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Do you have a visual competitive edge?

August 5, 2010 – 7:58 am

It’s a cut-throat out there and as competing businesses clamber for ever wiser customers, you should be focussed on calving out a competitive edge for yourself. A company has achieved a successful visual presence when their customers can find them when and where they are looking and more importantly, when their customers can understand them. A strong visual awareness is developed from high impact brand identities, through things like a logo, stationary, literature and website.

Graphic design is often misunderstood and seen as an unnecessary cost. Many businesses severely underutilise the power of visual design. But one thing is for sure, design led businesses stand out from the crowd. Successful businesses of any size are embracing design, using it as a strategic resource to strengthen their products and services in order to achieve profitable growth.

Visual design should not be seen as a cost. If a company is achieving a successful visual market presence, design is not money down the drain. Rather, a strong visual presence gives your customers a compelling reason to buy from you and not your competitors.

Before any potential client walks through your door, your visual identity is a representation of your company. It can make you look fun or serious, large or small, traditional or forward thinking, professional or unprofessional. You need to strike a chord with your target audience. Customers know what they want. The question is, can you successfully communicate to them that you know what they want and that you have it?

Here are a few things to think about:

What does your logo say about your company?

When you hand out information about your services, what impression does it give your potential customer?

You target audience is on the web, are you?

If you are on the web, is your website pulling customers in or turning them away? Why?

Can your customers find you and can they understand what you offer?

It’s a cut-throat world out there and as competing businesses clamber for ever wiser customers, you should be focussed on calving out a competitive edge for yourself. A company has achieved a successful visual presence when their customers can find them when and where they are looking and more importantly, when their customers can understand them.

Graphic design is often misunderstood and seen as an unnecessary cost. Many businesses severely underutilise the power of visual design. But one thing is for sure, design led businesses stand out from the crowd. Successful businesses of any size are embracing design, using it as a strategic resource to strengthen their products and services in order to achieve profitable growth. Continue reading →

by Sara | Resources, Tips | No comments yet. Be the first!

Cuts, cuts, cuts – but cut your marketing budget at your peril

July 28, 2010 – 4:08 pm

Cuts, cuts, cuts – but cut your marketing budget at your peril.

The newspapers, TV, radio and internet are full of one story – Government cuts. NHS cuts. City council cuts. Speed camera cuts. All sorts of cuts! In this kind of economic environment it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking small. There’s no question that in times like these your marketing budget may feel like a luxury and history tells us that in an economic downturn the item at the top of the list of cuts for businesses is marketing.

But the title of this post says it all – cut your marketing budget at your peril. Here’s why:

1. I’m sure we all agree we live in an exceptionally competitive environment. Brands are competing for end user attention like never before. Cut your marketing budget and your impact on your target audience will reduce significantly, if not die out because you’ll be swallowed by the messages conveyed by your competition.

2. The seven touch theory has served me well. It takes seven gentle touches to move from being unknown and into the conscious awareness of an individual. Let’s use the example of a printer aiming to attract businesses that need to print things! We’ll call the printer’s Swirl Printers. 1. Potential client stumbles across the Swirl website from a Google search and they opt in to their e-newsletter to remind them to take action and print that re-run of 10,000 leaflets. 2. They later receive the Swirl e-newsletter. 3. Time passes, then they see a Swirl advert in a magazine. 4. Potential client is at a networking event and meets a Swirl representative. They have a quick chat and Potential client takes the Swirl leaflet promo and the business card. 5. Potential client comes across the Swirl leaflet promo a few days later and places it in a draw for safe keeping. 6. Potential client receives another Swirl e-newsletter which reminds them of the leaflet promo in the drawer which they now hook out. 7. They use it to find the web address where this process started. They find it informative, attractive and they can quickly find further info on the promo (matching and reinforcing the leaflet). They can also easily find a telephone number so they take action and give Swirl a call.

Without a marketing budget Swirl Printers would not have had an up to date website, the e-newsletter, the advert, the representative at the networking event or the leaflet promo. There are some basic tools which you need to communicate effectively. Period.

3. The seven touch theory also relates to the process of increasing brand awareness. Through those seven touches, Swirl Printers (above) increased their brand awareness to their potential customer. You may want to increase brand awareness to more than just your target audience, such as suppliers and potential partners. This process of educating your target audience about your brand takes place through a similar progression of drip fed communications. You’ve got to speak to your target audience constantly and communicate frequently so they do not forget your brand. Without a decent marketing budget this is impossible.

4. In a downturn marketing should become even more important than it was before! It is now more than ever that you want to attract customers. Isn’t it? How will you attract potential customers if you don’t communicate with them? Since many people stop marketing so aggressively in a down turn if you keep it up or even increase it, you will be at an advantage.

Tips: I’m not talking about a million pound budget! I’m just suggesting that you cover the basics and do it well. These basics are:

- a simple but effective website that is kept up to date

- some information you can give out on request in the form of a promo leaflet or booklet (you could even reduce costs by having an e-mailable version)

- some other exposure in the form of adverts or articles in relevant magazines, on or off-line

- if your target audience is other businesses then keep networking

And then there’s the free stuff. Yes they demand some of your time but they do wonders to raise your profile if you add value and if you are consistent.

- Twitter

- Blog

- LinkedIn

- Write and post articles and press releases

- Offer to speak at relevant events

These are just a few hints and tips. Don’t follow the trend of cuts, cuts and more cuts. Rather invest in your marketing wisely. What are your thoughts on this topic?

The media is full of one story – Government cuts. NHS cuts. City council cuts. All sorts of cuts! In times like these your marketing budget may feel like a luxury and history shows that in an economic downturn, the top of the list of cuts for businesses is marketing. But cut your marketing budget at your peril. Here’s why:

We live in a competitive environment. Brands are competing for attention like never before. Cut your marketing budget and your impact on your target audience will reduce significantly, if not die out because you’ll be swallowed by competitive. Continue reading →

by Sara | Tips | No comments yet. Be the first!

7 tips: How to gain a winning relationship with your designer

July 19, 2010 – 4:40 pm

7 tips on how to gain a winning relationship with your graphic designer

If you are looking for long term success in your marketing and communications then aim to develop and build a lasting relationship with your designer! This relationship should be a partnership where there is rapport and cooperation. The result is that your designer can be the missing link between your business and your target audience.

1. Find a good designer and stick with them. If you flit from one service provider to the next, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to achieve a consistent message or strong brand. If you work with the right person though, the partnership approach which should include strategy planning will quickly get you moving in the right direction.

2. You need to be open with your designer. Share information about your where your business is right now and where you’d like it to be and why. Be honest. A good designer won’t judge you.

3. Share your ideas about what you want them to provide you with. You might not be a designer but you do know your business and industry very well so your ideas are valid.

4. Tell your designer about your competition. Together you can look at what your competition is doing well and what they are failing at. This is an element of market research and this level of market awareness will help you and your designer do everything better than the competition!

5. Be clear about your company image and personality and discuss this with them.

6. Give them a budget. Most people think that if they share a budget then this gives the designer an excuse to blow it. On the contrary a budget ensures the designer can come back to you with a realistic plan of action. With a figure in mind they should come back to you with a proposal that clearly shows what you are getting for your money and what any variations will give you. This way you can decide whether to spend a little more for a lot more value or not. This makes the entire process much more efficient. If you work together on a long term basis then you can work out a yearly communications strategy and budget.

7. Trust them. This is probably the most important element. A quality designer will be a professional in their field, recommending only what is best for you, your business and your long term goals. Do you question your doctor? Or your accountant? Leave your designer to get the results you need on the communications front.

The right designer will know how to ask all the right questions to they can get all the details they need to produce quality communications. With all this information at hand your designer will be able to make sensible, relevant and dynamic suggestions and recommendations. As a partnership you and your designer will have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, putting you in a good position to measure the success of various communication projects.