I hear it all the time. In fact I have been hearing it for decades. Clients with solid ideas, and solid offerings want to improve their marketing and communications but they say things like, “We know these things cost tens of thousands of dollars”. Not everyone has a large marketing budget and so many companies believe marketing has to be costly. Let’s start with the foundation.
Every small business owner has been here. You are on a call with a potential client, everything is going well, and then they check your site, or your email signature. Somehow without saying a word, the energy can shift.
They are not responding to the quality of your work, it’s the signal your brand is projecting. Big wealthy brands understand that perception is reality. The good news, the gap between “Looks like a start up” and “looks like an established player” is much smaller than it used to be, and not as expensive.
Start With the Foundation
Here are a couple areas that can help set the tone. First, your logo. A clean, well executed mark speaks volumes. AI work can get blurry, or mirror a million similar companies. A busy logo can look terrible from a distance. These are all sending the wrong message, you hammered out a logo just to check it off your startup list. Second, your voice. Does your company have a voice? Is it consistent across every touch point? Consistency builds trust.
Not every brand element needs to exist on day one. You need to build the foundation vs spreading your already smaller budget across every element. If you are tight on funds, a brand guideline or swag can wait a beat.
Build Credibility
Bigger brands do not look credible because they spend more, they look credible because they built the brand foundation. Everything is aligned. Their colours had some thought put into them vs just colours the owners like. The logo was strategically designed by a team that listened to you beyond just some prompts.
Let your growing businesses build brand identity that punches above your weight. Think about having a solid foundation and then one day showing up to see your client. You should be proud to hand over that crisp, clean business card vs handing it over and saying, “I know, it’s all I have right now.”
By Kyle Bruce
