfect opportunity to build your communication and people skills. There’s no better way to learn than to practice, practice, practice!

Develop Relationships with Reporters

Reporters provide a great opportunity to gain more coverage about your business in the media. However, they most likely won’t be the ones contacting you (unless you’ve gained great traction and attention for your small business). Your job as a small business owner is to reach out to them and establish relationships with local reporters, editors, and media outlets.

Now, you can’t just email them and simply ask to get your business on the news. You have to market yourself and your small business to them. Why should they care about your small business? What value do you provide for the community? What’s your story and why is it important? It’s the job of news reporters to present a story to the people, and it’s your job to convince them that you have a story. Make sure it’s appealing, informative, and impactful.

Once you’ve developed a relationship with media outlets, you may have a better chance to generate more attention for your brand. The more people who know about your business, the greater the chances that your business will grow.

Focus on Reviews

When it comes to getting free information about the quality of your products or services, what better place is there to look than your own customers? Your customers have opinions about your small business, and they want to tell them to you. They want to feel heard, so make sure that you’re hearing them and putting their feedback into action. The more you improve your business based on their own concerns and experiences, the more your customers will feel appreciated. Your customers are the most important part of your small business, and by following their advice, you’re showing them that you care; that you’re prioritizing great customer service. Customers will remember owners who treat them well and value their input, and if you do this, you’ll be leaving a great impact on their perceptions of your small business.

Getting your name out there can be quite intimidating. Especially since there isn’t necessarily a “guideline” available for small business owners, it can feel like you’re playing a losing game as you start your marketing journey. But fear not! Growing your business takes a lot of time. Don’t be discouraged just because you don’t see results right away. As you continuously build your small business’ name, you’ll soon see the progress you deserve.

If you want to read more small business tips, check out the rest of Barbie’s page at barbiepatel.com. Or if you want to learn about her South Asian bridal hair and makeup services, visit her website at cinderellabridez.com!