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.

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?
What impression does your company literature 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?

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.

It takes seven touches to move from being unknown into conscious awareness. Let’s use the example of Swirl Printers.

1. Potential client stumbles across the Swirl website from a Google search. They opt in to their e-newsletter. 2. They later receive the Swirl e-newsletter. 3. Then they see a Swirl advert. 4. At a networking event potential client meets a Swirl representative. Potential client takes a Swirl leaflet promo. 5. Potential client comes across the Swirl leaflet promo a few days later and places it in a draw for safe keeping. 6. Another Swirl e-newsletter reminds them of the leaflet promo in the drawer. 7. They visit the website and can quickly find further information on the promo (reinforcing the leaflet). The telephone number is easy to spot and they take action.

Without a marketing budget Swirl Printers would not have had the website, e-newsletter, advert, the representative at the networking event or the leaflet promo.

The seven touch theory also relates to the process of increasing brand awareness. Through those seven touches, Swirl Printers increased their brand awareness to their potential customer. 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 frequently so they do not forget your brand.

In a downturn marketing it is even more important than it was before! It is now more than ever that you want to attract customers. Therefore you need to communicate. Since many people stop marketing in a down turn, if you keep it up, or even increase it, you will be at an advantage.

I’m not talking about a million pound budget! I’m suggesting you cover the basics and do it well. You need a simple but effective website that is up to date; some information you can give out on request such as a promo leaflet, booklet or e-mailable PDF; exposure in the form of adverts or articles in relevant magazines, on or off-line; and if your target audience is other businesses then keep networking.

And then there’s the free stuff. They demand some of your time but they do wonders to raise your profile if you add value and are consistent. Use Twitter; blog regularly; get on LinkedIn; write and post articles and press releases; and, 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?

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, resulting in your designer becoming 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. Be open with your designer. Share information about where your business is right now, 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. Discuss the image you are going for and work with your designer to communicate a clear brand style.

6. Give your designer 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 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? You concentrate on running your business and 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. Are their any other tips anyone else can share?

The 40-60 second round at networking events – what do you say? One thing I often say is, ‘We connect businesses with their target audience through engaging communication…’ So what exactly is communication? Here are some tips to help you think about different aspects of successful communication. Here we go!

C is for clarity: Go for transparency in your message. Simple and precise will go further than over complex.
O is for open: Don’t try and be what you are not. If you have a good product or service then there is an audience out there for you. You’ve just got to attract their attention.
M is for magic: Think about how you can enchant your target audience. Magic is exciting.
M is for mystery: An element of ambiguity that makes people look twice is good. But remember not to go too far so your message becomes unclear.
U is for unique: A distinctive approach is essential. Be different.
N is for navigation: Help your audience navigate their way through your message with a clear hierarchy of information.
I for inspire: Motivate and enthuse people and they are more likely to act on your message.
C is for conversation: Get people talking about your message and your brand.
A is for attention: Grab it. As much of it as you can.
T is for truth: There is nothing more provoking than an authentic message.
I is for inviting: Appeal. Allure. Engage. Be magnetic.
O is for obscure: Do the opposite. Obscurity creates doubt. Avoid it.
N is for no noise: Stick to one main message and don’t try and say everything at once.

And one more thing. Give yourself an A if you end every piece of information with a call to ACTION! Ask your audience to do something. Be clear about what you want them to do next. So to follow my own advice (!) please comment and let us know your thoughts. And if you are struggling to engage your audience with your communications then get in touch!

What is a logo and why is it important?
A logo is always the very first impression people get of your company. It is your visual stamp and if it is successful it will effectively communicate messages about what your company stands for. Your logo speaks on behalf of your company whether you like it or not. Are you saying your company is sloppy and slap dash with an unimpressive cheap looking logo? Is the message you want to be sending out being heard, ignored or accepted?  Are you coming across like a small or big company? Is that how you want to come across? Are you communicating brand messages of serious, fun, quirky or professional?

A logo must stand the test of time and be original
Your logo is in effect the seed from which your brand grows from. It should form the backbone of every piece of communication that follows. The colours, typography and style of logo should define your image and the rest of your business communications. Once designed your logo will represent your company for many years so it’s important to get it right. It needs to be flexible enough to build on. Originality is also key. It must be designed specifically for your company to communicate to your target audience. Remember that cheaper generic logos may not reflect your true company values and an off the shelf solution could also end up being used by another company – two major reasons why it’s worth paying for a good quality logo.

So how much should you actually pay for a logo?
Many people don’t realise the amount of work that has to go into a successful, useful and professionally designed logo. Through research your designer should at least find out who your main competitors are and how they present themselves as well as understand your target audience and long term company goals.

1. Ideas are generated from brain storming sessions often with more than one designer involved.
2. Rough concepts need to be developed and then chosen concepts need to be polished and presented.
3. Amends are often required, more tweaking and then final finishing touches before file hand over.

All this takes time which is why if you are getting a professional job done the price can seem astronomical for what you think you are getting. Further to this you should find out what you are getting from you designer. It could include:

1. Just one logo file
2. Multiple files such as a black and white version of your logo
3. Scalable files
4. Logo usage guidelines
5. Full brand development
6. Full brand guidelines

This is why a logo can cost anything from £50 (not advisable) to £5,000 (also not advisable unless you fully understand why)! Now you understand the value you should get out of your logo, how much work is involved and the various levels of logo development service you could get, you should have more clarity about the importance of your logo and how much you should pay for it.

Examining trust
Dictionary.com defines trust as, “Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.” It goes on, “The obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust.” This got me thinking. Do we automatically inherit a position of authority because we are offering a product or a service? Yes and no. Yes, because when you offering something to potential customers it is your responsibility to ensure you provide something worth the money they are paying you. Don’t abuse your position as service or product provider by using your jargon infested language and hard sell cajoling to confuse people into buying. The answer is also no because you certainly do not automatically gain a position of authority or trust.

Unravelling you marketing to gain trust
So, how does this relate to your marketing and communications? Here’s a three point guide to achieving communications that can contribute to achieving a strong connection to your target audience so that when they need your service or product they choose you.

1. Unravel
   Simplify your message. Through consistency, straightforwardness that cuts to the chase and design you can achieve effortless communications that make sense and powerfully speak of solutions, solutions, solutions. As Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”
2. Unmarket
   Engage with your customers by connecting on a deeper level. Instead of shouting loudly to no one in particular about all the great but meaningless things you can do, learn about your specific customers’ emotional needs and satisfy them. Make people feel happy, proud, successful or full of energy for example and you’ll go further than presenting yourself in boring, useless industry lingo.
3. Unsell
   Authenticity is one of my personal values and it just means to be genuine. If you love what you do and you are passionate about your approach, this will come across in the way you provide workable solutions for your customers. How hard is it to be yourself, to be honest and to avoid hard sell approaches? (Hard selling does NOT work and does your name more harm than good). Another aspect of how to ‘unsell’ is to listen! You must have heard the saying, “We have one mouth and two ears for a reason.” Give your customers a chance to speak to you and listen to them. It’s only by listening to a problem or challenge that you can provide a solution to it.

What are your thoughts on unravelling, unmarketing and unselling?

P.S. Look out for Scott Stratten’s up and coming book, ‘UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging’ which is due out in autumn.