Seven Tips for a Quality Website

Is your website out of date, under construction or lacking in focus? Here are seven tips to help you build a better website. Read more ...

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Bolster Brand with Three-Step Process
We live in a world that glorifies instant results — instant communication, instant gratification, instant success. It's no wonder that businesses often believe that building a brand is a once and done thing and should happen overnight. Quite the opposite. Building a strong brand is a continual process.

Your brand is your promise to your customers regarding what you will deliver. It is what you stand for including the quality of your products and services, customer service, the shopping or service experience you offer and your beliefs and organizational culture. Your brand is important because people align themselves with brands they respect and trust.

1. Know where your brand is right now. At least once a year, gather all of your marketing materials and review them. This includes your website, print materials, advertisements, presentations, proposals, sales letters and emails. You also should consider your profiles in social media, blogs and other postings. Is your marketing message consistent and integrated into all of your marketing pieces? Do you continue your message in your social media communication? Can someone tell by looking at all of your marketing tools that they represent the same company?
2. Develop an annual marketing communication plan. This step is critical if you want to present a consistent brand while staying on budget. Your company goals should drive your marketing efforts. Once you have established your goals for the year, confirm that your marketing message and goals are aligned. Develop targeted messages for each audience you want to reach. Establish goals, quantifiable objectives, and tactics with timelines and a person assigned to each for accountability. Understand how to best reach each audience and use these communication channels.
3. Implementation. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of your company and let your marketing efforts slide. Resist the temptation to put your marketing efforts on the back burner. If you find yourself skipping an issue of your newsletter or blog, try scheduling time on your calendar for these tasks. Treat this time as you would any other appointment. If necessary, outsource projects to stay on track.