You’re starting a small business, but you have bigger ambitions. You don’t want to be seen as just another small company treading water; you want to convey your business as a high-end brand. You want consumers to see you in the same way they see other luxury brands – but how can you achieve this?
Here are five simple tricks to make your small company feel more high-end:
Develop a modern and responsive website
Anyone can hop online and create a basic website in seconds. However, one of the easiest ways to differentiate between small businesses and high-end ones is through the quality of their sites. Basic websites look pretty awful and don’t make customers believe they’re dealing with a high-end business. But, if you can develop a site that’s beautiful, modern, and responsive, you’re on to a winner!
This might mean you have to invest a bit of money into a web design company or freelance web designer. It’s well worth the investment as a great website can help you generate more customers and make more sales. Most importantly, it’s the main thing that will set your reputation as a business online. This is like the digital version of a store or office – it’s where people go to learn about your business and browse your offerings. If your website is very impressive and modern, your reputation will increase. People will view you as a very high-end business, rather than just another small company.
Improve your SEO
Alongside your brand new website, you need to have good SEO. This stands for search engine optimization, and the gist is that you will start showing up in search results for consumers. More specifically, your website will be one of the top results people see when running certain searches. You need to think about keywords and terms that people will use to find a business like yours, then ensure you’re ranking for these searches.
How does this make you seem more high-end? Well, consumers will view the first few results in search engines as the most authoritative and trustworthy sources. The lower down the rankings you are, the smaller your business seems. If you’re constantly near the top, you must be a very impressive business. Consequently, you may also be appearing alongside other big-name brands within your industry. As a result, you almost use their brand image and authority to improve your own reputation. As an example, imagine you run a fashion company and your website appears in the first few results alongside names like Dior or Chanel. By association, people will see your company in the same light as these, making you seem more high-end.
Create digital catalogs/manuals
All businesses will sell something, meaning you may need to have ways of showing potential customers what you offer – or how to use your products/services. The days of sending on physical catalogs or manuals are over. People see these as a waste of paper, and they don’t really serve much of a purpose anymore. Instead, it’s all about creating digital versions of these things.
Picture this: you can send email marketing to potential and existing customers with a link to a PDF of your entire product/service library. Sure, you display this information on your site but think of this as a deeper dive into what you offer. It’s a chance for people to read through your offerings and see if there’s anything that catches their eye. Plus, you can add hyperlink to PDF files nowadays, meaning consumers are one click away from being taken to your site and making a purchase. The same goes for product manuals; displaying them in a digital format makes them easier to access, and the links can be used to help people find the right section in the manual.
Overall, you create the aura of a high-end business because you seem tech-savvy and modern. While most businesses can benefit from doing this, it does work really well for B2B businesses.
Create luxury branding
Naturally, nothing we’ve spoken about really makes a difference if your branding isn’t on point. Creating luxury branding is a specific way of branding and marketing your business. It begins with a brand name that oozes luxury and high-endedness. Then, you combine this with a luxury logo. How do you know which logos are good for luxury brands? Well, start by looking at some of the top high-end brands in the world right now. Do you notice any similarities between their logos?
Typically, they all use wording, rather than images. Some brands do have a small image as part of the logo, but they also have a brand name. The name is always very clear and easy to read too. Also, it’s either in a very straight font or italics – either one screams high-end. Ideally, you want people to remember the name of your brand, which is why your logo should incorporate it for everyone to see.
Furthermore, think about the colors you see in high-end branding. Blacks and golds are often used, as are dark greens, reds, and sometimes silvers. Understand the type of colors you should use, and this will help you develop a style of branding that oozes luxury.
Use the right language
Finally, one of the keys to making your small business feel like a high-end one is by using the right language. This refers to the language you use on your website, social media, when speaking to customers, etc. You will notice that luxury brands talk differently to others, using specific linguistic styles to convey points.
Essentially, you have to learn how to write and speak like a luxury company. There are loads of great articles out there that can help you write like a luxury brand. One of the main points is that you have to focus on what makes your brand special and unique. Also, you have to sell a lifestyle, rather than a product. Nail the right language and it instantly makes you seem like a luxury company.
Implement these five tricks and you will see a noticeable difference in how consumers view your small business!