Small businesses are always looking for ways to stay ahead of the competition. In today’s digital world, branding is more important than ever before. But what if you don’t have a million dollars to rebrand your company? Fear not! Here are five branding tips that will help any small business stand out from the crowd.

Do a brand audit

To make sure you understand your positioning in the market, a brand audit is a great idea. It may be that it’s been a while since you looked at your brand objectives, messaging and audience research.  An audit will help you to answer some questions such as: What is the desired branding message? Why does the company exist in its current form, and what changes may need to be made? What do we learn from being in business over x period of years and how can we integrate our knowledge into our brand? Answering these questions can lead to a better understanding of our current space in the market landscape and help us stay competitive.

Do a brand refresh

After doing a thorough brand audit, it’s time to refresh your brand assets. But what does this actually mean? At the core of any brand identity, you should at least have a brand colour palette, typography and logo systems. So those are the assets we should be looking at when we’re doing a brand refresh. Changing two or three key elements can make all the difference without doing any major redesigns – Just like McDonald’s, Pepsi and even Google, these brands change their logo a little bit every few years to create a new look.

Create a child/sister entity

By creating a sister entity, you can target a new or different market by broadening your approach to a bigger and diverse market. You might have expanded your service or product offerings and are looking to tap into new segments without creating a whole new brand. Creating a child or sister entity can be extremely cost-effective as you don’t have to start branding from scratch, instead, you can create something that looks related to the primary company without having its full brand identity. An example of this may be adding or tweaking a few elements of the primary brand logo to create a symbol of a related company.

Change your brand voice

Changing your brand voice can be considered a quicker way to change how your audience perceives your brand without touching your brand visuals. However, when changing your brand voice, it’s important not to lose sight of what makes you unique, so always focus on strategy first before executing your new marketing campaigns. Refer back to the brand audit you’ve done and assess how you can best approach your audience. For a more effective strategy, consult with a professional copywriter.

Expand & develop brand collaterals

A simple way to show to your audience that you just went through a brand refresh is to expand on your brand collateral, such as business cards, brochures, packaging and other marketing materials using your updated brand assets. This way you can keep your branding consistent while showing a fresh, new vibe to it. These interactive pieces are the entryways for your audience to connect with you, so it is essential to design them strategically.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to rebrand without creating major design changes. When doing a brand refresh, make sure your actions come from strategy and brand audit so you always make informed decisions that are best for your business growth. Always remember that your brand evolves alongside your business, so updating your brand assets, messaging and direction can help you stay competitive and relevant in the market.