Tag Archive for: Social Media

Branding Your Business One Customer at a Time

Branding Your Business One Customer at a Time. If you aren’t actively building a brand for your business, make no mistake, your brand is still being built. In other words, every day customers, prospects and even your competitors are helping to shape your reputation.

Social media means that a disgruntled customer need only post about one terrible experience they had with your business and in the blink of an eye, thousands of potential customers may be swayed to believe that yours is not the type of business they want to patronize. This is unfortunate since one bad experience does not a business make. But that is the world we live in.

While branding is often thought of as creating a name for yourself, it would be wise to remember that it is so much more than that. It is an ongoing process that can literally make or break a business.

So what do your customers, prospects and the public at large think of your business? While it is true that one rogue customer can do an untold amount of damage to your brand, you still have a great deal of control over your reputation.

The key is to remember that every single day, everything you do speaks volumes about your brand in ways you may never have expected. Nothing you do as a business is insignificant. It is imperative to keep this in mind whether you are closing a sale with your biggest client or answering a phone call from a prospect who seems unlikely to ever purchase one of your products.

So how can you make sure you are sending the correct message about your brand every single day? Consider the following:

  • If a current customer calls your business and is put on hold for an extended amount of time, this customer will assume that you don’t value his or her time.
  • If a prospect visits your website and finds it outdated and difficult to navigate, this prospect will decide that your business is outdated.
  • If you make it difficult for a customer to return a product they are unhappy with, your brand will be seen as inflexible and concerned only with making a quick buck.

Whether you have spent huge amounts of money branding your business, or haven’t spent a dime, you must remember that your brand is always, to some degree, in the hands of those who interact with you. In light of this fact, you must never forget that the most effective branding messages take place one interaction at a time.

Where Does Your Marketing Focus Lie?

Where Does Your Marketing Focus Lie? The most successful marketers have one thing in common—a laser-like focus on what they want to accomplish. This has never been truer than it is today.

While in the past marketers had only a few ways to market their products or services or promote their brand that is no longer the case.

Modern day marketers find themselves in a much different situation. The options available to market their products and services are virtually endless–social media, podcasts, blogs, content creation, radio and TV ads, print ads, white papers, cold calling, SEO. So what’s a marketer to do?

It all comes down to focus. Today’s marketers must focus on what they want to achieve with their marketing efforts. They either want to draw people to their business through inbound marketing or they want to get their message out to as many people as possible through outbound marketing.

Inbound marketing uses things like social media marketing, content creation and SEO. This type of marketing allows a business to be seen as a thought leader in their industry. And when a prospect is ready to make a purchase, he or she naturally is drawn to that business.

Outbound marketing is a more traditional form of marketing. Businesses who use outbound marketing want to get their name in front of the largest amount of people possible. They want to build brand awareness and so employ tactics such as cold calling, direct mail, and print and broadcast ads to do just that.

There are pros and cons to both of these methods. Inbound marketing requires patience as it takes time before results are achieved. Outbound marketers usually see faster results but those results are often short-lived.

As a marketer, it is important that you decide which technique fits best with your business model remember that if you choose to concentrate on inbound marketing that doesn’t mean you can’t throw in a print ad every once in a while. In general, however, it is important to concentrate on either inbound or outbound since the best results are achieved this way.

Finally, in order to decide between inbound or outbound marketing you need to look at your target audience. Decide which method aligns with that audience. Inbound marketing is usually best for businesses who really know their target audience. While more budget friendly, inbound marketing does require more time to see results. Consumers usually find this type of marketing less intrusive.

Outbound marketing is more costly but reaches a much larger audience. It is often preferred by businesses that are trying to get on the map. Outbound is often preferred by older consumers, B2B customers and when larger purchases such as cars are involved.

Social Media Critical to the Success of Your Business

Marketing your business through social media is critical to the success of your brand. In fact, social media marketing is no longer an option for businesses looking to promote their brand, products and services—it is a must.

Social media also is critical to SEO ranking. In her article, 10 Things You Have to Know about SEO & Social Media in 2016, Dee Stephens says that the relationship between social media and SEO rankings involves much more than creating and posting great content.

It’s about promoting that content so that it achieves the results we are looking for.

Unfortunately, many businesses today aren’t quite sure what they are looking for. Thankfully, Stephens’ article helps you to better ascertain what you need from social media as well as how to get it. She touches on topics such as why you need more than a social presence to increase your SEO ranking; the importance of post optimization; and the fact that SEO and social media are both considered to be inbound marketing techniques.

Stephens concludes her article with a healthy dose of realism.

As we move into 2016, it’s important that businesses’ and brands make allowances for social media, content marketing and SEO in their marketing budgets, and have these disciplines implemented in their business this year, as without these things working like a well-oiled machine, I fear those left behind in 2017 will stay behind.