http://www.cxo.com.au/people/531725/qa-mellissah-smith-ceo-marketing-eye/
Showing posts with label branding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label branding. Show all posts
Sunday, November 29, 2009
CXO Magazine Interviews Mellissah Smith, CEO, Marketing Eye
http://www.cxo.com.au/people/531725/qa-mellissah-smith-ceo-marketing-eye/
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Small Business Marketing
Small Business Marketing
What typifies a small business varies from country to country but there are almost 2 million in Australia if you incorporate sole operators and consultants in the mix - or at least so they tell me.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006 figures), 71% are born in Australia, 68% are male, and a staggering 58% are aged between 30 and 50 years. Important statistics if you are thinking about marketing to them, let me assure you.
Given the economic climate over the past 18 months, I imagine that there are a lot of small business operators that aren’t too busy at all and in that lies a problem.
What do you do when times are tough, there aren’t many clients that are out there or at least ones that are finding you and you need to make a living?
Starving isn't an option, and there are no jobs available to get back into the workforce.
No matter how small you are, many of the strategies used by larger organizations to go to market, create sales opportunities and promote a brand, can still be achieved by a small business for little or no cost.
That is of course, if you don’t count time as a cost, which for the record - I do!
No matter what you sell, or service you provide to your customers, there are a series of proven, effective growth strategies you can apply to your business - many right away, and many with little to no cost to implement - that can immediately have an impact on customer growth, loyalty, frequency and revenue.
It’s about having access to the information and using it in a way that is effective.
Many of the small businesses that come to Marketing Eye are ready to take that leap and create opportunities for sales, growth for their brand and engagement of their customers more frequently.
Some however, don’t understand the idea of marketing and what it can do for their business. They don’t take into account who is their target audience and what they need to hear, see and feel to make the decision that the small business wants them to make.
They do ‘marketing’ according to what ‘they’ like, not taking into consideration their target audience.
Profiling who your client is and what they look like is imperative to strategic marketing. Look at who has bought your services or products before and ask them why. Did they do it because of your relationship, the read about you on the internet, searched google for relevant services or products or heard about your brand through word of mouth. Whatever the reason, you need to know to ensure better use of your marketing dollars.
Marketing Eye can offer small businesses a ‘marketing eye’, key marketing strategies and coaching tools to help get your business focused on what's most important to drive sales & marketing success.
These include:
• Coaching: Marketing Eye will work with you personally to understand your business better, develop business goals, and to create and help you implement a successful marketing plan that helps you grow your business. We treat your business like it's our own, and work hard to help you achieve the results that you have been looking for.
• Customer Acquisition: Need more leads to your business? More appointments? More visitors to your Web site? Marketing Eye can help.
• Customer Loyalty & Frequency: When new customers make their first purchase, that should be just the beginning of a long, mutually-beneficial and profitable relationship. We'll make sure you have the tools, products and strategy in place to turn new and current customers into frequent visitors, regular customers and brand ambassadors.
• Business Development & Product Strategy: What else will your customers buy? How can you increase your share of wallet with current customers, and open ourself up to new revenue from even more customers? Marketing Eye will help you ask the right answers to give you a blueprint for where to take your business.
To learn more about using Marketing Eye to accelerate the success and revenue of your small business call 1300 300 080 today.
If you are a small business and are in desperate need of marketing, but can't see how you are able to afford it, why not consider Marketing Eye's Leasing Plan? For just 17.95 per day, you can have a Marketing Eye in your business.
And if you just need a beer to think about it, why not enter www.effengreatbloke.com.au to win a year's supply of beer for you and a friend.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Time for a new brand?
Time for a new brand?
Believe it or not, brand makeovers are not simply a response to businesses in a downward spiral. Successful companies revamp their brands just as much as ones that have experienced a downturn in their fortunes.
When companies are thinking about rebranding, quite often they only consider what is obvious to them and that’s a new logo.
Branding is not just a logo identity. It is everything that your business stands for from the way you treat your customers to answering of telephones and the quality and experience you leave with your customers when they buy your products or services.
Your logo is however very important and the way the logo communicates your business is critical and all adds to the customer experience. It’s the ‘short-hand’ representation of your brand.
Creating a strong and sustainable brand image for your business has definite advantages.
The brands association with key messages, slogans, what people think of the brand and what a business stands for is imperative to building the brand.
Where should a business begin when thinking about re-branding?
There are rule of thumbs - but beware. Like most things in marketing, not everything is for everyone.
If your business turns over $100,000 or less, we recommend that you look at a low cost option of around $1,000-$1,500. If your business turns over $500,000 or less, then consider $5,000 - $10,000 as an investment for a new logo identity, and so on.
Of course, if you are a startup, then you need to invest in your brand according to what you believe your likely turnover in the first one to two years of business is going to be. It’s all relative. Whilst a National Australia Bank might spend millions on a re-branding there are many alternative ways in which to communicate a new brand and particularly with the current economic climate and the mass retrenchments in the creative fields, there is talent pool waiting to work on your next re-branding exercise.
What are the brand image expectations and how is that going to effect the overall brand development?
A brand image has to communicate not only a level of quality and professionalism, but also an idea for the buyer or consumer of what they should expect.
When developing the brand, think of the whole business not just who is leading it. Quite often when an individual founder has put their heart and soul into their business, people begin to think that the brand is in fact that person.
Steer away from making the brand a person and focus on the brand image being the entire company otherwise it will affect your overall brand development.
Where to go for brand development?
Graphic designers that don’t have knowledge and experience with understanding what needs to be represented in the brand may only focus on what looks good rather than what is good.
At the other end, many branding people have just done a course or have learnt how to talk the talk, but understanding in depth what you are actually trying to achieve, might be out of their grasp and you may end up being sold something that doesn’t identify or align itself with what you are actually trying to communicate.
Find out from others who they have used and whether they believe their brand represents who they are and what they do.
Alternatively, look for companies with experience of 10+ branding campaigns and find out how they came up with individual brands for companies that they have worked with.
Re-branding is a big deal. It’s an investment that in this day and age has to be considered in depth before jumping into.
www.marketingeye.com.au
Believe it or not, brand makeovers are not simply a response to businesses in a downward spiral. Successful companies revamp their brands just as much as ones that have experienced a downturn in their fortunes.
When companies are thinking about rebranding, quite often they only consider what is obvious to them and that’s a new logo.
Branding is not just a logo identity. It is everything that your business stands for from the way you treat your customers to answering of telephones and the quality and experience you leave with your customers when they buy your products or services.
Your logo is however very important and the way the logo communicates your business is critical and all adds to the customer experience. It’s the ‘short-hand’ representation of your brand.
Creating a strong and sustainable brand image for your business has definite advantages.
The brands association with key messages, slogans, what people think of the brand and what a business stands for is imperative to building the brand.
Where should a business begin when thinking about re-branding?
There are rule of thumbs - but beware. Like most things in marketing, not everything is for everyone.
If your business turns over $100,000 or less, we recommend that you look at a low cost option of around $1,000-$1,500. If your business turns over $500,000 or less, then consider $5,000 - $10,000 as an investment for a new logo identity, and so on.
Of course, if you are a startup, then you need to invest in your brand according to what you believe your likely turnover in the first one to two years of business is going to be. It’s all relative. Whilst a National Australia Bank might spend millions on a re-branding there are many alternative ways in which to communicate a new brand and particularly with the current economic climate and the mass retrenchments in the creative fields, there is talent pool waiting to work on your next re-branding exercise.
What are the brand image expectations and how is that going to effect the overall brand development?
A brand image has to communicate not only a level of quality and professionalism, but also an idea for the buyer or consumer of what they should expect.
When developing the brand, think of the whole business not just who is leading it. Quite often when an individual founder has put their heart and soul into their business, people begin to think that the brand is in fact that person.
Steer away from making the brand a person and focus on the brand image being the entire company otherwise it will affect your overall brand development.
Where to go for brand development?
Graphic designers that don’t have knowledge and experience with understanding what needs to be represented in the brand may only focus on what looks good rather than what is good.
At the other end, many branding people have just done a course or have learnt how to talk the talk, but understanding in depth what you are actually trying to achieve, might be out of their grasp and you may end up being sold something that doesn’t identify or align itself with what you are actually trying to communicate.
Find out from others who they have used and whether they believe their brand represents who they are and what they do.
Alternatively, look for companies with experience of 10+ branding campaigns and find out how they came up with individual brands for companies that they have worked with.
Re-branding is a big deal. It’s an investment that in this day and age has to be considered in depth before jumping into.
Think about what you want to achieve out of your rebranding and work with a partner that understands you and your branding requirements.
Ensure you have a firm quote, not one that can move according to how long someone chooses to spend on your logo identity.
Find out more 1300 300 080.
www.marketingeye.com.au
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