Category: Tips

The year is still pretty new and, personally, I am still working some kinks out! This made me think about being a small business owner and how over the past 16 years I have learned some lessons on how to be successful. In the spirit of wanting to support the next generation of up-and-coming entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, I have listed my top five hacks for making it.

1. Focus on Meaningful Projects

Make sure you are investing your time in projects that have real potential for making it to the launch pad. Your success is based on the success of your clients and putting a lot of time into a project that isn’t well researched, funded or doesn’t have a real strategy could mean a big waste of time and effort, as well as a paycheck that doesn’t materialize.

2. Free Up Your Time with Technology

Typically, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs are trying to wear a lot of different hats to save money. But make sure, you are saving TIME too! Use technology to automate your billing, manage your calendar, organize your projects and meetings and even support your actual work. Four of my favorite pieces of technology include:

•  Dropbox – file sharing and storage
• Asana – project management
• Office Time – time tracking
• Keeper – password management and sharing

It is also important to note that you should limit time spent surfing social media to less than 60 minutes per day. Nothing kills productivity more than getting sucked into mindless scrolling!

3. Leverage Your Network

Use your network to find clients, talk through best practices, support client work and, most importantly, open doors. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask them about anything and everything. Most times people want to help and love it when asked for a resource or opinion. Just make sure to reciprocate the support in the future!

4. Be Smart About Meetings

There is no doubt that meetings are a necessary part of running and building a business but be smart about it. Here are few recommendations:

• Only go to the part of the meeting you need to be a part of
• Use Zoom to cut back on travel time
• Limit the number of meetings per day
• Be prepared and have an agenda
• Be clear about your availability
• Have a firm start and a hard stop

5. Take Real Breaks

We all need to recharge our batteries at some point. So, whether it be a daily work out, meditation session, lunch, or vacation, be sure to take time to shut the laptop and silence the phone notifications. Even taking 30 minutes a day to go outside for a walk or to sit in the sun goes a long way in keeping you mentally sharp to handle all ups and downs of small business ownership.

So, there you have it! Let me know if you need any more small business hacks.

BRAND DIFFERENTIATION.
What exactly is it? How do you get it?

Brand differentiation is how your brand sets itself apart from the competition by associating a superior performing aspect of your brand with multiple customer benefits.

In essence, it is your competitive advantage.

Brand differentiation is an essential aspect of a brand marketing strategy. It enables companies to reveal their profitable qualities that help develop a unique selling proposition. This way, they understand their competitive advantage and stand out among competitors.

Companies selling status quo items in the marketplace are easily interchangeable and prone to fall victim to price wars because that is the only thing left for them to compete with. Consistently undercutting prices ultimately leads to a lower net profit for the business.

Below are 5 tried and true strategies for building competitive brand differentiation.  

Innovate

Innovation is really one of the best ways to stand out. Do your homework (or research!) and find out how to really solve your customers’ problems. If a product already exists, find out what the gaps are and where the trouble spots are. What are customers complaining about? Make products easier, simpler and more solutions-oriented to attract attention. Organizations that are consistently bringing innovations to a crowded marketplace are typically more successful and have stronger customer loyalty.

Presentation

Does your brand have a consistent presence? Presenting a brand that has a clear visual strategy (color palette, logo, tagline, etc.) across multiple platforms is more likely to be remembered by customers, and more easily recommended to additional customers.

Experience

Is the way that customers interact with your brand unique and dependable? Customer experience is felt through a brick-and-mortar store, website, social media, shipping, customer service unboxing/packaging and more! Perhaps, that customer experience even comes from being able to customize a product or service through a website, app or in-person event. Customer experience can either make or break a brand.

Price

Pricing can be tricky and needs to be handled properly. Companies need to find the balance between being affordably priced to offer financial value and being a premium brand with additional benefits at a higher price. To create a pricing strategy and differentiate your brand perform a marketing pricing analysis, target audience research, competitive landscape analysis, and lay out the results next to your business goals.

Emotional Response

How a brand makes a customer feel matters because it plays a big part in whether the person comes back to buy again or refers the company to someone new. Statistics show that customers with an emotional relationship to a brand have a 306 percent higher lifetime value and will recommend the company at a rate of 71 percent. Along that same line, 70 percent of viewers are more likely to buy a product from an ad after having an intense emotional response. Creating an emotional response from a customer is closely tied to the customer experience.

Potential customers often see a business’ marketing collateral, whether it be printed or digital, before they actually experience a product or service. No matter what the piece is, be sure to incorporate the following best practices to create a good impression with potential and returning customers.

1. Readability

For people to connect with a business or organization, it is important that marketing materials are easy to read. Potential customers need to be able to quickly understand what the business is, the problem it solves, how to buy and where to find more information (website, social media, store location, etc). Keep your messages concise and don’t use jargon. Lastly, make sure that all marketing collateral is free of any kind of errors. Nothing throws doubt on a company’s credibility like seeing grammar and spelling errors! And, to that point, ensure that the website works, social media platforms are updated, chat boxes are being monitored and phone lines are being answered.

2. Crystal Clear Call-to-Action

What do you want readers to do after reading your marketing piece? The call-to-action (CTA) needs to provide a very clear path to prompt an immediate response or encourage an immediate sale. It should be obvious but very specific and create an urgency that drives a consumer to make a purchase. A CTA should focus on making a transaction, including:

• Shop our sale now
• Visit us online to buy now
• Get free shipping when you spend $100

It can also focus on a personal engagement between the buyer and the seller. Examples include:

• Call / DM us for a free consultation
• Sign up for a free 30-day trial
• RSVP to attend our event

No matter what  the CTA is, the direction should be crystal clear, free of any ambiguities and impossible to miss.

3. On-point Visual Design

If you have a great message and a precise CTA, but your visual design is a mess, all that work will be for nothing because it will be lost in confusion. Having a properly designed marketing piece for a reader should do four things:

1. Catch a consumer’s attention
2. Direct the reader’s eyes
3. Answer who, what, when, why and where
4. Organize the information and graphics

A visual strategy for all your marketing collateral will provide order and present the most important information so it is easy to find and read, and subsequently make it easy for people to engage with the company.

4. Stay On Brand

Lastly, marketing collateral needs to be on brand, reflecting the proper logo, fonts, colors, key messages and design elements that are synonymous with the organization’s brand identity. Conduct a brand audit to make sure that old branding and messaging has been retired and isn’t lurking in the shadows. It is important to conduct a brand audit every 4-6 months to maintain continuity, identify gaps, and implement updates.

Creating an easily identifiable marketing mix with strong and well-built pieces goes a long way in building a trustworthy and credible business that will consistently retain customers and attract new ones.

Want to learn more? Email at bridget@creative-vortex.com to book a free 30-minute consultation!

Brand relevance is the ability to connect with people’s emotions and make a product or service relevant enough for them to invest in it.  Why is it important? Creating brand relevance is a strong indicator of long-term success by gaining engagement, loyalty, and trust from customers for years to come.

Creating true brand relevance takes time and patience, but when done correctly can grow a brand and business for the long-term. Below are 4 steps that can help you realign your brand for success.

Step #1: Conduct a Brand Audit

Do you know what your footprint is with your target audience? Are you even getting in front of the people that will buy your product or service? Now is the time to conduct a brand audit so you know the impact of your brand and its existing gaps. Use the steps below to conduct a brand audit.

• Identify what is being measured. What is your business’s mission, vision, unique selling proposition, market position and brand promise? Who is your target audience and where are they?
• Assess marketing materials. Gather all your marketing materials, including business logo, brochures, sales sheets, product packaging, letterhead, business cards, print advertisements, website(s), social media platforms, email campaigns, and newsletters. Do they have a consistent design, color, and tone? Do they speak to your target market?
• Review your business website. Using website analytics, assess where web traffic is coming from, what the bounce rate and conversion rate is and if it is attracting your target audience.
• Review your social media data. Use your social media analytics to examine who is following and engaging with your brand. Are they current or potential customers? Are they saying anything about your brand?

Evaluate competitive brands. Assess the competitions by reviewing their marketing and advertising materials, websites, and social media platforms. What are they doing well or not so well?

Step #2: Do Some Market Research

Who does your target audience think you are? To make sure that you are talking to the right target audience and using the right mix of marketing, leverage market research to fully understand how current and potential customers feel about your brand. Use a combination of customer focus groups, email surveys, social media polls, and online surveys to get customer feedback on the following:

• What brand experience have people had?
• What has their experience been with customer service?
• Does your service or product solve customers’ problems?
• How do customers describe your service or product?
• Have they ever recommended it to friends and family?
• What does the brand’s logo make people think of?

Be sure to survey people that aren’t customers yet. Also, create a unique survey for employees to make sure they understand the brand too. If they don’t have full knowledge of the brand it is harder for them to sell it.

Step #3: Review Impact of Design Collateral

• A design audit includes analyzing all the visual and graphic elements that represent your brand externally and internally. Consistency in design has an incredible influence on customer experience and engagement. The audit should include any visual, written, and verbal communication used as a touchpoint to get the attention of current and potential customers. When conducting a visual audit look at the following:
• Patterns: Put visual elements into buckets according to the patterns that represent the brand. Look for commonalities across all platforms and identify anything is erratic and out of place.
• Tone, Voice, & Message: Does what you are saying and writing match up with the visual representation of the brand? Does it support the message represented by the logo?


This step will help to answer the question of whether your visuals tell a cohesive story and accurately represent your brand.

Step #4: Develop A Plan

The only way to truly leverage the information gained from the brand audit, market research and graphic design audit to achieve your marketing objectives is to create a to-do list! This should be a detailed plan of action that highlights goals, deliverables, tactics, and a timeline that prioritizes work to get you in front of the right people to drive engagement and sales. Below are some key activities to building a marketing plan:

• Define Business Goals & Budget
• Conduct a SWOT Analysis
• Identify Target Audience / Customer
• Develop Marketing Goals
• Define Visuals and Communication Tone

Brand relevance can lead to a strong connection between a brand and consumer. When a consumer finds your product or service necessary for them, they will build a connection with your brand through engagement and referrals that will last for years to come.

The art of branding an organization can be a complicated process and mishaps happen!  When branding goes well sales rise and consumers get engaged, but when it goes bad the damage to an organization’s reputation can last for many years. Below are four common branding errors and some ideas to realign and get past them.

Mishap #1 – Inconsistent Use of Brand Across Digital Channels

The digital world is huge right now, and with the onset of the pandemic businesses need to be visible and easy to connect with online to thrive and grow.  A recent study by ClickZ Marketing Technology Transformation shows advantages of omnichannel marketing automation including 250% higher purchase frequency and 90% higher customer retention rates. Which means that having a strong and consistent presence on the top digital channels (see list below) is critical to success. Make it a point to review your channels on a weekly and monthly basis to ensure all graphics, visuals and content are sending the same message and speaking the same language. In fact, make it someone’s job to ensure brand usage is consistent!

Top Digital Channels:

1. Website
2. Email
3. Social Media
4. Mobile
5. Display Ads
6. Video

Mishap #2 – Disconnect Between Content Strategy and Brand Strategy

A brand strategy is the blueprint for building and growing a brand, basically the purpose of an organization … why it exists and what it does. Which is pretty much the foundation of a business. A content strategy is a tool to communicate what the organization is through content (i.e. print and digital channels). A misaligned content strategy dilutes a brand to the point it confuses and turns customers away creating little to no emotional connection to the brand. Look at your website … does it clearly articulate your mission and vision and how the product or service makes customers’ lives better?

Below are a few ideas on how to align content with branding.

1. Create brand stories that include a value proposition and support the core identity of the organization.
2. Implement brand guidelines for creating content that will be used on all marketing and communication channels.
3. Develop campaigns for core business initiatives that are anchored in the organization’s brand values, mission, vision and value proposition.

Mishap #3 – Cutting Corners on Your Logo

A logo is a symbol that provides powerful brand recognition for your organization to consumers, investors, and competitors. Many factors can influence the development of a logo and often people will focus on getting the simplest and cheapest logo available because the process is daunting to them … or they just don’t see the ROI on really investing in a great logo. There are many online logo development websites available but creating a logo tailored for a business with a professional graphic designer can be quick, easy, and cost efficient. It is built around a concept and strategy, includes different variations and will grow for the long-term with a business. A good logo creates synergy with business goals and is designed to last for generations.

Mishap #4 – Lack of Strategy

Not having a branding strategy is probably one of the biggest mistakes an organization can make. A strategy provides a clear idea of what your organization stands for and how it can help customers, as well as visually define how a brand is presented to target markets. Not having a strategy creates a lot of ambiguity internally for employees as they work to promote the product or service, which ultimately affects the external messages and visuals that customers see. And, if customers are seeing mixed messages and visuals that creates uncertainty and confusion, which impacts the bottom line. Take the time to sit down and create a brand strategy that translates into brand guidelines that are used to execute the brand internally and externally.

Creating a strong and timeless brand takes a lot of work and won’t necessarily happen overnight, but by being thoughtful and consistent in its application it will provide a return on investment that will position your business as a market leader for years to come.

Nonprofit marketing teams are constantly being asked to do more with less. Resources are tight and teams are small. People have good intentions but are wearing multiple hats. Branding and marketing often fall to those that don’t have the expertise and time to do it right. I have spent a significant amount of my career providing branding and marketing for nonprofits and have witnessed this very thing. A plush marketing budget is nice, but not necessary to create an effective branding footprint, especially when it comes to a digital presence. Oftentimes, this is where nonprofits tend to struggle the most because they don’t have a clear understanding when it comes to creating and maintaining it.

Let’s focus on leveraging email campaigns and social media to help nonprofits create a digital presence. Both of these platforms have the ability to reach target audiences, tell a visual story, and provide access points to the organization. The goal is to amplify a mission statement, raise donations/awareness, draw volunteers, and increase the reach of the organization.

Branding Footprint
The overarching goal of a branding footprint is for all of an organization’s collateral to match. This includes a logo, website, social media, business cards, messaging, packaging … literally everything that represents your organization internally and externally. This conveys trust and credibility that the organization is well run and organized, as well as that the employees serving as stewards of the funds raised, will follow through on the organizations brand promise of serving those in need.

Digital Presence
A digital presence needs to fall tightly in line with the rest of the marketing materials and include consistent visuals and messaging seen online. Email marketing and social media are two effective tools available to create an enhanced brand experience online.

Email Marketing
Creating email campaigns allows organizations to segment and target the different people in their audiences. For example, you can focus on volunteers, donors, corporate partners, consumers, or peers. The key to success is to have clear messaging (what do you want them to know or do? What is the CTA?) that utilizes the same language and design elements across all the marketing platforms. It is easy to integrate video and drive people to a similarly branded organization website. Email marketing tends to be more formal and precise.

Social Media
Social media is an amazing opportunity to engage with followers and connect with people new to the brand. It provides an incredible opportunity to tell and show stories about the organization. To truly be impactful, it’s important to create a visual flow that incorporates the same design elements and messaging but allows for the ability to create a unique spin through video, animated gifs, guest appearances, tagging and design templates.

Create a branding guide (i.e. rules for use of logo, colors, fonts) and editorials calendars and stick to it. Remember, you don’t need a big budget to create a plan. Consistency is your key to success with both tools!