Brand Marketing – a Way to Promote Your Brand

Brand Marketing – a Way to Promote Your Brand

A brand is a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. It is your promise to your customers. Brand Marketing is defined as a strategy of how, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering your brand messages.

Brand Marketing Plan

Brand marketing plan is easy to do. Brand marketing plan is an outline to help you achieve your target market and goes like this:

• Brand marketing objective: state your objective encouraging your customers in buying your product brand despite some complications that is preventing the buyers to purchase that product.
• Brand promises: what will attract a customer's attention?
• Brand attributes: show an advantage in building your brand communication towards the customers.
• Brand category: illustrate what other products you gain competition with or not.
• Brand positioning: state why your product is different from others.
• Positioning: anchors as support to your brand promise.
• Audience: present audience research and diagnostics.
• Advertising: state your products description for advertisement.
• Budget: amount of money you will spend in pursuing your plan.

What is Brand Marketing Strategy?

Brand marketing strategy is an effective way of commanding loyalty from customers. The most effectual strategy is the brand promise. It is actually the idea of the brands' promises that are able to attract customers.

3 Marketing Actions to Help Your Small Business Move Ahead in 2014

3 Marketing Actions to Help Your Small Business Move Ahead in 2014

The purpose of marketing your small business is to create awareness for what you do and to attract ideal prospects that are looking for what you offer. There are so many marketing strategies available today, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and either try to do it all or freeze and do nothing.

Here are three easy marketing actions that are all you really need to do:

PLAN 

Your marketing efforts will be more successful and less stressful if you create a plan. Sit down and plan what exactly you're going to do to achieve your goals for the year. This doesn’t have to be a huge effort on your part. Make this easy on yourself and keep things simple. Start your plan by asking yourself the following questions:

1. What have I accomplished in my business within the past 6 months?

2. What opportunities do I currently have in front of me?

3. What would I like to accomplish within the next 3 months?

The answers to these questions tell you what your next move should be. Ideally, you want to focus on the "low hanging fruit." These are the opportunities that are right within reach and require just a bit of effort. You'll want to outline, step by step, what you'll do to take advantage of those.

DO 

The plan that you drew up for your small business is now "live." Now is time to take action on the plan you created. Focus on the one step you need to take right now and put your plan in motion.

REVIEW 

After a few weeks, consider the results of your hard work. How are you doing with the goals you set for yourself? Do you need to pick up the pace? Are you ahead of schedule?

By reviewing and measuring your results, you will be able to make adjustments based on real data instead of assumptions and fears. If you do need to make some alterations, don't beat yourself up over it.

These three marketing steps will set you up for growth!

6 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid!

6 Marketing Mistakes to Avoid!

Let's take a quick look at six marketing mistakes that many small business owners make, and how you can avoid them.

Mistake #1 is not developing and maintaining a marketing focus. You need to hone in on your best prospects: that core group most likely to become long-term customers. Who do you really want to appeal to? What group do you focus your marketing efforts on? You should focus on the people you're more likely to sell to.

Mistake #2 is the lack of a compelling offer. You need something that excites people to take action now and this call to action should be on your website home page. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to not give people a specific call to action, something you want them to do immediately.

Mistake #3 is not using testimonials. What other people say about you is much more convincing to a prospect than what you say about yourself. Sprinkle testimonials throughout your website.

Mistake #4 is failing to measure the results of your marketing. Track everything. Every single dollar should be accounted for, so you know what works and what doesn't. Don't just throw a bunch of things out there without some way to track the results. When you know one type of promotion is working and another isn’t, you can cut the latter and focus on the former.

Mistake #5 is using bad copy. The right words are important, so you have to have good copywriting skills. (Please see my February 18, 2014 blog for more information about writing good copy.)

Mistake #6 is relying too much on one advertising medium. You have to diversify. Do different things to generate traffic to your website, or get people into your store. The more of those things you can do, the less reliant you'll be on any one method. Make sure it's all trackable.

3 Ways You Can Create Fresh and Captivating Copy for Your Website

3 Ways You Can Create Fresh and Captivating Copy for Your Website

It’s easier to write a book or an article than to create copy for a website. You have unlimited words and space in a book or article. A website has limited space, so you have to make every word count. You also have to be unique, engaging and relevant.

Here are three ways you can create fresh and captivating copy for your website: 

1.     Tell a story

People love an interesting story. Tell a story about one of your customers. Start with what their problem was, how you solved it (very important!) and how happy they are now. Quotes from your customers are great testimonials for your business.

2.   Use pictures

 
You don’t always have to use words to tell a compelling story. Sometimes, you can use an illustration or image to make your point.

3.   Be lively

Don’t’ try to write if you’re bored or tired.  Your copy should be lively and make people want to read more. Write with gusto and enthusiasm about your business and your readers will sense your passion for what you do.

3 Benefits of Writing a Blog Post Every Week

3 Benefits of Writing a Blog Post Every Week

In order to continue building your business, you need to market your business so more people know who you are and how you can help them. You could be the best in the world what you do, but if no one knows, it'll be pretty hard to attract new customers.

You can start building your business by writing a blog post every week. Why? There are a number of good reasons to write a post every week:

1.   Add new content to your website keeps you current. Visitors to your web site will find lots of valuable information as your posts accumulate. When they return to your site, they will see something new to read then too. Blogging regularly also keeps your site looking current which is more likely to attract business.

2.   Search engines rank sites higher when there's new content added to them on a regular basis. This will help more people find your site. Make sure you use your keywords in the blog title and body of the article.

3.   You are the expert! By providing useful information to your target market, you position yourself as an expert in your field. The more people see your name on more content in more places, the more you will be seen by them as an expert in your niche. And it's even better if it's seen as valuable content.

3 Ways to Market Your Small Business With Blogging

3 Ways to Market Your Small Business With Blogging

Blogging has become one of the most popular tools used to market a company. If you are a small business that does not have a blog, here are some statistics published by Social Media Today that will convince you to use a blog to market and grow your small business:

• Small Businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads
• 61% of US consumers have purchased products and services based on blog posts
• 70% of consumers learn about a company through articles

These statistics alone prove that blogs can be great resources for marketing your products and services, lead generation and sales. A blog can also help small businesses become an expert in their field, help to increase brand awareness and gain online recognition.

If you are small business that is thinking about starting to blog, you should definitely do so. Here are 4 ways that you can use a blog to market your company:

Share your knowledge

You are the expert in your field. You live it every day. So write about what you know. Give your customers ideas and helpful hints.

Become an authority in your market by answering questions from your readers

Blog readers love to start discussions with authors and fellow readers, especially when they have become attached to your small business blog. To keep your readers engaged in your blog, you should need to reply to comments as quickly as possible. If you don't respond quickly or don't open a communication line, it may result in a decline of readership and interaction from your readers or a slow growth in your blog. Using your comment forms, social media connections and email are all great ways to stay in touch with your readers.

Blog about upcoming promotions and deals

Do you have any special deals and promotions coming up for your company? If you do, posting those deals on your blog is a great way to get the word out about them. You can also use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to spread the word about your promotions.

There are plenty of ways to market your small business on a very minimal budget. Blogging is one of the most effective and low cost ways to do so. Get started blogging today!

SEO Tips for the Small Business

SEO Tips for the Small Business

As a small business, you’re working hard to market you products. Every article, blog post and press release that you write should include your SEO terms. This will ensure that your ranking on search engines will rise.

What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the correct use of keywords relevant to your business and products that affects the visibility of your website in a search engine’s unpaid search results.

Know your Keywords

Before you start writing content for your website or your blog, it’s imperative that you know what your keywords are. How do you know you have all the correct keywords? Sit down and make a list of terms about your business. Also, you can ask your customers what words they would use to search for your business.

Knowing your keywords will make writing website content and blog posts easier. Make sure you use the keywords in your content as you write.

Keep your content current, relevant and original

Use your SEO terms in everything you write. Adding new content on a regular basis to your website moves you up in search engine rankings. Make sure your content is original and relevant.

Know where placing keywords matter

Yes, your keywords should be sprinkled naturally throughout your website or blog, but there are other places to insert keywords so your SEO does better in searches. Include a keyword in your blog title, as long as it doesn’t sound forced. Also, try to use a keyword in the beginning of a paragraph, rather than at the end.

Using your SEO keywords in your weekly blogs and throughout your website is good for moving your website up in search engine rankings. Need help with your SEO? Give Blue Dog Marketing a call and we can help!

3 Steps to Creating Your Business Tagline

3 Steps to Creating Your Business Tagline

 

A good tagline, or slogan, can help your business stand out. If you have a business tagline that carries a simple and powerful message while your competitor just has a logo, you have the advantage of winning over the target customers. The right tagline can dictate how you're perceived both externally and internally.

What Is a Business Tagline?

Branding your business must involve the creation of a tagline or slogan. It is one of the basic elements necessary in building an effective brand. A slogan typically consists of a short sentence or phrase that serves to reinforce your business's name. Many big businesses have created highly successful slogans, so successful that the slogans themselves have been recognized by the customers as much as their names.

The main purpose of a tagline is to enhance and boost your business’ name or provide a tiny glimpse of what the brand promises to deliver. Here are some steps to follow to create an effective business tagline:

1. Consider why you need a slogan. Think about what is most important about your business. Make your business slogan original and memorable to differentiate your business. Include a key benefit.

2. Be honest. It’s bad if your tagline claims that you are "the biggest restaurant in town," while, there is another larger restaurant in town. Instead, concentrate on what distinguishes you from your competition. Ensure you can consistently deliver what you’re promising.

3. Make your business slogan customer focused. Ask your customers what they like about your business and integrate it into your slogan.

A good business tagline tells your customers the benefits you offer them, shows how you position yourself against your competitors, and makes your business memorable to prospective customers.

Golden Rules

DO's:

·         Be simple; 3-6 words at the most
·         It’s professional
·         Be original (Check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)
·         Be memorable (fun, funny, inventive, catchy or surprising)
·         Be believable
·         Be honest
·         Include a key benefit
·         Impart positive feelings for the brand
·         Differentiate the brand
·         Reflect the brand personality
·         Focus on your Core Services

DON'Ts

·         Use something currently used by another business
·         Prompt a sarcastic or negative response
·         Be pretentious
·         Be boring or cliché
·         Be negative
·         Be complicated

Need help creating a business tagline? Blue Dog Marketing can help!