by tradesmeninsights | Oct 24, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
The correct answer in my mind is today. We all get caught up in the day-to-day to do list and putting out the most recent fire, but we should be aware of our brand daily.
Branding is about your whole organization, from the way you answer the phones, to the attitudes of your CSRs. It’s about a culture, things that are out of the control of the marketing department. Yes, marketing can control the look and feel of promotional materials, but once we’ve hooked a prospect, what happens when they contact the company and actually talk to a human being?
Heidi Cohen, in her post, Why Brands Matter (And Size Doesn’t), highlights several attributes we can all use to help in our long-term objectives.
Here are some highlights:
- Are you providing value to your customers – understand your target markets and their needs
- Are you relevant to your customers – be where your customers are
- Extend your brand beyond the product – provide useful info at every step of the purchasing process
- Have a brand personality – needs to be consistent in all dealings with customers
- Creating a trusting relationship – earn your reputation every day. Don’t assume anything.
What’s your company doing on a daily basis to make sure your brand is living up to expectations?
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tips
B-to-B marketers are so busy pushing out messages using traditional methods to promote their brand that they sometimes forget about the strength of social media to self-identify themselves by searching for solutions or information on the Internet.
Social Media is the most powerful set of tools for branding that has ever existed for connecting with customers on an emotional level.
The brand that a marketer is selling is not merely a logo, a package or a sign on a wall. A brand is not what you want it to be or what your ad says it is. A brand is not even the definition you give to it.
Quite simply, a brand is how your audience feels about you. It’s what they say about you when not encumbered by advertising promotion. Or unencumbered by the paid media around you. So when your “friend” on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin says they just found the best hot dog in town, you believe them. Much more so than a TV spot.
What better way to receive an endorsement for a product than to get that endorsement from a trusted friend? And that’s what social media is all about.
It’s a simple idea and it works.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 6, 2009 | Marketing Tips
I’ve been reviewing dozens of manufacturer’s blogs and have noticed that a number are committing a fatal error. They are trying to be all things to all people.
That brings up the subject of “niche marketing” and in this case, “niche blogging.”
The more general the blog, the less effective it is if you’re trying to reach a particular target audience. This is never more true when you’re trying to reach a specific group of tradesmen.
The purpose of a blog is to have an ongoing conversation with your customer or potential customer. In the case of professional tradesmen, whether they be electrician, plumbers or iron workers, they only have so much time, and when they’re looking for info, it has to be relevant to them. By focusing in on a niche, you set yourself up as an expert.
Here are six quick tips on how you can make a niche blog work in your favor:
- Engagement. If your blog is focused on an niche, you will develop a following that will be easy to engage in topics presented.
- Expertise. Because you’re focusing on a niche, you become an expert.
- Feedback. Because your focused feedback will increase significantly.
- Relationship building. Isn’t that what blogging is? What a better way to engage someone in a non-threatening way.
- Organic search. Because your topic is focused, it will certainly increase the number of hits.
- Branding. Added exposure, interaction and loyal readership translates into brand building.
Remember that casting a larger net won’t insure you’ll get more fish. You are better off fishing where the fish are.
