Congratulations on your new brand! Now what?

Mar 3

The night my wife and I brought our first child home from the hospital we looked at each other and said, “Now what?” Months of joyful anticipation and the excitement of the birth had been replaced with the sudden realization that we now had complete responsibility for this tiny human being. We felt totally unprepared.

But, with the help of friends, neighbors and relatives, we managed to bring this baby into adulthood.

Your (brand) new baby

Congratulations on your new brand! You may be asking yourself, “Now what? How do I market my brand so I can get the most from my investment?”

First, remember that your brand is more than just your logo. It also incorporates your mission (why you exist), your vision (where you’re going) and your values (what you believe). It’s how your customers perceive you, what they think about you, and what they say about you.

Secondly, there are many marketing touchpoints where your customers will come in contact with your brand, as the following (not exhaustive) list shows:

What’s the most important thing a client should know about marketing their new brand?

Wendy: Focus on your specific customer, what their problem is, and how you solve it, and why you are the answer to their prayers. While it’s very exciting to launch a new brand, you never ever want to lose sight of why you are in business in the first place.

Julia: If you’re launching a new brand, especially if this is your first business, expect a lot of testing, meaning you’ll need to collect data to quantify the response to your brand. Over months and years, you can expect to tweak your offer, update your messaging, fine tune who you are targeting, and in general create feedback loops from customers and the customer journey to optimize sales. We often see brands that have opportunities to understand who their customer is more deeply, and to more specifically identify the pain in their customers lives that is compelling them to open their wallets. You may well find that the more targeted you can be, the easier and quicker the sales come.

Alison: Rolling out your new visual brand externally feels very rewarding. You’ll get lots of compliments. Internally, everyone needs to know and follow the new brand script. Your employees need to understand the reasoning behind the new look and the underlying new messaging so that they can express the firm’s values when interacting with clients and referral sources.

Jesse: You have to build trust before you can scale and that takes time, intention, and a systematic approach.

What are the most effective marketing channels for a new brand?

Wendy: The most effective marketing channels are your website and your email list. While social media can be useful for creating awareness, it is rented land. You own and have control over your website and email marketing. Rather than investing time on developing a robust social media presence, focus on creating a solid website with a clear message for your customers on your product or service.

And focus on building your email list. Do not buy lists! Instead, focus on the people who are in your target market and begin building your list organically. Develop a relationship with your customers via your website and email list, and you will create a form of insurance for your business against the unpredictable winds of social media.

Lastly, use a freebie (also known as a lead magnet or lead generator) to help you build your email list. This should be a high-value asset you provide to website visitors to entice them to provide their email address in exchange for the asset. This could be a coupon, a free consultation, access to exclusive offers, an ebook, a checklist, etc.

Julia: It depends on who you are selling to. Where do they hang out? What websites, media outlets, and influencers do they turn to for information? The most effective marketing channel for your brand is wherever your customers hang out. As your brand grows, you may have more bandwidth to expand into additional channels. At the outset, tackle one or two platforms and do them really well before you add on new ones.

Alison: Your brand should be where your clients and prospects are. You want to engage with them where they spend their time, whether that’s certain social media sites or trade associations.

Jesse: Any channel can work. The “how” is more important than the “where.” Especially for small businesses with a limited budget, picking one channel to focus on is very important to making the most of a budget. Then, taking the time to form real relationships and provide value to the audience is what is going to move the needle. Also understanding the difference between social and advertising is paramount. Think of social media as your own personal television channel. The channel will have commercials but, if the entire channel is commercials, no one will watch.

What are some marketing pitfalls a client with a new brand should look out for?

Wendy: First, do not fall in love with your product offering or your brand. Instead, fall in love with your customer and figure out how you can serve them. Understand your customer and what they want and need.

Second, do not market to everyone. When you market to everyone, you market to no one. Think of one ideal customer and market to them — develop your messaging and campaigns so that you speak directly to that one person, and you will become a magnet for that ideal customer and others.

Finally, choose one social platform and place content there. It should be the one where your customers congregate most, not your favorite platform. Use it as an initial handshake with your target market and then use it to drive customers to your website and email list, where you will build out a trusted relationship with them so that they trust you enough to buy from you.

Julia: We often see brands try to be everywhere at once. Unless they have a big team, that typically means they’re stretched way too thin and not looking their best anywhere. Do your research before you decide where to invest your resources, but when you have enough info to make an educated guess, put your eggs into that one basket. Then test the heck out of it. The more data-based decisions you can make, the more likely you are to succeed.

Alison: Taking too much leeway with your brand guidelines. You went through a meaningful process to develop them, so be “all in.” If you have new fonts, new colors, new taglines or new messaging, follow that fully. Don’t let the ease of using pretty templates on Canva sway you from your brand guidelines. If you need templates, get them designed. If you need an ad, follow the brand guidelines.

Jesse: Losing focus. So many entrepreneurs lose focus because there are people shouting at them about what they “should” be doing that they lose sight of the mission at hand. Make a plan, stick to the plan, and don’t lose focus.

You got this

Now that you’re fortified with some expert advice on how to market your new brand, you can move forward with confidence and get the most out of your brand investment.

However, if you don’t have a brand or are currently in the process of considering a rebrand, we should talk.

brandmarketing

Justin Kerr