Building A Brand Guide For Entrepreneurs - Brand Marketing Guide For Your Business' Success

Being Entrepreneur mean you have to be confident enough to start something new And trust it enough to give you the desired success, which mainly consist of profits. Probably making the right decisions it’s a must and the outcome of your endeavor's success ,is determined by the Decisions you make wether Good Ones or Bad Ones. All you need to do is believing in yourself ,making the most of your ability and Reach your desired goal with steadfast heart. What makes Entrepreneurs Bad Ass is that they accept the outcome of their endeavors whether it is good or bad and the ability to get up and move on when they fall ,while learning from their mistakes.

The Process Entrepreneurship

While there is no one “right” way to become an entrepreneur, the general career trajectory usually looks something like this:

Develop an idea for a unique or in-demand business.

Learn about and gain experience in a range of business roles, including finance and accounting, management, and marketing.

Make a business plan and establish a source (or sources) of funding.

Recruit talented workers and managers with the skills needed to develop, test, implement, support, and maintain the company’s products.

Devise strategies for launching the product or service, and for attracting and retaining customers.

Once the company is established, seek out ways to grow revenue by expanding into new areas and product lines.

As the company matures, the founder’s role is likely to include both long-term strategic planning and short-term tactical management and financial decisions.

The Following Is Detailed Info You Will Need To Build Your Brand and Marketing Your Entreprenurial Venture Or Business As An Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs’ ability to maintaining and developing a successful, sustainable business depends on their customers’ perception and experience of their products or services. Marketing is the process of getting your business or your Entreprenurial venture to be noticed by the people who need it or want what it has to offer.

In Entreprenurial terms ,Branding is differentiating yourself from your competitors by creating a unique impression of your product or service in the mind of your customers. Some entrepreneurs often use the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘branding’ interchangeably. The key difference is that marketing is what you do ,while branding is what you are.

Having a clear and comprehensive marketing and branding strategy will ensure your business’ sustainability and assist in differentiating it from it's competitors.

Steps to marketing your business as an Entrepreneur

1. Conduct market research

2. Profile your target markets

3. Identify your unique selling proposition

4. Develop your business brand

5. Develop your marketing plan

6. Action your marketing plan

7. Monitor and manage your marketing

1. Conduct market research

Market research is a key part of developing your marketing strategy. It’s about collecting information that provides an insight into your customers’ minds so you understand what they want, how they gather information and where they are located. It’s also important to research market trends and what’s happening in your industry. Before you begin researching your market it’s important to be clear about how your product or service will benefit your potential customers. This will help you focus on gathering relevant information to develop a robust marketing plan.

Difine the Information You Need By Finding The Answers Of The Following Questions

Potential Customers:

Who is likely to use your products and services?

How old are they? ,Are they male of female or Married/ single?

Do they have Children?

Where do they live?

What is the level of their Education and Technology access?

Understanding Existing Customers:

What is their value?

What do they require?

What is making them buy your products or services?

Which placs do they got your services from?

Understand Your Competitors:

Who are your competitors?

How many are Competing at same market with you?

What are Marketing tactics and Media they use?

Whats working for them and to what extent are they successful?

Why Your products are better than theirs?

What's their weakness?

Develop Strategies:

Take not of your Surroundings and Understand the environment associated with pricing, products, distribution and promotional channels.

• Use your research findings to make informed marketing decisions about how to price and distribute your products or services in a dynamic way.

Prepare for business expansion

• Research will help you identify areas for expansion and test the market’s readiness for a new product or service (eg. deciding whether to open a second retail store and choosing the right location plus adding new services).

Identify new opportunities

• Your research could identify new business opportunities, under-serviced markets, Dynamic industry trends, population shifts, increasing levels of education or changes in leisure activities.

2. Gather information from a variety of sources

It’s important to use a range of resources so you can cross-reference information and build a detailed picture of your chosen target markets. As an Entrepreneur You must Depend on your industry Info, there Is a great deal of information already available in published reports and studies. This is known as secondary data. However, to gain a better understanding of your target markets it’s a good idea to conduct your own research – this information is called primary data.

Primary data includes:

• customer surveys

• focus group discussions

• feedback from customers (potential or

existing)

• monitoring social media and website pages

• Google Ads, Google Keyword Planner,

Facebook advertising, and Facebook Insights

Secondary data includes:

• industry associations

• data providers

• local councils

3. Analyse the results

When analysing the results it’s essential to remain objective. As you review the results keep the following in mind:

• flawed survey questions produce flawed results

• be aware of your own biases

• trends may be hard to spot, so instead look for similarities

• be honest with yourself - don’t ignore results that are different from those you expected

2. Profile your target markets

Use the findings from your analysis to determine the best way to raise awareness of your products or services to the right people. BIf research shows your proposed business is unlikely to be successful, it may be time to rethink your concept or strategy.

Learning about your customers and offering products or services that meet their needs is an essential aspect of marketing in any entrepreneurial venture. Trying to promote your product or service to everyone is costly and ineffectual, so market segmentation is essential. By splitting your potential customers into clear segments and appropriate classes, you can tailor your message to suit them and gain greater value from your marketing budget.

Market segmentation involves dividing your broad target market into subsets of consumers with common needs. There are a number of ways to segment a market.

Type of segmentation and their Variables

Geographic

• Where do they live?

• Where do they work?

Demographic

• Are they male or female?

• How old are they?

• How educated are they?

• What are their most common job types?

• What is their average income?

Lifestyle and values

• What is their family situation?

• What do they value in their lives?

• What are their hobbies and interests?

• Do they have children?

• Do they have pets?

Behavioural

• What is the primary reason they would use your product or service?

• What appeals to them about your particular brand?

• What are their usage rates of your product or service?

• Where do they typically source information about your type of product or service?

3. Identify your unique selling proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is the reason your customers buy your products and not from your competitors – it’s what makes your business stand out from the crowd and makes a difference. It’s important to define what you do differently and be able to convey that to potential customers so as to meet their needs.

You should be able to state your USP in a short sentence. For example, Zmart has capitalised on the phrase ‘irresistibly low prices’; this appeals to their market and sets them apart from other low-cost electric gadgets retailers.

4. Develop your business brand Every business, regardless of size, needs a brand. A brand is more than a logo, tagline or colour. A well-articulated brand emotionally connects with your target customers and conveys who you are, what you stand for, your ability and what you can deliver.

The branding process

Creating a new brand or revamping an existing one (if you’ve purchased an established business) essentially follows a three-stage process.

1. Define your brand

You can define your brand by creating a simple list or, in larger businesses undertaking a workshop, with key employees. Address the following:

• In one sentence, what does your business stand for?

• How will this be shown through your actions?

• How will customers experience this when using your product or service?

• What will be your customers’ experience when using your product or service?

Start developing your USP by answering the following questions:

• What do customers love most about your products or services?

• What makes customers come to you instead of your competitors?

• How do customers benefit by purchasing your products or services?

• Which aspects do you generally highlight when describing your business to strangers?

When defining your brand:

• identify your core values

• promote a consistent, simple message

• ask staff ask for their input

• avoid exaggerated claims

• everything you do should reflect your brand

2. Develop your brand’s visual identity

A logo on its own has no meaning. However, over time a brand’s visual identity will take on attributes resulting from people’s experiences of the product or service. This is why it’s important to initially define your brand.

What your business stands for will determine the following five elements that make up its visual brand.

• Business name:

Whether you choose a quirky or functional business name, make sure it’s easy to pronounce and spell. Try to use keywords (eg. plumbing) in your business name, this will help with website search engine optimisation (SEO).

• Logo: Keep it simple and easy to read, it must also be scalable and still be effective in black and white. Be original and creative when designing your logo.

• Colours:

Choose colours that reflect your business and create the desired emotional response from your target audience.

• Tagline: Use around three to seven words.

It should sum up your brand’s position and stick in the minds of your target market.

Great examples include Nike’s ‘Just do it’ and L’Oréal’s ‘Because you’re worth it’.

• Fonts:

It’s a good idea to use common fonts, for example Arial or Verdana, as they are easy to read and are standard on most computers and mobile devices. The same font should be used consistently across all your marketing materials.

It’s a good idea to employ a professional graphic designer to develop your logo and select your fonts and brand colours. They’ll understand what works best across a range of online and print materials.

3. Manage your brand

Deliver a consistent brand experience, understand your brand’s value and seek opportunities to build your brand’s reputation. Look at ways to be proactive in your industry and to give back by sharing knowledge or experiences to those around you.

Protecting your brand through trademarking may be beneficial for your business or Entreprenurial Venture. Find on Google your Local requirements of Trademark Registration.

You should be able summarise in 60 seconds what your business is about, why customers need your product or service, and how you satisfy that need.

This is called an ‘elevator pitch’; a statement that can be delivered in less than a minute (ie. the time it takes to travel between floors in a lift). Often that’s all the time you have to introduce yourself and capture someone’s interest.

Reviewing an established brand

If you have purchased, or are considering purchasing, an established business you should review the strength and relevance of their existing brand. This should be included in your financial evaluation of the business’s viability.

Purchasing an established business doesn’t mean having to change its branding; in some cases this can be detrimental, especially if the previous owners had built a strong, positive reputation. If you suddenly change the brand, customers may not know who you are and work will be needed to regain a name and trust in the market.

DEVELOPING YOUR MARKET

When writing a marketing plan, be clear about your objectives and how you’re going to achieve them. A good marketing plan sets realistic and measurable objectives, allocates responsibilities, and includes budgets and action plans. Update it regularly to reflect the current position of your business.

A marketing plan should include the following key elements:

1. Business analysis

This is a snapshot of your current position, where you have been and where you want to go. Include these details:

• mission statement (What is the fundamental purpose of your business? ,From a customer’s point of view, why do you exist?)

• vision statement (What do you see for your company in ther future?)

• objectives

• product or services

• financial analysis

• SWOT analysis (a review of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relating to the business)

2. Market overview

Part of determining how you differ from competitors and where your product or services will fit into the existing market is analysing your:

• market

• customers/clients

• competitors’ offerings

• external factors

This should be revisited regularly to ensure your strategy remains relevant and targeted.

3. Market objectives

Objectives may be financial (aiming to increase sales) or marketing focused (aiming to build awareness of your product or service).

Your objectives should be ‘SMART’ (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based). For example:

• To gain 25% of the market for camping

stoves by December 2023(a market share

objective).

• To make your chocolate waffles the preferred brand for 15 -29 year old People all around the Globe by August 2021 (a branding objective).

4. Marketing strategy

It’s important to be able to promote your products or services effectively. Providing good customer service and having a marketing strategy in place will help you generate sales. In marketing there are ‘six Ps’ – the six key aspects that you need to focus on when marketing your products or services.

Product What are your core products or services?

Price How will you price your products or services to cover all costs, make a profit and stay competitive?

Promotion

What are the best ways to promote your products or services to your target markets?

(eg. website, social media, brochures and flyers, blogging, mail-outs, letter drops, word of mouth, networking, radio or print advertising)?

Place

How will your customers be able to purchase what you are offering?, Will it be online, in-store or through other distribution channels?

People

How many staff will you need to operate your business? , What skills do they need? How will you train your staff to deliver the best service possible?

Process

Which customer service procedures and business processes do you need to establish to ensure that your sales process is smooth?

5. Specific activities

Plan the specific activities you will undertake to achieve your marketing objectives.

The activities must align with your marketing strategy.

6. Finances

A rule of thumb is to spend between three and five per cent of your actual or expected annual turnover on marketing. If your business is new you may need to allocate more funds to build your business profile. Use financial statements and projections to assist in creating your marketing budget.

6. Action your marketing plan

What do you want to:

You will need to allocate a budget to your marketing activities, to include elements

such as:

• website development and maintenance

• search engine optimisation strategy

• design of branding

• printing of promotional material (business cards, brochures, signage, etc.)

• advertising

• donations and sponsorships

• employing staff to undertake marketing

activities

7. Monitoring/evaluation activities

Reviewing the impact of your marketing should be a regular activity.

To better understand marketing basics and how to write a marketing plan for your business, attend one of our marketing workshops or download our marketing plan template and guide to create your own plan.

MARKETING ACTION TAKING

Most people understand what they want to achieve (objective), how they will do it (action) and what the desired outcome is (measure) but become stuck on the available methods (channel).

Understanding channels

Depending on your target market, use marketing channels that appeal most to those you want to reach. There are many options, however the key is to focus on those your target market uses most.

For example:

Channel Outcome

Website

Most businesses will benefit from having a website to attract customers

and promote their product or service.

Social media:

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram

Customers can interact with you and find out more about what you provide. You can share experiences and knowledge to build your business profile and attract new customers.

Videos

Share experiences and knowledge to build your reputation. Customers love watching videos and you can capitalise by creating engaging video content for your target market and uploading it to channels like YouTube.

E-newsletters

What makes email unique is that your loyal customers have asked you to market to them so they can stay informed about what your business is doing.

Word of mouth

Encourage customers to share their experience of your product or service through online consumer review sites. Your loyal and happy customers should become ambassadors for your business.

Loyalty programs

Give customers a reason to stick with your business.

Print advertisng

Let your market know what you do and how to buy from you. There are many publications offering paid advertising for small businesses, including local newspapers, industry specific publications, and business and consumer magazines.

Brochures and flyers

Brochures and flyers are an important marketing tool. They should focus on what your business offers and how customers can buy it.

Mail-outs or letter drops

If your business services a limited area, letter drops can sometimes be an effective tool. People receive a lot of junk mail, so you will need to ensure your letter or card stands out.

Tips for choosing your channels

For the best results, adopt a methodical approach to deciding which channels to use and why.

Consider the following as you write your marketing plan.

Your target market: Who are they and how do they get most of their information? Don’t waste money on a print advertising campaign if your target market is mostly online.

Focus your efforts: Don’t try to use all the social media options, focus on those that will provide the best results.

Don’t give up: Relationships take time to build.

Social media relationships need to be built and consistently maintained.

Monitor results: Monitor and analyse your marketing activities, there is no point repeating them and spending money if they’re not working.

Have a coordinated strategy: The more often potential customers see your message, the greater the impact. If they see a print advertisement, your business name appears in their Facebook feed and they then hear a colleague mention it, people will start to pay attention.

Successful businesses let their customers do the talking for them.

Happy customers spread the word and encourage their friends and family to use your business. Good customer service includes promptly responding to queries, resolving issues, using easy transaction processes and providing a quality product or service.

7. Monitor and manage your marketing

It is important to regularly monitor and review your marketing activities to

determine whether they are achieving the desired outcome. This could include reviewing sales figures on a regular basis or monitoring customer activity during an advertising campaign.

When to monitor

Initially you should review your marketing plan every three months to make sure the activities are supporting your overall strategy. Once your business becomes more established, review your plan when you introduce a new product or service, if a competitor enters the market or if an issue arises that affects your industry.

Methods and monitoring

Your channels will determine how you monitor your marketing activities. In each case, the key information you need to know is:

• How did your customers find out about you?

• Why do they prefer your product or service?

• What, if anything, could be improved?

We provide a range of workshops to help you to market your business, covering website development, SEO, social media and digital marketing.

Channel Outcome

Website

Set a regular time each week to assess your website’s performance. Review:

• volume of web traffic

• how long users stay on your website

• which pages are most popular

• if users visit at specific times or days

• source of traffic, including search engines and social media

• the routes users take to reach your site and devices they use

• your customer conversion (sales, downloads, blog reads etc.)

• entry pages (where people are first entering your site)

• exit pages (the pages people are leaving your site from)

• which browsers are being used to access your website

Google Analytics is a free tool and can be embedded into most websites.

Social media and online marketing

There are many options to monitor social media results. Most social media come with built-in analytics. Some popular online marketing tools include:

• Facebook Insights

• YouTube Analytics

• Pinterest Analytics

Print advertising

Print advertising should include a ‘call to action’ so you can analyse outcomes. For example:

• order by end of week for free shipping

• call now and ask about our buy one, get one free offer

• sign up to our mailing list to recieve member discounts

• bring in this voucher to receive a free sample

Marketing

calendar

Set up a calendar to include significant events in your area that may impact on your business. Develop campaigns to leverage these events.

Close the deal

Take the info you have found in this post and apply to your Entreprenurial Ventures and enjoy endless benefits of business success . Depending on what you are already into You will need the following Tools ,whether for starting a new business or for maintaining the old one.

Web hosting For Your Website:

I recommend :

HostUpon.com

BlueHost.com

HostGator.com

Cloudways.com

Website Security & Customer Trust

I recommend:

McAfee

Norton

IT Equipment

I recommend:

Hp

Lenovo

Photography

I recommend:

Canon

For A Full list of My Tech Tools Recommendations write to me on: rocwoodpalm@gmail.com

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source: small business.wa.gov.au

source: rocwoodpalm.co.zw