The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Marketers
For a small business, time isn’t just money – it is something that’s always in short supply. That’s why smart marketers make it a priority to get maximum results out of their marketing efforts every day. You’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention to the right things, at the right times … and in the right proportions.
Are you tackling your critical marketing activities effectively? Take a look at these 7 habits of highly effective marketers and find out.
Marketing Essentials Part 2: Branding Your Business
Building a foundation for your marketing starts with branding. Every marketing campaign, every piece of print promotion, every message your business delivers should start with a solid brand.
Branding is the collection of associations that people make when they think of your business. It’s the emotion they feel and the mental image that comes to mind when they hear your company name or think of your products or services. It creates a bond between your business and consumers. It enhances credibility, increases trust and improves reputation.
Branding creates a memory – and when people remember your business, you have a better chance of business success.
Read on for the essential information about branding a small business.
What (bad) Cigarettes Can Teach You About (good) Branding
Most people have a difficult time understanding the concept of branding. Yet branding is the foundation for your business, the most crucial marketing aspect that lets you differentiate yourself from the competition.
Branding is the all-encompassing mental image that people perceive of your business. It collects the experiences and associations attached to your product or service. Branding creates the recognition, expectations and reactions of consumers to set your business apart.
Branding is very unique, too. Anyone can replicate your product or service – just look at your competitors. No one can identically reproduce your brand, though. If they could, they would be your business.
When considering what might make consumers lean towards one product or another, branding often plays into the equation. Proper branding can prompt a choice, increase conversion or sway people to provide word-of-mouth referrals. It can be the deciding factor between a sale and a loss.
Good branding creates demand, encouraging and enhancing the positive feelings and desirability of a product or service. Bad branding, or even no branding at all, can close businesses down.
Examining existing businesses and corporations lets us see the large role branding plays in reaching success. It's an integral element of business success and the foundation of essential marketing.
To show you just how important branding is to your small business, take a look at this success story.
Marketing Essentials: 5 Things Every Small Business Needs
Small businesses are on the rise, and many economists wholeheartedly agree that opportunities are rife. The time is right. You can start a business, even if is just a small one.
Barriers to entry are dropping quickly and so are the startup costs. Poor economics, the rising costs of living and soaring gas prices aren’t discouraging people from launching a startup either. Quite the contrary.
Minority groups have fewer obstacles, and more people can make their dream a reality, online or offline. Consumers are looking for a more personal connection for their purchasing needs, and they're leaning towards B2B and one-man shops.
All people need is an idea, a product or service, the will and a way to reach consumers – it's that easy. A business is born.
Even more so, small business owners now have the power to blend offline and online marketing to reach customers, promote products or services and increase sales to create a successful venture.
But are people tapping into that potential? Are small businesses making the most of the low-cost marketing opportunities available? Are they being effective in their efforts, using every tool and resource possible to boost potential success?
The answer is, unfortunately, no.
The 3 Phases of Successful Marketing
Expert marketers know that the true goal of their craft isn’t simply to land the initial sale; instead, it is to cultivate an ever-growing base of loyal repeat customers. But many people have a hard time getting the customer to feel satisfied and ready to do business with them again, never mind getting customers so satisfied they’ll spread the word about their offerings.
To make sure you don’t leave money on the table, you need to give your customers the attention and service they deserve at all three critical transaction points: Before, During and After the sale.
Read on to discover if you are doing all the right things that turn a one-time customer into a consistent stream of income for your business.
Discovering Your Perfect Brand
Creating an attractive corporate brand for your business is one of the most important marketing elements to help gain customers. A bland brand means no sales, and the wrong brand can make you lose sales.
With a great brand that fits your business image perfectly, your business can soar.
But what is a good brand? Is it a nice business card? Is it the level of quality you offer? Is it just a catchy name?
It’s all that and more. It’s everything from the logo on your business card (you do have a business card, right?) to the design of your website to the values your business conveys. Brand is the perceived value and quality of your business.
When you’ve branded well, you’ve created a remarkable and distinct business image. It’s memorable. It’s easy to recognize. People know exactly what they get if they buy from you – before they even decide to purchase.
Your brand should capture:
Super Effective Sales Words: Myth or Magic?
There is a long standing idea in the business world that using certain words will unlock sales, drive up profits, and generally make selling easier for you.
These special words, like “Free” and “Guaranteed”, are touted as being effective because they are based on scientific research and have a background in fields like NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
Supposedly, we are pretty much hard-wired to respond favorably when one or more of these words are used.
But is all of that just hoopla? Or do certain words actually make a huge difference?
Read more to find out.
