Why Every Business Needs a Brand (Part I)

What is a Brand?

It is a very vague concept and everyone has a different way of defining it. It seems that branding professionals even dance around the subject, since it is hard to put into words. Hopefully, my explanation will help clear it up. When you think of branding, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you live or work on a farm, a brand is what you burn into a cowhide to identify the animal, but a brand for a company is much more. A brand is many components together that form an identity or trademark for a company or product. Much like the cow, a brand for a company solidifies the company’s identity and sets their services or products apart from the competition.

Components of Branding

1. Image: Your image is your logo or visual representation that consumers can see when referring to your company.
2. Values: A value system is important and a company should have confident views on subjects, so that families will feel comfortable and trusting when making purchase decisions.
3. Personality: Adding human characteristics to a company’s identity and making it more relatable to a specific target market
4. Slogan: Not all companies choose a slogan as part of their brand, but it can help deliver the company’s message. A good slogan can be a recognizable feature.

There are many other components that make up a brand however they may differ based on the needs of the company. Each company strives to create an identity for different reasons and before attempting to create a brand, it is important to determine those needs and follow through accordingly. If this still seems confusing, I will throw an example out there.

Nike is a very well known brand. As a large corporation with enough money for over the top advertising, Nike’s marketing strategies will be very different from those of a small business, but when you break it down, they still follow the same general guidelines. The Nike logo is simple: bold lettering with the swoosh below, but it is not the logo itself that makes the brand, the brand is formed by the recognition of the logo after years of identity building. When either you think of the name, Nike, or the Nike swoosh, you think of athletes, sneakers, or quality athletic equipment, although the company goes beyond that to further their brand. In order to attach the Nike name to those things, they sign contracts and endorsements during sporting events for all kinds of advertising. They make deals to have close ups of the athletes’ shoes displayed during a game so that people can identify a Nike shoe with that athlete, but they don’t just choose any athlete, they choose the best athletes, because only the best would wear their shoes. They do this to demonstrate that they have a superior product that is only worn by the winners. All of these marketing ideas added together are what makes up Nike as a brand.

Next week (9/3) we will continue the conversation by discussing the main goals of branding. 

Contributor: Nicole Lee

Why Brochures Still Matter in a Paperless World

In this increasingly paperless world, the majority of marketing collateral and business presentations consist of digital documents. From your latest PowerPoint masterpiece to a flashy interactive website, electronic media can be quick, easy, and visually stunning. There is no denying the advantages of electronic media.

However, due to these strengths it is likely your message will be forgotten. Your clients will want and need a permanent reminder of your message. Offer them the presence and physical cache of a slickly designed brochure.

1. A Brochure is Tangible
   Made only of simple paper or basic card stock, a brochure is a tangible object that your clients will hold on to and keep. This is especially important if you offer a service that is abstract or industry specific. A brochure will give you a prime opportunity to explain your services and will allow your client time to absorb the finer points of your proposition.
2. A Brochure is Impressive
   Traditionally the costs of designing and printing a brochure kept all but the biggest companies from producing a printed brochure. Fortunately, with the ease and efficiency of online design and printing, the cost has significantly fallen. Take advantage of this development, and present your small business as a juggernaut. Underscore to your clients that you know the value of professionally designed and printed collateral.
3. A Brochure is Simple
   With the alphabet soup of file formats (PDF, DOC, PPT, HTML) the last thing you want to do is confuse a potential client. Don’t force them to take a training course in computer science just to read your pitch, give them a prepared hard copy. Not only will your client’s appreciate this, but also your message will be clearer without the noise of unwanted technical questions.
4. A Brochure is Timeless
   Today’s cutting edge web presentation will be passé and outdated in a matter of months. Rapid shifts in technology can make your slick electronic collateral dated and obsolete overnight. Don’t waste time and money chasing the next big thing. Invest in a brochure, a time tested and proven medium.

A brochure with a classic design will stand the test of time. Easily portable, and simply stored, a brochure will always remain not only on someone’s desk but also in their mind.

Contributor: Dan Natale

Small Business Internet Strategies (Part II)

We continue the discussion of ways to increase conversions once someone has visited your website.

The Second Step
To catching a lot of fish is to think like them. Get in the mind of your clients and try to figure out what they look for, what’s important to them, and what other sites they compare you to.

• Does your site’s unique selling proposition (USP) stand out from your competition?
• Can they easily find testimonials?
• What do you want your prospect to do?
• Do you want them to register for your newsletter?
• Do you want them to purchase your product?
• Do you want them to call or fill out a lead form?

As simple as it sounds, once you determine the best course of action that will lead to the most sales, then you can gear your website towards this objective.

If you want your clients to fill out a lead form, I’d recommend putting a simple lead form on every page. If you want them to purchase your product, lead them to the pages that show your product or service and show that you have the best pricing, service, and product. Be wary of trying to drive your customers directly to the order form. Just because they are online, doesn’t mean that they will buy without some research.

Here Are Some Obvious, Yet Easily Overlooked Tips For Every Website.

• Ensure your company’s phone number is prominently placed on every page (people want to talk to the companies they are about to give their business to).
• Put a lead form on your home page. Be sure to capture the users name, email, phone and their interest.
• Get to the point- let people know what you do, and how it will help them, and why you are better than your competition within the first 2 sentences on your website.
• Include EXTRA buttons for the pages you want people to visit in addition to the navigation at the top or left. Give people multiple paths to go to the pages you want them to go to, and keep it above the fold.
• Feature the items or services you want to sell.
• Keep your website fresh. Give people a reason to come back and visit regularly. Think BLOG!

 

Joe Witte has successfully started 3 small businesses including CentricSource and Travel Ad Network.

Small Business Internet Strategies (Part I)

Are you attracting a lot of “fish” to your small business website but not catching them?

Think of your website as a fishing rod and online marketing (Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, online advertising, etc) as your bait. Online marketing attracts fish to bite your bait. But what reels them in? Leave that to page optimization or website conversion techniques.

Conversion rates vary in every industry, but typical conversion rates are between 0.5 and 8 percent, with the norm running between 0.5 and 2 percent. So, if you aren’t converting 50 percent of your traffic, don’t panic. No one is.

You can have a major impact on tracking and improving the performance, or “conversion rate” of visitors once they come to your website.

The First Step
To catching these fish is observing them. There are two key ways to watch what people do on your site. The first is to ask people (friends or family) to go to your site, and observe what they do. What do they click on? Do they have a hard time finding the links or actions you want them to take? This will help you with any potential redesigns that may be necessary in order to increase conversions.

The next priority is to create a click stream analysis. A Click stream analysis allows you to determine what pages people are finding by conducting searches (entry pages), and where they go once they visit your website, and where they leave (exit pages). Google Analytics (a free tool from Google Inc.) is critical for small website owners to use and review to look at their site statistics. This will give you a huge amount of information to determine what pages people are finding, and where they are leaving.

You can then ask yourself, “Why do they leave once they get to my services page?” Then you can research and work on improving that page.

(Look out for Part II on 8/13/09)

Joe Witte has successfully started 3 small businesses including CentricSource and Travel Ad Network.