Branding Tips for New Businesses

Technology has changed the landscape of how businesses communicate with their customers. These days, marketers reach a target base by implementing online techniques such as search engine optimization or by utilizing social media. But even though modern businesses exist in a state of hyper-competition in the online world, the fundamentals of business strategy have remained relatively the same. One such cornerstone of a successful business is effective branding.

Those who don’t place much importance on branding need only to look to Coca Cola or Apple or any number of other titans of industry that have remained profit-generating goliaths over decades or even generations. And like any fundamental value, many of the best ways to build a successful brand are still based around core principals that have informed businesses practically since their inception.

1. Know the Customer

It’s an old adage, and one that is still relevant even in today’s world of SEO and Google Analytics. The key to successful branding is still identifying a target base and defining it through segmentation. After this is accomplished, it’s up to the marketer to link his or her service or product to that customer base with a promise. It’s in this way that a particular brand becomes superior to the competition.

2. Stay on Top of the Competition

One of the main reasons businesses fail is because they fail to see how customers respond to their competitor’s brands. This goes beyond looking for chinks in competitors’ armor and includes looking at how they are successful as well. It’s only by fully understanding these two key aspects of the competition that marketers can then find their differentiator, which is ultimately what will set their brand apart from the competition.

3. Think about Compatibility

There are plenty of ways to understand a customer base, one of which is through brand compatibility. This takes into account everything: the customers’ spending habits, their lifestyle, their media interests – even their general attitude. To this end, marketers will want to focus on the strength of the connection between the purchase behavior of the customer and the brand’s differentiator.

4. Position the Brand Effectively

This goes back to communication, because how well a brand communicates its message to a customer base will ultimately determine its success. But it takes more than merely telling a customer about a product; the marketer needs to establish a relationship with the customer through positioning. And the two keys to successfully positioning a brand are simple: pre-planning and market research.

5. Merge the Business with the Brand

Those most successful brands are also most successful at blurring the lines between their business and their brand. And this goes beyond simply hiring positive employees to represent “service with a smile.” Go into any Apple Store and the first thing a person sees – aside from the sleek devices – is a group of employees who represent the brand to the letter.

While the above list may not be a complete blueprint for how to achieve ultimate success in business, it should provide startups or new entrepreneurs with those fundamental notions to bear in mind during every step of the game. Because without core guiding principals, many businesses languish right from the get go.

5 ways to build customer relationships even during a slowdown

Customer Relationship

1. Be Wise, Ad-Wise

As a new business owner, no one understands the meaning of 'austere' better than you do. You do not have the budget for a big ad spend, but you cannot afford to stop advertising either. The prudent thing to do is to manage your ad spends well. Kaushik Chakravorty, founder of Breaking Rules, a photography institute in Mumbai, says you need to figure out which advertising avenue gets you the best leads. "Depending on your target audience, concentrate on placing your ads in a channel that works best for you instead of putting your eggs in different baskets." Since his target audience is largely cosmopolitan college-goers, Chakravorty is making the most of the social media platform and focusing his ad spend there.

2. Improve Your Customer Interface

If business is not at its peak, don't fret. Make good use of this slowdown to take a close look at your website and at your customer contact form. Shailesh Velandy, founder of e-commerce platform buynsellindia, believes that a slowdown is the best time to re-asses your website. "Begin with checking if your contact form is too long, because that's a turn-off for potential customers. Ask short, relevant questions and restrict the contact form to three fields, at best." According to him, it has been proved worldwide that business owners who have concise contact forms on their websites have often seen potential leads turning into paying customers.

3. Honesty Is The Best Policy

There will be times when an interested lead will go beyond the web interface and like to have a telephone conversation with you, to know more about what you can offer. When things are slow, business-wise, it may be very tempting to drum up your business and your product or service offering to a potential customer. Chakravorty of Breaking Rules strictly advises against it. "Be clear, honest and tell your lead exactly what you have to offer." Do not think of a lead as a naive person who has not conducted his research before taking the trouble to call you. In that case, anything you say is crucial to him or her. If you exaggerate, rest assured you will have driven him away!

4. Always Follow Up
 
The trick to turning a lead into a paying customer is adequate follow-up. Now this could be a slippery slope as you never know how much is too much or how little is too little, right? Velandy of buynsellindia believes in being cautious. So don't call him or send him an email or text message every other day. That reeks of desperation and is a major turn-off for a lead.

Chakravorty of Breaking Rules agrees. He advises that you play it by ear, depending on the nature of the customer. If a lead seems genuinely interested, it makes sense to drop in a mailer once a week or fortnight, just to keep him posted about your latest activities. Once again, you can make the most of your social networking platforms, says Chakravorty. "If a lead likes or follows you in any of these social media platforms, your job is half done as that will help him keep track of your activities without you having to send him an email or call him up to seek business."

5. Help Customers Complete A Purchase
 
If you are into e-commerce, you will encounter a host of customers who develop cold feet just before they make a payment. Here are two things to remember. Velandy of buynsellindia says it is of utmost importance that you make customers feel secure while making an online purchase. "Make sure you have a secured payment gateway to ensure that your customer does not feel that you are likely to flee with his money. Also ensure that the backend technology is working at its best so that the payment is fast, secured and hassle-free."

In spite of this, if a customer has not completed his purchase, send him reminders about his unfinished transaction. This may be in the form of better service offerings, new product lines or industry tips. In marketing parlance, this is called 'nurturing a lead' and if you can do that successfully (once again without spamming him), you are likely to turn a lead into a paying customer.
 
As a business owner, never underestimate the importance of maintaining good customer relationships. Instead of going into panic mode during a slowdown, turn adversity into an investment by nurturing your leads and turning them into gainful business over the long term.