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Why Do Email Marketing?

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 06:41:25 GMT

Email marketing has been around almost as long as emails have but has it lost it’s shine? Are we just wasting our time sending out emails? Don’t people just ignore them?

So why do email marketing?

In this blog, I’ll detail why email marketing may be much more effective than you think!

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is where you collect email addresses from potential and existing customers and send them emails which are ultimately aimed at selling your products or services. These emails can be sent manually or automated.

Why do email marketing? – The Stats don’t lie

Many people that I speak to about email marketing immediately write it off because they don’t like receiving marketing emails themselves.

The following statistics were taken from a Hubspot article and do put up a good argument for email marketing:

There are more than 4 billion daily email users
77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement in 2023
Smartphone users prefer to receive brand communications via email
37% of brands are increasing their email marketing budget
Email marketing revenue worldwide is projected to reach more than $12 billion by the end of 2024
64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers
Most marketers report an average email open rate of 46-50%
The average email click rate is 7-9%
55% of emails are opened on mobile devices
50% of people buy from marketing emails at least once per month
Abandoned cart emails convert 3 x more than other automated emails
Nearly 21% of all email campaigns are opened within the first hour of sending

When you look at the above statistics, it’s easy to see that good email marketing can produce results and that people are still very much reading and engaging with emails.

Why do email marketing?

– It’s cost effective

Email marketing is one of the cheapest forms of advertising there is. If you are in business, it’s almost guaranteed that you have an email address and if you have collected a few email addresses, you can start email marketing. The only thing it’s going to cost you is time!

Of course, like most things, there are always extra bells and whistles you can add to the mix but if you are on a budget then you can get started absolutely FREE. There are not many other marketing channels that can claim that.

Why do email marketing?

– Targeting and Segmentation

It’s one thing to just collect email addresses and do a bulk send to all those emails but it’s quite another to segment your emails based on interests and behaviours.

Imagine you own an ecommerce store that sells women’s clothing. Someone purchases a maxi dress from you and you collect their email address and you tag that customer with “maxi dress”. 2 weeks later, you receive a new shipment of maxi dresses in different colours. Because you segmented your database using tags, you can then send an email to anyone who purchased maxi dresses from you in the past letting them know about the new colour release. This makes your maxi dress email campaign much more effective as you are sending it to people who have already shown interest in what you are promoting.

You can also segment based on where your lead came from – for example maybe you met them at a certain networking event or they downloaded your free e-book. This could be useful in making your outreach emails more personalised or allowing you to do a special offer exclusively to attendees of a certain event or group.

There is no limit to how you might segment your database – only your imagination… and that can be incredibly powerful!

Why do email marketing?

– To drive traffic and conversion

Your email database can be a goldmine waiting to be discovered.

Your subscribers should already know you in some way – they may have downloaded your lead magnet, made contact at an event, made an enquiry, or made a purchase from you previously. When it comes to know, like, and trust – they are already part way there – they may just need you to nurture them a little more or remind them how to do business with you.

You can do just that with email marketing and one of the keys is to drive traffic to your website or online shop where they can be converted from potential customers to actual paying ones!

Your email database and your website are the only real online real estate you can truly own – unlike social media that can be censored, shut down, or hacked and nothing much can be done. That’s why building that email database and constantly driving traffic to your website are so important. Besides, your website is a treasure trove of information for your potential customers and (assuming your website is optimised for the customer experience) it will help to build that trust and convert leads into sales.

Why do email marketing?

– Build brand awareness

People have short memories and even shorter attention spans these days.

Receiving regular, VALUABLE (I can’t emphasise that enough) emails from your brand, is a fantastic way to keep you front of mind with the people on your email database. The more touch points they have with you, the more likely your target audience is to remember you.

Here’s a few ways that email marketing can add value to your brand:

Convey your brand personality and tone of voice with the words you use.
Use of colours, fonts, logos, imagery to promote brand consistency.
Match website and landing pages to strengthen connections between different media.
Giving subscribers valuable material which builds credibility and trust.
Use of automation to collect data and nurture prospects or repeat business.
Use testimonials as social proof.
Impart stories that people connect with in a positive way.
Use personalisation to make subscribers feel special through welcome emails etc.
Encourage subscribers to ask questions, share ideas etc.

Why do email marketing?

– You can automate it!

With a lot of different hats to wear in business, I’m sure the idea of having to send an email to every client that abandoned a cart or requested a free e-book from you would be enough to send you running for the hills!

The wonderful world of technology has brought us automation and although that term may scare you or bring up a lot of questions, it’s a wonderful tool to be using for email marketing.

Email marketing automation is simply being able to set up an email that is triggered when a particular action takes place. For example, when someone subscribes to your email database, you send them a pre-written welcome email that is personalised. That is a very simple example and we can get very clever with workflows these days but I’m sure that gives you the idea.

Essentially, by automating an email sequence, you could literally be making money while you sleep!

Conclusion

Like it or loathe it, if you aren’t doing email marketing in your business, you may be missing out on opportunities. The key to really making email marketing work for you is to think of them not as sales emails but as relationship building emails. Add value to your subscribers and they will love you for it!

If you aren’t quite sure where to start with email marketing, “5 steps to generating business while you sleep: with little or no cost” could be a great place to start. You can get your copy below.

Alternatively, if you’d like to discuss how you could implement email marketing into your business, book a call with me.

5 Steps to generating business while you sleep

With little or no cost

Website Design - What do you need?

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 01:53:58 GMT

If you’ve never had a website designed by a professional before, you may not realise what you need to provide to your website designer to make your website the best it can be. Some of the things you need to provide can be a little time-consuming and most of the time, these things are the reason that web design projects can drag out for months on end.

Logos and website design

Your website design should reflect your branding so your logo is the first thing your website designer will need. You’ll need to provide a high-quality logo so that it doesn’t appear pixelated on your website.

Having a few different file formats such as .JPG and .PNG can be useful and sometimes having alternative coloured options such as all white or all black may be required too. If you’ve had your logo designed by a professional graphic designer, then you should already have those files.

Some of my clients have opted to have their logos redrawn to ensure they have a quality logo which strengthens their brand. I can also refer you to one of the fabulous graphic designers I work closely with.

Contact details for website design

Your website generally will be telling your potential customers how to get in touch with you so it’s important that your contact details are correct. Decide which email address you want enquiries to go to and which phone number should be displayed. Providing these properly from the very beginning will avoid any confusion.

Website design research

No you don’t need to provide a written research report! It does, however, help if you’ve had a look around at different websites so you have an idea of what you’d like your website to look and feel like.

You can also see different functionality and design components that might be suitable for your website design. Sometimes these things need to be incorporated into your quote as they require additional work and sometimes the design may need to be created around them so having your wishlist and vision organised before you engage a website designer will be beneficial.

photos, videos and website design

Photos and videos are one of the most important things you will need to provide for your website design. Whilst you can use stock images or videos, you don’t want your website looking like anyone else’s.

Having your own professional images of you and your business will allow your website to look more personalised and authentic.

Here’s a few reasons I encourage my clients to engage a professional photographer:

They know what images/video to take
The image quality will be high, so your website looks professional
A great photographer will stage things to make them visually appealing
It creates less work for you as they collate all the images/videos and provide them directly
You can use the images/videos for all your marketing activities

In addition to professional photos and video, you may also want to include some before and after photos, some photos/videos from events you’ve attended or hosted or any other photos/videos that you may want to feature on your website.

Whatever the photo/video is, it is important that it is of high quality so you don’t get pixelation which make your site look less professional.

Copy for website design

Copy is the words that you will use on your website. Most website designers will expect you to provide the copy and most of them will find that your copy is not very good. As blunt as that seems, it is usually true.

Your website copy should:

Speak directly to your target audience
Engage
Add value
Build credibility
Convert
Be simple and effective
Help you get found on google

There is an art to copywriting that can take time to develop and if it’s not your area of expertise, I encourage you to engage a professional copywriter such as myself to write the copy for you. It will speed up the process and require less time from you and it will pay for itself.

At Kickass Marketing, I include copywriting with all my websites as standard for this reason.

For more information about the importance of copywriting, here is a great article that outlines it all.

testimonials for website design

Perhaps one of the most time-consuming components you will need to collect is customer testimonials. If you already have a google my business page then you may have collected some there or perhaps you have some Facebook reviews.

Testimonials are a fantastic way to support the copy you provide. For example, if you have a page that details a particular service then a testimonial from someone that specifically mentions that service can be used to back up your claims of why that service is valuable.

Simply put, testimonials are proof that you aren’t just making things up!

If your testimonials are from other business owners then having a copy of their logo and/or photo is also useful and you can link back to their website if you want to.

Website domain access

If you have an existing domain name, then your website designer is going to need access to that so they can point the domain to your new website. If they are setting up a new domain for you then this won’t be a problem.

If you have an existing domain that requires 2 factor authentication then you may need to temporarily change that over to them or organise a time to do it together so they can add the records to make your website live.

Although they won’t need this until the very end of the process, most business owners don’t know these logins off the top of their head so getting that ready is a good idea.

conclusion

If you are planning on having a new website designed then hopefully this will help you have a smoother experience with your website designer. Nobody wants to be harassed for photos, testimonials, logos etc and trust me – your website designer wants to build your website as quickly as possible! We all dream of clients who have these things ready to go from the start!

If you are ready to create a brand-new website or redesign an existing one, I’d love to chat with you about how we can work together. You can check out my prices here . Or book a FREE 15 minute chat .

NLP Copywriting: An interview with Jan Sky

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 01:45:05 GMT

Jan Sky from Brain Potential very kindly asked me to be a guest on her podcast as she was intrigued about my NLP copywriter skills. In this interview we discuss how NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) has changed my life and my business.

We discuss how using an NLP trained copywriter such as myself can allow you to speak directly to your target audience and how important it can be to develop a well-defined niche.

Want to know more about how I might be able to help you? Book a free 15 minute chat now.

What marketing software should you use in your business?

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 01:38:07 GMT

There are so many different types of marketing software out there these days that it can be really overwhelming and can add up in costs too. So, what marketing software should you use in your business?

The truth is that there is no single one-size-fits-all answer to this. I always chat with my clients to see what their needs are and make recommendations based on that.

One marketing software that I do find myself recommending almost exclusively these days is HighLevel. This is because HighLevel is so well-rounded that it eliminates the need for multiple different marketing software programs making it much more affordable.

Here are some of the key features that you might be looking for:

Marketing software with email automation

Imagine that a customer buys a product from you and automatically gets sent a thank you email.

Maybe they also get another email 2 weeks later to follow up and see how they are enjoying their product.

What if they then got an email in 3 months’ time reminding them to reorder that product or recommending a complementary product they may like.

This is just scratching the surface of what you can do with HighLevel and Email Automation. And the best part? No need to pay expensive monthly email marketing software subscriptions as you can integrate your own email address!

You can use preset templates or create your own templates with a drag and drop builder just like many of the other email marketing software options around.

This means your emails can be branded and include photos, videos, links, buttons etc making them look super professional.

Marketing software with SMS automation

People love to text these days and research shows that response rates can often be much higher to a SMS message rather than an email. Of course, it depends on your target market but it’s definitely something to consider.

HighLevel allows you to send automated SMS messages as part of campaigns and workflows.

What’s even better? Customers can reply and start a conversation with you and you can manage it all within the HighLevel CRM!

SMS Automation is the only feature on HighLevel that you pay extra for but you do only pay for what you use.

Marketing software with social media scheduling

There are several different social media scheduling platforms around and the most popular ones go for at least AU$69 per month!

With HighLevel, you can schedule social media posts to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google My Business. Later this year, more platforms such as Twitter and Tik Tok are due to be added.

Just think how much time you’ll save by being able to post to all those platforms with just a few clicks!

I’m loving how easy it is to use for social media scheduling.

You can upload your own designs/photos/videos and choose which accounts you want to post to. You can even schedule the posts for any specified time in the future (Meta Business Suite only allows 75 days)!

CRM - Customer relationship management marketing software

At the core of every good Marketing Software should be a CRM that allows you to track your interactions with each customer/client. This allows you to create more automations, nurture your leads and wow your customers to create raving fans.

HighLevel allows you to integrate Facebook and Instagram including messenger so whenever someone DMs your business page, they are automatically added to your CRM and you can reply and manage messages from within HighLevel.

You can add custom tags which will allow you to segment your contacts for easy targeting and see all the activities, appointments, tasks, notes, campaigns, workflows and more in one place. This is amazing for sales calls!

A pipeline highlighting opportunities, conversion and more is also very handy to see how your campaigns are performing and where you may be able to pick up the phone and win some more business.

If you already have a CRM system that is tailored for your industry, you may find that it can be integrated with HighLevel through an API.

appointment booking in your marketing software

How annoying are the back-and-forth emails working out a time that is suitable for you and your clients? How much simpler would it be to just send them a link and they choose a time that works for them from your allotted time slots?

Forget paying an extra $30 a month for a calendar scheduling platform – HighLevel can do this for you and will integrate with your Google or Outlook Calendar.

HighLevel will allow you to set an in-person meeting place, phone call, Zoom or Google Meet call and the appointment is automatically added to your calendar and if it’s a zoom or google meet call, it will assign meeting links etc for you.

With automated workflows you can set up email/text confirmations or reminders saving you a load of time and avoiding no-shows!

Marketing software for course or membership creation

Creating an online course or membership site is a fantastic way to leverage your time, help more people and make some passive income.

Until HighLevel came along, you would have required multiple software programs to create the course, sell it, market it, and communicate with the members/students.

With the membership/course feature, you can create multiple product offerings with unlimited users and unlimited video hosting. You can offer free or paid courses and you can customise with your own branding and imagery.

Custom forms and surveys in marketing software

Nothing worse than having to use set form setups with limited form fields to choose from. Your business is unique so you want forms and surveys that ask the questions specific to your business!

HighLevel’s forms and surveys can be fully customised to suit whatever information you want to record. Allow your customers to easily tell you everything you need to know before you’ve even met them. The forms and surveys allow you to add branding colours and logos and can be embedded into your website or landing pages.

Each form or survey submitted with create a new contact in the CRM or update details for an existing contact. You can then use automated workflows to tag, add to campaigns, schedule appointments, email and more depending on the answers provided to your questions!

Why go with an external form provider that needs you to export the data in order to add it to your CRM when you can have it all happen in one place?

Funnel building marketing software

Automated marketing and sales funnels can be extremely valuable to your business. No need to pay more than $100 a month for specific funnel building software – you can do it all in HighLevel!

Setup your own landing pages with an easy to use drag and drop editor and your own custom forms and surveys. Then use automation to start generating leads and making money while you sleep.

integrated payments with your marketing software

Of course when you are selling membership sites, products, services or online courses, you need to be able to take payment from your clients.

HighLevel integrates easily with Stripe and Shopify or you can add links to your existing payment system through links or buttons.

This makes it super easy for your clients/customers to pay you and cuts down the work you need to do!

reputation management with your marketing software

You know how important google and Facebook reviews are for your business but how much time do you spend chasing your clients/customers to leave you reviews? Maybe you don’t and that means you don’t actually receive those reviews?

With HighLevel, you can automatically send your clients/customers a review request to their email or phone when you’ve completed an order or job for them. You can even send them a reminder if they don’t do it straight away.

Imagine how much you could increase your credibility making it easier to convert new leads without having to chase up those reviews.

marketing software on the move

Do you want to be able to access your CRM, see your pipeline, look up contact details and make notes on a contact file while you are away from your desk?

HighLevel’s mobile app, LeadConnector allows you to do just that so you can do business while you are out and about and ensure that everything is recorded for you or your team to access later.

invoicing with marketing software

Now you may already have invoicing software and that is totally fine, but if you are just getting started or only sell a few select products, you may want to use the HighLevel Invoicing feature.

It’s very simple to use and can add automations based on the invoice details too.

This is quite a new feature and more enhancements continue to be released regularly.

webChat widget linked to marketing software

Want to allow people viewing your website to request a contact easily?

The HighLevel WebChat Widget is super easy to install and just sits in the corner of your website making it super simple for people to request a call or ask a question.

The easier you make it for people to get in touch, the more likely they are to do so!

marketing software at an affordable price

Now getting all these features with multiple programs would cost you hundreds of dollars per month which can be difficult to justify when you are a small business.

The amazing thing about HighLevel is that it’s an all-in-one platform and they allow agencies like Kickass Marketing to provide the service to an unlimited number of clients from an agency level.

I’m able to offer you a FREE 14 Day trial to see if you like HighLevel.

Because I’m so passionate about helping small businesses to grow, once your 14 day trial is up, I am offering a limited time deal of AU$100 per month. That’s no lock in contracts or crazy price hikes down the track – just AU$100 per month for a system that can generate, nurture and convert leads for your business while you sleep!

Conclusion

When I was looking around for a marketing software to use in my own business and to be able to recommend to clients, I was overwhelmed with the options. They all sound so good and you hear such amazing things but the one thing that really stood out to me was that there was nothing that did EVERYTHING I wanted it to do. They all required you to pay monthly subscriptions for multiple different programs that didn’t necessarily talk to each other!

Then I found HighLevel.

I’m not saying it’s perfect for your business, but it does suit a huge range of businesses and incorporates so many features that it’s worth checking out.

HighLevel, when done right, will save you a heap of time and money as well as helping you to generate more money within your business.

If you’d like to work out if HighLevel is for you, book a FREE 15 minute chat with me and I’ll give you some honest advice.

Ready to jump in with a FREE 14 day trial of HighLevel ? Sign up here .

Happy Marketing!

Why Copywriting is Important

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 01:05:43 GMT

Copywriting is important because when done right, it will attract your target audience, draw them in and convert them to high-value customers. Here’s a bit more detail about why copywriting is important for your business.

Stop them scrolling

In the age of social media, humans have become adept at assessing whether something is of interest to them extremely quickly.

When using social media platforms to market your business, the image will be what captures attention first but it’s the copy (the words you use) that determines whether you will keep that attention and get the desired outcome.

That’s why copywriting is so important on social media. If your copy doesn’t talk directly to your target audience’s pain points, odds are, they will continue to scroll rather than click through to buy whatever it is that you are offering.

Know, LIke and Trust

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that people spend money with businesses/people that they know, like and trust. So why is copywriting important when building trust with potential customers? Good copywriting will portray your brand’s voice.

Have you ever met someone for the first time and felt like they totally got you within the first 5 minutes of knowing you? That’s what great copy will do for your business.

Imagine a personal trainer that wants to deal exclusively with mothers aged 30 to 45 years. Now think of another personal trainer that wants to deal exclusively with young men aged 16 to 25 years. Can you see how different the language would be to speak to each of these target audiences?

When you get very specific with your language, your target audience will feel like you know them better than they know themselves and will be more inclined to spend money with you.

Value Adding

In this google-driven era, there are 4 basic categories that every search comes down to:

Informational – to find out something
Transactional – to buy something
Navigational – to locate a specific website
Commercial – to compare products

Knowing which of these intents your target audience is likely to have should be factored into your copywriting and content writing.

A lot of your website copy will likely be dedicated to informational or commercial intent. In particular, informational intent is where you are able to add the most value for potential clients. Answering their questions in their language (using words they use and pain points they have) will increase your credibility and gain their trust.

Get them across the line

You can get millions of people to your website and have the most beautiful website in the world but if the copy on the website doesn’t speak to your website visitors then it’s never going to result in sales. This is another reason why copywriting is so important.

At the risk of being blunt, potential customers don’t give two hoots about what you want or why you are the best at what you do. They want to know how you can solve their problems and how they will feel when you do.

Great copy will not only engage potential customers, it will get them across the line to become actual customers who spend actual money with you.

Keep it simple, stupid

Ever been on a website that waffles on and on? Of course you have! And what did you do? Most likely, you went to another website or just skimmed through what was there in search of what you were really looking for.

Unfortunately, business owners who aren’t copywriters, often use 2 or 3 times as many words as they need. They also bore the pants off their target audience in the process.

Great copywriting can explain detailed or complex ideas simply and in plain language. This makes the user experience much more enjoyable which only adds to how much that user likes your business.

Keep the google bots happy

Research shows that very few people will go on to page 2 of a google search when looking for answers. That means getting your business on the first page of search results is imperative if you want to get found. Copywriting is a very important part of making the google bots happy, so they put you where you want to be.

Some of the influencing factors in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) are:

Keywords or phrases
Sentence length
Ease of reading
Headings
Paragraph Length
Links
Structure

Copywriting can affect all of these things!

Conclusion

If you’ve been thinking about writing your own copy, you may find there’s more to it than meets the eye if you want it to be effective. If you’ve decided that it might be better for someone else to write your copy then get in touch with us for a no-obligation chat.

Blogs to Bullion: How Blogs Benefit Business

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:56:13 GMT

As cliché as it sounds, now more than ever, blogs are a vital part of a good long-term marketing strategy. But why? Here are 3 reasons to consider…

Get known, Liked and trusted

You can tell everyone you are an expert in your field at every opportunity you get however, every person with a social media page is doing the same.

How do your customers/clients get to know, like and trust you in a world of self-proclaimed experts?

The answer is simple. Show them. Give them valuable content that helps them solve their pain points. Highlight your areas of strength and what sets you apart from the rest. Show the results you can deliver through case studies.

Blogging is the perfect way to give prospective customers an insight into you, your business and how you can help them. Before you know it, they will know, like and trust you for the expert you are!

Own your digital real estate with blogs

Building a following on your social media accounts is great and should definitely be part of your marketing strategy however, the platforms you use ultimately belong to someone else.

That means that your account can be suspended, censored or deleted at any time. The one piece of online real estate that truly belongs to you is your website.

A blog is a solid foundation piece of content that lives on your website and can be repurposed to produce 15 or more pieces of smaller content suitable for social media and other channels.

By utilising these smaller pieces of content, you can lead people to your website.

Assuming you have a great website focused on the user experience with great converting copy, you will be able to convert those prospects into leads.

So, creating a blog will also save you time creating content for your other marketing channels and help drive traffic to the one channel you have complete control over.

Double your website leads with blogs

Regular blogging can work wonders for your google rankings or your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

Without getting too technical, google bots (that help decide where you will rank on a search) like it when you are regularly updating your website. Adding a blog on a regular basis is part of this.

Blogs also allow you to focus in on the key words and phrases that your potential customers are using to try and find solutions to their problems.

By providing valuable content around the problems they are trying to solve, you can get them to your website and start allowing them to know, like and trust you.

There are a number of other reasons why Blogging should be part of your marketing strategy but these 3 are the ones I find resonate with business owners the most.

No matter the business, no matter the stage you are at, blogs can be incredibly beneficial so what are you waiting for?

Happy Blogging!

Why build a strong brand for your small business?

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 06:59:05 GMT

Marketing experts harp on about branding all the time but as a small business owner you may be thinking… “Why do I need to build a strong brand?”.

“Surely branding is just for big businesses”.

“Why would I spend hundreds of dollars on a logo when I can create my own?”.

You may have read “ Why branding is important for small business ” . This blog goes into a bit more detail around the benefits your business can receive when you build a strong brand.

Create Trust with potential customers

Think about it… Would you want to spend your hard-earned dollars with a brand you don’t recognise?

Or put the safety of your loved ones in the hands of a business you’ve never heard of with no evidence of their track record?

The more potential customers see and recognise your brand, the more they trust your business. Know + Like = Trust.

Improve credibility

All strong branding will highlight the pain points you solve and provide social proof to back that up. When potential customers see that, it makes you more credible in their eyes and may just get them across the line with a purchase.

Improve customer brand recognition

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you were the first business that comes to mind when your potential customers need your product or service?

This only happens with recognition. Recognition only comes about through consistent brand messaging.

Reach more of your ideal customers

A strong brand will identify who their ideal customers are in every piece of content they create.

People are hard-wired to find their tribe.

If your brand clearly communicates that you work with them, they will be attracted to your business.

Increased word of mouth referrals

Humans can’t help but tell their friends and family when they have done business with a brand they are proud to be associated with.

Build a strong brand that delivers on the expectations created by your messaging and the referrals will flow in.

Strong brands attract the right employees

Quality employees want to work with a brand they know they can trust. They want to be proud to tell people who they work for. But most of all, they want to work with a brand that shares their values.

If your brand communicates your values clearly then you will attract employees that will share those values and everyone wins!

Increased Customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is the holy grail of business.

If your brand continues to deliver consistent messaging, service and quality then why would your customers go elsewhere?

Strong brands are less susceptible to outside influences

Strong brands can withstand global crises, market downturns and all sorts of other outside influences. Why? Because their customers are loyal and people believe them to be more stable.

Increased collaboration opportunities

Other businesses want to work with strong brands.

Collaboration happens when two businesses share target customers, values and brand strength.

Nobody wants to align their business with another business that is poorly perceived.

The stronger the brand, the bigger the opportunities.

Increase in perceived value

When you build a strong brand, trust is high and positive word of mouth happens naturally.

A wonderful by-product of this is that customers may perceive you as being higher value that your competitors. This can create opportunity to charge more for your products or services!

If this doesn’t convince you that it’s worthwhile building a strong brand then I don’t know what will!

Need some personalised guidance with strengthening your brand? Get in touch for a no obligation 15 minute chat to see if we can help.

Why branding is important for small business

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 06:31:24 GMT

Branding is one of those things that we often associate with large corporations – the concept often springs to mind big names such as Qantas, Ikea or Smirnoff . So, why is branding important for small business?

What is branding?

We should probably start by defining what branding actually is.

The Collins dictionary defines it like this:

“The branding of a product is the presentation of it to the public in a way that makes it easy for people to recognize or identify.”

Your brand may include the following:

Logo(s)
Font(s)
Colour(s)
Icon(s)
Tagline or Slogan
Particular words or language
Emotive qualities (eg. Fun, Serious, Professional, Joyful etc)
Values

Overall, it’s the look and feel of your product/service/business and the message you convey to your potential customers.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

Why build a strong brand for your small business?

Strong branding for your small business may bring the following benefits:

Create trust with potential customers
Improve your credibility
Improve customer recognition
Reach more of your ideal customers
Increased word of mouth referrals
Help you attract the right employees
Increased customer loyalty
Less susceptible to outside influences
Increased collaboration opportunities
Increase in perceived value

To read more about these benefits and how a strong brand can deliver them, check out our blog on this topic here.

What makes a brand strong?

Positioning – where does your brand sit in the minds of your target audience?

The clearer your positioning, the more likely it is that your potential customers will remember you when they need your services. Consider brands such as Rolex, Rolls Royce or Cartier – we all know they are high-end luxury brands because their brand positioning is clear in all of their marketing messages. Would you find an ad for Disneyland in a magazine aimed at motorbike enthusiasts? Of course not because their positioning is very much aligned with family, and motorbikes have nothing to do with their brand.

Consider the two hotel images below. Where are each of these positioning themselves?

Visual Identity – how can your target audience identify that what they see belongs to your brand?

Think about Coca-Cola for a moment.

Odds are, you just recalled an image in your mind of the word Coca-Cola in a particular font in white on a red background (A very specific red).

You may also have recalled images of a specific type of glass with ice and a familiar dark liquid in it with beads of condensation dripping down the glass.

You may have even had an image of Santa pop in there.

This is all because the marketing team at Coca-Cola have created an extremely strong visual brand identity that is specific to their product. We can’t help but recognise it no matter where in the world we visit! Your logo, colours, fonts and imagery must clearly identify your brand and products/services in order to build a strong brand.

Consistency – Can your potential customers identify your brand no matter which of your marketing materials they are looking at?

Consider the 3 examples below…

Other than the business name, there would be no reason to assume that these 3 posts came from the same business at all. This is a great example of what not to do!

Now lets look at the following 3 examples and see the difference…

You can see that these examples show consistency with the colours, the logo, the fonts and the imagery making it much more identifiable across the 3 posts and platforms.

Whilst it would be easy to think that this kind of stuff doesn’t really matter for a little sole trader or partnership business, the truth is that creating a strong brand is important for all businesses no matter the size.

Of course, if finding new customers and keeping existing ones engaged with your business isn’t important then by all means don’t worry about it. If you want to be recognised and remembered though, your brand needs to be as strong as possible.

Need more help with your small business branding? Get in touch with us here at Kickass Marketing – we love helping small business owners create strong brands.

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Why Do Email Marketing?

What is email marketing?

Why do email marketing? – The Stats don’t lie

Why do email marketing?

﻿ – It’s cost effective

Why do email marketing?

﻿ – Targeting and Segmentation

Why do email marketing?

﻿ – To drive traffic and conversion

Why do email marketing?

﻿ – Build brand awareness

Why do email marketing?

﻿ – You can automate it!

Conclusion

5 Steps to generating business while you sleep

With little or no cost

Website Design - What do you need?

Logos and website design

Contact details for website design

Website design research

photos, videos and website design

Copy for website design

testimonials for website design

Website domain access

conclusion

NLP Copywriting: An interview with Jan Sky

What marketing software should you use in your business?

Marketing software with email automation

Marketing software with SMS automation

Marketing software with social media scheduling

CRM - Customer relationship management marketing software

appointment booking in your marketing software

Marketing software for course or membership creation

Custom forms and surveys in marketing software

Funnel building marketing software

integrated payments with your marketing software

reputation management with your marketing software

marketing software on the move

invoicing with marketing software

webChat widget linked to marketing software

marketing software at an affordable price

Conclusion

Why Copywriting is Important

Stop them scrolling

Know, LIke and Trust

Value Adding

Get them across the line

Keep it simple, stupid

Keep the google bots happy

Conclusion

Blogs to Bullion: How Blogs Benefit Business

Get known, Liked and trusted

Own your digital real estate with blogs

Double your website leads with blogs

Why build a strong brand for your small business?

Create Trust with potential customers

Improve credibility

Improve customer brand recognition

Reach more of your ideal customers

Increased word of mouth referrals

Strong brands attract the right employees

Increased Customer loyalty

Strong brands are less susceptible to outside influences

Increased collaboration opportunities

Increase in perceived value

Why branding is important for small business

What is branding?

Why build a strong brand for your small business?

What makes a brand strong?

Positioning – where does your brand sit in the minds of your target audience?

Visual Identity – how can your target audience identify that what they see belongs to your brand?

Consistency – Can your potential customers identify your brand no matter which of your marketing materials they are looking at?

– It’s cost effective

– Targeting and Segmentation

– To drive traffic and conversion

– Build brand awareness

– You can automate it!