Branding in the Digital Age - What Does That Mean?
If this title makes you feel like you’ve just won a game of Jargon Bingo, you are not alone. Us Web types are quick to latch on to names for things – Web 2.0 (and 3.0), LAS, “The Online Conversation” – and it’s easy to talk about a concept without really thinking about what it means. Most people, by now, understand that a brand is a sum of perceptions; what do you, your staff, your business partners and your customers think about you and what collective meaning is then ascribed. So, when you apply this to the digital or information age, what exactly are we talking about? Matt Riley, Idea Bounty guy and Senior brand planner at Quirk. I sought out the perspectives of people smarter than me – Mr. Matt’s view is that ‘the digital age’ just refers to the presence of digital tools that have made it easier for people to engage with your message. “Branding is about creating a persona and positioning it in a way that allows people to engage with it and fulfill a goal that you have.” Also Check Out:
How to Define Your Brand
This is the first step in the process of developing your brand strategy. By defining who your brand is you create the foundation for all other components to build on. Your brand definition will serve as your measuring stick in evaluating any and all marketing materials and strategies. You will begin this process by answering the questions below. Difficulty: Average Time Required: 2 hours Here's How: What products and/or services do you offer? Tips: Post Questions, Comments, and Answers to these Question in the Marketing Forum.Focus on your target audience when answering each question. What You Need Brand Journal or NotebookPen or PencilUninterrupted Time
Small Business Branding 101
In the world of small business marketing, certain terms are thrown around quite a bit – so much so that they become cliché rather than tenants of a solid strategy. You’ve heard them before, terms such as “think outside the box,” “something catchy” and maybe the phase “branding”. Despite its overuse at Monday morning meetings, it’s worth reexamining what branding is really about. As a small business, never gloss over the power of branding. So let’s start at the beginning. Here are three simple concepts that can galvanize your branding strategy: No. 1: Know your audience. No. 2: Having the right tools. No. 3: Commitment. Things to remember: • Don’t cancel ad placements if your phone doesn’t ring right away • If your budget is limited, don’t “media hop"-- stay with one thing • If using a jingle, feature it everywhere (radio, TV, on‐hold, Web) • Don't change up your logo often • When buying an ad ‐ budget for more than a couple of weeks • Use your tagline every chance you get , jingles
The Secret to a Strong Branding Message? Focus.
Entrepreneurs are hustlers. We wear many hats. We're like the chameleons of the business world, adapting to whatever we need to be at any given moment in time. It is no wonder so many of us struggle when our ventures gain critical mass and it comes time to focus our brand. In the mind of the customer, you get to be one thing. One. You don't get to be five things. Your one thing is the unique value that your brand delivers. Related: Why Startups Should Take a Big-Brand Approach to Marketing Your customer doesn't care what you want to be. It's very tempting to try to be everything to everyone. Positioning is the art of sacrifice -- of sacrificing the things you could be to uncover the one thing you should be. I know what you're going to say next: "But we do more than one thing! You think IBM doesn't? That's OK. Related: Grow Your Business By Getting Back to Basics What makes a powerful one thing? First, your core message needs to have an emotional and rational side.
5 Easy Ways to Kick-start Your Business Planning - Business Plan Strategy
Don't know where to start with your plan? Here are some tips to get you going--today. Have you been putting off the business planning? You know who you are. Do you mean to start managing better, but keep getting distracted by fires to put out? Do a SWOT Analysis SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The author is an Entrepreneur contributor.
The myth of the overnight success
tech Angry Birds was Rovio’s 52nd game. They spent eight years and almost went bankrupt before finally creating their massive hit. Pinterest is one of the fastest growing websites in history, but struggled for a long time. Pinterest’s CEO recently said that they had “catastrophically small numbers” in their first year after launch, and that if he had listened to popular startup advice he probably would have quit. You tend to hear about startups when they are successful but not when they are struggling. Startups are hard, but they can also go from difficult to great incredibly quickly.
SME marketing channel preferences | B2B market research agency
By Andrew Dalglish - SMEs. There are close to two million, they generate half of the UK’s GDP and employ 60 per cent of the private sector workforce. Moreover, they’re big buyers of B2B products and services. SMEs are a potentially significant opportunity for many B2B marketers then, but how best to open a conversation? This was puzzling me so I asked 450 buyers of B2B services within SMEs to imagine a prospective supplier wanted to engage with them. Their answers provide clear guidance on where best to target marketing resources. An overview The fourteen channels explored fall into four categories based on their effectiveness. Prioritise – channels with the highest impactDeploy selectively – channels without mass appeal but effective amongst manyThink carefully – channels disliked by the majority but appealing to a minorityHandle with care – channels that may alienate as many dislike Focus on digital channels for maximum impact First, prioritise two digital channels – search and email.
The 9 Most Common Start-up Mistakes
Making mistakes is a great way to learn. Making mistakes is also not particularly fun. It's a lot more fun to avoid them entirely. Here are some of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs—and businesspeople in general—tend to make: 1. Think of a plan as an end result. Most successful people are solid planners and excellent adapters. 2. Just be you. 3. Great, but execution is everything. Check out everything on the business menu, but only select a few items at a time. 4. An estimate is theoretical. 5. 6. Apply sensitivities and create plans in case your estimates are wrong. 7. Sometimes it's not the business or the market. 8. Business is serious enough. 9. What matters most is what matters most to you.
