We hear the term “branding” so often when it comes to marketing a business. You may be wondering why you even need it – you’ve already got awesome coaching credentials to back you up. But chances are, many of your competitors have similar credentials, too. So how does a client know to go with you instead of another coach? Branding will help make your business stand out. 

Business branding is all about making your business more recognizable – from the look, the vibe, and most importantly, the reputation you create. When a person becomes familiar with a brand, they begin to build trust. Fun fact: For 81% of consumers, trust is a huge factor in making purchase decisions. However, we are also big believers in not investing too much into branding at the very beginning of your coaching practice. In fact, we don’t recommend you spend a lot on it before you work with at least 5-10 ideal clients and fully understand who they are. 

So, how can you effectively brand your business without overthinking it or breaking the bank? 

Create a consistent social media presence

Social media plays a key role in small business branding. People spend two hours and 27 minutes on social media a day on average. In order to reach your audience, you have to be where they are – and social media is often the fastest way to get in front of your audience. The best part? It’s free!

Rather than being everywhere though, carefully choose the right platforms. How? 

Ask yourself: What platforms is your target audience showing up on? 

This can help you streamline your creation process, allowing you to plan, create, and execute more cohesive and targeted posts that shine the best light on your coaching practice. 

Remember that bit about familiarity fostering trust? 89% of consumers will purchase from the brands they follow on social media. So, determining where your efforts will be most effective is key.

Start a blog on your website

If you haven’t heard of the company HubSpot, they’re a super successful CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform that does a myriad of things for small businesses, from housing their client database to streamlining workflows for a customer’s journey, to so much more. 

So, how did they achieve their success? Their director of content Lisa Toner noted, “HubSpot’s success has been a direct result of our blog.”

Business branding isn’t just about creating visual impact – part of it is building your reputation as an authority in your niche. Blogs are the ideal place for you to showcase your expertise in your field. Remember: Your audience is always looking to get answers to their questions. Show them you know what you’re talking about. Sharing helpful and accurate information that speaks to their interests or addresses their concerns will help you get a leg up in the thought leadership department. 

For more on building authority with a blog, check out this post. 

Prioritize customer service (aka client experience)

Here’s an open secret in business branding that often gets overlooked: The customer is still king (or queen/quing!). A 2020 study found that customer service is a top consideration for consumers when deciding whether to purchase from a brand. This was more important than how effective or convenient the product or service itself is.

Prioritizing this customer service aligns with the NBC-HWC code of ethics, whereby we are dedicated to promoting a therapeutic and healing relationship with our clients. By serving clients well in both our coach hats and our business owner hats, we can ensure our reputation in the marketplace stays positive. 

There’s a very good chance that an unhappy client will be saying goodbye for good. What’s worse is customers are more likely to share not-so-pleasant experiences than rave about a product or service online. As a result, it can take upwards of 40 glowing reviews to undo just one negative review. So, putting focus into delivering a happy customer experience can help keep you from getting negative publicity, especially when you’re just starting out. Always aim for that 5-star experience – even if the experience is TBD. 

Have a consistent voice for your business

Part of branding your business is developing your brand’s voice. This is typically the process of developing how you want to say what you want to say, and applying it across all the types of content you put out. Why? It gives consumers the impression that you live up to your company’s mission and follow through on your promise. 

If your business feels like multiple people all delivering different messages, how does your audience know who to listen to? This is why having a consistent brand voice is important. 

Two questions that help solve this puzzle and will help you find the voice that accurately represents your brand are: 

🧩 What are your values? 

🧩 What makes your brand unique to your business? 

Your answers to these should be the backbone of every piece of content you put out. 

Branding your business will have you digging deep into your reasons for becoming a coach and how you want to go about helping people. If you are clear on your business values, this won’t be hard to bring to the surface. Get it down to the basics and don’t overthink it. 

At the end of the day, branding is really just asking yourself why you do what you do in a way that your audience can see, feel, and experience for themselves, but with a little bit of pizzazz, of course. And implementing these four tips can help you solidify your branding without breaking the bank!

When you’ve got all your ducks in a row, don’t forget to check out how to boost your visibility as a new coach.