Too often companies jump into the latest fad, technology or social media because “everyone’s doing it”. Not to sound too much like my mother when I was in high school…but “If everyone else jumps off a bridge, would you?”
Evaluating your company goals then aligning each with the proper marketing lever and consistent messaging will ensure success (whatever your success is!).
Think about it….if you want to promote a new product you aren’t going to focus all your efforts in one medium, i.e. Twitter, right? Because you know your target market, where they spend most of their time and how to maximize conversion is where you’re going to increase promotion efforts.
There’s a formula for each brand. And keep in mind that the formula changes when the company goals change! How you approach promoting a new product for an established company is different than how a new company promotes its new brand to the world.
Here are a few thoughts to consider:
Harmonize your brand Work with all departments and communicate goals, achievements and moving forward strategy. Consistent messaging is key and will differ among departments. Your brand needs to communicate the same thing from your front office to your customer service department. Keep in mind “Communication is a bad thing” ~ Said no one ever.
Explain and emphasize brand values and behaviors Do your employees believe in your product and services? Are they living and breathing your brand? In all that they do, does it reflect your company’s mission? Everything a company does – internal communication, customer communication, media messaging – is a direct reflection of your brand and perception of what your brands stands for. Remember “Actions > Words”
Use your core strength Think of your brand as the backbone of your business. Everything your brand does supports everything else. Where you present your brand, i.e. through media, also is a reflection of the type of company you are. Do you want to be the brand who’s everywhere but not managing the messaging well or consistently? Or do you want to be the brand selectively choosing where they need to be, what the message is, responding to activity and controlling the overall image? Assuming this was taken as a rhetorical question but in case it wasn’t, the latter is better.
There is a unique combination of what works for each company – and only you, your company influencers, brand advocates and internal decision makers know what that formula is. What’s your formula?