April 19th, 2009
by Lorrie Thomas
Small businesses cannot afford to discount the power of brand building in this tough economy.
Consumers are PROsumers – they comparison shop and make decisions based on TRUST. How does a small business build trust?
The answer is simple.
Your build trust and consumer confidence BY BOOSTING YOUR BRAND and embracing that the new rules of marketing.
It’s 2009 – branding happens ONLINE. When people Google you, your name, your services and you are found, that is branding. When prospects hit your website and they see a positive image, testimonials, a powerful message, that is branding. When your blog has killer content and you build Facebook communities, that is branding. When you do great work and people spread the word, that is branding!
Get your web branding up in these down times
I was recently quoted in Business Management Daily on how to give your brand a boost:
“One in four growing businesses feels threatened by the tough economy, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business. But when the going gets tough, the tough get…marketing, says Lorrie Thomas, a Santa Barbara, Calif.–based strategic brand management expert. She recommends focusing your efforts on building brand awareness both online and off.”
Read the full brand building for businesses article. I don’t want to hear any crap about how small businesses can’t afford marketing. You CANNOT AFFORD *NOT* to MARKET in these tough times!
Categories: Marketing Interventions, Small Business, Web Marketing Best Practices, Web Marketing Tips
Tags: brand, brand building, branding, business management daily, Lorrie Thomas, online brand management expert, Online Branding, social media marketing, web marketing advice, web marketing best practicces
Keith T.
(April 20th, 2009 at 1:25 pm)
“Strategic brand management expert” is quite a job title. Does this mean your hourly rate just went up?
Glad to see you are being quoted. That helps your own WMT branding…
The Marketing Therapist
(April 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm)
No, my hourly will remain the same to respect the recession, but thank you for offering to pay me more!
We do practice what we preach and love the branding!!
Sue
(April 24th, 2009 at 5:46 pm)
Read the great article but don’t understand “Pay to be Googled.” Can you explain more?
Lorrie Thomas
(April 24th, 2009 at 9:23 pm)
Hi Sue! Great question! Readers – Sue is referring to this point
in this article http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/articles/18546/1/Give-your-brand-a-boost/Page1.html#
Pay to be Googled. Search engine marketing (SEM) is the most popular pay-for-performance channel available to growing businesses looking to boost their brand awareness online, says Dan Vassallo, director of engagement at the New York–based digital marketing agency Greater Than One. “Getting qualified leads is the big payoff with this strategy,” he says. “The boost to brand awareness is added sauce.”
Vassalo suggests you can pay professionals to employ search engine marketing strategy (which is likely a mix of natural search optimization, paid search, social media for search and online content generation) specific to your organization.
At WMT, we call it multi-tasking marketing (content boosts credibility, natural search, PR opportunities, etc)
You don’t necessarily have to pay to play…you can self-educate (read our blog, attend our webinars – see the shop therapy page) but some folks prefer to pay to get on the fast track!
Keep commenting!
L
Sue
(April 25th, 2009 at 4:42 pm)
So pay-for-performance is different from pay-per-click!
Lorrie Thomas
(April 30th, 2009 at 12:21 am)
yep, pay-for-performance is different from pay-per-click!