Navigating Social Media Nightmares
Social media nightmares are the most significant concern I hear when I talk with businesses about using social media to grow their message is the "what if..." What if someone uses my social media account to address a concern they...
Your Brand is Your Story: Building a Narrative That Connects
An easy way to think of your brand is to understand that it is the story of your business. Your brand is more than just a logo, color scheme, or tagline—it's about the history of your business, the challenges you...
Branding Foundations
Every brand needs to be built on a solid foundation. While the materials the blocks are made of change from company to company, their purpose, form, and necessity do not vary. The first foundational block of your brand is your vision for your...
Does Your Brand Inspire Passion?
We're here in the middle of football season, and we can observe the fans of a favorite team every week. It doesn't matter which team takes the field; you can count on one thing - thousands of people will wait,...
Your Brand Online
Some time ago, those of us in the business world began hearing that we needed to create a website for our business to build our brand online. Frankly, this confounded several business owners. They asked, "Why would I need a...
Your Customers Should be Able to Count on You
I recently found a great little store that provides excellent, thorough, and knowledgeable customer service. I was so excited about the service I received from this store that I told a friend about it. I even offered to go with...
10 Ways to Build Your Brand
We've talked much lately about that inevitable Marketing Plan that will be "due" soon. Here's a quick recap of ways to build your brand as you dream of what you'll accomplish next year. Know What it Stands For. Before you...
Examining Your Marketing Environment
As you begin to put together your new strategic marketing plan, you should take into account the internal and external factors in your marketing environment that will be affecting you in the upcoming year. In my previous post, How Effective...
Struggling to Convert Facebook Likes to Sales Leads?
Let's face it: social media can be overwhelming. Something that takes your teenager one minute to do takes you hours to figure out. And when you add in the complexity of doing social media for your business, sometimes it's just...
Following Through: How to Keep Your Marketing Plan Alive and Achieve Success
For the last several posts, I've been expanding on each of the questions I posed in my original post, "How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?" Today, let's dive deeper into the crucial question of execution: Did you follow through on...
Choosing Products for Your Target Audience
Not every product you carry will suit your target audience, so discussing how and why a particular product will fill a need is important. It’s incumbent upon you to figure out how your product will fill a void in their...
You Need a Target Audience
A few days ago, I asked you, "How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?" The first question on the Effectiveness Quiz was: Did your plan clearly articulate your target audience, including demographic information?(The correct answer would be something on the order...
How Effective is Your Marketing Plan?
It's officially fall, so many marketers are in the middle of another year of planning. Unless, of course, you're ahead of the game - in which case, congratulations!!! But since that's probably not the case, as you begin to work...
So What’s Your Social Media Strategy?
So, what's your social media strategy? I'm sure that when it comes to most marketing endeavors, you attach some strategy to it. Have you done that for social media? No, I’m not talking about an ROI; I’m talking strategy. What...
Branding a Local vs National Company
I had the opportunity the other day to chat with a friend who is a national brand marketer. During our conversation, I was struck (again) by the sameness and, simultaneously, the differentness of branding a national vs. local brand. At...
Are You a Pioneer or a Settler?
All sorts of numbers are being thrown out there regarding how many companies have implemented social media plans and strategies. Most numbers are probably a little inflated. It's going to come down to region and category. Some categories are more...
Where is Your Audience?
As a small business owner, one of the most critical questions you must ask is: Where is my audience today? Years ago, reaching customers was more straightforward. Placing an ad in the local Saturday newspaper could bring a decent return...
Visual Identity on a Budget: Strategies for Small and Mid-Size Companies
Building a visual identity on a budget doesn't mean compromising quality. A strong brand presence is crucial for small and mid-sized businesses, but significant branding initiatives can be costly. Fortunately, there are ways to achieve professional results while staying within...
Tweeting is Word of Mouth
We were recently out of state attending a client's strategic planning session. We didn't know much about the area and had been very busy in the weeks leading up to that, so we didn't do much investigating on the Internet....
Selling Your Brand Internally
One of the most important places to spend time and energy "selling” your brand is internally. No audience is more important to have completely understand and believe your brand position. The reason should be apparent: if your staff doesn't believe...
