Branding and how important is it to you?

[DBisek]

Hello to the community - I hope this post isn't against the rules - I'm doing some research into what the small business community needs as I start to develop my own small business - a brand consulting business - aimed at helping small business and entrepreneurs optimize, clarify and manage their brand. Most of what I see in terms of marketing questions from small biz relates to lead generation, sales funnels, advertising, social media questions -etc. But I believe if you don't optimize and manage your brand experience you're missing a key element to your success.

So - when it comes to branding - what needs do you have or did you have as you've built your business? Where do you go to get help and are there ideal products or services that would help you in this field if they were available? Would you pay for a branding coach? What about an e-course?

Thanks for the feedback from the group - super valuable to me as I work on my own biz. David

[Freelancier]

But I believe if you don't optimize and manage your brand experience you're missing a key element to your success.Says you. But if your potential clients are more worried about finding customers, how do you demonstrate how brand value can solve their problems?

[bjay99]

So - when it comes to branding - what needs do you have or did you have as you've built your business? Where do you go to get help and are there ideal products or services that would help you in this field if they were available? Would you pay for a branding coach? What about an e-course?


Branding is very important to establish yourself in the marketplace. If you do not know that, how would you know what you need? Small business owners don't know what they don't know. Aside from telling people brand marketing is important - like @Freelancier said - how can you show them the value of brand marketing?

[shrinkme]

I think that branding and image are important. A company without a brand is selling something, but people don't know what it is exactly. When you see a company name or logo, it needs to relate directly to the product, service, and quality the customer will get.

[DBisek]

Great point - I think that would be the opportunity I'd face - clearly pointing out the value of investing in brand management vs other marketing tactics that aim to clearly deliver definable results - like lead generation.

[Harold Mansfield]

Most small business owners...as in the 'One man show' have no idea what branding is outside of that they need a cool logo. They don't understand that they themselves are a brand and quite frankly unless they have some kind of business or marketing background or education they don't care and you can't make them care.

The big problem is that the average small business owner has no concept of spending money on anything unless they see an immediate return on it. They don't understand that it all goes together. Many typically expect one or two things to solve all of their problems, instead of solving each problem effectively.

If they spend thousands on branding, they'll expect the leads to just start rolling in all by themselves. If they spend hundreds they'll expect it to perform as if they spent thousands on an actual full marketing plan. That's the world we live it.

They do however eventually care about Social Media, their website and other things which are actually part of branding and that's usually how you have to sell it to them.

Larger businesses definitely get it. Actually, in my experience there's a big difference if a business has a least 2 or more employees. They seem to be more advanced in understanding their marketing than business owners who work all lone in a vacuum.

Would I hire a "brand coach"? No. I would not.
Would I take an eCourse on it? Nope. I would read a book or blog though it if was by someone knowledgeable and themselves have a nice brand.
Would I pay for help? No, I wouldn't because people pay me for help with those things. So obviously someone would or I wouldn't be in business.

So in my opinion, if you go to small businesses and say "branding" they're going to think of it as a luxury expense and not see it as having any value for them right now.
That's just my opinion based on what I've experienced.

[DBisek]

So in my opinion, if you go to small businesses and say "branding" they're going to think of it as a luxury expense and not see it as having any value for them right now.
That's just my opinion based on what I've experienced.

Great feedback Harold - I appreciate it. I've heard this time and again - the one person biz's are tough to sell these sorts of things to.

[Fulcrum]

I am that "one man show" that Harold described (even though I have a guy that works for me). For my shop, I am the brand. My name, my ability. From my perspective, for a branding expert to come in and try to hard sell me, they're wasting both their time and mine. You need to be able to show me that you are able to effectively convert the two points above before I (or most one man shows) will give you the time of day that you need.

[Harold Mansfield]

I am that "one man show" that Harold described (even though I have a guy that works for me). For my shop, I am the brand. My name, my ability. From my perspective, for a branding expert to come in and try to hard sell me, they're wasting both their time and mine. You need to be able to show me that you are able to effectively convert the two points above before I (or most one man shows) will give you the time of day that you need.

Yep, you're absolutely correct and I understand that. That's why trying to sell it is a losing battle full of frustration. You will never convince a lot of small businesses why they need your services if they don't already know the value of it. Never. It's as bad as cold calling.

They key is to target people who already want or need it, and sell them on your expertise and quality of your work. a.k.a bring them to you and close them instead of constantly looking for someone to pitch to.

[Harold Mansfield]

And quite honestly, not everyone needs professional branding. The guy with the corner garage that services the neighborhood can do just fine with quality work and professionalism and never have any formal branding or even a logo. Even though he himself is the brand.

Online however is different. The web is visual while being completely impersonal. Online you have to convey your message in a way that instills a sense of value, trust and professionalism to people who don't know you and who you will never meet. That's much more challenging than being able to shake hands with people and displaying your winning smile and personality.

[DBisek]

They key is to target people who already want or need it, and sell them on your expertise and quality of your work. a.k.a bring them to you and close them instead of constantly looking for someone to pitch to.

Appreciate the feedback from everyone - my day job experience has been as part of marketing teams in large corporations with agency resources and an executive leadership that understands the value of brands and sees the impact it makes on the bottom line. I want to move into my own consulting biz, but am really trying to hone in on where that sweet spot is in terms of the ideal client - and perhaps it's the mid-size biz that understands the value of branding - has the resources to pay for it - but has yet to employ full-time staff to handle marketing.

[Freelancier]

perhaps it's the mid-size biz that understands the value of branding - has the resources to pay for it - but has yet to employ full-time staff to handle marketing.I'd fine-tune it a little differently. I think if you're going to focus specifically on branding, you want them to have at least one full-time overworked marketing person who is tasked with the "doing" while you can help guide the high-level branding discussions and decisions while not getting bogged down with day-to-day stuff that the marketing person gets stuck with (like sending out information packets, tweaking the web site, etc.).
On the other hand, maybe you'd be a better fit in a situation where you join a smaller consulting biz as a principle and become their branding expert to help their accounts get to the next level of marketing success.

[DBisek]

I'd fine-tune it a little differently. I think if you're going to focus specifically on branding, you want them to have at least one full-time overworked marketing person who is tasked with the "doing" while you can help guide the high-level branding discussions and decisions while not getting bogged down with day-to-day stuff that the marketing person gets stuck with (like sending out information packets, tweaking the web site, etc.).
On the other hand, maybe you'd be a better fit in a situation where you join a smaller consulting biz as a principle and become their branding expert to help their accounts get to the next level of marketing success.
Thanks for this - huge help.... never underestimate the overworked marketing person who needs help thinking strategy and big picture vs the day to day tasks they have to get done. This has been very valuable feedback from everyone here. I appreciate it.

[Spider-CGT]

Let me put it this way: Brand is basically an abbreviation of everything you would like to say about your product with one word or symbol. If you hear Dolce & Gabana you don’t need to see the product to know it is luxurious, exclusive, expensive. They vouch for it. So instead of saying all those words you just use D&G. That's way I think it is a necessity for every business owner to develop a brand at least in B2C segment.

[Davidl]

dolce & Gabana and D & G are the same company except D&G is the more affordable version. Not that it makes much of a difference other than the fact, from that example you can see how Dolce & Gabana differentiating its brand image from D&G. Big companies know the value of branding and execute it by the book. Some even go as far into it into a neurological and psychological type marketing like finding the proper smells to fill a room to increase the likely hood of a positive experience to the colours on packaging to increase neurological response. Controlled test ect. I believe its half product, part psychological, part sociological among other variables. If you don't at least incorporate marketing to some degree your not pushing to your potential. I believe without marketing your product would have to be 150 percent better than another product that is similar yet has great marketing indirect or direct.



Branding doesnt seem that important and it isn't that important for small businesses because they intend to stay small by their own choice although they should know that branding can be done for free via social media and online magazines.

Off topic - One study I saw determined how much branding influenced peoples impression of others. A person is to ask people walking by to take a survey and calculate the percentage of people that agreed to do the survey. The exact same person now wearing a tommy hilfiger branded shirt was asked to do the same task and calculate the percentage. Even done numerous times the time the person wore branded shirt influenced 20-30 percent more people than when he was wearing a similar shirt without the logo.

[calthomson]

Branding doesn't have to be that complicated you brand can simply be who you are and what you stand for - have a look at burt's bees as an example