And the more feeling and emotion you express, the more attention to small business brands. And the more influence it can create. Not rocket science is it? Is improving attention to a small business design brand a high priority to you?
Check out our thoughts on creative marketing.
As long as it’s positive, there is no such thing as too much attention for your brand. If you play your cards right, you can roll all of that great attention into more success and growth for your company.
Here are some of the best and most creative steps to get people to notice you and your brand.
The other day one of my readers commented I was the oldest person she knew creating social media content all the time.
Then she said it was a compliment.
We both laughed.
Then there was an awkward pause.
While her statement clearly wasn’t true, being relatively seasoned in business means I HAVE learned many valuable brand lessons that would have been great to know when my business career started.
That’s how it has always been.
Here are 13 simple steps we recommend to clients to improving attention and awareness of their small business brands:
Design brand … listen well
Learned this step quite early in my marketing and management career. Remember your first step in online marketing is not broadcasting messages.
Brand identity design process … tell stories
Think about the stories that you were told as children. They are etched into our subconscious. Use pictures and videos to tell your stories in creative new ways. Ways that will be remembered and talked about.
Brand perception … be consistent
Always be consistent in the subjects you choose to talk about. Select the subjects and then stick with them.
Use tone to reflect brand’s personality
Every successful brand has a specific tone of voice. One that relates to the brand’s personality. And yes, of course, a brand has a distinctive personality. Decide what personality you want for your brand and let your tone consistently reflect it.
Keep it simple
It is difficult to be heard above all the noise in the marketplace. So grab attention and hold it with simple messages. The simpler the better.
Relationships are key
Social media is all about building and exploring customer relationships. Continually look for new ways to engage and remember engagement is a two-way street.
Continuous learning
Now more than ever, things are changing at blazing speed. There are only two ways to keep up. They are continually learning and applying what you learn.
Spend time understanding changing trends and patterns. Apply them as often as you can. Think of what you apply as experiments and learn from the results.
Time and effort
Don’t be fooled by the deceptive simplicity of being social online. Building an effective network takes a lot of time, energy, and resources. Schedule time to make it happen. And be persistent and patient.
Keep ahead of new things
Familiarize yourself with new tools and applications that can help you and your customers. Consider carefully what platforms are best for your customers. You can’t do them all.
Be relevant
Derive timely and valuable insights into customer wants and needs. Talk about useful, helpful topics on these insights. Give your customers good reasons to return.
Start small
Social media takes a lot of time and energy. And there are no shortcuts. So start small and grow a little at a time. Be patient, it takes time for good results.
Quality over quantity
It’s not about the number of followers you have. Nor is it about the numbers of people you follow. Forget about these numbers and concentrate on the engagement of customers and making friends.
The bottom line
How many of these ways for small business brand awareness and attention are you employing? What is working best for you?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on social media marketing and advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Adapting to Major Changes in the Social Media Climate
An Update to Starbucks Creative Ideas and Innovation