Mark Twain said it’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Truer words can’t be said of the thousands of small- to medium-size businesses (SMB) and sole proprietors looking to develop an effective brand identity. Even nonprofit organizations need to create visibility in order to get a message across to large audiences … and do it on relatively small budgets.

Large commercial enterprises have the financial resources to hire marketers, advertisers, and designers to develop high profile ad campaigns such as Nike’s “Just do it” and MasterCard’s “Priceless,” or assemble a 20-person focus group to debate the merits of using serifs in the corporate logo. Smaller organizations, on the other hand, have to take a do-it-yourself approach—but this doesn’t necessarily translate to lower quality. In some cases, they might even have an advantage over large enterprises.

The digital world has put a lot of fight into the small dog. With a combination of technology, creativity, and innovative design, small operations can develop an effective brand identity. They can make a strong impact and level the playing field using one of marketing’s greatest equalizers: the internet.

The great existential question
Every business, regardless of size, requires an identity. Without one, they’re just strangers on the street trying to hawk their wares. Not only would they lack credibility, potential clients wouldn’t have reason to place their trust in them—and even less reason to hand over their money.

Some businesses go about creating a brand identity with a catchy logo and/or slogan; others rely on tradition or established reputations. While these are important components in developing an identity, the process goes beyond a simple logo. An effective identity needs to reflect the objectives of the business and convey how it helps meet customers’ needs. This includes a marketing and promotional strategy.

But a lot of small businesses think they either don’t need an identity or can’t afford one. They’re wrong in both cases. Problems will arise, however, if a smaller business tries to base its promotional strategies on big business standards. Having a tighter budget isn’t the handicap many think it is—especially with all the digital tools and media available today. So rather than trying to keep up with the Joneses, the focus should shift to a small business model.

The web: Small business’s best friend
SMBs will never be able to keep up with large corporations when it comes to traditional forms of marketing such as print, television, radio, and billboards. Mass media messages are expensive; distribution is even more costly. Large corporations have the financial resources to buy ad space in high profi le media with nationwide or global distribution—a two-page spread in a magazine or 30 seconds during the Super Bowl, advertising’s Holy Grail—that smaller operations won’t be able to afford.

Managed effectively, however, web marketing does away with the disparity between what large companies are able to do and what smaller companies would like to do. Unlike traditional forms of marketing and promotion, the quality of a digital, web-based brand identity and marketing strategy doesn’t have to be limited by the size and budget of the company.

With traditional marketing, more money means reaching more members of the target audience. But on the web everything’s equal. The costs of accessing the medium and distributing the message are the same. Communicating on the web is like dropping a leaf onto a moving stream—momentum will carry the message.

Although it’s possible to spend more money for higher placement in search engines or to advertise a site on related sites, the gap won’t be as wide as that between handing out flyers on the street and having a giant billboard on Times Square.

The web is a great equalizer for small businesses because bigger budgets don’t automatically mean better design. Even some of the biggest companies have fallen prey to this misconception. They try to buy their way to a good design—pouring money into a site believing that more money translates to more quality—only to have the site look like it was cobbled together by a 5-year-old. But a single highly creative web designer working at home can design a site that looks like it’s worth 10 times the cost of initial development. When it comes to a web identity, it’s not necessarily the size of the budget; it’s the ability of the designer.

About pages: I am not a number!
An About page does for a company what the rest of the site does for its products and services. But let’s face it: Most About pages sound exactly the same and are as exciting as a stale rice cake.

Depending on the industry, an SMB’s About page can be an excellent way to connect with potential clients in a way that larger companies can’t. They can use it to give themselves and their business more personality—showing visitors that the company consists of real people and not just a faceless corporate entity whose only attempt at originality is to dole out clichés like “paradigm” and “thinking outside the box.” An SMB’s About page can include not only the professional pedigree of its members, but also some quirky personal information, giving visitors a more intimate association with the company.

While an About page can do a lot to further a small business’s identity, it’s vital to match this page—and the rest of the site’s content—to the tone of the business. Those in creative fields like web and graphics design, writing, and photography can liven up their sites with offbeat content as long as it’s imaginative and well written. But those in more serious fields—where the goal is to instill confidence— might not be able to get away with this approach.

Viral marketing: Creating a buzz
It sounds like something that broke out of a test tube and escaped from a biohazard laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control. But despite the negative connotations that may arise from its name, viral marketing can be a valuable, low-cost way of gaining exposure for a business.

Viral marketing is a type of word-of-mouth
strategy that encourages people to pass along marketing content to others by taking advantage of preexisting social and digital infrastructures. The theory behind this approach is that, like a biological virus, marketing content can be rapidly spread from user to user, creating exponential growth. One person will find an interesting piece of content and send it to 10 colleagues and friends; if each of those 10 people do the same, and the process continues, the results can be staggering.

Small businesses benefit from this because it gives them the potential to reach a global audience— garnering big returns on a relatively small investment. But the viral marketing content must be interesting enough for a user to pass along, and it must be interesting enough that the recipients will want to receive it and respond identically in turn.

Viral marketing content comes in many forms, but the best types are those that offer high entertainment or functional value. It can be as simple as an e-mail article or as elaborate as fully functional software. Most, if not all, of this viral marketing content is best accompanied by a “Send to a friend” link that allows users to easily pass it on to others.

Because of the prevalence of spam, text-only e-mail content has ceased to be an effective viral marketing agent. But there are other, more creative ways to get a message across.

Viral videos
Viral videos are short web-based films that attract visitors’ attention through humorous or offbeat content. They can be either live action (accessible as MPEG, Windows Media, RealPlayer, or QuickTime files) or computer generated (such as Flash).

A popular viral video technique is to spoof well-known commercials, television shows, or movies by centering the message on the business’s industry and target audience. They don’t need big-budget Hollywood-style production values either. The goal here is to grab users’ attention through the use of imagination and creativity.

Games
Offering business-sponsored games—usually based on Shockwave—is a great way to draw users to a company’s site. Although these games can be fun for users, they’re a poor medium to carry a marketing message beyond simple identification.

Viral marketing games are branded with the business’s logo either before the game begins or during gameplay in the background. But most users will be too busy concentrating on the game to notice any advertisements. A clever way around this is to work the type of business into the gameplay itself.

Useful freebies
In marketing there’s nothing like a good freebie— especially when it’s useful. Software developers employ this method often, offering users free downloadable “lite” versions of their software.

Downloaders can use the software indefinitely and forward it to others. They can also purchase a pro edition with additional, more advanced features.

Zone Labs, an internet security software maker, and Lavasoft, a provider of anti-spyware solutions, are two companies that have taken this approach. They both offer basic versions of their software (Zone Labs with its ZoneAlarm firewall and Lavasoft with its Ad- Aware SE Personal spyware remover) that can be used freely for noncommercial purposes.

Other freebies include physical merchandise (pens, mouse pads, calendars) and digital giveaways (e-cards, screensavers, computer wallpaper) branded with the business’s identity and website.

Stealth marketing: Be vewy, vewy quiet …
One of the more controversial techniques available to bolster an online identity is with the use of stealth tactics, a subset of guerilla marketing where the target audience isn’t aware it’s being marketed to.

Guerilla marketers exploit the relative anonymity afforded to them on the internet by using unconventional methods to promote their identity. A common strategy is to create positive buzz on various industry-related internet forums and communities under pseudonyms, so it appears as if those posting are impartial outsiders.

Here’s how it works: A small business starts or contributes to an internet discussion group in the guise of various nonpartisan “personalities” who seem to have no connection to the business being discussed. They would extol the service and professionalism of the business, claiming to be satisfied customers. In reality, the majority of the contributors to the discussion thread are actually part of the business.

There are a lot of risks in using this type of marketing, and more than a few ethical issues. If used, it must be played out very carefully. Internet users are great at sniffng out fakers in online forums and communities. It helps if the people running the “discussion” are good creative writers or social engineers, and have the ability to write outside their own voices.

This type of “e-shilling” is considered by many to be a form of deception and misrepresentation. If discovered, the damage to a business’s image will far outweigh any positive buzz created.

Say it like you mean it
With all the digital tools and media available to small business owners—and the ease with which they can be used—it might be tempting to go for the quick-and-dirty solution. But a digital brand identity can’t be created overnight. It requires all the planning and thought associated with traditional forms of branding, promotion, and marketing.

A business’s brand identity should never be rolled out half-baked. Presenting an amateurish or incomplete identity is almost as bad as not having one at all. And constantly recreating an image will defeat the purpose of brand recognition. Potential clients need to know whom they’re dealing with. If it looks as though the company doesn’t know itself, clients will move on to the next candidate. For all the fight that the digital world provides to the small dogs, they still have to have the skills. Otherwise, they’ll just be chasing their own tails.

Be sure to check out page two for case studies »