Posts Tagged branding
Brands Increase the Odds of Business Survival
These days everyone is preaching about branding, and rightfully so. While pricing, location and even networking can set a business apart from its competitors, one of the most crucial elements of distinguishing a company is its branding.
Proper branding does not just mean slapping a logo on some business cards – successful brands are thoughtfully composed and developed, and promoted consistently across a variety of platforms, from promotional products and uniforms to the office decor and tone of company communications.
Most business owners confuse branding with marketing. A brand is a promise about who you are and what benefits you deliver that gets reinforced every time people come in contact with any facet of you or your business. Branding is the process of building a positive collection of perceptions in your customer’s mind. The branding process is the foundation on which the marketing is built.
For example when you mention Volvo, the first thing that comes to mind for most people is safety. Google is on the forefront of every one’s mind when talking about search, and Disney has become ubiquitous with making dreams come true. The top brands of the world have achieved a dominate position, making them the first companies that people think about when it comes to their core business model, and this all came from early man’s need to rapidly identify threats and opportunities in order to survive. Today, this mindset directly relates to the survival of your business as you face challenging economic times. It’s critical that your consumers can quickly identify with your company, understand exactly what you do and how that benefits them.
Building brands takes focus, passion, persistence, and diligence. Plus the brand building requires effort and money. The pay, and it’s a big one, is that strong brands build business and equity for their owners.
Great brands aren’t just known and trusted. They’re loved!
Add comment March 9, 2010
Beer Budget, Champagne Style
In this economy, you need all the help you can get to ensure that your business is noticed amid all the noise. Marketing is key, but which approach to take? Thankfully, there are a variety of different inexpensive marketing techniques that you can employ. Some require energy and perseverance, but that is what it takes to succeed when marketing in a 2010.
1. Increase visibility in your community. Join local organizations that provide business networking opportunities, or start your own. Do volunteer work for a large charity. You’d be surprised at the marketing support such activities can bring.
2. Creatively package your marketing campaigns. A postcard is one way to market your business. But how about putting a small box together with a fork, knife, spoon and a custom printed napkin that invites your prospect to “have lunch on us?” Think outside the box, and your marketing campaigns will have more impact.
3. Yes, use Facebook and Twitter. Having a Facebook page may not earn you any new business, but not having one may cause customers to ask why you don’t. Take some good pictures of your offices and your employees (unless you’d rather leave those details to your customers’ imaginations), or, in some fashion, put a more human face on your company identity.
4. Talk to your clients. It’s amazing how much money businesses spend to gather market information and attract new clients when they have a wealth of opportunity and information in their existing client base. One of the best ways to increase revenue is to talk to existing customers. Ideally, this should be done by someone outside your company so clients are willing to be honest and open.
5. Get the word out with publicity. Think you can’t do PR or publicity without employing the services of a high-priced firm? You can! Although a good firm brings tremendous contacts and experience, most small companies can do enough PR on their own to spark the public’s interest.
6. Use downtime for marketing. When times are slow, keep employees busy contacting customers. Create e-mail marketing documents your employees can send to individual customers. Personal contact with customers gets results. Mass e-mails are less effective and, given today’s e-mail spam filters, may not be seen by many. Send Greeting Cards on a regular basis not just the holidays. Go for quality contacts rather than quantity.
7. Leverage existing relationships. Most people know at least 200 people. Do the math: If you know 200 people and they each know 200 people, that’s 40,000 potential contacts! Spend time developing relationships with the people you already know-clients, colleagues, people you meet through professional networking organizations, friends and even family.
8. Develop Strategic Partnerships. Establishing partnerships with other businesses allows you to combine your resources to overcome challenges. By creating an alliance with other organizations you can develop a synergy that improves your ability to meet the needs of your target market and decreases you marketing budget.
9. Incorporate Promotional Products. Promotional products move people to action. On average, 62% of end users do business with the advertiser after they receive the item, which makes them a great prospecting tool. The average Cost Per Impression (CPI) of an advertising specialty item is $0.004; as a result, you get a more favorable return on investment from advertising specialties than nearly any other popular advertising media.
10. Position yourself as an expert. Position yourself as the go-to expert in your field. It costs next to nothing and is the key to your success. Positioning yourself as the expert can help you no matter what you sell. Write articles for a blog, engage in public speaking, and educate your clients. You don’t have to have an advanced academic degree to use expert positioning to grow your business. You do need to be an expert in an area relevant to your business.
The key is to never surrender. Getting new and potential customers to notice you is an ongoing—and sometimes uphill—battle, and one you can’t ever stop fighting. Pick a new idea every week or two and implement it, no matter how small it is. Call a meeting of employees, order a pizza for lunch, and brainstorm; offer an incentive for ideas you implement. Before long, your marketing might just pay off in new sales—and happier, more involved customers.
Add comment December 23, 2009
Ten Reasons to Use Promotional Products
Promotional products are the only marketing medium that engages all five senses. Customers can see, hear, touch, taste and even smell them. Plus, promotional products are easily affordable-yet their impression is long-lasting and readily measurable.
Here are ten reasons your company should use promotional products an integral part of your marketing mix:
- Brand Building – If your name is forgotten, you’re in big trouble. Create a continuous presence with promotional products. They are the perfect solution to boredom with standard advertising and extremely cost effective.
- Encourage Customers – Put your name at the tip of their tongue with a great, customized promotional product. Prompt them to think of you at every turn to help grow your business.
- Improve Customer Relationships – Every little bit counts even applies here. Each customer wants to know you appreciate their business, why not give them a solid gift to hold in their hand to make them sure?
- Develop Tradeshow Traffic – Skip the candy and jump out of the box at your next meeting, convention, or tradeshow with a unique promotional product. Visitors will be swarming your booth for a piece of the action!
- Motivate Employees – Don’t forget the reason your company is successful. Your employees need motivation, just like your customers! Help grow a healthy and positive work environment. Try an incentive or recognition program!
- Change Your Company or Product Name – Don’t lose out on this opportunity to keep everyone informed about changes in your company. Put a reminder in front of them that they’ll hang on to for years to come!
- Promote New Facilities – Show your company’s growth and success! Use a promotional product to notify existing and prospective customers of your new locations.
- Promote Employee Safety Programs-Promotional products used as corporate awards or as part of an employee incentive program can be key motivators in helping change risky behavior.
- Open New Accounts- Given how hard you work to get in front of someone for even a few minutes; shouldn’t you leave a lasting impact? Promotional products can pave the way for productive follow-up contact and a better sales conversion rate.
- Generate Sales Leads-
1 comment October 17, 2009
Grow Your Business with Relationship Marketing
Customer relationships are the lifeblood of every successful company. The relationships between a company and their customers, employees, and referral sources, are a vital aspect to continued growth and stability. Loyal relationships with these valued individuals make for a strong bottom line. So, why do so few companies focus on customer relationship marketing? That’s a great question, and probably the most frequent answer is lack of understanding of the potential profits in keeping existing customers happy versus constantly acquiring new ones.
To grow your business, develop a good relationship marketing program that takes into consideration both customer relationship marketing, and customer acquisition through relationship marketing. With well-planned relationship marketing efforts, like a greeting card campaign using Cormarq Cards, you can impact retention — and that will impact the bottom line.
Discover how sharing appreciation and gratitude with your clients through greeting card marketing builds relationships, boosts customer loyalty, and creates an endless stream of referrals.
Who is waiting to hear from you?
When is the last time you wrote to your customer to tell them how much you appreciate them?
Keeping in touch with your customers is the key to creating trust and loyalty. That’s why it’s critical to have a system in place to cultivate relationships of your current customers as well as prospects.
Cormarq Cards is a distributor of Send Out Cards. Please visit or website at www.cormarqcards.com to send a FREE card to your client today!
Add comment September 5, 2009
Generation Wise Marketing II – Generation X
Last time we discussed the power of generation marketing and focused on the Baby Boomer segment. Remember, in order to market effectively to a generation you must find a way to grab their attention by using a message that resonates with them. Generationally determined lifestyles and social values exercise as much influence on buying and purchasing as more commonly understood demographic factors like income, education, and gender do, perhaps even more.
To succeed in generation marketing you must understand how the motivation of your consumers correlates with the underlying values of their generation. When you know this you are able to customize your message to cater to the generation when it comes to your products and services. You can then present the message with your products, services, and communication to their needs and desires.
This week we will focus on understanding Generation X and what motivates them. So what are the attributes of Generation X that marketers need to really understand? They are:
- Tech-savvy
- Blunt
- Independent
- Skeptical
- Knowledge-seeking (and sharing)
Marketing to Generation X presents many challenges and opportunities given the great diversity within this market segment of over 50 million consumers with an estimated $125 billion annual purchasing power. It is recognized that there is great danger in over-generalizing any market segment, particularly Generation X. So, how can you reach these groups, communicate your message, and get them to take action?
1. Be Realistic in The Presentation
2. Address the Concerns of Generation X
3. Offer Value and Live Up to Claims
4. Speak Directly to Generation X
5. Investigate New Communication Media
6. Portray X’ers in a Positive Light
GEN X PROMOTION
Give a gift to help grow a healthier world. SEED THE FUTURE will identify your brand as a leader in the green movement which will resonate with your Gen X market.
The NEW Seed-the-Future cards are an easy-to-use online promotion that is delivered through a website and PIN code. Card holders simply go on-line to learn about eco-initiatives and have a tree planted in a global project. Upon redemption the user is able to download a branded certificate to mark the planting of their tree.
See the Seed-the-Future redemption site in action!
www.Seed-the-Future.com/demo
Use The Sample PIN: TREE
Add comment June 10, 2009
Generation Wise Marketing – Baby Boomers!
Do you think you know who you are selling to? Think again. There is not just one generation to target, but a variety of age groups. Each generation has a diverse set of interests and needs. Business owners must understand and acknowledge these distinctions in order to succeed in today’s marketplace.
So, who are these generations exactly? The pivotal events that these groups experienced since birth help shape their perception of the world. The more you understand about these influences, the more you can utilize these differences and tailor them into your marketing campaign.
- WWII Generation
- Baby Boomers
- Generation X
- Generation Y
BABY BOOMERS
The Baby Boom generation, those born between 1945 and 1965, who have stable careers and tend to be established now. They have lived through every significant cultural and marketing trend for the past 50 years, and they worry about caring for their children as well as their parent’s well being.
Marketers should focus on the message of empowerment and the ability to make a difference. This group is intelligent and values customer service as well as customized products. Marketing to Baby Boomers requires special attention to detail and understanding of how they differ from the other generations.
BABY BOOMER PROMOTION
The classic branded slinky in a custom retro box is the perfect nostalgic promotional item for baby boomers. A slinky is an American icon with an extremely positive image.
Baby Boomer Promotion - Custom Retro Slinky
Add comment May 27, 2009
A Knock Out Promotion for Gameday
You are probably familiar with Eye Black, it has been used by athletes for centuries to reduce the glare of the sun. Today eye black can be a powerful and cost effective promotional tool for both teams and companies. When you think about your next game day giveaway consider 20,000+ fans walking around with your logo on their face. Now that’s spirit!
Add comment April 19, 2009
Why Use Social Media?
One of the basic keys to building a successful internet business is driving traffic to your website or blog. Without traffic, your business simply does not exist online. It’s a common misconception that you can only get traffic from the search engines. While search engines usually will provide the bulk of your traffic, there are many other ways to drive traffic to your website other than thru the search engines.
One of the latest techniques for driving targeted traffic to your website is using what are called social media. Social media are websites and applications that specialize in sharing and discussing information among other interested people. The major social media include sites like myspace, facebook, technorati, stumbleupon, and digg to name just a few. If you are not utilizing any of these in your current marketing mix then you are missing out on a substantial volume of free, targeted traffic.
The first thing you should do before jumping into the social media marketing game is to explore some of the more prominent social media sites, learn their rules, and learn how they basically operate.
Here is a list of the major social media sites that everyone is talking about:
Youtube (video)
MySpace (social networking)
Facebook (social networking)
LinkedIn (social networking)
Digg (blogging)
Twitter (micro-blogging)
There are many other social media sites out there and new ones spring up all of the time. However, the sites listed above account for approximately 85% of social media traffic and therefore focusing your marketing efforts on these sites will likely be very effective.
Once you have taken the time to familiarize yourself with the above websites, the next thing you should do is read the spam policy of each site. The owners and users of the social media sites hate spam with a passion. Therefore, it’s very important to disguise your commercial intentions as meaningful content. Better yet, instead of disguising your intentions, actually submit relevent, quality content that users of social media will appreciate. If you do this you are likely to see a huge flow of traffic.
The bottom line is this: if you want the social media sites to work for you you need to work with them rather than against them. And this means providing users with meaningful content, not a bunch of bogus information and spam links.
http://mashable.com/2009/03/23/social-media-marketing-budgets/
Add comment April 1, 2009
The Perfect College Marketing Tool
Trip Builders MiniMaps are the perfect way to welcome college students to your campus. The customized map is a credit card size when closed. When opened by the students they will discover a foldout map on one side and your powerful promotional message on the other.
Popular Promotional MiniMap Uses on College Campuses
:
- Bank Locators
- Campus Discount Cards
- Campus Maps
- Orientation Gifts
- School Calendar
- Student Services Brochure
- Sports Schedules
For more information visit
http://www.tripbuilder.net/beta/minimaps/minimaps_enhancements.php
or contact Nicole French at nfrench@cormarq.com.
Add comment February 23, 2009
Building Your Brand in 2009
It is a new year, and a new chance to build your company’s image. Building an image for your business should be at the top of your to do list for 2009.
With all the negative noise about the ecomony, seize the opportunity to grow and resist the temptation to be a reactionary marketer. Focus on your core fundamentals to deliver a great serivce or product. Maintain or increase your marketing efforts in 2009 and gain a great competitive edge.
How does my company achieve this?
-Brand Promotion
-Brand Reputation
-Brand Consistency
Add comment January 3, 2009
