This month we’re talking about “What Every New Business Should Know” in New Business Denver.
Anne Grinney-Colomban is featured in New Business Denver’s December 2010 issue. In the article, she answers some your burning questions, clears up some myths and discusses the importance of professional graphic design for new businesses.
Read what Anne Grinney-Colomban, Art Director and Partner of Green Jeans Creative has to say about what every new business should know about graphic design.
“What Every New Business Should Know – Special Report” (article link on upper left side of page)
There are so many effective ways to market your business these days. Unfortunately, without a researched plan, there are many unproductive ways to market your business. Below are some key steps to making sure you properly market your business and don’t waste your money.
Identify Your Target Audience
The first step to take is figuring out who your target audience is. Who do you want to target? Is there a specific age group, sex, race, etc.? What type of language/lingo do they use? Who are your marketing efforts targeting currently? How can you grab the attention of your target audience and how can you speak directly to them? What do you have that they want? Where are you advertising? What social networks are you on? What age groups are most likely to be found on the social network that you are using? Which type of professionals read the magazine that you advertise in? Is your advertisement relating to them by stating a problem that your company/product could solve? Who has need for your company’s product or services?
One of the common mistakes when marketing is going into it blindly. There needs to be a research, a game plan, and tracking of efforts. There is no need to continue to spend money on a specific marketing plan when your company hasn’t seen any return. Business owners need to be aware of their spending habits and track the return that they get from their marketing efforts.
“People see and receive so much advertising that the one-time marketing tactic is no longer effective,” says Peter Geisheker, chief executive of The Geisheker Group Marketing firm. “A prospective customer may need to see your advertisement seven to 12 times or more over a period of several months or even a year before they will buy from you.” 1
Business owners must also understand that their passion isn’t always the passion/point of view of their company’s target audience. You must remove yourself from yourself and your personal preferences and delve into your company’s brand. Example: Just because you “like” the color blue, there in no need to include it into your marketing materials if your brand is already established and blue is not a common color within the color guidelines of your brand.
Be Special
It is very important that you figure out why your company is different from your competition and focus on what makes your business so special. Why would someone come to you or use your product? What do you have/offer that others do not?
“Instead of trying to market to the world, select a niche market and market to the same group of prospective customers every month. It is marketing repetition that builds trust and brand loyalty so only market to a group of people or businesses that you can afford.” 1
Be Consistent
A great way to make sure your marketing efforts are received in a memorable fashion is to have your brand image stay consistent throughout your materials. This cannot be stressed enough. Your logo should be on all marketing materials (not as the focal point, but as a branding mark). Your message should be clear when reaching out to potential/current clients – making sure all marketing materials match in look, feel, and message is important for achieving this.
Related Articles:
Not Just The Yellow Pages Anymore – How People Find Local Businesses
12 Ways to Market Your Brand Better
Marketing vs. Brand – Made Easy
How Small Business Owners Can Maximize Their Marketing Budget
1. Geisheker, Peter. “How Small Business Owners Can Maximize Their Marketing Budget.”Investment News – NuWire Investor. MainStreet Staff, 21 June 2010. Web. 08 July 2010. .
Great article for any Denver, Colorado, entrepreneurs looking to start their own small business. The below linked article gives 9 steps to help you on your way, along with government contact info and website links if you need help. It is a great resource for anyone looking to start their own business in the great city of Denver!
Denver 9 Steps to Starting Your Own Small Business: Click Here to read full article
Great article that talks about 10 Steps needed for successful business advertising- Click Here
“Consistency is one of the most important things when maintaining a company’s image and branding identity.” We tell this to our clients all the time. There are too many easy ways that a company’s identity can be flawed by the lack of consistency.
Guidelines To Stay Consistent
A good starting point for consistency is a company’s branding guidelines. If you currently have a graphic designer, design firm or agency that you are using, this is definitely a project to consider. It is always beneficial for a company to have a reference of guidelines on hand for their company’s identity (normally called a Branding Guidelines Manual, Corporate Branding Guidelines, Corporate Identity Development, etc.)
These manuals give the company step-by-step guidelines on how to use fonts, what fonts to use, if there are any image guidelines, logo sizes and safe spaces, main colors to be used and how to use them, secondary colors, and so on. All of these guidelines create the company’s brand strategy to ensure a consistent brand presence and identity.
At Green Jeans Creative, we greatly stress the importance of branding guidelines. Even if a client does not ask for a designed, hard copy, of branding guidelines for their company, we have on hand our own personal documents with all of the information need for our own reference. The documents and notes that we have keep track of all fonts, colors, spacing usage, etc. that are used for that company to make sure that all of the materials and designs that we produce for them will stay consistent with their company image.
Keeping a company’s image consistent will make the their brand effective and memorable.
Stay Consistent
“The true power of a corporate identity is in consistency across all forms of outward communication with clients or customers.” 1
One of the easiest ways to stay consistent is to make sure that everything has the same “look” and “feel.” Making sure that the same types of materials are used (such as paper, packaging, business card, etc.), using the same logo, making sure that the packaging all looks similar, making sure that the signage is all similar, using the same colors, using the same fonts, etc. are all ways to keep uniformity of a company’s brand. If everything that is created looks different, there is no way that the client will relate the product or material to your company. Even the spacing of text and a font should remain consistent in the company’s materials.
If a company wants to save on costs and use templates, that is ok, but make sure whoever is creating the final product understands the importance of font usage, spacing between lines, spacing between individual characters, etc. When creating templates for our clients we supply one blank template and one template with text in it to show how the finished piece should look. As soon as things start to look a bit different, you end up on a slippery slope of inconsistency for your company’s image.
No Similarity? Don’t Use It.
There is no reason to use anything that is not consistent with your company’s image. If there is an ad that has been successful for a long time for your company, but that doesn’t match your company’s image (such as not using the same colors, font, imagery, etc.) it is time to spend the extra money to update it. You can keep the same concept of the ad, but just give it a fresh look to match your company’s brand. This will be money well spent in the long run.
If you have switched designers and have old materials that do not match your company’s current identity, do not use the old materials. Spend the money to update your materials and to purchase new materials to be consistent with your company’s identity.
Stamp It With Your Logo
By now, it is assumed if you have a company identity/brand, that you have a great logo to back it up.
Use your logo! Put it on all ads, printed materials, packaging, inner-office relations, signatures on emails, etc. Make your logo your company’s signature! This is not to say that it needs to be the center of attention, but it needs a solid presence. For logos, bigger does not always mean better. You don’t want to “scream” your logo at your viewer, but to have it be a stamp of approval for a finished product, whether it be an advertisement, letterhead, etc. Let your logo be a marker for who is giving the message.
Don’t Lose Your Way in a Recession
Being in a recession can be a very tricky obstacle for companies. This is completely understandable and finding what works best for your company can be a struggle. One area where companies can make a big mistake with their brand image is cutting back on marketing during a recession.
“Maintain or increase your marketing budget. When the market goes quiet, successful brands typically increase their presence with strong, considered branding activities. Moreover, research suggests that these brands position themselves to bounce back better than other brands when the market cycles up.” 2
“Your customers and prospects will remember you when the economy picks up again. You know the economy will rebound. It always does. You need to be positioned as a survivor. If you have maintained your promotion spending, your company will have the image of a leader—the one to depend on in your industry—when the rebound comes.” 3
Not only is a recession the worst time cut back on marketing, but taking away your company image during this time will only make other companies stand out more in the long run.
“Over the years hundreds of studies have been conducted to prove companies should maintain advertising during a recession… Don’t cut your advertising budget, increase it. Let your competition cut theirs. When you increase your spending, you increase your share of voice. If your competitors cut back, your message grows even stronger… Maintain continuity to sustain awareness. Advertising works cumulatively so you have to remind people frequently about your brand or they’ll forget you.” 4
“In a soft economy, shortsighted executives will panic and bolster their next quarterly earnings report by cutting the ad budget. After all, advertising is an expense: Eliminate it and the money drops right to your bottom line.” 3
Related Articles
How to Build a Great Brand Image for Your Business: click here to read article
Building Your Brand in a Recession: click to read article
Why to Maintain Marketing in a Recession: click to read article
Brand Consistency At Trade Shoes: click to read article
Strengthen Your Corporate Brand Image for Optimum Results: click here to read article
Marketing Consistency is Crucial: click to read article
Citations
1. “Corporate Identity.” Winning Solutions Inc. Official Site. Web. 22 April 2010.
2. Baxter, Warren. “Building Your Brand in a Recession.” Summer 2009. Web. 22 April 2010.
3. Grede, Robert. “Marketing Lowdown: Ad Spending During a Recession.” 3 March 2008. Web. 22 April 2010.
4. McCabe, Ed. “Recession Marketing Strategies.” 15 Nov. 2001. Web. 22 April 2010.
Website analytics can be a tricky thing, especially if you are taking on the responsibility yourself, rather than hiring someone.
If you’ve decided to track your own website’s analytics, the best place to start is Google Analytics. After registering your website, they provide you with great insight into your website’s traffic data. Each bit of information can be used to better excel your company and it’s website, but if you don’t know what the data means and how to use it for benefit, then there is not much benefit involved.
After setting up your Google Analytics account, it is time to do your research. Find out what information they are providing you and how you can use it to your advantage. Find out what that information even means. The Google Analytics website provides education courses and training which can be very helpful. There are many other sites out there where you can get useful information to help you read your analytics and to use it to your benefit. It’s all a matter of doing your research and making it a regular habit to check and update your analytics and website.
Helpful Articles and Links:
Wikipedia’s Definition of Analytics: click here
Wikipedia’s Definition of Web Analytics: click here
Google Analytics Home Page: click here
Helpful Analytics Tips – Article: click here
How to Read Google Analytics for Beginners – Article: click here
Who Visits Your Site: Use Google Analytics – Article: click here
Found a good article on why to use a clean, simple font when asking customers to participate (such as a call to action, requesting a response, etc.)
To read the article click here: It’s the Same, but Different
