Branding

For many beginning entrepreneurs, branding means choosing the name of their business and designing a logo. While those things are part of branding, there’s a lot more to it. Branding involves the entire personality of the business and the feeling your customers get when they interact with you. It shows in the way you introduce yourself to customers and the way you present your business.

Establishing your branding the right way in the early stages of your business can save you the stress and expense of a rebrand down the road. While it may feel quicker to pick a business name and a logo at random, you may run into the issue that you outgrow your early branding as your business grows. Customers that have become loyal will find rebranding confusing and frustrating.

If you want your brand to stand out from the competition, you need to define your brand and decide the way you want people to think of you when they hear your name. What adjectives do you want to be associated with? Cheap? Luxurious? Friendly? Innovative? Answer that first, to make every other branding decision easier.

You may be demotivated to design a logo when you think that everything isn’t perfect, but don’t let that stop you. There are many famous companies that have changed their logos several times over the course of the company’s lifespan. What is more important than the logo, is that once you have made the decision, you are consistent.

Brand voice is an underutilized aspect of branding. How do you message your customers? What does your email marketing tone look like? How do you communicate with your customers on social? Formal or informal, certain tones fit certain brands and certain audiences. The most important element of your brand tone is authenticity.

Your audience and market will decide your branding tone, treating your audience and customers with respect is important. Your tactics from your first few years building your brand will likely need to be adapted as your customers will change.

If you are at a loss, look at the competition. Study their branding to see how you can position yourself distinctly from them as your primary goal in this is not to replicate.

How do you message customers differently in email compared to social or your website? Your tone across different mediums should be consistent but with slight modifications based on what will reach your audience best. For messaging, always follow your company branding and standards.

Types of Commercial Umbrella and their Benefits for Business

Christina

An umbrella is about more than just creating some shade. Whilst it’s true they do this, it’s also true that they come with so many more benefits, and you shouldn’t ever rule these benefits out when making a commercial decision for your business. You can choose from different types of umbrella depending on your needs, so the facts are going to be important here. Think about some of the following when choosing commercial umbrellas:

  • Don’t forget the word commercial. This should always be a decision that is made because of money, customer experience and marketing your business. Part of marketing is making sure people have a great experience, so they will keep returning again and again. It’s a good way of getting the customers you want, without having to spend lots of money on new marketing and advertising campaigns.
  • Think about the bigger picture. How can you make your commercial umbrellas work as hard for you as possible? They probably aren’t going to be a cheap purchase, so it makes sense to ensure they are going to do as much for you as they can. Think about using them as a branding exercise. Have your logo professionally printed on the umbrellas, so that people passing by will see your name and your logo. This needs to look completely professional – only use a legitimate marketing and printing company to get the work done, so you can be confident in the quality of the printing. It will also reinforce the message to people who already use your business, reminding them where they are and keeping you at the forefront of their minds.
  • Think about other benefits for your business, outside of the commercial. Umbrellas can help provide a better ambience, and they can also help to keep the building cool if they are placed close to windows. This also makes for a better ambience inside, meaning you may even be able to save money on bills because you won’t need to cool down your property.

These are some types of commercial umbrella that could work for your business:

  • Centre pole. These can be freestanding, or they can be fitted to a table.
  • Cantilever. This is a side arm umbrella that is freestanding and that is highly adjustable, because the umbrella can pivot and rotate on the arm.
  • Octagonal or hexagonal. Umbrellas don’t just need to be square or rectangular. There are many different options depending on what you want to achieve.
  • Aluminium or wooden. Choose the material that is going to be the most beneficial, but also that is going to give you the look you want.

If you aren’t sure exactly of what you want or need, talk it through with a company that can supply your umbrellas. They can give you advice and help you decide on the umbrellas that will be most beneficial for you. They should know their product range inside out, meaning they can give you useful advice and support throughout the consultation, design, manufacture and installation period.

Consistent Branding for your Business

Christina

Branding is how you make a business recognisable. Think about some of the biggest brands you know. Chances are, you know what their logo looks like and you know the colours they use, making them recognisable should you see them anywhere. Whether you know or like it, these brands are a part of your life and your overall subconsciousness.

The aim for any business is to have a brand that works like this, making you a household name. Your branding is going to be a big part of this, making you memorable and making sure you can communicate your message clearly. This is why you need your branding to be consistent. The aim is to get to a stage where people know who you are, and just a colour of small logo will remind them of you. Once this is beginning to happen, you branding is beginning to deliver for you.

Why is your Website so Important?

Christina

Your website is your way of showing the world who you are and what you are about. A good website will secure you new customers, tell the world about your business and bring in repeat custom from people who are happy with your services. If you want to succeed in business, a website is a key marketing tool for you.

If you are carrying out any kind of web marketing activities, your website is usually going to be the end point. For example, if you create a PPC advert, people who click on it will be taken to your website. This means that, even if you have some excellent marketing campaigns running, you will need to have a strong website for people to see once they find it.

Many people will also search for you by using your website. If existing or new potential customers want to know more about you, the company website will be their first port of call.

Want to Know How to Stay Competitive in a Dynamic Market Today?

Christina

Having a business means you have to fight many other similar establishments in order to create a name for yourself in a given market. This requires you to come up with a unique marketing strategy. You may have quality products but the way you reach out to potential consumers will determine your success. Remember that there are many other competing products therefore, yours has to have a uniqueness that makes people prefer it more than what your competitors have to offer. A creative design agency can help you come up with the right product strategy.
This will include branding of your products, designing logos and brochures among many other things. This is important because it gives your products an identity. Today, you should also target the online market. This requires you to have a quality website, a powerful digital campaign and marketing plan. Even when you do not know what your business requires, consulting a design agency will help you understand and create the right designs and digital campaigns unique to your needs. How is this so?
When you approach the agency, they will want to first understand your business even before they design anything for you. Whether you want a website, logo, brand name or an identity created for you, the design will largely depend on the type of business you have and the market you want to reach out to. Some agencies may even send representatives to your business to try understand your needs and help them get more creative with the designs they will offer. During the initial consultation, here are questions you may be asked. Read more →

The Least Effective Marketing Channel

admin

It is unfortunate to say, but you often find that business owners, who likely have no experience in marketing, throw their marketing budget at a number of different channels without really ever considering what is the most effective and efficient way to spend their money.

When considering the best way to utilise a budget, it is worth bearing in mind that not all marketing channels will influence consumers in the same way. It could be like with the ‘blanket marketing campaigns’ with advertising on the radio or TV; where the targeting is very limited in scope and the return you see is often in terms of brand recognition rather than an immediate return, or it could be like with search marketing, where your ability to target people looking for your services is very strong and you generally see an immediate (or at least easily attributable) return. Because of the differences in influence it can be difficult to say which is the most effective, so you need to look a number of different factors to truly determine what is and isn’t effective, which are; branding (what is often a more long term strategy for developing business) and an immediate return.

Because you know what the two factors you need to consider when determining the value of a marketing campaign, determining which is the worst and least effective form of marketing is actually quite simple. All you need to do is look at the platform which neither helps your brand or gives you an immediate return on your investment; cold calling. Cold calling often leaves a bad impression which can end up damaging your brand, and as people will often not listen to a cold call (typically hanging up within the first 20 seconds), your ability to sell products to the people you call is extremely restrained.