How do your customers recognize your company? Do they know what makes you different from your competition? Do they have a good impression of your small business?

The thing that triggers your customers to identify your company and distinguish you from competitors is actually your brand. And whether you are intentional about it or not, your brand is often determined by the experiences your customers have with your company. Building your brand is more than just creating a company logo or selecting corporate colors, although those things are part of it. Successful small businesses add value by shaping customer experiences into a strong, recognizable brand that creates customer loyalty, attracts new clients, and builds up business over time. Building your brand is an ongoing process, so here are five things you can do right now to further develop, strengthen, and add more value to your company’s brand:

1. Spell Out What You Stand For
   What is the one single thing that your company stands for? Low prices? Outstanding service? Unique products? Of course, it’s tempting to say “our company stands for all of those things!” And maybe that’s true; but defining your position requires you to narrow your focus further and identify what makes you different and better than your competitors.

   Marketing Playbook has a good exercise for helping you pinpoint what your company stands for, called Positioning XYZs. Answer the question “we are the only X that solves Y problem in Z unique way.” Just substitute X with your company, product, or service; use Y for the problem that you solve for your customers, and make Z the key advantage or differentiator you have over your competitors.

2. Share Your “Story”
   You need to make your company interesting and accessible, and the best way to do that is by telling the story of your company. Not just the history (“we were founded in 1974, when our president did such and such…”), but more importantly, why you do what you do. Give examples of the insights that led you to start your business, examples of customer success stories describing how you uniquely solved a problem for a client, or what led you to develop your products or services. Customers want to know what motivates you as a company, and why they should believe in you and trust you with their business.
3. Enhance Your Brand Experience
   Sure, you want your customers and prospects to think of you the next time they’re ready to buy, but they can do that only if you’ve created a brand experience for them along the way. A brand experience can be any encounter that a consumer has with your company, whether it’s seeing your logo on a community event sponsorship, seeing your name come up at the top of the search engine results, or receiving your company’s e-newsletter in their inbox each month. Get your name out there, be visible, and be associated with activities and events that create a positive impression of your company. For instance, if your company consistently shows up at the top of the search results, that leaves a positive impression on customers – even if they are not ready to buy.
4. Monitor the Conversation
   There are several simple, no-cost ways to monitor what’s being said about your company, and you can do this yourself using the web. Google Alerts can help monitor when your business or products are mentioned somewhere on the web. Just go to Google.com and set up alerts for the words you want to track. For example, you could track your company name, the names of key personnel, or the names of your products or services. You can also track key names and phrases of your competitors to see where they are showing up on the web as well. Other ways to watch your brand include monitoring Blogs, Twitter, and social networking web sites like Technorati and LinkedIn.
5. Pay Attention to Your Search Engine Positions
   How can you possibly know how your business is faring if you don’t check your search engine rankings regularly? It’s critical that you keep an eye on your positions and watch out for the changes that most likely occur each month. You must also be ready to take whatever action is necessary to make sure your company stays visible in the search engine results. Research shows that about 80% of consumers turn to the search engines FIRST – before they make decisions, go shopping, or buy anything. If your company is not showing up in the first few search results, it means that your competitors are showing up instead. That does nothing to help build your brand, drive traffic to your web site, or bring in new customers and sales.

The Value of a Brand for Small Businesses

The value of your brand is something that is built over time, and small businesses that do this successfully are often rewarded with not only name recognition and consumer mindshare, but also customer loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations among colleagues and friends. But in order to add value to your company’s brand, you must be clear about who you are as a company, be intentional about the customer experience, and carefully monitor how your brand is being presented and talked about in the marketplace. By trying these five tips, you can help establish a brand that represents your company, strengthens your connection with consumers, and adds value to your brand everyday.