Like many other things in life and in business, branding is a marathon, not a sprint. We can get a return fast enough, but really good stuff, like wine, works in the long run. You have to devote a lot of time to work and you will never be able to look into the future to find out that your work will really pay off, and the results will coincide with your expectations. Branding requires consistent action.
Here are 7 ways to get started on increasing the visibility of your brand …
1. Give more to get more
In branding – the more you give, the more you will eventually return. In this case, in time, people will give, not receiving anything in return, as well as recognition, habit. What can be done?
- Sponsor a local football team or at least a school volleyball club (parents will love you, and you will get a ton of quality advertising in return).
- Offer free consultations on your specialization or work with local charities (not necessarily give money, you can provide the first job or internship to those in need).
- If your business is concerned with the generation of content, offer quality professional articles to profile publications for free in exchange for mentioning your brand in the text.
- Go a little further than doing normal contractual duties, give the client a little more than he paid. Believe me, these actions will pay off.
2. Determination to become a leading specialist in its field
Growth is invariably associated with education, raising levels of competencies and continual updating of knowledge. Operate obsolete facts, do not know the current trends and realities, do not follow the competition – the path to the collapse of the whole enterprise, and not just a loss of reputation. So make the year 2018 a year of presence in the media as an expert in your industry. After all, experts trust people more than unknown enterprises without experience, client base and necessary knowledge in the profile area.
3. Make promises and fulfill them
Who wants to do business with a man and a company that says one thing, but in words comes a completely different way? No one. Therefore, you must be not only the master of your word, but also subject to your word.
4. Carefully edit your professional card index
A good organizer is an indispensable assistant to any brand that comes to meet recognition. Regularly inspect and clean contacts. Without regret, remove all those who do not pick up the phone, do not keep their promises, and break the deadlines, while you need their commitment and punctuality. You do not need all these people. They will only take up time that you could spend more profitably for your brand. And breaking the deadlines, will expose you in a bad light in the eyes of your customers. And you will not explain to anyone that it is not you, but suppliers, since suppliers are solely your concern.
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The second step is to make sure that you have recorded as much information as possible about each of your remaining contacts: where you met, where you started, what strengths and weaknesses each of those present in your database have, how they can help you, how you can help them, birthdays and other important dates, events, facts that may be significant to you and your subscriber.
5. Be as valuable to your contacts as they are to you
Maintain and develop relationships with your professional contacts. Remember that everyone in business goes with one thought: “What benefit will I get from this.” Therefore, you should show all your appearance that it is convenient, safe and profitable for you.
6. Build relationships with bloggers
2018 – The heyday of blogging culture. So it is not out of place to enlist the support of people who have some authority in the network.
7. Do not overdo with social media activities
There are many arguments in favor of not starting the promotion of the brand in social media. The easiest can be voiced with the help of folk wisdom: do not put the cart in front of the horse. Concentrate your efforts primarily on building and developing a business, and branding in social networks should be a by-product. After all, it’s not enough to attract a client, you still have to keep it, but you can do it only by doing your job well. And while the business will not be adjusted so that the customer is definitely satisfied, your social networks will play against you, becoming a platform for negative feedback.
