Hear this, your brand is your mark of distinction. It separates you from others.
Here's how to construct a brand
management strategy that will inspire trust in your company.
Your company brand is your mark of distinction; it's what sets
you apart from your competitors. When you establish and adhere to a
brand management strategy, your level of commitment reassures consumers,
suppliers, and anyone else that your company does business with that
they can trust you.
Brand management is so important that Reputations Corporation, a
Vancouver-based consultancy group, reports that 72 percent of consumers
say reputation influences their buying decisions; 80 percent of
employees will accept less pay to work with a company with an excellent
reputation; while another 89 percent say reputation is a tiebreaker
between equal products. Whether you're trying to influence key decision
makers or attract and retain top talent, you'll want to consider the
following tips on managing your company's brand.
How to Manage Your Company's Brand: Finding the Right Marketing Vehicle
There are many marketing vehicles that can drive home your brand message, including:
• Public relations and publicity
• Trade shows
• Phone directories
• Online (your website, blog, social media such as Twitter and Facebook, advertising)
• Broadcast media (television, radio)
• Print media (newspapers, magazines, specialty publications)
• Print displays and direct mail (brochures, fliers, signage)
• Professional assistance (consultants, designers, and agencies)
It's best to choose the communications vehicle that you're
comfortable implementing and that will reach your intended audience.
Otherwise, If you don't enjoy the media you use for marketing, you
won't use them often enough to keep your brand at top of mind.
Another
aspect that business owners often overlook is thinking
about how to maximize those brand communications activities that you
currently use. For example, if you are going to be speaking at a
conference, how can you use social media to publicize that event, get
feedback on the content your audience would like to hear, and use that
content in an enduring way after the live event (like video clips)? What happens most of the time is that we show up at the event, deliver
our speech, hand out a few business cards, and cross our fingers that it
turns into something more.
(To be continued...)
