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Building a Small Business Brand Online

Building a {BRAND} online "business Small Brought to you by planning pad What the heck is a brand, anyway? * A brand includes but extends far beyond your name, logo, Web site, and customized beer koozies. * Every company, from Apple to Joe's Apple Cart, has a brand. At its essence, a brand consists of the associations that people hold about your company, product or service. So.. emotions As much you may manipulate and guide it, your brand lives in the mind of each member of your audience. BUILDING YOUR BRAND IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS BECAUSE.. 85% 75% of consumers choose a of consumers cite known brand over an brand awareness as a unknown brand when major influencer when making a buying making an initial purchase 1 decision Only 12-15% 60% of customers are loyal to a single brand ... BUT of consumers consider it very risky to buy a brand they have never heard of 2 How much brand loyalty reduces what it costs to retain an existing customer vs. acquiring a new one 3 55-70% of sales are generated by these loyal customers AND WHEN IT COMES TO BRANDING ONLINE. 22% 1 in 5 of social media users bought a brand because a friend "liked" or followed the brand tweets is brand related Hmm, maybe there's something to this branding stuff. Social media users are very or somewhat likely to respond to brand offers." 75% 68% 68% 54% when on a social when reposted by a friend when on a brand's social network page when on their personal newsfeed/board media ad People are most likely to engage with online branded content that contains .. y4% 40% 37% 36% 35% jokes, cartoons or memes pictures status updates videos links to articles 66% 73% 64% of blog readers say a brand mention within the context of a blog of advertisers view brand engagement as their primary objective for online video campaigns of email recipients are likely to open emails having a familiar brand in the "from" line 10 influences their purchasing decisions Ermahgerd .. the Web is great for branding. So how do i build brand online? my FOLLOW THESE 11 STEPS TO GROW YOUR BRAND PRESENCE ON THE INTERNET 1. Pen a distinctive name 2. Focus on single purpose 3. Make a promise • The most successful brands make a promise to their target audience of how they will serve Brainstorm with a focus on names that: • Are original and arouse curiosity (e.g., Twitter, Spotify). • Relate to your industry, category or product/service (e.g., Linkedin, Travelocity). • Are short and concise. • Are not generic or common (e.g., Toys.com, Pharmacy.com). • People are more likely to notice and remember your business if you stand for one single thing; markets tend to embrace specialists and ignore generalists. • Narrowly define your purpose by putting very tight parameters around what you do (less is definitely more). them. • Identify your brand promise and make sure it is one you can deliver on at all times. Think simple, direct and concise. 4. Differentiate yourself 5. Define your personality 6. Align with a cause • Just like popular people, popular brands each have a distinct personality that gels with how they do business. • Identify your business's 3-4 primary personality traits and make sure they shine through everything you do. • Many successful online brands share a common purpose or Identify specifically what sets you apart from other brands in your category. Ways to differentiate can include: • Market reputation/leadership. • Owning certain product/service attributes. • Offering a unique process or approach. • Being an industry innovator or trendsetter. cause with their customers. • Identify a larger cause or purpose related to your category or product/service that resonates with both your target audience and your staff and find a way to get involved with and advocate for that cause. 7. Create a distinctive look 9. Encourage interaction 8. Find your voice Develop a logo and look-and- feel for your Web site and other marketing materials that: • Reflect the personality and purpose of your brand. • Resonate with your target audience. • Distinguish you from your competitors. • Are simple, clean and easy on the eyes. • Scour the Web for sites, blogs, forums and groups where your target audience frequents and gain a sense of what they discuss and how they talk. • Craft your messaging and Web copy to connect with your audience on three levels: tone, grammar/diction and content. • Talk like they talk, and discuss things that interest them. • Build interactivity into your Web experience with forums, polls, games, ratings, social media sharing tools and other methods to engage your audience. • Actively reach out to and converse with your audience via social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.). 10. Become a 11. Start a thought leader community • Strong brands are trusted brands, and thought leadership is a direct route to earning the trust of your target audience. • Create relationships with industry influencers (bloggers, media, etc.) by sharing information with and serving as • Enable your audience to not just communicate with you but with each other. • Launch informational forums, knowledge bases, support portals, wikis, etc., to encourage sharing and collaboration; prime the pump Building a strong brand is a marathon, not a sprint. So take your time and be deliberate in how you define your brand. by moderating these. • Encourage your most devout brand enthusiasts to take a a resource to them. • Create substantial pieces of educational content (e.g., blogs, e-books, white papers, webinars, e-newsletters) related to your brand's area of specialty; freely distribute them to your target audience. larger role in moderating forums, posting information, writing blog posts, creating testimonial videos, etc. Sources 1 Emma K. Macdonald and Byron M. Sharp. Brand Awareness Effects on Consumer Decision Making for a Common, Repeat Purchase Product: A Replication. Journal of Business Research 48, 5-15. 2000. 2 Ovidiu I. Moisescu, PhD. The Importance of Brand Awareness in Consumers' Buying Decision and Perceived Risk Assessment.Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. 3 Aaker, D.A. (1991). Managing brand equity. Free Press New York, NY, 19-32. 4 Center for Retail Management, Northwestern University (Retailer and frequent shopper programs, 1998). 5 Ipsos OTX and Ipsos Global edvisor. 6 Jansen, B. J.. Zhang, M. Sobel, K, and Chowdury, A (2009) Twitter Power: Tweets as Electronic Word of Mouth. Journal of the American Society for Information Sciences and Technology, 60(11), 2169-2188. 7 Performics. Life on Demand Study Reveals New Social Norms: 40 percent of Americans Feel More Comfortable Engaging with People Online than in Person. July 26, 2012. 8 Burst Media. Let's Get Social: Web User "March 2012. .TV and Digiday, Videa State of thrererences, Habits and Actions in Spring 2012. June 2012 April, 2012. 10 Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB) and Constant Contact. March 2012 survey results. 9 Adap. Industry Report, Q1 2012. The Sight Sound Motion Cor Combo: Online Video Remains Wedded to TV Advertising. The new, online app for managing your projects, people and small business details. 22 simple tools in one convenient app. planning pod WWW.PLANNINGPOD.COM

Building a Small Business Brand Online

shared by PlanningPod on Aug 13
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The Web has become the new construction zone for brands. And not just big brands like Google, Apple and Coke. Small businesses have taken to the Internet to establish a brand presence, too. And it sho...

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