3 Business Strategies You Should Be Implementing and 1 You Should Not
What to DO:
1.Make Your Brand Your Identity
You may have a working logo and style for your marketing and content output, but is it as good as it could be? Is your website polished and modern? It’s worth taking a step back or asking for a second opinion to figure out if it’s time for a refresh. Your brand is your identity and a strong brand is key for a healthy business. Branding should be professional and consistent throughout everything your company does, from marketing to sales pitches to internal communication.
Branding is also more than a logo – it’s your tone of voice, it’s a feeling people get when they see or interact with your brand and it should project the quality and consistency of your product or services.
Consider hiring a professional to design your logos, letterhead, and website – at the very least, use a free service like Canva to create a look that’s totally yours. Then the face-to-face branding is in your hands – be professional, friendly, and dependable.
2. Empower Your Network. Leverage Your Content.
Once your baseline branding is streamlined and refreshed, it needs to be shared! A common business shortcoming can also be a key strategic opportunity: social media. Not just for millennials, social media is increasingly the dominant way to get facetime with new clients and show current ones that you’re worth keeping in their Google favorites. The key part of social media is that it’s social – it’s interpersonal. It’s about sharing content, experiences, and recommendations. What keeps people invested is not just the branding, but the consistency. Whether your posts are humorous or informative, just make sure they’re memorable and never too far apart.
3.Keep Your Customers Happy!
Once your presentation (branding) and content (social media presence) are well-established, customer satisfaction is the fuel to keep your business running. Consider using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) service to keep track of clients. This will not only make your everyday life easier by keeping all client info in one place, but it will also help you know which customers to reach out to for business or referrals. Record as much info as you can, from phone number to Instagram handle to dogs’ birthdays. Making an effort to establish a human connection with each of your clients will make them feel special, make your business-savvy stronger, and encourage them to refer their friends to your services. This is how you take branding and content-sharing to the next level.
What NOT to do:
Don’t confuse positive numbers for long-term success. Cultivate positive company culture!
The biggest sustainability issue we see with small businesses is a sense of over-competition. This leads to a fault in the internal company fabric that is ultimately damaging. Nurture your employees and partners and don’t be afraid to build up leaders. Some business owners are afraid that their highly qualified employees will leave them for bigger and better opportunities. But the truth is, your employees will leave regardless, when the time is right for them – including if they feel unchallenged or unfulfilled. So, nurture your employees and build them up as leaders… they will always remember you and how you mentored them. What goes around comes around!
Did you find this useful? We’d love to hear your thoughts and help you implement these strategies! Reach out to Cowe Consulting here.
