Posts

3 Budget-Friendly Ways to Boost Brand Awareness

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Boost brand awareness|3 Budget-Friendly Ways to Boost Brand AwarenessAny small business wants to boost brand awareness, but often they do not have the budget to create and launch a nationwide marketing campaign. The pennies are simply too tight to justify spending them on something that may or may not work. For a small business, substantial investments can often be a risk. So what if there was another way? The good news is that there is another way, and even small businesses can boost brand awareness without chipping away too much of their budget.

Freebies

No matter how much money you have or how successful your business is, a freebie is a freebie. For small businesses, this is a fantastic way to spread the word about your business.

There are a variety of ways you can do this, too. From pens and pencils to personalized water bottles to car air fresheners, your logo can travel across the country, letting everybody know who you are and maybe enticing them to use your service.

Freebies are a subtle marketing technique that will trigger recognition for anyone who has come across your logo before. From here, you can expect to see a remarkable boost in engagement, and you can find an increase in business, too.

Guest Blog Posts

Guests posts from founders and CEOs are a superb way of letting people in your industry know who you are and confirm that you understand what you’re talking about. As a business owner, you should have studied your industry, and hopefully, you have plenty of insights on how to improve the way things are run. With a guest post, you can get your message out there.

You can also use these guest posts to conjure up interest in your brand, especially if you have a unique story. You can write about your struggles and how you overcame them and provide advice for other businesses who may experience the same problems when trying to get their fortunes off the ground.

Work With Local Businesses

Local interest is vital for cementing a small business as something to look out for, so you must take advantage of local companies to spread the word. There will be a variety of established companies in your area, and rather than try to compete with them, work with them in events and discount partnerships that will be mutually beneficial.

As locals will already trust these established businesses, they will also trust their judgment about you. By offering discounts and deals by showing flyers or coupons picked up in other stores, you can see an increase in awareness and profits, which will help establish you. All you need to do is prove that yours is a business worth using and provide a quality service to ensure that you generate the brand loyalty you need for growth.

Spreading the Word

Failing to boost brand awareness means that your little startup will remain little. Entrepreneurship is all about innovation, though, and by considering the potential for budget-friendly brand awareness ventures, you can witness an evident improvement. By increasing awareness through these budget-friendly means, you can experience an increase in profits, which will allow your startup to redistribute these funds towards more prominent campaigns and see even more growth.

3 Tips for Designing an Awesome Business Card

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | 3 Tips for Designing an Awesome Business CardThere is some truth to the old saying, “Image is everything”.

Your eyes process images in just 13 milliseconds.

So, what does that mean for you as a savvy business person?

It means you should be thinking about how your peers, potential clients, and coworkers view your image.

The easiest place to start? Your business card.

A well put together business card can leave a lasting impression that speaks volumes about the kind of person you are.

So let’s take a look a how to design a business card that will be a step above the rest.

How to design a business card

Using these 3 tips when designing a business card will take your business persona to the next level.

Let’s get started!

1. First Impressions Are Everything

Remember what we said about image? We meant it!

Your business card design should reflect the style of your business. Your values should be well communicated by just looking at the card.

For example, if you are a creative florist with a passion for wild bouquets, you might choose a brightly colored card with a floral motif. Choosing a dark or modest card would not really reflect the appropriate image of you or your product.

The same goes for a formal business environment. You would want your color scheme to be more muted and straightforward to reflect your values.

If your creative side is struggling consider using a business card template to help inspire you.

2. Clear Contact Information

Don’t make prospective clients squint or grab their readers just to give you a call.

The minimum size you should ever be using is 8pt, but generally, 10pt-16pt is where you want to keep the size.

Your contact info should be in clear order as well.

Try laying the contact info in this classic order:

  • Company name
  • First and Last name
  • Job title
  • Contact info (phone number, email, social, etc)

The whole point of your business card is to help people get in touch with you. Making sure your contact info is clear and concise ensures that your business card design is doing its job!

3. Give It Something Extra

Standing out among the sea of business cards can be tricky, but these creative extras could help your card get the extra glance!

  • Magnetic cards – For businesses that have frequently required services like, hairstylists, lawn care workers, plumbers, etc, a convenient magnetic card placed on the refrigerator can make booking appointments a breeze.
  • Appointment tracker – Having a reminder for important dates or appointments directly on the card will be convenient for your client and lead to less missed appointments.
  • Finishing touches – Different printers can create final touches that make your card stand out against the rest. Try touches like embossing, which raises your text for a unique texture, or foil stamping, which makes your card shiny in areas where applied.

All of these extra final steps can take your design to the next level.

The Finished Product

Now that you understand how to design a business card like a pro it’s time to get started! Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine. Make your new business card today!

For more tips on for success in business check out the rest of our site!

Marketing First, Technology Second

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Marketing First, Technology SecondWhenever someone asks me to define marketing, I tell them that a marketer’s primary responsibility is to differentiate because when two competing products are perceived as being the same, consumers are forced to make their choice based on price.

Tech-First Paradigm

A major downside of living in a tech-centric society like ours is that many of us now use a technology-first lens to view the world around us. Too often, product managers are taking the easier route of emphasizing technical features and benefits instead of crafting a compelling brand positioning strategy that identifies and fills a perceived gap in the minds of consumers.

Let’s face it; technical superiority is usually short-lived. Just think about all the mobile phones you have personally owned. If you compare leading mobile phone brands based on their actual technical specifications, you’ll find that from a speed, memory, and graphics perspective, many brands are incredibly similar. Yet, each of us has specific brand preferences. I have personally witnessed long lines of people waiting for hours in bad weather just for a chance to purchase the newest iPhone.

No Brand Strategy

Depending on your source, somewhere between 75% and 90% of all startups will fail. When founders are asked why their startups have failed, the top three reasons given are 1) a lack of focus, 2) too much competition, and 3) insufficient demand. If you think about it, each of these reasons is a symptom of a poorly formed marketing strategy. A lack of focus equates to a lack of positioning. Too much competition comes from not enough differentiation, and insufficient demand probably means your brand lacks a reason for being.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Marketing First, Technology SecondWhy is Brand Strategy Important?

The world’s most successful brands have well-defined brand strategies that include a differentiated positioning and reason for being. The gold standard example of brand positioning is when Apple created its Think Different campaign. That’s when Apple repositioned itself as the go-to computer brand for those who want to be creative. From that moment on, every Apple touchpoint (tech, software, and features) was intentionally designed to help people be more creative.

Not an Afterthought

As a consultant, I’m often asked to help brands create a brand strategy after they have already developed a product. Unfortunately, this is a suboptimal approach. Positioning a brand after launching a product, is like pouring the foundation for a building after the building is built.

Brand Positioning

The essence of brand strategy is positioning. Select a positioning that gives your consumers a clear choice versus the competition. An effective brand positioning is crafted and honed until it occupies a differentiated and meaningful space in the minds of consumers – a space that cannot be easily replicated by the competition. Differentiate on attributes that consumers care about and solutions that consumers would prioritize when choosing between brands. Remember, just being different is never enough.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Marketing First, Technology SecondFind your Own Space

A consumer’s mind is like a big city with lots of individual neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are known for offering different things – think Chinatown, Little Italy, the suburbs, uptown, and downtown. Just like selecting a place to build a physical structure, it all comes down to location, location , location. When picking a space in your customer’s mind, you have to consider who your neighbors will be and what the neighborhood trends are. Is there a direct competitor next door? Is the neighborhood popular? Or, is the neighborhood in decline?

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Marketing First, Technology SecondFocus

Distill your brand positioning down to a battle cry. Concise brand messaging is easy to share and remember. These slogans help keep your positioning top of mind while providing a true north for selecting on-strategy activities and building brand associations.

For example, LinkedIn’s “Connect to Opportunity” does an effective job of explaining what the brand stands for and its reason for being

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Marketing First, Technology SecondTOMS’ “One for One” slogan communicates the company’s focus on social caring and the emotional benefits of the brand. As a result, its “One for One” campaign is one of the all-time most popular cause marketing campaigns.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Marketing First, Technology SecondAmazon’s Jeff Bezos has publicly referred to the company’s mission statement as the guiding force behind his leadership decisions many times throughout the company’s history. Since it began in 1994, Amazon has had a clear focus and a solitary reason for being. Amazon is “a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”

Stand Out

Humans, by nature, are creatures of habit. To get people to stop what they are doing and consider something new, you need to do something different. Just listing features and benefits is not going to cut it.

We live in a hyper-competitive world where consumers and stakeholders are overwhelmed with stimulus and competing messages. The average American reads roughly 100 text messages a day and is exposed to over 20,000 advertisements a week. As Sir Richard Branson famously said, “If you want to stand out from the crowd, give people a reason not to forget you.” So, first, change your paradigm and find your unique reason for being. Then, use your tech to bring that unique proposition to life.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Luis PedrozaLuis Pedroza is a global brand builder and author of Lean Brands: Catch Customers, Drive Growth, and Stand Out in All Markets. He has held leadership positions with iconic global brands and has worked in many international markets. For more information visit www.luispedrozaauthor.com.

Key Panel Discussion Topics For The Manufacturing Industry

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Key Panel Discussion Topics For The Manufacturing Industry

A manufacturing panel discussion can be an excellent way to get a more in-depth insight into this ever-changing industry and identify the current trends which will shape the future. Bringing together experts and industry-leading manufacturing companies for a panel discussion could prove to be highly valuable and exciting for the industry and provide a platform for a number of key topics and issues to be addressed. As an industry that is constantly changing due to technology, economics, environmental issues, and innovation, there are many big topics to get stuck into, so here are a few areas that you should look to put forward when addressing panelists.

What Is The Industry Doing To Reduce Impact?

The biggest issue that the manufacturing industry is facing right now is its environmental impact. Many industries are guilty of not being eco-friendly enough, but it is often manufacturing that is singled out, and it is easy to see why. Putting forward this topic should open up an interesting discussion on ways in which manufacturing companies can reduce their impact and the importance of making positive changes sooner rather than later.

New Technologies

Technology has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, and manufacturing is one industry which has benefited greatly from this. It is a good idea to have panelists discussing the current types of technology that are being used along with what they think the future will look like.

People & Machines

This should lead nicely into the topic of people and machines because this is an industry that is increasingly using machines for automation and machine learning. This can bring many benefits, and it is easy to see why so many manufacturers are turning to these technologies, but this can create problems when it comes to job losses. This is a big topic of discussion but one which should underline that it is possible for people and machines to work together in manufacturing.

Best Industry Equipment

In addition to technology, it is also a good idea to discuss what equipment is currently being used in manufacturing and how this can help a company to succeed. As an example, specialists like fluentconveyors.com supply manufacturing companies with tailor-made conveyors for their specific setups, which can help a company to streamline and improve their output.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is the biggest threat to modern-day businesses and one which could be devastating to the manufacturing industry as it relies so much on technology and data. Therefore, discussing the threat of cybersecurity and asking what manufacturing companies are doing to protect themselves and their customer data should provide an interesting and important discussion on what should be done to continue to the fight against cybercrime.

These should all make for an interesting discussion on the main topics currently surrounding the manufacturing industry. This is one of the most interesting sectors because it is always changing, and there are many issues and controversies which make for the perfect panel discussion and one which should get the audience engaged.

The Climate Crisis and Brand Futures

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | The Climate Crisis and Brand FuturesInnovation, on which any organisation is so reliant, is about to become more dynamic and challenging than ever. For strategists, the implications are profound.

I believe that hyper-relevance, ultra-personalisation, collaboration, ethics and sustainability are the crucial foundations of success. Meanwhile, those tasked with creating that innovation are now faced with the challenge of the environmental crisis meaning that society and business alike are confronted with an existential dilemma.

It’s one that has, in the majority of cases, effectively been ignored. That dilemma has in fact become a ‘climate and biodiversity emergency’. Indeed, and as we heard recently at the WEF in Davos, the risks that the environmental-crisis poses to business have moved from ‘potentially problematic’ to ‘potentially catastrophic’.

Major action is needed, with businesses in every industry, including the ever-widening area of innovation, having crucial roles to play.

So, the catalytic times we live in have profound implications for businesses and organisations of all varieties. Indeed, the Governor of the Bank of England, memorably declared a few months ago that “firms ignoring the climate crisis will go bankrupt”.

In the context of my new book, Influencers & Revolutionaries, the issues concerned have been epitomised by Greta Thunberg’s call for systematic change in her speeches at the UN, and via the global protests organised by the Extinction Rebellion movement. XR use nonviolent resistance to protest against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse.

Meanwhile, despite the warning of an array of respected public figures, backed up with solid scientific evidence, it’s been staggering to observe many in the mainstream media, and the upper echelons of “yesterday’s businesses” still attempt to dismiss XR. However, it was interesting to see The FT, an early mover in understanding the movement, noting that “the word ‘extinction’ in their title isn’t just referring to plants, insects and animals. It means us.” * Green 2019

From a business-futures perspective, and standing at odds with “yesterday’s organisations and yesterday’s leaders” it’s fascinating to observe how modern management theory has shifted away from the one apparently set in stone by the economist Milton Friedman, for whom the responsibility of business was purely to increase its profits.

We now see leading businesses around the world having a very different overall ‘accountable capitalism’ stance, with the ‘purpose of business’ being viewed as one that has improving society as a central aim. That is a hugely important shift, and these modernised principles reflect a very different business world than that inhabited by Mr Friedman.

This is where, for instance, the building of trust by brand’s evidencing their ongoing actions, are of such importance. (They relate to what I termed ‘reputation capital’ in my first book ‘The Post-Truth Business’ regarding whether a brand is ‘trustworthy, reliable and competent’).

In the context of the climate crisis, the issue of why we should trust ‘the organisation behind the brand’ regarding their environmental credentials, is vital. For companies that are seen, by their behaviour, to be meeting the challenges set by the climate emergency in an effective manner; then on purely consumer-engagement and brand differentiation levels, this will enable them to achieve greater business success.

Which is where ‘real purpose’ as opposed to often vague notions of ‘brand purpose’ are highlighted by those like Extinction Rebellion.

A well-known industry saying has it that the most successful companies achieve their ongoing success by preparing for change, rather than simply attempting to adapt to that change when it appears. And movements like Extinction Rebellion have clearly acted as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ in an array of critical contexts.

The responses must be a transformation of the way in which businesses are led, strategies are developed, products are created, and of the overall approaches to be taken as we move towards a circular and more ethical economy. In each case, creative thinking and collaborative approaches help to illuminate the way forward.

And this ethos is what I outline in the ‘Innovation Manifesto’ with which I conclude my new book…

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Sean Pillot de CheneceySean Pillot de Chenecey has over 20 years’ experience as a brand expert, combining marketing consultancy with ethnographic activity and trend research around the world. His new book is INFLUENCERS & REVOLUTIONARIES: How Innovative Trailblazers, Trends & Catalysts Are Transforming Business.

For more information, please visit: https://www.koganpage.com/product/influencers-and-revolutionaries-9780749498689