The dream of every business owner is to see their business grow — and grow — and grow.
Sometimes that dream seems unattainable. At least, not without a lot of work!
Building a business is not for the faint of heart. It requires time, money, and effort, and sometimes demands blood, sweat, and tears. There isn’t really a way to avoid the requirements of setting up a business. And it’s true that anything worth doing is worth doing well.
But!
Throughout your setup and initial branding, there are also available tools that can help to build your business — even when you’re not actively working on marketing and branding.
Using these tools puts your branding, and growth, on autopilot so you have enough time to focus on your products too.
For do it yourself branding tools that keep working for you, keep reading!
DIY Logo Design
Logo design is a signature part of overall branding. In fact, logos are most commonly what people think of as a brand.
Your brand is much more than that, of course. Your brand is, put simply, everything about your business and how it interacts with consumers. It encapsulates the customer experience, public opinion, follow-up, and overall customer satisfaction.
But your logo is a very important, very visible part of your brand. It’s usually what people see first when they come into contact with your brand, whether it’s the first time ever or they have an established relationship with your company.
So if you’re just starting up, or if you’re rebranding, an effective, enduring logo is a must.
Not everyone has the creative chops for creating a logo from scratch, of course, which is why online logo maker services exist, to help you create your ideal logo.
How does your choice of logo contribute to the growth of your brand?
An effective logo is:
- It helps your brand to stand out in the minds of those who see it.
- Effective logos can actually motivate consumers to seek out a brand, using appealing aesthetics and color psychology.
- On message. Your logo contributes to the overall message and personality of your brand, sending a clear signal to everyone who sees it about who you are and what you do.
DIY Social Media Accounts
Social media platforms are increasingly being used to promote brand identity and businesses of all shapes and sizes — over 77 percent of small businesses use these platforms for marketing.
This only makes sense, since more than one in every three users on the internet report that they turn to social media in order to find out more about a particular brand.
So using social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram is a pretty surefire way of spreading awareness of your brand.
But doesn’t it seem like managing and maintaining social media accounts will require extra time for marketing? That’s like the opposite of “autopilot,” isn’t it?
Your business social media accounts will definitely require some maintenance. One suggestion is to set aside time, maybe half an hour, twice each week to post content.
But aside from that, your existing social media accounts will help to grow your brand, even when you’re not actively posting content.
How so?
Social media accounts do the following:
- Make your business more searchable. When someone searches for your business name, it lends legitimacy and user-friendliness to your company if there’s more than one official result.
- Make your business more accessible. Social media excels at fostering sociability. Using platforms like Facebook and Instagram gives your customers a place to leave comments and questions.
- Create conversation. It’s easy to respond to questions or concerns via social media. And your viewers can look through conversations to find out if their questions have already been answered.
- Build your popularity. People do pay attention to follows and likes on social media platforms. It’s a way of legitimizing and popularizing your business that’s relatively easy to attain.
DIY Website Design
Websites may seem overwhelming, but in fact, there’s no better time than now to look into building one. Sites like Wix offer a simple walkthrough to help you put together a functional, attractive site to market your business.
But that’s not all there is to it.
Websites may be perceived as “static,” or not frequently changing. But creating a rotating roster of content, such as featured articles or blog posts — about which more next — keeps interested in your website high, even if you aren’t actively adding new content all the time.
Your website is like the home of your business, so its appearance says a lot about your brand. Design a site that is in keeping with your company’s personality, and don’t forget about including the relevant information: contact info, company history and mission statement, products, and services.
How does your website keep growing your business?
- Featured content keeps the interest of your audience.
- The inclusion of the necessary information makes your company accessible.
- The site itself contributes to the tone of the brand.
DIY Blog Posts
In terms of branding tools that will almost certainly guarantee the growth of a brand, blogging is just about number one. Tools like WordPress are famous for facilitating the creation and management of blogs.
That “almost” is there because blogging does have to be done right. Just slapping some generic content up on your blog each week won’t make the blog work for you.
But for content that is well researched, helpful, and full of SEO keywords, blogging can make an incredible return on your investment of time.
According to statistics, companies that have blogs attached to their websites receive up to 97 percent more links back to their official sites.
And because of how search algorithms work, sites with frequently updated content are more likely to rank higher than others — so including a blog actually gives you a staggering 434 percent better chance of a boost in search rankings. It also renders it more likely that people will share your posts with others.
As an added bonus, content can be adapted and repurposed for use on your business social media accounts.
Again, blogging obviously does require some time and effort. But once the content is there, it continues to contribute to the growth of your brand. How?
Effective blogging:
- Gives you “featured” content for your main website.
- Increases your
SEO keyword usage. - Is more likely to be shared and linked back to.
- Gives you a very significant boost in search rankings.
- Helps you to add to the reputation and personality of your brand with helpful, fun, informative content.
DIY Automated Responses
This may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to branding — in fact, it may not even make the list.
But setting up an automated response to contacts and inquiries can actually establish your brand as being customer-centric and service-oriented.
Automated responses are often used via email, but can also be set up for comments on blogs or website posts. While a generic “Your comment has been received,” probably won’t do a lot to promote your brand, automated responses are another point of contact between you and the consumer — so they are another opportunity to grow your brand.
And since automated responses are generally sent out when you’re out of the office or on vacation, they’ll definitely be working for you on “autopilot.”
Add extras to your responses — a tip, a joke, a personalized acknowledgment — and make sure to include a projected timeline for a personal response.
Automated responses:
- Promote conversation.
- Assure the customer that their contact has been received and will be addressed.
- Should focus on customer service.
- Are another opportunity to grow your brand?
GROWING AND BRANDING ON AUTOPILOT
If your dream really is to grow your brand while focusing on products and services, using the tools above can definitely be a help to you.
But remember, your brand is more than just your logo, your name, or any other single aspect of your business. Your brand is all of that and more — your brand is every point of contact between you and the consumer.
So although each of the points above do require a certain amount of time invested, the return on the investment is definitely worth it.
Each of the tools mentioned can be used together to create “autopilot” growth for your business — a constantly improving enhancement of your brand, even when you’re busy with other aspects of running a company.
