You know a strong brand just by seeing its logo or an ad and intuitively knowing not just what the company is, but what it represents. Think Southwest’s red, yellow and blue heart that has you feeling the love; that Nike swoosh that reminds you to keep going—even when you think you can’t; or that charming gecko who can help you save money on your insurance with Geico.
So for smaller companies without those kinds of big marketing budgets, how can you stand out from the crowd? Here are three ways to build your organization’s brand:
Know your audience. Who is your ideal customer, and how does your product or service make their lives better? Take those answers and pair them based on what you know about each of your customers. When you segment your outreach to those audiences you create a personalized, tailored experience.
Chamber tip: Build your marketing skills with the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center’s Marketing Basics on where you can learn what you need to create your own marketing plan.
Share your story. How you talk about your organization matters—and part of building your brand is telling your customers why you get out of bed for work each day. Whether it’s sharing tips based on your expertise or snapping a photo of your team working with a community organization you care about, your customers will love getting to know you. And, meet your customers where they are, whether that’s a blog or Snapchat—what matters most is that you’re finding ways to interact with your customer regularly.
Chamber tip: Share your latest news with us and we’ll share it in our e-newsletter—keeping our 3,000 member companies up-to-date on your business
Craft your culture. Your team is the group that can most influence a customer’s experience with your brand. Solid messaging to your customers is important, but it’s invaluable to ensure that employees understand what matters most to you as an organization and be able to share that with a customer. If your team can create a positive experience that also echoes what your company stands for, you’ll be winning repeat customers.
Chamber tip: Networking and exhibitor opportunities are a good way to practice not only your elevator speech but sharing more about your work and the kind of culture you have in place. Join us for our next Net90 for 90 minutes of networking.
