Outsourcing your business branding can save you time and money in the long-run.
This is a short and to the point article written for the busy small business, entrepreneur and start-up that are out changing the world.
1. Preconceived ideas.
Many small businesses start because they saw a need, thought they could do it better or simply got tired of where they were. Almost always, an entrepreneur starts with what they know or have been taught in their particular industry or field. It’s not to say that it’s incorrect but more than likely is a narrow point of view on how to brand that product or service. So unless you’ve actually branded a company or product in the past, you probably think that a brand consists of your name, logo, tag line and the look and feel of your products. For example, at Pumped, Inc., we’ve had the privilege of working with more than 80 different companies in over 42 different industries so that every time we take on a new branding project we bring some new perspective to the table. The reality is that a brand is an emotion that customers and potential customers feel when they experience your product and service and relaying that takes experience, insight and understanding of consumer behavior.
2. You can’t see yourself from the outside.
Like many small business owners or companies that have worked hard to create a product or service they believe to be exciting and interesting, sometimes you’re too entrenched too be self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses. An outside branding firm brings in an outsider’s viewpoint and is thus less likely to get caught up in your inside-looking-out vision. In addition, they may bring new ideas and branding approaches that you may not have thought of as well as what may have worked for other clients of theirs. That’s why the entire team here at Pumped pitch in and contribute all of our collective experience and knowledge to help our clients. Because were a dynamic group of individuals of varying ages, skill sets and experiences we encourage everyone’s perspective for the benefit of our customers.
3. It takes a team.
Branding, like selling, can’t really be taught in colleges or universities. Effective branding is both an art and a science. It’s the ability to think in terms of strategy and execution while also appealing to the emotional aspect of the consumer buying process. This balancing act is impossible to teach in a formal educative schooling background. The reason is simple. Branding is dynamic and changes often with technology and trends. Yes, there are foundational concepts that are fundamental but the reality is that the tools and approach are constantly changing. If you’re not involved in this day to day, it is very difficult to determine which is the right mix for your brand. Today branding is a mix of design, digital marketing, strategy, social media marketing and search optimization and each one take s a specific skill and dedicated time to execute well. Therefore, when you outsource your branding, you will in essence double your team and in turn exponentially multiply your efforts. In addition, you’re scaling your business overnight without the added commitment, expense and time .
4. Focus on sales rather than marketing.
There’s a saying that has become more relevant to me as time goes on and that is “Do what you do best and pay for the rest”. Like all human beings, we are governed by the laws of nature and the universe and thus have a limited amount of energy and time to put into your business. This of course means that the majority of your time should not be spent on educating yourself on how what the best time to post to social media is, how to program a website, what keywords will work best for your product or service, etc. You need to focus all of that energy on creating or developing a great product or service. If you have enough time after that, you need to spend it working with customers and potential customers, developing new growth opportunities or simply reflect and refocus. While this is happening, an outside branding firm can help understand why your current customer are buying and identify the emotions that your branding campaign will seek to intensify.
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