BRAND REHAB. Four Steps to a Bigger, Better Brand

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "BRAND REHAB. Four Steps to a Bigger, Better Brand"

Myles Thornton
8 years ago
Views:

2 You re Away from a Who needs a big brand? You do. Why? Let s start by talking about what a big brand really means. A big brand is: Memorable: your company is the first one that pops into your target market s mind when they need the service or product you offer. Remarkable: you communicate, deliver and follow through with your customers in a way that keeps them talking about and recommending your business. Professional: your company looks and behaves like it s in the big leagues. This includes how your marketing materials look, the way you correspond by even the way you answer the phone. How to Avoid Being Guilty of a Blooper In the Marketing Bloopers video, we talked about five rules to follow so you can avoid committing a very public, and very embarrassing marketing blooper: 1. Know Your Market Spend time getting to know the demographic and psychographic characteristics that define your target market. 2. Speak Their Language Understand the cultural influences, slang and hidden meanings your target market lives with. 2

3 3. Build Trust with Consistency Once you ve built some brand recognition, be very hesitant to change it unless you have an excellent reason to do so. 4. Be Original Avoid copycat marketing. Your company will stand out and be memorable if you make the effort to develop your own unique messages. This applies to the words you use, and your visual style. 5. Take Action Be brave! The worst blooper of all is being so afraid to create a unique message and presentation that you end up doing nothing. You Know the Rules, Now Learn the Steps Now let s talk about some action steps you can do today this week to improve your brand. 1. target, target, target Your first step before you make any marketing plans for your company must be to spend some time discovering all you can about the people who are your ideal customers, your target market. Your target market is made up of people who need, want and can afford your product of service. The can afford part of the equation is important! They need to have the means to spend money on what your company offers. We covered target markets in the Marketing Bloopers video, but here s a recap of the kind of information you should understand: Demographic: gender, age, geographic location, education level Psychographic: what their daily lives are like, what their challenges are, what they value, and what they believe. 3

4 2. develop marketing copy you can use over and over In the Big Brand System course which I ll tell you more about in an upcoming video we have an entire lesson devoted to what I call your Big Brand Promise. Your Big Brand Promise consists of seven or eight sentences, and it states what your company offers in the form of benefits for your customers. Instead of talking about features: We use top-quality auto detailing products to clean your car so it shines You talk about benefits: Your car will look like it just left the showroom, and you ll feel like a million bucks when you drive it off our lot. When most people sit down to write about their own products or services, they hone right in on the features: the quality, the colors, the speed, the location, the selection. But what really sells, it turns out, are benefits. Benefits are the results of the features. When you can convert features into benefits, your marketing copy will become much more powerful and convincing. Once you ve written your Big Brand Promise, you can use it over and over, whenever you might need a short explanation of what you offer. Some examples: Use it in business letters or s Run it as a short paragraph at the end of an ad Use it as an introduction when you do an interview Speak it out loud as an elevator speech when you meet someone new 4

5 3. pick two main colors Now we re getting to one of my favorite aspects of marketing making it all look great. You ve figured out who you want to reach, and you ve worked on creating a strong Big Brand Promise to communicate what you offer. It s time to package it in a format that s compelling and professional. One easy way to communicate your visual brand is to choose colors to represent your company, and use those colors consistently in everything you do, whether it s in print or on the web. But where can you start? There are millions of colors to choose from! I recommend you pick two. There s a reason major corporations, sports teams and even your local high school are all represented by two colors. They re easy to remember, and easy to use. To put them to use, you simply choose from your short list of two colors whenever you apply color to your marketing materials. (By the way, you don t have to count black or dark grey among your two colors: you can use those for text and add your two colors to them). Choose colors that are versatile and not too trendy. You want to be able to use them for years so they become associated with your brand. Remember to choose colors that are meaningful to your target market, and that communicate your product or service. Don t shy away from obvious associations, either. For example, if you sell a product that s associated with green practices, you should use (you guessed it!) some version of green. If you re stumped, get inspiration from the colors used for consumer goods your target market already purchases. Put all those market research dollars spent by large corporations to good use: let them influence your own business marketing. 5

6 4. pick two typefaces Typefaces, or fonts, are a great way to add some personality to your marketing messages. Typefaces come in two main categories: Serifs, which feature little feet on their stems Sans-serifs, which are streamlined and modern The best way to get the most impact when you re choosing typefaces? Find two that blend well together, and use them in everything you do. Those typefaces will become associated with your brand over time. It s a subtle touch like a person s accent when they speak but it s unmistakable. First and foremost, find typefaces that are readable. When you ve found a few you like, type out a full paragraph in the styles you d like to compare. Look at them side-by-side and trust your eyes which ones are most readable? When perusing typefaces, look for full families which include all the weights and styles. Look for regular or book weight, plus semi-bold or bold, italics, etc. The larger the typeface family, the more versatile it will be. 6

7 want to dig deeper? If you re enjoying this information and want to really master these concepts so you can grow your business, I have an opportunity I ll share with you soon that s available in very limited quantities, and for a short time. But first, there s more information coming. In the final chapter of this series, I ll talk about the most important marketing element of all. Without this one, none of the previous information works. What s more if you get it wrong, you can kiss all your progress goodbye! I ll also answer some of the great questions that have been asked on the Solitary Marketer Success Series page. If you d like me to answer your question in the last video, add it to the page and I ll do my best to include it. Add your question in the comments at the bottom of the page here: I ve enjoyed bringing you this series, and it has been amazing to see the community that has formed right on the page in the comments section. People from around the world are enjoying the information, which tells me that small business owners deal with many of the same frustrations, no matter where they live. Thanks for reading, and watch your inbox: I ll let you know when the last video is ready for you. Pamela Wilson BIG Brand System 7

Words By Wendy. Small Business Marketing Tips How to make your promotional dollars work harder

Words By Wendy. Small Business Marketing Tips How to make your promotional dollars work harder Small Business Marketing Tips How to make your promotional dollars work harder As a long-time marketing consultant, and a small business owner myself, I know that marketing can seem like a necessary evil