Toyota, Home Depot, Ritz Carlton ... for your group of customers there is no replacement for strong brand and intelligence awareness. But how can you build your brand when you are in the early stages of your company's growth, and incur the inevitable costs associated with pre-market science and development, compliance with regulatory requirements, intellectual property protection, not to mention wages, inventory and all other significant expenses . Let's take a look at some ways to get the biggest bang for your dollar when you start building your brand.
PICTURE. Before proceeding further, you must decide which basic message you want your audience to associate with your name. Suppose you are doing minimally invasive knee prostheses. Do you want your client to think ... “another knee implant”, or do you want them to think about “reproducible surgical techniques” or “happy patients returning to a normal, active lifestyle”? This is mainly a question of features and benefits. Your client surgeon is more likely to be more interested in happy patients, referring to your friends and relatives than to the biomaterial obtained by NASA, which you reasonably included in your device. As a rule, you want to focus on the benefits that you offer to the client or the client of your client when thinking about IMAGE. ADVERTISING - If you are just building your brand, think twice before you spend on advertising.
When and if you decide to advertise, shoot at small target spots. If you are a distributor in Omaha, consider the Omaha Orthopedic Society newsletter. He approaches every orthopedist in the city and is widely read because it contains information that doctors consider valuable. You get the picture. Your ideal car is one that is closely focused on your target group, that your customers have an inalienable interest in reading, and one of them would appreciate your support for advertising dollars. WEBSITE - Of course, you must have a website. The good news is that for a modest investment you can create a KING-SIZED image on the Internet. The Internet is a great equalizer!
1. A web address is a key to secure a large web address; one that is easy to remember, memorable, descriptive and, of course, DOT.COM ... not.net, .biz, or.anything else. One company that created devices for joint stiffness hooked on the web address "GetMotion.com". Names are cheap for security, so take all the names you think you might need if necessary.
2. Shop around web developers and hosting - many of you will point you thousands of dollars to develop your website and much more to host it. You can get a very complex site for a few hundred dollars and a small fee for hosting. There are many groups to choose from, but the one I used is Triton Business Design at http://tritonbusinessdesign.com/. You can quickly and quickly work with the image of more than a lifestyle, and a small dent in your wallet.
TRADESHOWS - Now we begin to consider "manned vehicles." Websites, direct mail and print advertising require work from the consumer. A reminder of our discussion of branding is in the field of personal affairs. If you can be in front of a client and engage him in a conversation, your chance of creating percentages (and orders) will grow rapidly. Other things being equal, your budget dollars should increase in direct proportion to your chances of a one-on-one interaction with a real, live client. You can spend a lot of money at trade shows, but here are some tips for a company in the early phase of reducing costs:
1. Stands - there are many inexpensive 10 and 20 foot cabins. Get one ... preferably one that is modular and can be configured as a desktop. For additional savings, get one that can be tested on an airplane or in the air sent to avoid shipping and delivery charges.
2. Graphics - invest money in images and make them attractive and sociable.
3. Video - if you have a video, use it. Get a table or stand for video. Moving images draws attention.
4. Hand-on - if possible, there is something that customers can “do.”
When a meeting with visitors goes down the aisle, you have a split second to (1) see your stand, (2) understand the concept of what you are offering, and (3) decide to enter your space to gather more information or "something". Whatever you choose, make it compelling. COLLATERAL - Your printed material must (almost) always be delivered by someone from your trade organization. No matter how beautiful and attractive your brochures are, they are almost always more interesting for you than for your client. DO NOT CONSIDER a customer curled up with your brochure by fire on Saturday evening. See My full article on the development of BIG parliamentary and advertising campaigns on a small budget. POINT OF SALE MATERIAL PROMOTION - There is a possibility of high risk. Your representatives will love taking well-made promotional items. This is their chance to shine in front of the client; seem disinterested in their quest to provide “something valuable and attractive” for nothing. Keys to memorize are as follows:
1. Maximum life expectancy: for example, a well-executed calendar may depend on the office during the year.
2. Appeal: this calendar with great art and images is more likely than the old bank calendars with a folding easel.
3. Useful: put an attractive calendar on the mouse pad so that it is used every day, and you can only have a home launch.
In the early stages of a new business, cash is king. You need to build your brand, and you need to do it in the most economical way. Some things you need to do. Create a website, but keep track of your budget. Unlike baseball stadiums, the simple creation of a site does not guarantee that "they will come." Upload your dollars in places where your salespeople are in front of customers. Nothing from the corporate office can compare with what an excellent seller can do.
