I want to back up for a minute.
I’ve been getting asked a lot lately “what is an intelligent MARKETER”? I thought it might be a good idea to take a step back and re-introduce what is an “intelligent MARKETER” and the five key compo-
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nents that need to exist to succeed in effectively marketing a small business. Intelligent marketing doesn’t mean you have to know everything there is about marketing. Intelligent Marketing is: 1. Creating a Brand Identity and reinforce it with consistency. 2. Positioning your brand
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in the minds of the consumer so that it is easy to identify what makes you different. 3. Implementing a marketing strategy that allows you effectively: - Create awareness for your brand Capture leads - Nurture those leads to build trust, authority and provide value
- Covert those leads into sales - Delight your customers - So that you can receive more referrals and positive online reviews
fective, offer more value, close more sales and grow faster.
4. Creating a sales system that allows you to be more efficient and effective to grow your business. 5. Automating your marketing and sales efforts to save time, be more ef-
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In this issue of intelligent MARKETER we will discuss the importance of the five key components and how they affect the effectiveness of small business marketers.
Brand Consistency Intelligent marketers know that a strong visual brand helps them effectively convey their brands personality. Branding is more than a logo or color scheme, it’s a voice and message that defines your brands promise to the world. I am a designer. I believe that design is important...but I see too many people complicating branding. The essential aspect of creating an effective brand is simple: 1. Create a color palette 2. Determine your brand fonts 3. Create a logo 4. Decide on your brands voice 5. Be consistent
Create a Color Palette Think about the message you are trying to send and choose colors that send the correct message. Here is a quick chart on the feelings and emotions that color can create: - RED: Associated with energy, way, danger, strength, power, determination, passion, desire and love. - ORANGE: Associated with joy, sunshine, tropics, enthusiasm, facination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement and stimulation. - YELLOW: Associated with joy, happiness, intellect, energy, warmth, stimulates mental activity. - GREEN: Associated with growth, harmony, freshness, money, fertility and safety. - BLUE: Associated with trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, faith, truth, calmness, and purity. - PURPLE: Associated with royalty, luxury, ambition, dignity, creativity, mystery and magic. As you can see colors have many meanings...and shades of colors can provoke different feelings, emotions and messages. It is best to consult with a prof e s s i o n a l designer when choosing your color palette. Also keep in mind that you want simple yet powerful colors. Be sure to stick with no more than four colors as a general rule. One primary color, two complimentary (balancing colors), and one final color that you use to call attention (I call it the CTA - Call-to-action color). Too many colors can be distracting and lose your brand’s message. 4
Determine your Brand Fonts Your font choice should reflect your brand’s personality. Error on the side of simplicity choosing only 2 - 3 fonts is plenty otherwise it can be distracting to your audience.
Create a Logo Keep in mind that the best logos are simple and versitle. Social media has way businesses design their brands logo. Make sure that whatever dechoose will easily translate in the online environment. Intricate images or small lettering is hard to read once scaled down. Truthfully, no one really cares about your logo. I know this might seem contradictory to what we are talking about here but bear with me. Your audience will notice your logo long enough to mentally say “yep, that’s the company I know and trust (at that’s the goal). Your audience does not pay any attention beyond that... yourself (and your logo)...don’t make your brand about your logo make it about a real and authentic message.
changed the s i g n you
least so get over
I could go on about this but we have a lot to cover so let’s move on :)
Decide on your Brands Voice will emulates critical role in
Your brands voice is the style of writing that you choose to communicate to your audience with. Do you want your voice to be informal or formal? Is your brand funny, quirky, intellectual, or stiff? If you are an entrepreneur your brands voice likely take on your own personality. A small business may choose a voice that the makeup of the team. In today’s marketing world your brands voice play a how effective you are in reaching your audience and building trust in authority.
Be Consistent Now that you have your color palette, font(s), logo and voice be sure to use them across all of your marketing both online and offline. Use your CTA color to call attention and make your logo present but not the center of attention so much so that it distracts from your message. Be consistent in how you communicate. If you hire someone to help you with your copy be sure they understand the voice of your brand so that they can communicate in the same way. 5
UNIQUE POSITIONING Your positioning statement identifies your target audience, the category you serve, the specific benefit your brand provides in relation to the nearest competitive alternative. When I say “Heinz” you likely think; ketchup. When I say “Ford” most think trucks (well they asked for it after all...”Think Ford Tough”). When I say “Apple” most would agree on innovation. That’s positioning. Heinz makes other condiments but they are the leader in ketchup. Ford
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sells cars but are positioned as the leader in trucks. Apple choose to position themselves as innovators rather than on a specific product (ie. iphone). How do you want your audience to know your brand? It is best to complete the following statement to determine your brands positioning: “For (target customers), (company name) is the leading (category) that provides (unique benefit).” If a buyer would line up your brand with your competition what is the one unique benefit that would separate you from the competition?
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Lifecycle Marketing Strategy
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In January’s issue of intelligent MARKETER we discussed at great lengths the Lifecycle Marketing process. Lifecycle Marketing is the marketing and sales process that businesses should execute as a strategy to move a targeted audience from being a prospect, to becoming a client, and then becoming an ambassador for the business. Lifecycle Marketing process has six stages to the process:
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Sales
SYSTEM There are many moving parts when it comes to creating an effective sales system. Those moving parts are unique to the type of business and their structure. There are three key areas of the sales system that cannot be ignored regardless of the type of business:
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Sales PIPELINE A sales pipeline is a step-by-step process that sales reps go through to convert a prospect into a paying customer. A sales stage is created for each step in the sales process. The sales rep is responsible for moving prospect’s from one stage to the other based on the interest level of the prospect. The number of stages depend on the length of your particular sales cycle.
Lead Scoring System Lead scoring allows sales reps to focus on the hottest leads so that they are able to prioritize their daily calls. Scoring is set based off the criteria that is pre-determined. Prospects will range between a lead score of 1 - 5. Prospects are scored based on the criteria that is defined.
Track and Measure Sales are driven by targets and incentives. Tracking and measurement tools helps to motivate and energize the sales team while driving sales efficiency. The ability to analyze your sales, leads and pipeline help you understand your sales teams performance, identify inefficiencies and opportunities to achieve higher results backed by sound insights and processes. Many small businesses speak of “scaling their business� for growth. Operating a business at scale means optimizing resources to drive greater results. Implementing a sales system plays a large role in that objective being reached.
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SALES AND MARKETI I know this is cliche’......
often than not. The hats....actually too many hats more ny ma ar we s ner ow ss ine bus ll sma but it’s true s System article). (we talked about this briefly in the Sale ling sca is ss ine bus r you g win gro to key The key to scaling is to: 1. Become more effective 2. Automate processes
key areas prime for autothat can be automated but the two ss ine bus r you in es viti acti ny ma There are s activities. mation are your marketing and sale tent, many moving parts from creating con in, aga are re The . ing um ons e-c tim t: Marketing is important and e are the 3 tools I could not live withou Her . ting rke ma ail em and , dia me ial managing your soc
1. Hootsuite -
Hootsuite allows yo u to access all of your soci al media platforms in one pl ace. You organize the info rmation on all those platfor ms into streams for easy viewing. Hootsuite also al lows you to create multip le posts from one place an d schedule your posts to go out at a scheduled tim e in the future. This is a hu ge time saver!
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NG AUTOMATION Hootsuite - Project Management - Infusionsoft
2. Project Managemen t -
I currently switched from using Basecam p to Trello for my project managem ent tool. I really like Basecamp it’s easy to use and they have wonderful train ing tutorials for beginners. I switc hed to Trello because it ga ve me the flexibility to better m anage the types of ta sks I have in my business....plus I also like the “look an d fe el” of Trello more than Basecamp. Both are great tools though!
3. Infusionsoft -
Infusionsoft is the single BEST INVESTMENT I make in my business each month. Having Infusionsoft is like hiring your BEST employee. Infusionsoft is your CRM, Marketing, Sales System, Shopping Cart and Appointment Calendar all-in-one program.
If you want to grow your business
able to scale. Not ng up most of your time so that you are taki are that es cess pro the ine aml stre t you mus ctive as well. make your business more efficient and effe only will automation help you scale it will
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BUSINESS
Boosting APPS
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Organize anything, together. Trello has everything you need to organize your projects and tasks. This tool can be used to not only manage projects but also help you organize your marketing activities like your marketing calendar, editorial calendar and posting calendar. Use the tool to manage yourself or a team of people who will help you to get things done!
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#AskYMC Ask Your Marketing Coach This month’s question comes from David. David: “Misty, I am really struggling with managing all the tasks of marketing. As the owner, I have a lot of things that I have to do to keep the business going. I know marketing is important but how do I get it all done?” Misty: Hey David! You are not alone in this challenge for sure :) I think it’s pretty safe to say that all businesses struggle with time management. I can personally tell you that the best thing I could have done for my sanity in my business was to start using a project management tool to help me manage my tasks.
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I started using this tool very early on in my business (even before I had a team working with me). I think many small business marketers think that a project management tool is only good for teams....but that’s not true. I started off by using Basecamp and recently switched to Trello. Both are very good tools...I would recommend either...you decided which is best for you. Using a project management tool will force you to organize your thoughts and assign yourself due dates...the result - you will get more done! Trust me, it’s worth the learning curve and discipline. Let me know how it goes :)
Thanks for reading! I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts and feedback :) Hit me up at misty@yourmarketingcoachonline.com
www.yourmarketingcoachonline.com