Thornton Dowson: Brand your small business in 5 easy steps

Strategic and effective branding can elevate a small business into the heart of a crowded market claims Thornton Dowson. The firm discloses the five key steps to successful branding.

About Thornton Dowson: http://www.thorntondowson.com/about-us/

The process of branding involves creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. Small businesses are constantly reminded that this is one of the most important processes for small businesses to get right.

Thornton Dowson outlines five tips to achieve a competitive edge.

1. Mental Pop – A mental pop is the ease with which a brand springs to mind when prospective customers need what they offer. Of course if one particular brand comes to mind, they'll get considered.Thornton Dowson's tips on how to create a brand with mental pop:

Be distinctive. Understand competitors, what are their patterns of advertising?Use this to an advantage, be confident to break the mold.

Be vivid. Is the advertising literature catchy?

Be repetitive. Get the brand name in front of prospects over and over and over again.

Be familiar. Let prospects see the brand so frequently that it becomes an expected player. Explore additional advertising avenues to maximise exposure.

2. Mental Links - When the brand springs into mind, what other thoughts come in along with it? Tailor branding to illustrate the appearance the company is looking to achieve.

3. Action - In branding, action speaks louder than words. Customers will pay a lot of attention to how a brand acts. The promptness of a call-back, the professionalism of the website, the style of a business card, the attitude of the service provider, even the way the phone is answered all speak compellingly to prospective customers. First impressions are lasting, make it a good one.

4. Feeling - Take the time to think about how prospects want to feel. What is a product in the market for and what is the end result? What customers really want is a feeling. Link brands to that feeling.

5. Popularity - When choosing among brands, people pay a lot of attention to what other people choose. The perceived preferences of others are important information because no one has the time to try and evaluate all the options. Make sure prospects know that many others have chosen the brand.Making sure reviews are positive, a negative review outweighs a thousand positive ones.Keep the image clean for new customers.

Thornton Dowson is a fresh new start-up direct sales and marketing company based in Liverpool. They have a workforce of self-motivated and driven individuals who provide innovative ideas to both customers and clients. They lead the way to an original and fresh thinking way of conducting direct sales and marketing campaigns.