Corporate gifts are marketing merchandise branded with your logo or message that is given to clients or prospective client. In some cases these gifts are a means of showing gratitude to your valuable clients for doing business with you. But it takes much more that a cool promotional product to build a brand.
Building a brand is a necessary part of business and if you are like most your overlook building your brand while grinding through the day to day operations of running your business. If marketing with honesty is an essential part of branding your business, there are ways you can develop branding strategies that are customer focused built on your company’s core values. If are three strategy’s to put into action today.
Branding Strategy #1 – Branding Through Superior Customer Service (duh right!)
A major facet of branding for your business should focus on the customer’s experience from first being exposed to your company to actually using your products or services. Sharp price points, an easy return policy and programs that create customer loyalty all add up to effective customer service. Building your brand requires you to ask customers for feedback, efficiently handing customer complaints, wants and needs with rise your brand to new heights. Give your potential and current customers your brand’s promise in the simplest terms possible, then you guessed it – live up that promise – that is superior customer service.
Branding Strategy #2 – Regular Visual Branding
Visual branding is very powerful, you have heard it many times “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Both online and offline branding is built on your use of logos, banners, tag lines, packaging, business cards, advertising, promotional products and direct marketing tools. Stop making excuses that you can’t afford to market your business using all of these visual branding techniques. Having a rocking logo that makes it pretty easy to know exactly what your business does is key. Your brand’s promise and personality is only effective if your customers can mentally connect your logo with your business. So if your logo sucks, have a new logo designed and then start putting it on stuff, everything and anything.
Branding Strategy #3 – Branding Through Relationships With Your Clients
Don’t just go for the sale, the one hit wonders. I have customers that have been buying promotional items from me for over 15 years all because of the relationships I build with them. Sure customer service, pricing, etc. are important but if the relationship is not second to none they can more than likely get similar pricing and service from a competitor (not really though lol). Through building relationships with your prospects and customers, you will create deep connections that compel them to return to you for future business. Customer loyalty and word of mouth recommendations come from customers impressed with your product, service and the way they were treated by you and your team – by the relationship you have created. The long term benefit of connecting with your customers definitely outweighs any short team business success.
Remember that branding and marketing your business is not easy. It cannot be taken lightly and put off, you MUST spend time each week on building a better brand. So how will you know when your branding efforts have succeeded? In essence, it comes down to the customer’s experience. When your business is living up to your brand’s core values and goals, consistently and with honest business practices, you will know you have succeeded in building your brand. But know this you can never stop working on building a better brand.
To Your Success!
Tim Somers
Bizarre Marketing
PS – check out this infographic on Promotional Products.
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