Startups – Bootstrapped or Funded! Nearly none has
enough funds they need to grow to the level of entrepreneurs' dreams. The
branding activities may come last in the train of tasks to be done. I know what
you are thinking! Yes, this article is written for you.
Brand building or a bit of (read it as massive if your
dreams are big) marketing is must for any kind of start up. No matter how awesome
the product or service is – it will not reach to enough number of people and
the sales numbers will be poor which ultimately impacts your top and bottom
lines both.
In a Nielsen Survey 59% of the customers prefer to buy
new product from a brand familiar to them. In a start up you can’t really compete
against big brands with huge marketing budgets.
Oh yes, brand building is expensive & tough – that is
the reason there is just one Nike or one McDonald’s or Pepsi & Coca-Cola
just two drinks, Toastmasters – just one platform in the world if you want to
be a better public speaker, BNI – just one networking organization if you are
looking for a support group of entrepreneurs. How many LED Bulb brands can you
recall – maybe 2 or 3. Oh you know a lot - maximum five LED Bulb brands! Let me
say – there are many thousands of them out there. And we can’t really recall
about them because they never invested in brand building. You may not have a
dream of being world’s biggest brand in your field. But you must cut across the
clutter and start doing a bit of branding to increase the probability of
getting in front of the eyes of prospective buyer or influencer.
But when paying the bills is struggle who can afford to
spend so much on branding? Well, the mantra is:
- Start
wherever you are
- Do
whatever you can
- But
start now & don’t stop
If you are there with a long term vision, don’t ignore
marketing. Here is a list of 12 things which you can do to make your product or
service known in the world around you at literally no or very low cost:
1) Get
on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube and start posting.
Let the world (no matter how small is your world there) know that you exist and
kicking. It’s FREE. You don’t need to hire a marketing agency for this. Just
get started yourself or seek help from someone in your friends, family, office
or office. The world is there, the internet literally has unlimited potential.
2) Attend
networking events. Maybe you can join some associations, forums or visit few as
a guest. Trust me, the best and biggest of the business deals are made through interactions
with people. Go to trade exhibitions and meet with people. First you will have
to be visible in the world before you ask for a sale. For startups – this one is
the best advice and gets highest ROI if you are looking for some good clients
and to serve with a long term relationship mindset.
3) Use
marketing collaterals and logo merchandise. Get a cool looking visiting card,
wear your logo printed Tshirt or a head cap, have a name badge with company or
product logo, what about diary & pen with your business branding printed or
engraved on those. Do you have your company logo printed mugs in your office
and at the homes of your customers? Have got a one way vision board for the rear
windshield of your car? Outdoor media is super expensive but that space of your
own car has always been free and available – utilize it. I know of an
entrepreneur – wherever he went for a sales meeting, he left a logo and company
name printed ball pen at the main gate of the premises and then another at the
reception. People just love getting freebies – use this absolute universal
truth. If you are a B2B player or a manufacturer who has large clients, think
about giving them desktop gift items. Just imagine – putting your logo printed
good quality desktop item on the desk of your client is just like putting
hoarding of your business there which the client will not remove for many
months – ah this you don’t pay any rent for this hoarding of course. Once we
got wall clocks made with our company logo and details on what we do and gave
those free in salons. Lots of salon owners asked for their other branches as
well and those are still there after 2 years. Just imagine how many customers
have viewed these so far! Unimaginable. I can go on and on for this particular
point of branding through novelty items.
4) Make
a google page, create your company location pin, upload some photos of your
product or the factory and yes start asking people to rate and review your
product/service. Google reviews can boost the credibility of your business
without spending any money. Ah yes, google reviews are super helpful in SEO
ranking – but that’s too technical as of now. Even if we discount talking about
the impact of google reviews on SEO ranking – these still offer a lot to the businesses.
If you are selling on e-commerce websites like Amazon – you must make an attempt
to get genuine reviews about your product there. Potential buyers rely on these
reviews to make up their mind for any purchase. Yet another and a good benefit
of google reviews is – you get FREE customer feedback which you can use in
improving your product or service.
Last but not the least, please
understand brand building doesn’t happen over-night. It takes years of
consistent communication and excellent service to build a brand. But once you
get started the universe will help you. If your product or service is good
people will spread word of mouth and word of mouse too.
Of course, you would end up spending
money, time and energy in doing all this and even more to build your brand.
Trust me, this can be awesome investment – you will start getting – more projects,
more word of mouth referrals, increased sales and customer loyalty for your
products and services.
Remember, ‘Your
brand can be your biggest asset’ in long run.
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