Will branding really make a difference to your business success?
I was asked to run a branding and smarter marketing clinic at the Great British Business show a couple of weeks back and I have to say, we had a ball. I met with dozens of really lovely entrepreneurs: some thinking of running a business, others planning on taking their business to the next level and was given just fifteen minutes to answer their questions which ranged from “How do I get more clients?” (very common!) to “Why didn’t this advert pull a response?” to “How can I sell more product online?”.
I have to say, I thrive on that sort of thing! I love thinking on my feet and drawing on all of my business experience and I had some really interesting conversations over the course of the two days. And in almost every case, the person opposite me just didn’t have enough of a handle on their brand. Not just that their business card didn’t look the business but that they needed to get focused on who they were targeting, segment their offering and their messaging to appeal to that customer and communicate in a way that blew those clients away.
Do you need a decent brand to succeed?
I’m not suggesting for one moment that your business will fail if you don’t have a decent brand, but you’re certainly making life more difficult for yourself.
If you know exactly what your business is all about, who your ideal clients are and what they value about what you do then you can communicate with them in a way that puts your business to the top of their list. If you consistently communicate with these customers and prospects in a way that inspires and resonates with them then they’ll ache to work with you: whether you’re the cheapest or not. And if you can show confidence and professionalism throughout all of your communications: website, printed collateral and through all the social media channels then when these ideal clients and prospective customers find you, then why wouldn’t you blow your competitors out of the water?
Once you’ve got all of this right, spending money on advertising, search engine optimisation and pay per click marketing makes sense. Why? Because you need people to find your business! But you need people to see your business in the way you see it, and too often there’s a discrepancy between the confidence and passion you have for your business and what people see on the outside.
Start with your brand and build up your marketing from there but make sure you get focused. Because business without focus is incredibly tough.
