Companies that fund their marketing efforts can often end up deploying resources incorrectly. A natural response to stagnating sales and a lack of brand recognition is often to double down and invest more heavily in the campaigns and tactics that started the lull in the first place. Instead, small businesses need to be able to look at their efforts with an unbiased eye and decide to press the reset button.
However, this does not mean that they have to start from scratch. Rather than creating a new campaign from the ground up, a simple refreshment of a company’s image may be all that’s needed to jump-start sales and get marketing efforts back on track. Here are some tips for airing out a tired branding push and giving it a fresh coat of paint.
When a small business owner has created an image, logo or identity for a company and its products and services, it might be difficult to stand back and view it as consumers would. That’s why it’s important to seek out people, be they friends, family or acquaintances, who have never been exposed to marketing materials that haven’t been working and ask their opinions.
A fresh set of eyes can help gauge widespread gut reactions about a particular advertisement or website and can provide valuable insight about why it might not be working. This may mean that only a few tweaks need to be made. Alterations could include simple things such as font, color or the tone of a written message.
The next step will be to begin introducing updated and refreshed versions of all marketing materials. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by using promotional products. Promotional pens or personalized mugs can be used to effectively flood an area with examples of the updated slogan, logo or symbol and quickly expose people to it.
From there, the refreshed materials can be extended to other efforts. An eventual website upgrade may be in order, and the slight tweaks may make excellent Twitter, Facebook or blogging fodder. These social media platforms can also help to further add to the conversation about the form and content of a marketing effort.
Finally, it is important to remember that while refreshing an image was helpful once, it shouldn’t be abused. A few minor tweaks here and there can do a great deal to add a jolt of excitement and newness to an organization, but constant flux will not be accepted quite as readily.