“Branding” is currently a buzz word amongst the internet elite. Everyone from brands to influencers is pushing audiences to feed into their brand image. Today we see over 5,000 ads per day.

With this stat in mind, how can small businesses effectively get in front of their ideal audience? A killer content strategy complete with more giving than taking is key. Here is a glance at practical ways to accelerate your small business forward.

Be Confident

Confidence comes across in social media copy, pricing, content delivery, body language, etc. Being confident in what your brand is and what it can offer your ideal audience is essential to accelerating your brand forward. You must believe in your brand to "sell it."

Good branding is a perception with a pinch of reality. Everyone is looking for ways to stand out from the crowd and the biggest is confidence. Remember that people relate to people not "brands."

Let your brand persona shine through your writing and visuals.

Use Analytics

Look at your analytics to better serve your audience. Three key places to dig into analytics are on your brand’s website, within your brand’s social media profiles and on the backend of your brand’s email software. Dig into analytics like your audience’s age, gender, race, location, general interests and shopping behaviors to uncover who your audience truly is.

For example, my audience is primarily Black women in the Kansas City, Atlanta or New York City areas aged 21 to 40 with entrepreneurial interests. Knowing specific analytics about my audience helps me to create relevant content. I suggest redefining your audience annually.

Step Back From Content Creation

Stepping back from content creation is essential to accelerate your brand. You must train your brain to dissect the content you’re putting out before working on new content. Looking at content performance, revenue and other KPIs will help you to create better content for your audience to enjoy and lead to more purchases.

I suggest looking at your content performance monthly to clearly identify wins and opportunity areas. For example, I use the UNUM Instagram app to view my top-performing Instagram. This app breaks out content by the year, the month and the week. Once I identify what’s top-performing based upon likes and comments, I then create similar content.

Look at the Competition

Keeping a healthy gage on the competition will help you to stay inspired and to ensure your prices are in an average range of your direct competitors. You should check out your competitor's social media accounts, websites and promotional assets monthly to ensure you're one step ahead.

For example, I own my own t-shirt shop on, so I spend a few hours per month checking out other t-shirt brands on Instagram and then heading to their site to explore their customer experience.

I like to look at how they merchandise their t-shirts, their pricing, Instagram layout, etc. Looking at your competition on an annual or biannual basis is a healthy way to stay on your toes without falling into the comparison trap.

Keep Learning

Along with watching your competition's social media behavior, you should be doing market research for industry trends, technology changes, and social media platform updates. Learning new things and adapting to change will help to keep your brand relevant.

I suggest subscribing to industry newsletters, following thought leaders on social media and joining a network of like-minded individuals within your industry.

Accelerating your small business forward takes work, but with these tips, you are more than equipped to handle the world ahead. Check out more branding content geared towards small businesses and professionals here.

Ps. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @thejasminediane!