How to build a company identity from scratch
The early years of a business are all about scrambling to gain traction. It's hard to find the time or tactics that will make you stand out.
Yet we all know that impressing customers and driving sales get a lot easier when prospects know your name.
So despite the daily pressures during your first few years in running a business, you should be trying to quickly and efficiently create a company identify that will build your profile in the community and/or industry.
Here's some help in going about it.
What creates identity?
Brand building is not just the announcement you send out when you open shop, though that's certainly a good thing to do. Rather, brand building is the ongoing relationship between your business and your most influential audience, including customers, media, investors, employees, family, suppliers, and so on.
"A brand image is from the inside out, from the CEO to the mailroom employee to the consumer product or service," says Katy Saeger, vice president of 5W Public Relations in New York, who has worked with such diverse brands as the San Francisco 49ers, Levi's and Chevron. "The brand needs to evoke an emotional response to create loyalty. For instance, today's Target store — you know it's fresh and hip, and it won't break the bank."
Like any new relationship, the process of getting people to notice and trust your brand takes time. As business grows, you can deepen or expand marketing efforts to harness more sophisticated strategies and metrics.
At the start, however, consider these practical, affordable baby-branding steps that will move you along the road to creating a profile for your company.
1. Get your name on a plaque. Contribute to a local charity, neighborhood project, public park or playground, school stadium, community house, educational facility, professional or trade center. Choose a group that has some affinity with your company goals. Then, send out a press release jointly with the organization to announce your gift.If you can't afford to underwrite an entire project, just get involved in the community. "Join a local service club, such as Rotary, Lions or Kiwanis, not just a business club," says John Chappelear of Changing the Focus, an executive training company in Fairfax, Va. "Make sure you're personally connected to the community." Stay visible by serving on the board or chairing events or committees. That will get you known around town and reel in clients.
2. Invest in being hip. Put your money where your brand is. Kick in extra bucks to hire a veteran graphics designer or high-powered package designer so your logo or product launches at the head of the pack. Yes, you must mind pennies at this stage of the game, but you must also think strategically. If you invest in good looks, people will always notice your brand.
3. Automate every byte. "Have great software to track who you meet, what they do and build your network," says Chicago-area publicist Kate Koziol. By using applications such as Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager, you can forge lasting customer relationships. Creating seamless databases allows you to quickly manage account information, customer contact and buying habits, such as birthdays and special occasions (with your customer's permission, of course). Use such technology to establish your reputation and credibility by sending personalized notes and offers to valued customers.
4. Offer free advice. Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of "Diary of a Mother," publishes a weekly parenting e-zine called "Powerful Families, Powerful Lives," which promotes her work and expertise. In addition, Hohlbaum says, "I am a member of a number of online discussion groups. Whenever I see a post in which I can help someone, I immediately offer an answer."You get noticed fast when you send prospects free information relevant to their interests or work. Besides advice, this can be one-of-a-kind reports, the latest trade survey results, features you forward from a professional magazine, time-sensitive deals or your own e-zine. Microsoft List Builder makes creating and sending e-mail newsletters easy and cost-effective.
5. Add value to voice mail. Instead of simply stating your name or listing a mobile number, add some data or statistic or useful professional trick or hint in your recorded voice-mail message. You'll be remembered, fast. Just make sure to collect a bunch of tips before you begin, so you can change the message every day without any hassles. Consistency and fresh ideas are critical.
6. Get people to wear your brand. You can find many marketers to emblazon your logo on various items of clothing, such as T-shirts, hats, workout togs, scarves and more (Amazon and Lands' End do it, to name two). Use the clothing as premiums for favored clients or employees. Free T-shirts not only make people feel special, but get worn on weekends and when customers travel. Your brand could go far.
7. Don't dally on getting online. You may be tempted to focus on offline branding and leave the online stuff for later. Resist that impulse. Every small business now needs a Web site, even if it's only an interactive business card. Small-business Web hosting from Microsoft can put you online for less than $20 a month.
8. Amortize an attractive ad. Spend enough to get an attractive, smartly written ad and then use it repeatedly. "A campaign made up of small space ads sprinkled throughout a well-read local newspaper can gain favorable attention quickly and fairly inexpensively," says Gary Watson, who runs a copywriting business in Wellesley Hills, Mass.
9. Build with a blog. Web logs or blogs are online journals that can be used to burnish your reputation as an industry expert or thought leader. At CooperKatz, a New York boutique PR agency, Steve Rubell launched micropersuasion.com, a Web log that examines how participatory journalism is changing the news. The blog gets him close to potential clients and builds visibility for his services. (For more on how blogging can help your business, see this article.)
10. Think small. "I would use what I call my 'Blair Witch Project' concept, where you overachieve to the ultimate degree on one small, targeted objective," says Wayne Schaffel, an account manager at Euro RSCG Magnet in New York, who has 20-plus years in marketing and PR. Identify and then "own" a target niche, he suggests. That way, you'll quickly become known for some service or expertise right away and you can build on the initial recognition.
Finally, remember the everyday branding opportunities that many owners overlook, such as e-mail signatures (see this article), or by having your logo and tag line on every note, message or shopping bag that goes out the door.
By leveraging these techniques, you can build your company name as fast as you grow your business.