5 Effective and Affordable Branding Ideas for Small Businesses

If you’re establishing a small business, you know that balancing your income with your marketing efforts can be a hard uphill battle - especially if you don’t know what to prioritize.

However, it’s possible to get your name out while not breaking the bank.

In fact, many of these affordable branding ideas are the necessary foundations for a solid marketing plan.

Read on for our top 5 affordable and effective branding ideas that will establish your small business and help it grow for the foreseeable future!

1. Define Your Brand

Before you decide on or purchase any marketing material, it’s important that you completely define your brand first. Going forward, defining your brand will inform all of your marketing decisions. This largely depends on your target audience.

Your target audience is the “avatar” of your business that you’ll be directly selling to.

The more specific you are the better because you’re more likely to attract the kinds of clients you want.

Think about the age, purchasing habits, demographics, yearly salary, even the kind of car your target customer drives. Then, consider your brand’s mission and unique selling point and how you can directly address your customer’s problems and needs.

2. Brand Style Guide

Once you’re satisfied with your target customer and brand identity, working on your brand style guide is the next best step. The style guide is a great way to organize all the details of your brand’s design so you and new employees can refer back to it whenever you need to make marketing decisions.

The more cohesive your business’s marketing is, the more memorable it becomes. Taking your time to complete a brand style guide will save you time and frustration in the future.

Brand style guides typically include details on:

• Logos, including size and placement
• Color palette
• Typography
• Links and buttons
• Visual hierarchy
• Graphics and imagery

Like your brand identity, the more specific you are, the better.

3. Print Materials

The print materials you choose to use and prioritize will be far easier once you have a well-established style guide. From your business cards to flyers, all your print materials should have consistent branding in order to be the most memorable and eye-catching to potential customers.

Here are a few necessities to invest in depending on the event or marketing goal you have in mind:

Business Cards

We’re now in the digital age, but business cards still aren’t out of style. It’s much easier to pass over a business card to give all your contact information. Plus, they’re able to create a positive impression both on your professionalism and brand identity.

Letterhead and Envelopes

If you’re sending out cards, invoices, or reminders, it’s important that your envelopes are branded. It shows attention to detail as well as giving you more authority.

Presentation Folders

If you’re attending a convention or face-to-face meeting with documents to hand out, presentation folders not only make it less likely that clients will throw the material away, but they also create practical and attractive marketing material.

When people keep your presentation folders, this increases familiarity and trust in your brand.

Brochures

Brochures are a great way to introduce new clients to your services and offerings, or new products and offerings to current customers. They create a concise and eye-catching way to distill information. Most importantly, brochures can be placed in related physical locations in order to draw attention to local leads.

4. Website

Your website is essentially the hub of all your online activities. If you have links within your social media or business cards, they should all lead back to your website.

Although in the future it’s recommended to invest in a graphic designer to create a unique and professionally designed website, you can create one yourself for little to no money.

By using your brand style guide, you’ll be able to create a website that’s consistent with the rest of your branding material. If you haven’t created your own website before, we recommend sticking with minimal websites with a clear UI.

Here are a few inexpensive and popular site builders to get you started:

• Squarespace
• Wix
• Cargo Cartel
• Weebly
• WordPress
• Shopify
• Format

5. Quality Content

You don’t need to have a huge advertising budget in order to get your website in front of your target clients’ eyes. By creating quality content, you’ll be able to offer value to current clients while boosting your SEO to reach potential clients.

You’ll also be building your brand voice and authority by becoming an expert in the field.

The content you create can come in many forms, such as:

• Blog articles
• Text guides
• Video guides
• Infographics

Think about the information that your clients are actively looking for. For instance, if you own a lawn care company, your clients may want to know how to eliminate pests, choose the best plants for their climate, or how to keep their lawn green.

Affordable Branding Ideas for Longterm Growth

Affordability will still bring you quality branding ideas and consistent marketing if you take the time to create a consistent brand identity.

By establishing a well-known brand voice and identity, you’re building authentic trust and authority with current and potential clients. This is something that money just can’t by if you don’t take the time!

Ready to create affordable, quality print marketing materials for your small business? Browse our presentation products today!