I heard on the news (BBC) this morning that supermarkets are spending more on advertising and less on branding, in an attempt to lure shoppers and defeat the credit-crunch fallout.
Does this mean that you should follow suit?
Advertising whether it’s advertising in magazines, newspapers, the trade press or online CAN be yield a good return on business. But it’s generally more appropriate for larger brands with the advertising budget to match their size.
That said, advertising DOES work, and it can work for you . . . providing you advertise the right things to the right people in the right places and in the right way.
If you do wish to dip your toe in the advertising arena, then I would suggest spending your budget very carefully to ensure you receive maximum returns for your expenditure.
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But back to the question of whether you should ditch your branding efforts. I think not. Branding is crucial to any business at any time and regardless of the state of the economy.
It can reinforce your image so that you stay in your existing customers mind, as well as grab the curiosity of potential new customers.
Central to effective branding is the concept of consistency. No matter what you do, you absolutely MUST be consistent with your core marketing message. That’s because you want your business image and brand to be easily recognisable, and you want your prospects to conclude that your company is a confident, credible and stable one.
To really strengthen your brand image, as well as being consistent, you should be educating your potential customers about WHY they should buy your product or service (no one likes to be sold, right?). The use of case studies and testimonials is a great way to achieve this. You’ll find plenty of other ideas in posts here on MarketingMoment.
So what about you? How are you educating your customers to increase sales?