Modern Branding Strategies for Small Businesses in Brookings, South Dakota

Branding is more important than ever for small businesses in today's crowded marketplace. Customers have endless options at their fingertips, so your brand plays a pivotal role in getting them to choose you over competitors.

In this article, we will explore modern branding strategies for small businesses based in Brookings, South Dakota. I've divided the content into clear sections so you can easily skim for relevant information. By the end, you'll walk away with practical steps to establish an impactful brand and see growth locally.

Let's start with the foundation — defining your brand identity.

Defining Your Brand Identity

The first crucial step is defining your brand identity — what your brand stands for at its core. Take time to thoughtfully articulate your values, mission, vision and personality in a way that genuinely connects with your target audience.

If you live in South Dakota, you already know that we place a high value on local products and services. If you can find a way to incorporate elements that celebrate the local heritage and culture into your brand image, you’re off to a great start.

Some key questions to consider:

• What attributes do you want associated with your brand — fun, casual, serious, professional, quality-focused, convenient, etc?
• What feeling or emotional response do you want customers to have when interacting with your brand? Joyful? Reassured? Energized?
• What words, phrases or symbols encapsulate the essence of your brand that customers will remember?
• Draw inspiration from popular companies that resemble what you have in mind for your own brand.

Having a clear sense of your brand identity ensures consistent expression of who you are across all platforms, and consistency (as we’ll discuss more later) is key.

Designing Impactful Visual Assets

With brand identity set, the next step is to craft the visual assets. This is arguably the most difficult part of the process. Here is what you’ll need to get started:

• Logo design
• Stationery — letterheads, business cards, packages, flyers
• Social media graphics

For budget-conscious small businesses, consider the following:

• Free/low-cost graphic design templates to modify for your needs
• Local design students open to pro-bono or cheap projects for their portfolios
• Canva, a free yet powerful graphic design tool for non-professionals

Test concepts internally and with focus groups (for most people this means friends and family, and that’s perfectly fine), and refine them accordingly, if you deem it necessary.

Keep in mind: Consistency across all touchpoints is paramount.

I feel it necessary to add a quick note about AI here. While artificial intelligence has advanced at a mind-boggling pace in the last year or so, it is still far away from being able to produce professional-grade branding materials on its own. Be wary of AI companies that promise you perfect results in 30 seconds.

Popular Software to Elevate Your Brand Image

In order to create a powerful brand image, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with various software. Here is a list of some of the most popular design software in 2023:

Adobe Photoshop

There’s practically zero chance you haven’t heard of Photoshop. Most people think of it as a photo editing program, but it is used by graphic designers on a daily basis, worldwide. You can use it to create social media graphics, business cards, letterheads, etc.

Adobe Illustrator

As the name suggests, this software was created for illustrators. It works with vector graphics (graphics that you can scale indefinitely without losing quality), and it has become the go-to program for logo designers, architectural designers, package designers, etc., since its launch.

Technically, this is all you’ll need to develop a modern, beautiful and professional brand image. Adobe After Effects can be pretty useful as well if you intend to create motion graphics for social media.

Disclaimer

I won’t sugarcoat it for you, friends. These programs are awesome, and they are extremely powerful tools in the right hands, but they are also a pain in the you-know-what for the average person. According to most estimates, a beginner can gain a basic understanding of how to navigate the dashboards of these software in 15-20 hours. That’s just to learn where everything is, and the function of the basic tools. If you intend to make your company’s branding a DIY project, expect to invest at least 150-200 hours.

If you want the absolute best for your company, creating professional-grade branding materials may simply be out of reach for a DIY project. Even after months of dedication, imitation, trial and error, you may still not be satisfied with your results. In addition to mastering the software, and learning basic design principles, you will also need artistic talent, which can’t be bought or taught. It may be a somber truth, but it is the truth.

Ensuring Consistency Over Time

Did I mention consistency? Consistency, consistency, consistency. This is the single most important element to keep in mind.

• Always use high quality versions of your logo
• Use a single color palette
• Make sure your typography matches across all materials

Consistency is what converts first-time customers into loyal brand advocates. 18th century Irish philosopher, Francis Hutcheson, defined beauty as “uniformity amongst variety.” Keep these words in mind as you develop your brand.

Conclusion

A strong brand differentiates your small business and gets customers coming back time and again. Defining identity, crafting visuals, and maintaining consistency is what creates an impactful brand.

Ultimately, if this seems overwhelming, it’s because it is. The truth of the matter is that there aren’t enough years in the average human lifespan to master every aspect of branding in the digital age. And this is true even for professionals in the field, let alone for the average business owner, to whom branding and digital marketing are nothing more than a means to an end.

If you find yourself under the latter category, the single best decision you can make is to enlist the help of a professional branding/digital marketing agency. Our team is always ready to help, and we always provide free consultations. Head over to our contact page to submit a request, and we’ll be in touch soon.