Five Things That SCREAMS Small Business | SMH Branding
Everyone loves to hear those stories of brands starting from nothing.
Perhaps making cosmetic products in their kitchen and then growing into a large empire.
Although they love to hear those stories they don't necessarily want to see it.
Do not fall for the hype. People are judgmental. Point. Blank. Period. Whether we like it or not we are being judged everyday. But it our duty as small business owners to present the highest quality of excellence when presenting our product line.
You see when you share too much of their "under god" story at the beginning you can attract low quality customers. What is a low quality customer? In my previous article we discussed that a low value customer is anyone that purchases when there is a sale or a heavy discount. They are not committed to your brand story and will complain at the drop of a dime if they feel as if your service is not up to par. Low value customers require a lot of time, stress and energy to make a sale with a very low profit margin.
The rule in life is you are what you attract. So your goal in developing your beauty brand is always to attract high quality customers. How you present your brand matters because we don't want to scream "small business." We want to present to customers as a future Beauty Empire. As a new beauty brand owner you need to "fake it, until you make it."
Here are some tips to avoid when you are trying to build a beauty empire:
Too Creative Website Design
It isn't anything worse then logging onto a website and you are not able to read or see anything. The text is too small, the colors are too dark and the paragraph is typed in a fancy calligraphy. On average if someone clicks on your website they only stay for about 15 seconds so you have to impress them quickly. Most new consumers scan the page, picking out key words, sentences and images but if they can't read anything on your website you have instantly lost a conversion.
The goal with any business is to make the sale. So please, ditch the fancy text and the over colorized website or better yet leave that to the web designer. Investing in a good web designer can definitely increase conversions for your business.
Do you need us to design your website? At SMH Branding we will create an exquisitely designed mobile responsive website that is built for ease of use, streamlined for functionality with beauty driving customers to purchase. Click Here to learn more about our branded website design.
Handmade Product Labels
Having a great product is important but marketing that product correctly is what makes your business successful. Packaging is the single most important thing that drives consumers to repurchase a product! If you want an empire and not just a small business you need to stop printing your product labels at home. Especially if you plan to sale skin care or haircare products! The reason behind this is that the ink fades. I have done it before and it was a disaster after awhile. The inks from the bottles bleed on each other, the label is destroyed in the shower and you use an awful amount of ink. I remember personally breaking my printer because it couldn't handle the workload.
People do judge a book by its cover and first impressions cannot be made twice. The way that your products look will determine if the customer will spend their hard-earned money. When a customer looks for a product, they look for two things; price and quality. If you want your product to stand out amongst a sea of similar options, you need to make sure your packaging exemplifies quality.
No Contact Information
The contact page is not enough. I repeat! The contact page is not a adequate way to communicate with your customers. You need an email and phone number that they can call in case of an emergency. In addition, you do not want your email to end with @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, @aol.com or @hotmail.com. You need to purchase a G-Suite to communicate with your customer base. Remember this is an investment for your future empire and how people communicates with you shows how they value your business. So keep everything as professional as possible.
Low Resolution Photography
High quality images are at the helm of your beauty brand. And nowadays there is no excuse for having low quality images on your website. High quality photos are the first to grab attention, instill trust, and invite customers to take a further look. Product images not only testify to the quality of your empire, but also serve as windows into your business, creating transparency and trust. Images shape your customers first impression, creating a tipping point as to whether they will continue browsing and eventually make a purchase or leave the items in the cart.
If your images look poor you will not attract a good customer base at all. Low quality customers sometimes feel as if they are doing your business a favor when purchasing from you. They may feel compelled to support a small business in the moment. But they will always view your brand as cheap and the tone in which they speak to you when an order is messed up or their package is delayed can be very disrespectful. It is your job to represent professionalism in all aspects of your beauty brand even down to the photography.
No Product Reviews
The best way to market any beauty product is through social proof. What is social proof? Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to undertake behavior in a given situation. Because people are more likely to purchase a product which others are already purchasing, social proof can be a way to increase conversions by showing customers how popular a product or service is.
For example, if over two hundred people purchased your body lotion and enjoyed it, the wisdom of the crowd dictates that you are likely to enjoy the product too. That is how you can continue to attract high value customers that will purchase from your brand whether there is a sale or not.
In Conclusion
Owning a beauty brand is an investment. You need to spend some money to get the ball rolling in turning your idea into an empire. So you need to ask yourself if you want a side hustle or a beauty empire? If you want to make products on the side then ignore these tips. They do not apply to you. But if you foresee your product line stocked on the shelfs of your favorite stores you need to take yourself seriously.
If you need assistance creating your beauty brand check out our online course: How To Build a Beauty Brand? - Click Here