Wednesday, June 27

Niche Branding: Becoming a 'Household Brand' Regardless of Your Industry or Size

You Want to Stand Out Among the Competition!
The strength of your branding will determine the success of your company. Regardless of your industry or market, becoming a household staple should be the goal of your company, even if you are small. Don't think you need to be Tide or Coca-Cola to be a household brand. Just be the brand in everyone's house for your niche! Whether you are a local pizza place or a regional law firm, branding your business will highlight what distinguishes your company above your competitors. In order to brand yourself, you must engage your target demographic across multiple platforms, and become integrated in their daily lives.


What Exactly is "Branding"?

Branding is taking your business from just a general company to having a well-founded reputation -most reputations are created before they are earned in modern business times. For some businesses, this involves creating uniform company logos and fancy product titles, for others it is about a new message. Branding is essentially: becoming an icon in your industry. Now, most people think of "name" brands because they have such a heavy impact on our daily lives. However, there are local and region businesses that have the same impact, as Kleenex and Colgate do on the national level, in their communities. And that is what every small business should strive to be, the 'name' brand for their niche/community!


Habituation: Getting Used to It

People Have a Tough Time Making Decisions,
so When We Find Something  We Are Comfortable With,
 We Stick With It!
As people get used to something (it could be an idea, a product, a climate, etc), they develop a level of comfort via their learned management of expectations for that something. This is called habituation in psychological circles. In advertising circles, some would call this brand loyalty. Once people are comfortable with a product; purchasing it, operating it, and the results it produces, they tend to continue to use it, out of comfort. People are hesitant to stray from a product they are comfortable with for something else, unless the risk is deemed worth it. 

Now obviously people are more willing to take a risk on a new restaurant than they are a new lawyer, but merely establishing a presence as a brand instead of just another business will generate additional comfort and habituate new customers to your business. So now, how do you go from just another business to a brand?



Build a Focused Campaign Across all Channels

Send a Message That Represents Your Business
and How It Meets the Concerns of Your  Potential Customers
Spot your key demographic. (For More Info: Check Out Targeting Your Best Customers to Find Your Best Prospects) Then, design a message for your brand. Find the primary aspect of your company you want to push. This is where advertising becomes difficult for most business owners because they cannot be objective. When you put your life into building a business, you want it to be perceived through your eyes, however that might not be what is best for the business. Think about the best demographic for your business and what is most important TO THEM, then build your campaign around that message. Whatever angle you decide to push, make sure your message is catchy, clear, and concise.


Once you have your niche demographic and what you want to say to them, you need to determine how to spread your message. There is no single miracle in advertising; some things work well, some don't, some work well once and not again, others don't work at first and then work incredibly well. For this reason, in addition to creating a presence and habituating your demographic to your brand (as discussed previously), you must have a multichannel presence. 


A Uniform Message

The various mediums through which you advertise need to send the same brand message. Many businesses make the mistake of trying to say too much about themselves. So they send a mailer about one thing and have a billboard about another. A scattered approach can work mildly to generate some interest in a business. But your looking to be more than a business, your looking to be a brand - an established and widely utilized resource in your market's community. 
Build Your Brand!


Send one strong message about your company and make it interactive and use multiple channels. Use mailers with personalized websites where people can redeem offers, make interactive websites, do anything to familiarize people with your message in various settings and stimulating various senses. Let your message become an indelible trademark of your brand. Once people have built this association, they will habituate to your role in their lives and you will have become integrated in their household, i.e. a household brand. 







Interested in More Information on Synergy Vx and how we can help your business? Give us a call today at 714-824-3780 and speak with one of our friendly, knowledgable Sales Representatives who can answer all your questions.



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By: Will Pearlman

Thursday, June 21

Focus Your Marketing Campaign to Increase Your ROI!

Synergy Says: Focus Your Marketing Campaign

and Increase Your ROI!

Nowadays, everyone from your dentist to your favorite pizza place has a facebook page and markets through some combination of advertising platforms. But, if everyone is talking at you from a different angle, sometimes its hard to sort through the clutter. That is why one cogent advertising campaign executed across multiple channels is the best way to engage your customers!
Almost all businesses advertise across multiple channels. Modern small businesses, who can't afford a tv commercial or high profile campaign, still have a website, send a mailer, place a weekly ad in the paper and have a radio spot. Many people think by diversifying their marketing strategy they are expanding their customer base, but most of the time, they are just shrinking it. Imagine fishing with 10 lines and no bait, you won't catch much, but if you fish with 5 lines and bait the hooks well, you'll fill your boat quickly. Many marketing strategies are like fishing without bait. They are inefficient because they are SAYING the wrong things, even if they are in the right places. 

There are many places to advertise,
so make sure your saying the right things!
Remember, engaging your customers across multiple platforms infuses your product into your potential customer's life on a regular basis. And, regularity leads to familiarity and therefore, comfort with a company, product, or idea. A comprehensive strategy with a clear purpose will do just that. Moreover, by using the same branding message across multiple channels, you can create a more interactive experience for the consumer. At Synergy, we can create a mail campaign for you that includes an interactive website, among other multichannel options, to engage your potential customers!
Funnel everything you want to say about your company
into one message directed at an appropriate demographic for your business
Depending on your style of campaign, you might not have the diversity in customers you were going for originally with a campaign spread across multiple advertising mediums, but your ROI will be greater, and your business will grow more efficiently into additional markets. And after all, isn't growing your business what it is all about?

Interested in More Marketing News and Advice?
Check Out All the Latest from Synergy at our blog and
don't forget to find us on Twitter @SynergyVx!

Let Us Help Your Business Grow, 

Give Synergy a Call at 714-824-3780

Follow Us Online!


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Keep in touch

Wednesday, June 13

Every Door Direct Mail

A great new service offered by the United States Postal Service is called Every Door Direct Mail. This service is a great and cost effective way to use direct mail to market your business. Here's the short explanation of how Every Door Direct Mail or EDDM works: Each zip code has a specific postal routes. With EDDM you pick which routes you would like your mail delivered to, and the post office delivers it to every door without exception. And, you can send up to 5,000 pieces a day without purchasing a postal permit. Saving you money!

This service is ideal for small and local businesses who know what neighborhoods to advertise in and probably do not have a large budget for direct marketing campaigns. It is more difficult to target specific customers with this service but it is extremely cost effective. No need to purchase expensive data lists and sort through endless qualifiers. The USPS has made it simple to pick your area and send a mailer. All you need to do is call a print shop, make a mailer, and send it! Here are some ideas for making a mailer.

If your interested in direct mailings, but need help with design, no problem. Synergy can help with that, get a free quote online or call us at 877-466-0635.

Tuesday, June 12

The Benefits of Interactive Marketing from Synergy

Get Interactive Using a Vx Marketing Campaign From Synergy!

 

Connect with your customers, gather helpful consumer information, and grow your business, all with Vx from Synergy!

 

 With a Synergy Vx marketing campaign, you can track your results in real time and acquire useful information from your current and potential customers. In addition, your customers have the option to share your offer with their friends online. It's possible you get more responses than you sent out!



How Vx Works:

First, we send a direct mail campaign for you and personalize it with a URL such as: http://www.yourcompanypromo.com/FirstNameLastName
or

to see our non personalized landing page, (for those who aren't directly on your list!)

Once the mailers are received, recepients go to the Personalized URL (or PURL) to redeem the offer from your business. When they click the site, they fill out basic information and answer a few questions of your choosing, which are beneficial for your business to learn. Then, they can share your offer online on any or all of their favorite social media sites! It's that easy.

Why Vx Works

Synergy Vx campaigns have higher response rates and return on investment for several reasons:
  • Personalization - People like to see their name on stuff, especially a website. They are also more likely to view your online offer and redeem it, if they see their name.
  • Interaction - A Vx website is engaging, your offer stays with people longer and appears more attractive when it is stimulating senses.
  • Analytics - Synergy Vx allows you to track the progress of your campaign in Real Time. See how many people land on your site and share your offer; while gathering useful data about each individual visitor!
  • It's Social - People love to share things with their friends. So if they like your offer, chances are they know someone else who will too and share the good news. When they share, your business grows!

 

Interested in More Information on Synergy Vx and how we can help your business? Give us a call today at 714-824-3780 and speak with one of our friendly, knowledgable Sales Representatives who can answer all your questions.



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By: Will Pearlman

Tuesday, June 5

Really Getting to Know Your Customers: Targeting Your Best Customers to Attract Your Best Prospects!

Selling Happiness is Easy
When You Know All The Things
 That Make Your Customers Happy
The oldest idea in advertising is: When your trying to sell something, you aren't selling that product, you are selling the happiness that product engenders. 


For decades, marketers have used the RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) analysis as the standard to determine their most valuable customers. However, many marketers fail to consider RFM in their prospecting campaigns. Sure, you don't have exact figures on specific people, but you do have information on your current clients. The best of which, are undoubtedly similar to the ones you want to attract. What makes the RFM data unique is the lack of speculation - there are no survey opinions or general sales ideologies. RFM data is based on actual transactions. Proof of who buys what, when, and how often. So if you know who your best customers are, find out who they REALLY are!
Go out of your way to learn how your best customers operate
in their daily lives, then you'll understand
how the customers you want to attract live as well


RFM is a great predictor of your customer retention and sales, but it doesn't tell you the key ingredient for bringing in new customers; the reason why these particular people are buying your product. Not YOUR reason for why, but THEIR reason. Even in modern times many marketers still forget to consider consumer psychology in their prospect marketing strategy. This is most surprising since we are ALL consumers everyday. Even if your job is to design advertisements, companies are still advertising to you!


We are all different and unique in subtle ways,
but overall, many of us are pretty similar!
Everyone makes purchases for different reasons. Figure out who your best customers are and why they buy your product. Once you determine who these current customers are, I'd bet you there are more people like them out there and they are either unaware of your product, or simply have not tried it yet. Expand your customer base within a demographic with which you are already having success and your R.O.I will jump with an influx of consistent, high density purchasers. 


Why would you pay $300,000 for this Aston Martin Virage
when many $40,000 cars have almost the same features?
Because driving a Virage isn't about function,
it's about lifestyle!
You know who your best customers are and what they buy. And if you don't, then you are in trouble! To maximize your marketing strategy you need the whole picture. Who are your best customers and what do they do, independent of whatever capacity they use your product or service? The value your customer receives from your product or service is the image you want to create. You must paint your product's valuable contribution to your customer's happiness on the canvass that is their lives. Then, sell your product's role in your current customer's lives to people with similar lifestyles. The more complete your understanding of your best customers, the more likely you are to attract people like them and increase the R.O.I for your advertising campaign.


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By: Will Pearlman