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.
3 Questions Your Customers Are Dying For You To Ask
When it comes to setting up their marketing, many small businesses make the mistake of starting from a self-centered perspective – “Here’s my product, and this is why it’s the best!” Then, after months of tireless effort, they scratch their heads and wonder why they aren’t getting the conversion rates they want.
The fact is, successful marketing demands more than just a breakdown of features and benefits. You need to get into the heads of your customers and understand their needs, wants, and deepest desires.
To begin developing that understanding you need talk to your customers and ask questions that help you figure out what truly drives their buying decisions. Getting these answers will not only help you market in the future, it will help you guarantee a satisfied customer.
Here are three questions that you should start asking.
7 Essential Ways to Build Trust in Your Business
Consumer trust is shaky, and it’s hard to earn clients. People have been hyped up and disappointed over and over. Plus, they don’t know who to believe anymore. Everyone is the best, it seems.
So people sit back. They watch and observe. They think over their buying decision for a while before making a move. Some people visit a store a few times to check out the item they want without purchasing. Others may call or email a provider a few times to test the waters.
These initial contacts are something that you need to get used to. You won’t win clients over from the first impression anymore (though that first impression does count in the final decision to buy).
You’re going to have to work at building trust. Thankfully, it’s not complicated to do.
