Small Business Marketing And Advertising: Branding vs. Direct ResponseGet The Edge Marketing on theedgemarketing.com. Small Business Marketing And Advertising: Branding vs. Direct Response topic will increase your understanding on The Edge Marketing. We at theedgemarketing.com only provide news, articles, information in The Edge Marketing. The Edge Marketing at theedgemarketing.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Small Business Branding Advertising and Marketing an Oxymoron? Unless you're a ubiquitous consumer products company, the value of branding is far, far less than the value of direct response. What good is impressing someone with your brand if he or she never comes into contact with your business again? Why would they come into contact with your business again if you haven’t gotten a direct response? Branding is essential for Coca Cola and Microsoft and all the other consumer giants because they don't need direct response. Their offering is available every time you drive down the street, so burning their logos into your eyeballs will actually make you more likely to buy. But if you have to search out the business, having a logo floating in your consciousness won't be enough to motivate you. Even if branding alone could drive business, how long will it be before that logo or slogan or jingle has left your memory forever? A few hours? A day? One of the basic requirements for branding is repetition. Numerous repetitions. Like seeing the little Microsoft flag every single day, in the lower left corner of your screen, on your computer's case, in magazine advertisements and on television commercials. One visit to your website or one glimpse of your advertisement won't accomplish this—and remember, unless you have Microsoft’s budget, one exposure is all you’ll likely get if you don't get a direct response. In reality, even numerous exposures to your brand might not be enough. There's only so much room for logos in people's minds, and you've got an awful lot of deep-pocketed competition for that space. In contrast, if someone requested a whitepaper from you, or called in for more information, you would have their attention for much longer, even if you never followed up--which you could do, since you had their contact information. The Two Cases when Branding Makes Small Business Marketing Sense 1. When branding enhances direct response rather than detracting from it. Good branding enhances trust in your business. A good tagline, graphic design, and logo can also make it instantly clear what your business does, allowing users to go directly to your message without having to decide if you’re worth listening to. Simply put: if you’re a watchmaker, put a watch in your logo, and the word “watch” in your name and your tagline or slogan. When you’re selling services picking a logo can be trickier, but it can be done. UpMarket Content’s logo is a scroll and pen. Just make sure your logo communicates what you do, rather than something foolish like a black rocket for an advertising agency. Yet while branding usually enhances direct response, you should not hesitate to sacrifice branding if it hurts your response. If you find that a different tagline or font does significantly better in getting responses, run with them. 2. When you actually do have the opportunity to impress your brand on the same person dozens of times over the course of an average month. For branding to work, you don’t just have to maximize total exposures, but exposures to unique individuals. Let’s be absolutely clear: in terms of branding, exposing 1,000,000 people to your brand once each is infinitely less valuable than exposing 1,000 people to your brand 1,000 times each. You have to maximize exposures to the same individuals. Aim for a hundred exposures per individual if you want to really enter people’s consciousnesses. Of course, it may take far fewer than a thousand individual exposures. If someone is sitting in front of your branding advertisement for more than a few minutes, they may in fact be exposed to it dozens of times, each time their line of sight crosses it. But this kind of long-term exposure is likely going to cost you more. How can you ensure that your brand advertising will maximize your brand exposure per unique individual? Place your brand advertising where users will come back often to see it. For instance, a banner on a website that has a strong following of returning users, or an advertisement on the local diner's placemat. Even when branding does make sense, direct response will often also make sense, so you should combine the two if possible. For instance, at the bottom of a banner advertisement with your logo and tagline looming large, put a button labeled “get more information.” Or, underneath your businesses sign, put a telephone number with an offer to get more information. Because if they never visit or call, who cares if they have your logo burnt onto their retinas?
|
Advice Home Business Technology Online Advertising Motivational Internet Marketing SEO Help Online Games Science Articles Happiness More Articles:1. Mortgage Marketing - How to Write a Mortgage Marketing Sales Letter That Gets Results! By David Wells Have you ever sat down to write a sales letter and been at a complete loss where to start? It happens to all of us.Sales letters are hard to write. And writing a good one takes a lot of time, research and effort. But…a good letter will make you money.The best place to start is with research. You want to know everything you can about the product or products you’re selling. At this point you’re interested in specific information.The… 2. Small Business Marketing Secret #5: How a Fruit Tree Can Show You a 20% Increase in Your Business By Jimmy Vee You're probably ready to hear this one. Your business is doing well, but it sure could use a 20% bonus this month.You're not alone.Most businesses could benefit from an additional 20% in revenue. If you don't need it, just pass this article on to someone who does, and then wait read another article.To all those who are still reading, congratulations.We're about to reveal a secret that can revolutionize the results your advertising delivers. We'… 3. Business Cards that Make Them CALL By Bette Daoust, Ph.D. How would you use business cards for gift certificates?I asked at the beginning of this chapter "How many business cards do you need?" and answered that you only need one. Even though this is true when you are trying to form business relationships, it is not true when it comes to promoting your business. Promotion can come in many forms, but using business cards to represent a gift certificate will make it easier for your potential customer no… 4. Peddling Your Own Wagon Through Local Exposure By Bonnie Jo Davis In my e-book "Articles That Sell", I've shared the secret of marketing your business on the Internet. If you've been active in your efforts, you've been writing and publishing free reprint articles.Guess what? I've got another incredible marketing secret for you.While online marketing has unlimited potential it often misses a valuable mark. This missed mark is your own local area. You could be missing out on immediate opportunities to market yo… |