The benefits of a strategically defined brand are the same as what happens when two people fall in love: you get someone else to believe in you, trust you and protect you. When customers connect emotively—because they share the same values and beliefs of a brand—it leads to higher sales and better brand differentiation. It also leads to loyalty, advocacy and can even protect your price in times when competitors rely on discounts to drive sales. It can also give you the ideal platform from which to extend your offering or range.

Yesterday, Promotional Consultant Today shared five key branding tips for small businesses. Today, we share five more.

1. Don’t repeat the same message in the same way over and over again. Alternatively, aim to make your key messages work together to build a coherent identity.

2. Don’t try to mimic the look of chains or big brands. Try and carve out your own distinctive identity. There is a big consumer trend towards independent establishments, and several chains are in fact trying to mimic an independent feel to capture some of that market. Truly independent operators can leverage their status to attract customers who are looking for something more original and authentic, that aligns with how feel about themselves.

3. Be innovative, bold and daring; stand for something you believe in. Big brands are encumbered by large layers of bureaucracy, preventing them from being flexible and reacting to the ever-changing needs of their customers. Those layers of decision-makers can make it hard for them to be daring with their branding.

4. Always consider your branding when communicating with customers. Don’t lose your pride or dilute your brand positioning with indiscriminate discounting. Try offering more, rather than slashing prices. Promotions are an opportunity to reinforce your brand mission.

5. The old way of stamping your logo on everything won’t cut it. The future of branding is fluid and engaging—respect your customers’ intelligence by not giving everything away up front. Generate some intrigue and allow them to unearth more about your brand for themselves. This is the way to foster ambassadors who revel in telling other people what they have discovered.

Source: Dan Einzig is with Mystery, the agency that helped develop brands for clients including the growing café chain Giraffe, Caffé Italia, Ponti’s Italian Kitchen, Caffé Ritazza, Masala Masala, Gino Gelato, Monkey Nuts and Za Za Bazaar, the largest restaurant in Britain.