Small Business Offline Branding Strategies
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While big corporations spend millions promoting their brands, few small businesses and startup companies have taken the time to rigorously determine their brand positioning. Dedicate several hours of time and you can develop a company positioning to
As a continuation of the Small Biz Branding series, this second part deals with offline branding strategies to support your online marketing initiatives. What is critical at this stage is CONSISTENCY.
Before we continue, I like to share a quote on branding from marketing gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout:
"If you can, be first. If you can't be first, create a new category in which you can be first."
Your offline and online marketing efforts must always be in sync. While this is supposed to be a common sense, it is uncommon to many small and startup businesses. Perhaps it is viewed as two entirely different segments, but I repeat, it is one and the same. Otherwise, you will create confusion among consumers.
The Worst Vice is Advice
Giving free advices might be very valuable to you. After all talk is really cheap. If you are in the professional services like lawyers or psychiatrists, you can offer free initial consultation to encourage trial. Service businesses like spas or salon give free beauty tips and ala Queer Eye suggestions to their customers.
Make sure offer only tips or advice that you consider free. Otherwise, you can kiss your career goodbye. In addition, learn to limit your advices so they consumers will keep coming back for more.
Best Advice: Keeping Small Business Small
You can give free newsletters and brochures to your consumers and leave your contact information just in case they need something. You can also do these things online for it is a lot cheaper.
Record Customer Transactions
Build a reliable customer database to record transactions, interactions, suggestions, and even customer complaints. At the end of the day, you will find rich insights coming from different sources.
The more you know about your customers the better you can serve them. Trivial yet highly emotional information like date of birth, anniversaries, and other special occasions offer a way to establish bond with your customers. Why not send personalized notes with your signature instead electronic or e-cards to create dramatic effects.
Besides, you can monitor their purchase patterns and hopefully predict what they will buy next. Talk about being proactive!
If you are worried about expenses, don’t be. There are different free, user-friendly computer applications you can get at sites like Download.com.
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