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L
ast month’s article was on
the most foundational part of
your marketing, your brand. Your
brand is everything, and without
it, there is no reason to market
your business. Marketing without
purposely creating a brand is a
waste of time, money and effort.
Your brand is that important.
Promotional products are
a huge part of the marketing
conversation. Promotional
items build brands. They
inspire brands. They make
brands memorable. Yet, so
many promotional products
distributors and suppliers don’t
think of their business as their
brand. And, as a result, industry
businesses get lost in the shuffle.
Your brand is your reason to
market. It is the essence of your
business. It’s who you are, what
you do and how you serve. It sets
you apart in your competitive
marketplace. Whether you
manufacture, decorate or sell
some of the 700,000 promotional
items available in our industry, a
strong brand will make or break
your business.
If you didn’t read the article
on branding in the December
issue, I encourage you to go back
and look it over. Good branding
is the first step to developing
results-oriented marketing. And,
every business needs marketing.
Why? What makes marketing so
important? Marketing starts the
conversation! It moves people
through their own decision-
making process to get to “yes!”
It builds visibility, authority and
trust. You need marketing to
create a thriving business.
If you don’t want to feel
like you’re always selling and
pushing your product, marketing
helps bring people to you—
qualified people, people who
are ready to say “yes” before you
even make the offer.
More importantly, if you
don’t want to feel like an order
taker or that you are always
competing on price, you need
to make marketing a priority
because the right positioning
(developed during the branding
process) makes you a unique and
different solution to your ideal
client’s business challenge. They
need you!
Build a brand and you will
build a business. It’s that simple.
But without marketing, no one
will know who you are.
First Steps First
Where do you start? You start
with a marketing plan. Benjamin
Franklin said, “If you fail to plan,
you are planning to fail.” And,
he was right. Planning organizes
your thinking so you can focus,
structure and prioritize. Planning
gets you one step closer to action
because it helps you see what is
possible, and create a series of
steps to make something happen.
What are the critical elements
of an effective marketing plan?
What will help you create a
roadmap you can use? Make sure
your plan includes the following:
A measurable goal
. What do
you want to achieve with your
business? How are you going to
measure your results? Where is
your business now? Answering
these questions is the first step.
Marketing is a people mover. You
want to move people through
their own decision-making
process to choose you. So, why
are they choosing you? Where
do you want them to go? Where
are they now? Knowing these
Smart Marketing
Why Do
Businesses Need
Marketing? It Starts
The Conversation
With Clients.
by
Abigail Tiefenthaler
Third in a
five-part series
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JANUARY 2017
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