Do You Have A Clear Brand Building Process?

YOUR GOAL IS TO MAKE ALL THE ELEMENTS WORK FOR YOUR BRAND ONLY!

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IS SCIENCE AND ART

The written word can be very powerful in attracting more customers to your brand. Together with fantastic imagery, it will tell your story in a clear and meaningful way. And importantly, over time, as the momentum builds, it will create a swell in the market to cut-through and connect for buyer action.

Every one wants to grow their business / their brand. But why do we leave it to chance? Or why do we not put enough time into really defining a clear 'process flow and formula' of how your communications will cut through? And finally, why don't we invest enough money into maintaining our brand?

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IS PART SCIENCE

A solid communications strategy is like a formula, like solving a maths or finance problem. Logical, scientific and even statistical. Without this underlying 'formula', you do not really have a plan for your messaging - just a bunch of pretty images/content thats pushed out.

Like the iceberg analogy - what you see is all the final 'glitzy stuff' on the surface, but what's not seen supporting the communications is what will make all the difference.

Each step is a logical sequence that is part of a clear formula. Each message is part of a bigger chapter. Over time, all these messages create your brand story or your brand perception in the mind of the customer/market - like chapters of a book.

Defining your specific Brand Formula is critical to any effective cut-through, whatever medium/channel you are using. And then sticking to it, until it needs an update.

"Messing with branding,

is like messing with mother-nature,

you don't do it, unless you really have to."

---

WE NEED INSIGHTS & INFORMATION, NOT JUST DATA

Yes, you will have more data thrown at you than ever before, but be cautious and think 'logically for your brand'. Data is not information yet, it needs to be absorbed. And even information needs to be absorbed and interpreted as it relates to your business strategy and objectives.

All these metrics, all these dashboards...don't get too distracted, you still need to be able to cut through it all and extract the meaningful bits, the trends and changes to whats going on, to paint an accurate picture of whats actually happening today and where its all going.

And don't be led astray - some of the 'free data and free dashboards' you are getting are really helpful, but some of it is a real distraction that could be leading you off-track from your focus.

THINK YOUR BRAND NEEDS FIRST, NOT THE ROCKSTAR TECH PLAYERS

Have a clear search strategy for your brand - not just GOOGLE

As we have said before, Google is awesome for getting cut through an initial search online - but we are not here to make Google richer (US$209 Bill revenue), we are here to use their tools to build your brand effectively. Having a very clear search strategy (SEO) is very important, otherwise you'll get lost in the mix!

Have a clear social media/PR strategy for your brand - not just LINKEDIN or INSTA

It's the same as any social media channel (eg. Linkedin $10+ Bill revenue and owned by Microsoft by the way!, or Instagram $24 Bill revenue and owned by Facebook). We are not here to make Linkedin richer, we are here to leverage their business audience to drive awareness, cut-through and create action for your brand. Anyone can add Followers and push out content and everyone is doing it. But remember, like any traditional marketing communications medium, its just another channel building their network and trying to get you to advertise/spend money 'boosting' your message ('post') - you've got to think wisely!

Have a clear (CRM) customer relationship management strategy for your brand - not just SALESFORCE

Even a great CRM system (eg. Salesforce, US$26Bill revenue) needs clear direction for your brand/your business. Too many businesses keep adding fancy software, but they are not really using it properly for their specific industry, business and brand. The CRM software is there to help replication/automate your offline customer strategy in a real one-to-one/corner-store mentality way.

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IS PART ART

All great communications tell a story. They are inviting and produce a feeling by tapping into emotion. Now depending on how you look at it, emotions can be scientifically broken down and sometimes they need to be - but for now, let's roll with the 'art side of emotion'.

The beauty, the simplicity of the layout, the image, the headline - the message, just like an architect strips everything back and positions everything in just the right place.

Like Apple, AirBnB, Nike, BMW, Mercedes, Lego - their power is in their simplicity thats taken bold years to master. And here's a few more that you might not have seen yet, https://justcreative.com/clever-advertising-ads/

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IS A PROCESS

All the parts of your communications mix should work as one, to deliver one consistent and integrated message over time. Now this sounds really simple and it is - but in a world of distractions, opinions, preferences, trends, chopping and changing etc, sticking to it and saying no at times, is really critical.

What you choose not to do or not to put in your communications, is just as (or even more) important as what does go in! Being consciously selective is key - like a great designer.

Steps to help define your Lead Generation / Marketing Communications Process:

1) SEARCH - Starting from the broadest online search (eg. Google)

2) SOCIAL/PR - To your social strategy (eg. Linkedin, Instagram)

3) WEBSITE - Driving leads to your Website is the priority (website must be awesome!)

4) CRM - Capturing leads into your Database/CRM to nuture

5) DIRECT - For your own Direct Marketing Strategy to your current and potential customers (one-on-one, no rockstar tech players needed!)

6) LEADS - To connect and contact you - digitally or personally!

= SALES - for an OUTCOME

A sale / purchase / transaction /or a potential opportunity for the future.

YOUR GOAL IS TO MAKE ALL THE ELEMENTS WORK FOR YOUR BRAND ONLY!

Touch base if you need a Brand Audit, or to create or review your Communications Formula for success - sometimes just a few tweaks can make all the difference.