Branding

Branding can be elusive for a lot of businesses. What is it? How do you capture the ethos that you want to represent your company?

When you’re a micropreneur, you are your own brand. So your job becomes establishing yourself as a thought leader through content, speaking, and networking. You could write a book about your expertise or simply start guest blogging for other publications.

If you run a larger business, branding should be about connecting to your audience in a meaningful way and putting the human element back into the equation. You do this through great customer service and by paying attention to what your customers want.

The key with branding is knowing how people see your brand. If the perception of your audience is a far cry from where you want to be, it’s time to realign so that you’re being seen the way you want to be seen.

Creating A Market

What a Hot Socks Brand Can Teach Entrepreneurs About Creating a Market

Originally Published on AllBusiness.com.

The first time I saw them, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. They’d arrived in my FabFitFun subscription box, their garish pink color and 10 grippy toes mocking me. I had no use for such frivolity in my life, so I tossed them into my giveaway pile.

A few weeks later, I signed up for classes at a new Pilates studio in my neighborhood. The website read: “New students must have toe socks, which can be purchased in the studio.”

Wait, hadn’t I thrown out some of those? Given that they retail for $16 a pop, I was desperately hoping I hadn’t taken my giveaway box to the thrift store. I hadn’t. So I donned my neon pink, five-toed grip socks and headed to Pilates.

One year later, I’m a convert. What in the heck happened in the space of 12 months to change my outlook on ToeSox? Turns out the brand knows what it’s doing when it comes to reaching its target audience.

Marketing Eggspert Round-Up: Business Branding

In this latest Marketing Eggspert round-up it’s all about business branding. I have collated posts including business gifts, basic branding, trending brands, self-branding, brand strategy, branding for small businesses and more.

The Gifts My Small Business Clients Give to Me

This time of year, I’m typically writing articles about the importance and value of sending clients gifts. While I completely advocate doing so (and am pretty proud that I ordered my client gifts in November!), this post is about something more intangible.

I’ve been in business nearly 12 years. While I’ve worked with my share of divas and slave drivers, I have to say, I’m pretty proud to have a roster of clients who genuinely are a joy to work with.

Not every entrepreneur is so lucky.

small business gifts

I’m reflecting on the many gifts I’ve gotten from them. Not cookies and flowers, though I occasionally am delighted to receive those, but more lessons and experiences that help me be better as a business owner.

Trending Brands Vs Established Category Leaders and How They Stack Up in Google Search

Innovation and disruption are constantly happening in marketing across the country. In both business and social spheres, there’s constant talk about how hot new brands are breaking into various markets. Take for example Venmo which has emerged as serious competition for Paypal in the payments apps market. Waze is another example of an emerging brand taking away business from an established market giant like Google maps. But when it comes to how consumers are looking for brands in Google search, are they really opting for new and emerging brands in place of established category leaders?

Business Gifts: Why It Is Tricky Etiquette

Contrary to popular belief, sending out business gifts to customers is more challenging than meets the eye. How do you know what the people want and need when you haven’t had the chance to meet them all in person? How do you make the difference between a gift that’s suitable and a gift that’s not?

In some circumstances, getting personal is a good thing. But you’re not advised to do that all the time. Not everyone has a sense of humor, for example. Business gifts are tricky business. We’ve laid out some best practices to adhere to.

Business Gifts: Why It Is Tricky Etiquette

Phone Calls and Conversions: How To Make The Most Out Of Your Phone Calls

Despite us doing business in the era of Web 2.0, with over 2 billion people active on social media platforms and marketing budgets shifting drastically towards online platforms, telephones continue to be of utmost importance. If you don’t believe us, check out these interesting facts that are sure to get you rethinking your actions the next time your business phone rings:

  • 25% customers give up on a company because they’ve been kept on hold for a long time
  • 66% customers switch to the competition due to poor customer service
  • More than 85% customers are willing to pay as much as 25% more for good customer experience
  • Over 50% mobile searchers confirm they call a business following a mobile search ad
  • 65% customers prefer to contact a business via phone

Have we got your attention now? Good.

To prompt you to rethink your marketing strategies and centering them on phone calls, here are some important tips on how to make the most of your phone calls to increase conversions.

Phone Calls and Conversions: How To Make The Most Out Of Your Phone Calls

Small Business Marketing Mistakes: Turning Hubris Into Opportunity

As a small business owner in particular, it’s always important to remember that the true value of what you’re offering has nothing to do with a particular product or service. Okay, that might be a bit of an over-simplification — obviously what it does and how well it does it matters a great deal.

But in order to attract the attention of the right kinds of consumers and in order to separate yourself in an admittedly crowded marketplace, you need to understand that your chief commodity is one of experience.

When every aspect of your brand is considered as one small part of a much larger whole, you’re trying to offer your customers the type of experience they’re not going to get anywhere else.

This is a delicate balancing and, try as hard as you’d like to prevent it, it will lead to small business marketing mistakes every now and again.

Small Business Marketing Mistakes: Turning Hubris Into Opportunity

How Brand Strategy Can Influence Out-and-Out Creativity

The key aspect of an effective brand strategy is its ability to successfully communicate the message and value to the audience. This communication has to be established in such a way that it positively affects the forming of an emotional bond between the customers and the brand.

The effectiveness of the brand-customer bond heavily relies upon the creativity of the team in charge of the branding strategy. Today, we are here to talk about the relationship between brand strategy and creativity in all its different aspects.

How Brand Strategy Can Influence Out-and-Out Creativity

How to Design a Brand Identity [Infographic]

A brand identity is what sets a company and solution apart from the competition in the minds of their current customers. When designing a brand identity for a client, it’s important to understand that it’s more than just a logo and colors. A complete brand identity includes all the encounters and relationships that compose the brand experience — as well as all of the visual devices that comprise the corporate image. A successful brand identity project will bring all of these elements together into a clear, connected and effective branding strategy.

How to Design a Brand Identity [Infographic]

How to Match the Branding of Your Website with Your New eBook

Have you just written an excellent and original eBook? Congratulations! Now it’s time for the next stage: getting your eBook to sell. It won’t be easy, but with the right tools you will be able to showcase your new eBook and start making sales under your unique brand.

One of the best ways you can promote your new eBook is to use your own personalized website. If you already have a website, it may need a few tweaks or a full-scale renovation to successfully market and sell your book.

Remember, it is important that your brand is consistent across all platforms and products. Here are some tips on how to match the branding of your website with your new eBook:

How to Match the Branding of Your Website with Your New eBook

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