Category: Local Branding

Local Branding

5 Tips to Hiring The Best Promotional Models

Are you looking forward to boosting sales in your store? Perhaps you’re to take part in a tradeshow. You’ll definitely have to find a way to drive traffic to your booth. In both circumstances, hiring promotional models is a great idea. These can work alongside your executive and sales staff to promote lead generation and make presentations more exciting and engaging. To make the most from your hires, it requires grasping these 5 tips to hiring the best promotional models.

1. Check out their photos

Filters can make images misleading. Therefore, ensure to request the models for their photos. This should be a professional headshot plus a ¾ industry standard body shot. You can as well request for dated candids to preventing models from submitting older photos. This will ensure that you get the real impression of the person you’re about to hire to represent your brand.

2. Experience matters

After reviewing the photos, ensure to check their experience. it pays to hire models with experience handling your type of work. Staff with previous experience is a guarantee that the models have the poise and communication skills required to convey your brand message and intricacies. More experienced models have higher chances of meeting expectations on the actual day.

3. Get models from a staffing agency

Perhaps you’re too taken up with other tasks for the show. A great idea is to look for a professional agency with UAE female models. This will eliminate the tough job of selecting the right models for you. The agency will handle the job of selecting the right models to meet your requirements. These are usually experienced and have an interest in your industry. staffing agencies handle interviewing, screening, onboarding, and managing models.

4. Choose models with interest in your industry

Avoid working with models who just came to make some quick cash. Look for enthusiastic and genuine people with interest in your industry. These will be easier to work with. The agency can help identify models with an authentic interest in your industry, services, or products. Their knowledge and excitement will be invaluable when handling customers.

5. Look for trainable promotional models

Good promotional models should have more than looking the part. Ensure to find knowledgeable people about your industry. Consider a briefing session before the function or offering a script offering insight into your company. It will make the models understand the features and benefits of your products or services before the event. This is very important because the models are likely to answer questions from customers. Possession the right knowledge will lead to better results.

Bottom line

Your staff can make or break your marketing effort. A wonderful ideal to attract hordes of customers to your trade show booth or store is to hire some beautiful female models. These will answer customer questions, receive customers into your store, and give out promotions material about your business. The right staffing agency will come onboard to provide the right models to help enhance your marketing efforts. These have the right experience, are easily trainable, and have some knowledge about your industry.

Local Branding

How to Turn Your PR Disaster into a Marketing Opportunity

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Wrong. On so many levels – more than 3 billion, to be more precise, because that’s how many people are using social media and can witness your public humiliation.

A PR disaster on social media spreads like wildfire, and you can expect a fierce backlash if you step on somebody’s toes. What’s even worse, you can permanently damage your business reputation.

A single mistake could wipe out years of hard work. Like the one involving American Apparel and the company’s infamous Tumblr post containing a picture of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. The occasion was the Fourth of July, and their social media manager clearly mistook the Challenger explosion for fireworks. Despite issuing an apology on Twitter, the company stirred much controversy for its insensitive faux pas.

No matter how careful you are, such things happen even to the best of us, so here are a couple of tips on how to save your face and turn a PR blunder into a marketing opportunity.

Own it

The worst thing you can do is to try and get away with your mistake by denying it or blaming it on somebody else (just like American Apparel blamed their “young, international employee” who was unaware of the Challenger disaster and its significance in the history). This will most definitely cause a landslide which will bury you even deeper. Take a cue from Apple and their brilliant handling of a PR issue over offering a one-month free trial of its streaming services for which they didn’t intend to pay the artists whose music would be played during that period. Taylor Swift stood up against this practice and called her fellow musicians to do the same and boycott Apple Music. It took a simple “Apple Music will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period [sic]” tweet posted by Eddy Cue, the company’s SVP of Internet Software and Services. The aftermath? Taylor Swift starred in an Apple commercial soon after this whole mess was sorted out. Some skeptics believe that the whole thing was staged, but in any case, it was an amazing example of how to deal with PR disasters.  

Timing is everything

Addressing the issue in a timely manner is crucial for overcoming the crisis, and you can’t do that if you don’t know exactly when, where, and how the problem appeared. This means that you have to monitor your social media channels very closely and constantly. The best way to do this is to set keyword alerts which will notify you in case that there are conversations with a negative context. Make sure to include different negative keywords which are used in negative comments. Check your hashtags too, because people often use them when they want to call brands out publicly. This is particularly important when it comes to Twitter because this social media channel with 326 million users globally is known to be fast-paced. If you don’t react right away, people will think that you don’t care. Airbnb was heavily criticized when it came to light that there were cases of racial profiling and discrimination on the platform, as many African-American travelers experienced discrimination. The company’s co-founder Brian Chesky reacted proactively and sent an email in which he admitted that they were slow to notice and address this issue, as well as that the management would take action to put an end to discrimination on the platform.

Leverage negative feedback

Negative feedback isn’t a bad thing. Quite the opposite, it actually helps brands realize what they need to fix and improve, thus indirectly reducing customer churn. Many brands make a big mistake by ignoring bad reviews and comments, which only additionally enrages their customers. Instead of that, make sure to respond to every question and criticism. But you have to very careful and formulate your responses properly, especially if a number of customers have the same complaint. Such a situation can easily get out of hand and create a snowball effect. It’s a good idea to consult a reliable digital marketing agency which will help you deal with it like a pro and prevent a major reputation risk. After a recall of 1.6 million vehicles back in 2014, GM didn’t leave anything to chance. The company used Twitter and Facebook to publicly and individually address every single complaint and offered possible solutions.

A friend in need

Sometimes the situation gets critical and you need to ask your biggest clients, partners, employees, and influencers for support. Of course, when something that can damage your reputation occurs, people who are involved with your business have to know everything about it, so make sure not to hold anything back. One of the most important things is to communicate clearly with your stakeholders, tell them your side of the story, and ask them whether they’re ready to stand by you. If you’ve built loyalty with them, the answer will probably be yes. Honesty and consistency are essential for rebuilding the trust and showing that you will go to great lengths to do everything right. You have another card up your sleeve – your social media following. Maybe you can ask them for their opinion as to what you should do to make up for your mistake. And since sharing is caring, offer a generous discount to compensate your customers. Needless to say, this is excellent PR as many of them will be happy to spread the word about your nice gesture.  

Don’t dwell on it

After you’ve done everything to prevent and fix your PR faux pas, the best thing to do is to let bygones be bygones and move on. McDonald’s has had a couple of notable social media blunders, and one of the most recent is their Black Friday tweet from 2017 or should we say the lack of thereof. Namely, the company tweeted “Black Friday – Need copy and link”, which didn’t go unnoticed. But, their clever social media manager used this opportunity to masterfully promote one of their products by following up with “When you tweet before your first cup of McCafé… Nothing comes before coffee.”

As you can see, it’s possible to survive a PR disaster and leave without a couple of scars only, but you have to know the drill.

Top Tips For Handling A PR Crisis

It’s a worst-case scenario that can befall even the most prestigious organization: a public relations crisis. From a string of bad reviews to a serious financial scandal, a negative incident can have a powerful impact on a company’s reputation — no matter how small or diplomatic it is. That’s why it’s critical for every business to have a reaction plan in place. Here are some do’s and don’ts when navigating a PR crisis.

In today’s digital age, news can go viral almost instantly. The implementation of a swift and effective crisis management plan is essential. An organization should address the issue head-on, whether it’s with an apology, an explanation or an announcement. If an immediate, informative response is not possible, the business should at least communicate that it’s looking into the issue and give a reason as to why there will be a delay. Above all else, it’s important to take responsibility for what happened.

Before sending representatives to address the media, make sure they fully understand the response strategy and are given enough information to answer questions. If time allows, set up a practice session to ensure they are prepared. Emphasize that the company’s message must be consistent across multiple channels.

Refrain from saying “no comment,” as these are two of the most damaging words in PR. Shutting down communication leaves a gap for others to fill, and what they say may be worse than the truth. If an organization is waiting for more information, it should let the public know that it is working on a response or a reaction to the situation.

For more tips on how to handle a PR crisis, see the accompanying infographic.

 

News Exposure provides a variety of media monitoring services, including TV broadcast monitoring.
Local Branding

5 Signs You’re Losing Customers to Competitors

This is a guest post by Sander Riya Image via Pexels

It’s important to nurture your customers every step of the way in every way you can. Unfortunately, a lot of companies make costly mistakes that cause customers who could easily have followed through with sales to fall through the cracks far to often. You want to not only land sales with leads, but also follow up with existing customers so that you get more out of your efforts to find them with repeat sales down the road.   The number one thing you need to be aware of to optimize your relationship with leads and existing customers is know how to recognize when you’re losing them unnecessarily. The following are five signs that you’re losing your customers to your competitors. Understanding the following information about why companies lose customers will help you to better nurture customer relationships.  

1. Your website is too confusing to navigate

A website needs to be user-friendly above all if it is going to encourage customers to follow through to making a purchase. A lot of companies make the mistake of valuing aesthetics over user friendliness, and this can often lead to the intense frustration of prospective customers. Remember that not every customer out there is going to be particularly savvy with using the Internet, and Internet users are notoriously impatient these days. If website visitors run into frustrations on your site, they’re simply going to head back to a search engine and find your competitors. There are many ways you can focus on making your website more user friendly. Just go through the process of making a purchase on your site yourself. If you think that process could be more simple, you need to look to your web master or web hosting services to find a way to simplify purchases.  

2. You don’t reliably follow up with prospects

A prospective customer or past customer may quickly forget about your company if you’re not following up properly. You need to check back in before not too much time has passed after a customer’s initial inquiry. This will remind your customer you’re there. It will also give you a chance to acquire more information on what your customer is looking for. You can use SEO to stay in the picture by making it so that your company’s website comes up pretty reliably in search engine results. Beside email marketing, you can also use content marketing to send out information that’s useful to those in your target market. The biggest thing you need to work on developing if you want to be able to follow up practically and effectively is an email list that will allow you to conveniently keep in touch with those interested in your company.

3. Your website speed just isn’t cutting it

The simplicity of navigating your website is not the only important factor when it comes to online customer retention. Another important factor you need to be aware of is how fast your website is working for visitors.   The more website visitors you have, the more demand there is that’s placed on your hosting capabilities. For this reason, you need to compare web hosting types over time and make sure that you’re using a package that offers enough memory, storage, and bandwidth for your needs.  

4. You’re out of stock on many items

When it comes to E-commerce websites, customers will quickly become frustrated if they’re trying to buy things from you and you’re constantly out of stock. If this is a common situation, it might be time to start putting more effort into ordering inventory in advance so that you don’t run out.   If the problem is with your supplier, it’s probably time to start looking for alternative suppliers who can keep you readily stocked on what you need. Customers aren’t just going to you for the quality of your products, but also the selection you offer and the reliability with which you carry items shown on your website.   Obviously, your customers will quickly look elsewhere if your company is unable to supply them with what they’re looking for.  

5. You haven’t put any effort into making your website mobile-friendly

More and more consumers are doing their online shopping using a smartphone. As consumers become more comfortable with smartphone shopping, you need to make sure you’re accommodating your customer’s desires.   If you’re never paid any attention to how your website looks on a smartphone or if you’re not sure your site is responsively designed or not, you should really look into it. It’s important to realize that a lot of people don’t even use a computer at home these days and use their smartphone for website browsing. If your site is difficult or impossible to navigate on a smartphone, there’s no doubt that you’re missing out on a lot of customers.     As a business owner, you need to examine whether or not you see any of these signs at your company. If you do, you need to start putting more effort into how you can retain customers.   By making some tweaks to your online presence, you might be able to not only ensure better statistics with following through with leads, but you also may be able to win back old customers who missed buying from you and appreciate the helpful changes you’ve made.    

 

 

About the author: Riya is an inspired writer writing in several areas of expertise. With spending her years working marketing communication, Riya is delighted to work with aspiring small business owners. Apart from her marketing expertise, Riya always enjoys reading pocketbook, cooking, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter, @sanderriya.

Digital BrandingLocal Branding

Dos and Don’ts When Designing Your Business Logo

A logo is the first thing customers notice and remember. It’s the face of a business. Designing a logo can be as challenging as coming up with a business name. A successful logo design is the one that sticks even when the name is forgotten. It should speak to people even without any words. Just like that of McDonald’s – people crave for burger and fries whenever they see the big Golden Arches that resembles an M.  The logo is what makes you as a business.

To make sure that the logo you create will stand out and be as effective as that of the top brands right now, here are the dos and don’ts in creating your tech startup or business logo.

Simplicity

DoMake your logo simple and clear. Most of the best companies have the simplest logos. Take Nike, for example. When you see their logo printed on something, you’ll know it’s Nike, and you’ll know that it’s a quality product.  Let the logo do the talking for you. It should express your business’ quality and philosophy without saying a word.  Do ask for a design proposal from your designer and show it to a few of your people to see if it’s appealing to the majority.

Don’t Putting too many images or details make the logo difficult to understand and remember. They defeat the purpose of having a logo, which is a representation of your company; you should’ve just written an essay if that’s the case.

Uniqueness

Do If you want to stand out, you have to be different from the rest. For instance, if you want to start a burger business, you know that there are so many burger joints out there and they all have burgers in their logo. If you make your logo a burger too, you can’t say that your burger is any different from theirs. Think of something that will say burger without the actual burger. If you pull that off, your logo will surely click and will be remembered among the rest of the burger logos.Don’t Making a logo after another similar business isn’t going to work and may put you into trouble, so don’t bother making it. Creating a logo is your chance to show that you’re different, so don’t try to make a logo that looks the same as another just to show that you’re at par. You’ll just be ridiculed and laughed at, and your business will not stand a chance with the big ones. Your logo is not just a marketing tool. It’s going to be your brand’s image, and you’d want your image to be unique. So, squeeze out your creative juices and come up with a logo that’s original and one of a kind.Font

DoMake a logo that is easy on the eyes. A clear and straightforward logo utilizes fonts that are not too complicated. If you are creative enough, you can use a custom font – this will make your logo even more unique.

Don’tDon’t make it hard for your customers to read what your logo is saying. If your logo is too complicated and unreadable, people will stay away from your products too, and that’s something you don’t want to happen.

Colors

DoYou may combine colors, but it’s best to stick with only a few. Three colors are acceptable depending on the design and concept, but two is ideally the maximum. Research the meaning of each color before you decide on which color you want to use for your logo. For instance, you wouldn’t want to use red or black if your business is about organic products. Colors also have emotional effects, so make sure that the logo’s colors stimulate the right emotions.

Don’t

Using more than two colors is an art but not particularly helpful for a logo. Colors that don’t convey the meaning or essence of your business are not the right ones.

Consistency

DoMake sure that when you’ve come up with a logo, you’ll stick to it. This is how your brand will be recognized and remembered. Hence, when you create a logo, try your best to make one that you can live with for the rest of your business’ life.

Don’t Changing your logo often will confuse your audience. You’re not promoting a good image and you will lose customers. No one will remember your company if your logo keeps on disappearing for a new one.

Meaning

DoCreate a design that has a meaning. You can’t just create an image without knowing what it’s for or what relevance it has for your business. There may be times that you’ll be asked by clients about the significance of your logo design, so you should have an explanation for it.

Don’t Not knowing your logo will mean that you don’t know anything about your business. Don’t let your logo fail you. It represents your business and what you want your audience to feel about it. It’s your identity, so don’t make one that doesn’t have any relevance or meaning to your business.

Keep these tips in mind and always remember that your logo will define your business. Make it simple and understandable for people to remember. The most successful logos are the ones a child can recognize. Opt for lesser words and focus on just the logo itself. You will see the benefits of a well-designed logo to your business in the long run.

Local Branding

How To Create An Eye-Catching Exhibition Stand For A Tradeshow Or Event

Participating in trade shows or exhibitions is a great way to get the word out about your business. Unfortunately, however, it can be a little bit hard to stand out at these events, simply because there are so many other businesses participating. That is why it is so important to put a lot of careful thought into your exhibition stand. To create an eye-catching display that attracts a lot of attention, try using these seven tips:

Make The Design Of Your Stand As Noticeable As Possible

Creating a showy, noticeable display is the best way to grab the attention of people as they walk by and any good exhibition stand designers will help you achieve this. This is one situation where you definitely don’t want to blend in with the crowd. From a design standpoint, there are plenty of different ways that you can set your stand apart from those of your competitors. For instance, you can choose a stand that has a tall wall where your logo is prominently displayed. Bright, vibrant colors also do a great job of drawing the eye of anyone who happens to be walking by.

Create A Well Lit Area

The right lighting can make a big difference in the appearance of your stand. Use LED strips or spotlights to draw attention to key features that you want people to notice. Avoid going overboard, however, since bright, glaring lights can wind up driving people away. The key is to position your lighting in such a way that it enhances your booth rather than detracting from it. The right lighting design can make a real difference in how people perceive your stand and in how easy it is for them to see your products.

Take Advantage Of Social Media

Showcase your exhibition stand online through the use of social media. If you make it eye-catching enough to stand out at the show, it most likely will also get a lot of attention online. Best of all, social media makes it easier than ever to reach your target market. Sharing photos of your booth is especially important if you participate in a lot of different trade shows or events throughout the year. The more often you display your booth online, the easier it will be for people to recognize it when they see it at a show. Social media offers a lot of unique opportunities to connect with potential customers, making it a great marketing tool.

Consider Offering Refreshments

When people go to trade shows, they typically spend about five hours checking out all of the displays. By the time they reach your booth, they may be starting to feel a little bit tired. Offering refreshments is a great way to draw them in. You don’t have to go overboard. A simple drink or a small snack is usually enough to get people to stop and check out what you have to offer.

Create A Theme For Your Booth

Designing your booth around a central theme can be an effective marketing option. If you have an existing marketing campaign going, you can use that as your theme. Alternatively, you can come up with a new theme that is based around one of your new products or a new service that you are offering. Every time you create an exhibition stand, you have an opportunity to share your marketing message with the world. Choosing a different theme for each exhibit is a great way to get the word out about the products or services that you are most interested in promoting.

When creating an exhibition stand, it is all about paying attention to the small details. If you are hiring a company to build your stand for you, it is important to talk with them about your business so that they get a better idea of exactly what you are trying to achieve. Participating in trade shows is a great way to not only reach new customers but also to connect with other businesses. To get the most out of the exhibitions you participate in, it is well worth building a stand that you can be proud of.

Local Branding

5 Ways Promotional Models Will Boost Your Sales This Holiday

With the festive season around the corner and I’s a wonderful opportunity to boost sales. Every business owner is looking for ways to beat the competition. It’s high time you went on a creative streak to find a way to boost your sales. A wonderful idea to consider is to consider using promotional models. These can do a wonderful do of promoting your products and leaving a lasting impression on customers. Apart from boosting sales of existing products, the models are also essential when launching a new product. Take a quick glance at these 5 ways promotional models will boost your sales this holiday.

Image credit: uaestaff.com

1. Boosting your brand

It pays to create a lasting impression on the minds of customers. You have to have innovative ideas on how to create brand awareness about your products. Using promotional models will provide the right exposure to your brand needs. Additionally, your brand will get the promotion it requires. People will get to know about your products and develop the desire for them. So, professional models from an agency are a wonderful idea to introduce your products to the market.

2. Enhancing sales

The role of the marketing department in a business is to see a boost in sales. Innovative marketing ideas are required to make people get carried away by your promotional ideas. This is a wonderful idea to boost sales. Using promotional models is the trick to create a lasting impression on the market. This will make your brand gain immense popularity leading to growth in sales and better ROI.

3. Grabbing attention in the market

It’s a great idea to contact modeling agencies in Dubai for a male for promotional this festive season. These will help promote a particular product to target a specific audience to make market segmentation easier. This will ensure that your products grab the attention of people who need it. Additionally, marketing to the right market segment will help make our product gain popularity. The models can distribute fliers and give direct information about your products. These models will significantly make you a leader in your niche.

4. More successful product promotion

Regardless of whether you’re to sale in an exhibition or discount sale in your store, it pays to invest in promotional models. Attractive models are a wonderful idea to make people come to your store. These models capture the attention of people and help highlight your products and services. Having welcoming models at your entrances is a simple and innovative way to grab customers’ attention. This will significantly increase traffic to your store and more sales.

5. Offer an extra hand

Another way of investing in promotional models can enhance your sales this festive season is by giving your staff the chance to focus on core activities. The festive season is bound to be very busy. Therefore, you have to plan for ways of handling the huge number of customers. Apart from hiring regular staff that might not know what to do, hiring promotional models is a smart idea.

Wrapping up

The Christmas season is when businesses record the highest sales. To ensure you make the most from this period, hiring promotional models is a smart idea.

About the author

Ashly William is a freelance writer, with years of experience, creating content for varied online portals. Her content is published on many national and international publications. She has expertise in writing about Arts & Entertainment.

Local Branding

What Is an RTO and What Would You Need to Start One

The education industry is a vast and diverse one, however, not all of its beneficial aspects are intellectual and altruistic. By becoming an RTO (registered training organization), you can provide an invaluable service to those who desperately need it while making a profit for yourself along the way. RTO is an organization that provides vocational education and training (VET) to students in order to prepare them for their specialized careers later on. Now, even though there are over 5000 RTOs in Australia, most of which are in specialized niches, there’s still some room for growth and advancement.

1. TAFE vs. RTO

Before we proceed to discuss this important issue, it’s important to mention that there are a lot of people who mistake the term TAFE (technical and further education) with the term RTO. While on the surface, these two terms may sound somewhat similar, the fact is that TAFE is government owned and RTO is privately owned makes all the difference in the world. Other than this, TAFE is less niched than RTOs, which are mostly oriented towards equipping one to deal with a very narrow, specific set of services. As for the popularity and the issue of how widespread both of these organization types are, last year about 2.4 million students enrolled in various RTOs across the country, while only about 739,000 did so in various TAFE organizations.

2. RTOs in the business world

One of the greatest differences between RTOs and the traditional, formal, education, lies in the fact that RTO has a great application in the business world. First of all, an RTO expert can make an estimate of skills that are in the greatest demand by your business, as well as compose a development of training program that will allow for it to satisfy its needs. Other than consulting and planning, an RTO can provide training equipment, personnel and reliable RTO materials that are necessary for this task. Most important of all, sometimes knowledge isn’t enough and, in that case, RTO can produce a nationally-recognized qualification or a certificate. In other words, the RTO system isn’t just an element in the present-day business world, it’s one of its supporting pillars.

3. Steps to start an RTO

In order to launch your own RTO, you need to apply for a registration and fulfill several vital steps. First of all, you have to complete the application, pay all the fees for initial registration, go through an initial annual RTO registration charge (right away) and, of course, meet data provision requirements. Keep in mind that this organization isn’t just educational but also financial, in nature, which is why it’ll have to undergo a thorough audit. Later on, if necessary, you’ll have to make certain changes to registration and renew it year after year. Australian Skills Quality Authority is in charge of this and their decision is final, yet, their decision can be contested and changed, provided that you manage to persuade them otherwise. Still, the body reviewing your registration usually tends to be fair and unbiased.

In conclusion

Regardless if you’re someone with an aspiration of starting your own RTO or merely aim to collaborate with one (individually or as a business). Knowing how they work, why they are relevant and what types there are may help you understand them better. As for the registration process, getting familiar with the organization in charge of their approval and supervision might help you trust them substantially more in the future. Either way, all of the above-discussed is a common knowledge that’s more than worth possessing, even though a lot of people still remain oblivious when it comes to specifics of this topic.

Local Branding

6 Ways to Improve Brand Positioning (Fast)

Brand positioning is essential for any online business these days. It refers to the way your brand is positioned in your customers’ minds. It occurs whether or not you have a strategy in place because your customers will always have an impression of your business.

But you can help to direct your brand positioning by creating a distinct impression on your customer and ensuring they associate your brand with something desirable.

So, how can you set about improving your brand positioning? There are many ways, but here are six to help you get started—fast.

1. Determine Your Brand’s Personality

The first thing you need to do is determine your brand’s personality. Your brand already has a voice, whether you have made an effort with this or not. Customers will encounter this whenever they land on your website, see your social updates, or click your ads.

You should start by deciding what you want this voice to be. Should it be funny, strict, youthful, serious? Your voice will play a large role in your brand’s personality and how your brand is perceived by your customers. If you do not have a clear brand personality, you are increasing the chances that you will be forgotten all too easily by your customers.

Your personality is determined by the words you use, the design of your website, the types of social updates you post, the ads you run—everything that you do.

So decide what you want your brand personality to be. Create a firm idea of your brand voice, then write down exactly what you are going for and share it with all the stakeholders so they can use this to influence their activities.

2. Decide What Makes You Special

Why is your business different? Why would people want to choose you over your competitors? You need to know this if you want to stand out, and that means you need to know your unique selling proposition (USP).

This will help you to differentiate yourself in a competitive environment. Once you know what makes you special, you can communicate this to your customers.

This can be surprisingly tricky, but one good way to start is to look at your competitors and see what they are doing. As you look over their products, can you pinpoint ways in which your products or services are better?

Perhaps your products have something special about them, or maybe the way you do things is superior. If you were trying to convince someone to choose you, what negative aspects would you highlight about your competition? Do they take too long to deliver orders? Do they charge too much?

A fine example can be seen in the chocolate brand M&Ms. Claiming to melt in your mouth rather than your hand is a simple USP that appeals to a consumer desire that they might not have acknowledged themselves. The chocolate market is one that is heavily saturated, and yet this USP lifts M&Ms above the fray.

Create a list of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and determine what it is about your business that would make your customers want to choose you. Once you know, you can start making sure your customers know about it.

3. Know Who Your Customer Is

You also need to know exactly who your customer is. You may think you know, but do you really? You cannot position your brand properly until you know this; you have to position it at someone.

Create a marketing persona, or a few of them, and determine everything about your target customer. This should include their interests, dislikes, hopes, fears, the movies they watch, and more. See what they do on social media and work out what is important to them.

This can have a huge impact on improving your brand positioning. If you know who they are, what they want, and what matters to them, you can position your brand more effectively.

4. Tell Your Brand Story

Tell your brand story based around how you came into being, the problem you solved, and how your product or service was the solution. You will probably have one main product or product line that determines who you are and how your business came into being. Perhaps this is the product that you started your business around.

Telling your story can help to form a bond with your customers and highlight your shared values, which makes you come across as more trustworthy.

You see this all the time with nascent ecommerce businesses looking to get ahead of competitors in the digital space. For example, electronics websites are a great investment for entrepreneurs. There will always be a market for the latest gadgets and tech, but in such a saturated market it can be tough to stand out.

By creating a unique brand story that resonates with customers, brands can position themselves as more than simply a business. Brands can become relatable, friendly, and human.

5. Create a Positioning Statement

When you have done all of the above, you’ll be ready to create your positioning statement. This is a short statement, just a sentence or two, that communicates your value. It should include details of who your business is targeted at, why it is special, how you meet their expectations and how you fulfill their wishes.

This is an internal state for your business, so don’t worry about how snappy it is. Simply use it to influence your decisions, especially when it comes to marketing.

Your tagline is a shorter version of this that is more customer-focused. This is an external statement that you can use on your website or packaging. It’s usually punchier than a positioning statement and more memorable, and it can help you to quickly communicate your brand value.

6. Connect Emotionally with Your Customers

Finally, focus on connecting with your customers emotionally. You will only reach your customers and have an impact on them with an emotional connection.

One of the best ways to do this is with content, which provides you with an opportunity to go more in depth. Use content on your blog, for example, to engage. Don’t just promote, and instead use your content to educate and inform to connect on an emotional level.

These six tips will help you improve your brand positioning in no time at all. But don’t forget one of the most important things of all: consistency.

You need to be consistent with your brand positioning if you want to maximize its effect. Once you have determined your voice and your values, ensure you remain consistent everywhere, including your blog, advertising, social media, customer support, design, use of words, images—everywhere.

This way, you will help to make your brand more memorable and avoid confusion, creating a stronger connection with your customers that will last.

Patrick Foster, Ecommerce Enthusiast, and Entrepreneur

I’m a freelance ecommerce expert & serial entrepreneur. I love to write articles on ecommerce branding and content marketing for ambitious online sellers and hope to share some useful insight that will help to grow your business.

Local Branding

A Guide To Environmentally Friendly Promotional Products

It is our responsibility as humans to care for the environment and keep the earth safe, not only for the sake of mankind but also for the animals and plants.  The majority of experts, and the non-experts agree that humankind has not done enough to keep up their responsibility.  It is time to improve on our work.

In an effort to continue moving forward regarding environmental care, we would do better to market our efforts.  Too many businesses rely on chintzy products that are funneled to landfills; thereby, adding to the problem of environmental destruction instead of environmental reform.  Our company advocates an alternative approach where your marketing collateral will help save the earth.

Instead of utilizing paper bags that are as detrimental to the planet as plastic bags, if not more, it is time to modify the bags into items that can be reused.  One should also consider clothing, office supplies, accessories and awards that are not created using renewable materials and do not pollute the water or air.  To make a dent in the green movement’s objectives, while still impressing customers and generating crucial band impressions, you should consider taking these factors into account.

Promotional Products That Do Not Harm The Planet

This post is going to focus primarily on bags.  Why?  Well, statistics show that bags tend to build more impressions than any other promotional item.  For example, a promotional bag will over 900 impressions per dollar; whereas, writing utensils and shirts receive only 500 impressions, and even billboards receive only 500 impressions. 

Taking these statistics into account, brand impressions increase for fewer items overall.  This means that you can purchase fewer products and be more environmentally friendly and you can get them at low low prices.  So, why do people insist on buying mountains of collateral when they could purchase some promotional bags and see the same level of promotional efficacy?

Of course, not all situations call for bags.  Regardless of whether you are sending thank you gifts to a customer, filling out a convention booth or dressing up a gift store, you may prefer other products.  With this in mind, below are our top ten favorite eco-friendly items from the baggy side of life and beyond.

1.  The rPET Bags

Considered the holy grail of all eco-friendly products, the rPET bag is one that can be reused each day and can be recycled itself.  The rPET bag is created using recycled poly terephthalate and is available if a four-color silkscreen.  It is developed using 80 percent recycled water bottles, and it comes in both matte or gloss lamination.  The 20-inch laminated handles are available for maximum comfort.  Use this eco-friendly bag when at conventions, trade shows, at a retail register or to say thank you to customers.

2.  Cotton Toiletry Bags

Cotton is one of the renewable and biodegradable resources, making it an ideal option for all types of promotional products.  Due to the fact that people require storage bags when travelling, we recommend the cotton toiletry bag as a promotional product.  They can also be used for alternative functions, such as a snack pack for health-conscious travellers, so you don’t have to rely on take-away services or as art supplies for children.

3.  The Cooler

Coolers are traditional fare for fishing trips, picnics, hiking, and other outdoor activities.  With a good cooler at your side, you can keep all beverages and food cold during a long, hot day without relying on an air conditioner or ice.  As the majority of people enjoy using a cooler, and keep them on hand in their trucks and cabinets, they are also a great promotional product.  Not only are you are guaranteed that the cooler will not be thrown away before their usefulness runs out, but they are a great canvas for store names, logos, missions statements and much more.

4.  Clothing

While shirts gain fewer impressions per dollar than promotional bags, 200 impressions is not something to turn your nose up at.  Moreover, clothing tends to last much longer than most items, particularly if you order items that are made to fit the human body – say goodbye to shapeless t-shirts for females!  When the clothing is made from 100 percent, organic cotton, then the item is also biodegradable.

5.  Storable Pouch Bags

The storable pouch bag has become a mainstay in grocery stores and artisan shops, primarily because they are so useful.  Our Ripstop nylon fabric with drawstring closure bags is lightweight, strong and cheerful; therefore, they are able to fold into small package for storage in center consoles, glove compartments, drawers and backpacks.  The final result?  A bag with high durability that will last for years, and will always be useful when travelling.  Due to the fact that it is so small, this type of bag is less likely to be thrown away than other bags.

6.  Reclaimed Cork Pet Mats

Humans and their furry friends have a long history of comradeship, regardless of whether you are a cat or a dog person.  So, what better way of drawing in the pet crowd than by using reusable cork mats?  The reusable or reclaimed cork mats are ideal for sleeping, eating and litter-boxing (in the case of cats).  They are made from reused cork, so you can use the material to absorb spilled liquids or give the companion a comfortable place to curl up.

7.  Kitchen Accessories

Kitchen accessories are an instant hit regarding reusable items ranging from customized bag clips to bamboo cutting boards.  The boards are a renewable resource and clips can be used until the end of time.  Providing promotional kitchen accessories is a great way of stocking customers with branded items, safe in the knowledge that you are not contributing to their world of rubbish.

8.  Beer Bags And Wine

We are not going to step over the line and say that all people enjoy beer and wine, liquor and cider, or even fizzy soda.  However, during a survey of family, friends and work colleagues, we came to the conclusion that most people enjoy a cold drink of some sort.  This is where beer and wine bags can be beneficial as they make the ideal gifts with value-added advantages and for-sale perks.

9.  Small Totes

Not all people enjoy an extra large grocery bag, particularly at a small boutique or trade show where items are less bulky.  In some cases, the more beneficial option is a small tote.  This tote bag is ideal for holding pamphlets and papers and conventions, clothing and jewelry at boutiques, and jars of truffles or olives at upscale grocery stores.

10.  Edible Promotional

The ultimate eco-friendly promo item is the one you can eat.  The edible gift leaves no trace, so it is maintaining a green approach to environmental care.  Aside from small packaging, nothing enters the landfill.  If you want to stack up on promotional items, you can always fill a bag with edibles for a gift basket or package for purchase in the store.  The latter offers customers the option to purchase gifts for others, and your branded bag leaves the store to begin generating promotional impressions.

Final Words

Using the information above, you can see that you do not need to look too far to find environmentally friendly alternatives to suit your needs and begin generating brand impressions.

Workplace branding pays off
Local Branding

The Importance of Workplace Branding

Workplace branding or office branding is an important yet underrated element of running a business. Basically, office branding is all about shaping the dynamics, infrastructure, and décor of an office so that it reflects the theme and values of the respective company.

Workplace branding is much more than covering your office in a certain colour or displaying the company logo everywhere. The process is all about creatively designing the office and taking every aspect that can influence the productivity into consideration.

Effective workplace branding changes the entire working environment and can have an impact on employees’ performance, beyond your expectations.

The importance of workplace branding of workplace branding

The Importance of Workplace Branding

Workplace branding is quite important for organizations operating at any operational scale. Here’s how it influences a company.

Boosts Employee Motivation and Productivity

Workplace branding can have a massive impact on employees. A working environment that is not only comfortable but also aesthetically pleasing will be conducive to a more motivated and. therefore. more productive workforce. Simple gestures like providing ergonomic furniture can show employees how important and valued they are, so it’s important when rebranding your office space you take into account the comfortability of the staff and even ask their opinions on the design.

A relaxed environment and a comfortable working experience enhance productivity in order to get more done, enhance creativity, and presence of mind. They’ll put in more effort into completing a task, resulting in greater productivity.

Encourages Loyalty in Employees

Workplace branding reinstates a strong sense of pride in the company. It makes the employees feel proud to be part of an organization that is forward thinking and impressively presented. Subsequently, it encourages loyalty towards the company. Employees will start working with more dedication and rigour due to an increased sense of ownership.

As a result, employee turnover decreases. The organization is able to retain their best employees and avoid spending on subsequent recruitment needs. This saving can be invested straight back into the business and into staff development to reward such loyalty.

Attracts More Clients

Effective workplace branding is also important from a potential client’s point of view. An office branded with the company’s culture, brand value, and theme leaves a massive positive impression on a potential client. It amplifies the company’s ethos, and when done well, an office branding that displays prestige and professionalism will entice more potential clients to do business with you.

More clients mean more business, so subsequently, workplace branding can be a good investment after all.

Standardize workplace branding into your office

How to Incorporate Branding into your Office

Obviously, workplace branding doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have to paint everything in the company’s theme colour. The scope of workplace branding is greater than that.

Initially, you can cover doors, fixtures, and some other pieces in the company’s theme colour. Dependent on the nature of your business you can incorporate quirky, show stopping pieces of furniture, games equipment, impressive lighting, and revolutionary electronics.

Next, you can get the company logo printed on places such as glass, the façade of the building, doors, etc. so clients know where to find you. Keeping your hopes of branding your space in mind when you’re renting a workspace in Shoreditch or its vicinity, an office that can be transformed for workplace branding should be your choice, instead of those where you aren’t really allowed to tweak the décor arrangement.

Toot your corporate horn with workplace branding

Toot Your Corporate Horn

Moving to the more important stuff, highlighting the company’s achievements through award displays, press release posters, or product displays in the building is a great example of workplace branding. You can highlight the achievements and success of the company throughout the business centre whilst also displaying areas of perceived growth and aspiration. World maps showing locations where your business currently trades and highlighting locations of interest are great examples of this.

Apart from showing clients and prospective clients that you mean business, these displays can also act as motivation for the employees and directors to achieve the future targets and objectives.You may also honour the company’s all-time best employees, directors, and the owner of the building as part of your effective workplace branding strategy.

Another brilliant method to incorporate workplace branding into your organization is to highlight the company’s moral and ethical values. It must be expressive enough to convey your organization’s corporate culture and brand value.

Workplace branding is essential, especially for a growth oriented organization. Not only does it influence the employees, but also the potential clients or business ambassadors.

For more information, click here.