4 Tips for Building a Strong Services Brand Online
In June 2024, a Nationwide survey found that 72% of small business owners rated the current economy as "poor" or "fair," but were optimistic about their own businesses. These numbers underscore that there is a mixture of optimism and pessimism regarding the current economic state of affairs. Everyone is more mindful of where they spend their money and what they spend their money on.
Branding your business is important because it helps shorten the distance between a prospective client who has a problem and your business’ solution to those problems. The more aware of and aligned with your brand a prospect can be before they start looking for a solution to their problem, the more likely you are to be part of their search. It’s easier (and often more affordable) to market to them, because they are already aware of your business and have a positive impression of it.
Most service-based business owners know that branding is important. However, many are unsure of where to begin with developing or improving their brand presence. The reality is you don’t need a big budget to start making headway in terms of your brand. Here are a few key tactics that will yield positive results for how your brand is able to reach and resonate with prospects who are looking for what you have to offer.
Make Yourself Easily Findable
The reality is people have many options when it comes to getting technical or professional services. Most searches begin online. According to data from HubSpot, while B2B buyers use a variety of sources to identify and learn more about professional services providers, three of the top 10 ways are online — on your website, through an Internet search, or through an industry website article or story.
Business owners need to make themselves easy to find so they perform well in online searches that relate to the services they offer. For starters, this means investing in a reliable, responsive website. This also means aligning how you show up across all the different platforms and profiles that are out there, carefully culling and curating all the potential touchpoints that exist so they are consistent.
All these touchpoints work cumulatively to support what you have said and shown in other places. The reality is while you can’t be everywhere, you won’t get anywhere by being nowhere. Choose one or two platforms or methods that align with your brand and where your customers are. Commit to those things.
Make Yourself Easily Recognizable
The key idea here is to be consistent in how your brand shows up across all digital platforms, including social media and other online profiles or directory listings. Not only should your content be consistent and up-to-date, the use of images and key messaging should mirror what is found in other places where your brand has a presence.
You should have a signature look and feel that accompanies your brand imagery, encompassing colors, type, and graphic elements. Moreover, there should be a signature style of writing or speaking that becomes easily identifiable with your brand. All of this increases the familiarity and connection to your brand.
I work with many clients on this alignment of their Visual, Verbal, and Vocal Brand — that is, their brand’s look, feel, and sound (your brand voice) — to ensure they are cohesive and consistent. This consistency produces trust and credibility for the person who is engaging with your brand.
Make Your Brand Easily Verifiable
There must be alignment between what you say and how you show up. There should be evidence to the claims that your brand makes. If you say you have helped people in certain ways or delivered results in an area, people want to see proof of that. Some of the key ways that service providers can bear this out is through testimonials and case studies. These brand assets are valuable because they use real data and the impacted client’s own statements to provide context and veracity to what you say you can do.
Another helpful thing is to show your process. In a crowded, often untrusting marketplace where everyone can and does talk about the “what” of their services, the thing that can help you stand out and win them over is the “why” and the “how” — that is, the uniquely valuable way that you create positive outcomes for your clients. In today’s market, you can’t just tell people what you do, you must show them. Fortunately, digital branding and marketing technology and tools are great at doing this.
Make Your Brand Easily Accessible
You’ve also got to show up where your customers are. Your brand should not be everywhere, but instead it should be strategically positioned to be reachable by those who are seeking your services. The people and businesses that are looking for your services should be able to find you quickly and consistently. For many businesses, in addition to a solid website, this means a strong presence on LinkedIn, where around 80% of B2B leads are generated.
In addition, the path to get from inquiry to interview should be simple and easy. Lead with your brand and key messaging, and don’t let anything unnecessary get in the way. Don’t put impediments in your client’s path, structural or otherwise. Understand what your customers want and tailor the discovery and decision making process to those needs.
If the goal is to get them to download a lead magnet or click a button to schedule an appointment, these priorities should be reflected in the architecture and design of your website and the content strategy guiding your social media content, blogs, or other types of content. The form must align with the function.
Conclusion
These are just a few branding-focused strategies and tactics that any business can use today to start growing a strong brand presence that meets clients where they are. In a fast-moving, digital-first sea of sameness, a defined, differentiated brand that makes you easily findable, recognizable, verifiable, and accessible can help you stand out as the only choice among many choices.
As prospects get more savvy in how they search for services online, while also being more judicious with the spending, it is imperative that businesses use approaches that are simple, but also strategic, to connect with and capture their next opportunity.
