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Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Time: 12-1 p.m. MT

Key takeaways from this presentation will include:

• How marketing automation grows your business
• Actionable insights to implement in your social media plan
• Branding strategies to set your message apart

We look forward to connecting with local leaders such as yourself and presenting ideas on making your organization famous.

Pro Tip: Bring your entourage, aka colleagues and friends, for the webinar.

About the Webolutions Webinar Series

Webolutions is proud to present monthly webinars to help visionary organizations and marketers thrive. Whether you are new to digital marketing or are a seasoned veteran, these presentations will provide valuable insights into how to become more successful.

Presenter

Mike Hanbery, MBA, Webolutions Director of Marketing and Business Development

A 25-year marketing industry veteran, Mike has assumed active leadership roles at Webolutions since 2010. Achievements include overseeing the digital marketing team and contributing to the marketing success of many of the more than 2,000 websites Webolutions has launched since 1994. Mike is a results-oriented data hound experienced in content development, SEO, social media, marketing automation, and brand differentiation. Certifications include social media, inbound marketing, and local search marketing. Mike’s mom thinks he is witty and insightful. She might be correct, so join us!

The post Webolutions Webinar: Digital Marketing Strategies to Make Your Organization Famous appeared first on Webolutions Digital Marketing Agency.

The group was split into two small groups, selected to maximize diversity of perspective.

One question at which both groups arrived organically was, Can a small or medium-sized business have a “brand?”

Moderators John Vachalek, Webolutions Founder and CEO, and John Brackney, Webolutions Director of Public Policy and Community Engagement, defined a brand as a memory bank of associations. A successful brand, then, is a memory bank of positive associations between what a company stands for and moments of happiness in people’s lives.

Big Company Branding Discussed

Big companies were used as examples to prompt the discussion. These included Chic-fil-A’s overtly fundamentalist Christian mission statement and conduct, Starbucks Coffee’s advocacy for refugees, Southwest Airlines commitment to friendliness and “love.” Disconnects at this level were also discussed, including United Airlines’ recent struggles, and having to fight one’s way through a credit card pitch at Sears for the privilege of purchasing a pair of socks.

Attendee Branding Examples

Parallels were immediately drawn from first-person experiences of the companies and organizations represented by the attending executives. One executive spoke about how she had positioned her brand so far into a luxury category that profitability suffered from loss of available lower-margin but higher-volume business, and repositioning became necessary. Another offered his company had “lost its way,” from focusing on a high-demand and heavily profitable niche. When market developments forced a downward turn within that niche, he tried to pivot into other sectors, only then learning his brand was too weak within them to acquire market share.

“It’s not about cutting through the noise,” said one attendee, “it’s about reaching the right people.” Valor Christian school and Cherry Hills Country Club were mentioned as local organizations with clear brand identity. “They don’t try to be for everyone, but you know who they are, and if they’re for you, you know it.” An attorney noted that her professional appearance—wardrobe, voice, approach, methodology–was a personal brand choice, borne of how she sees herself, and that it had helped her define her market. She now has a successful practice, retaining clients who dress, speak, act, and see the world as she does.

So, What About Small Company Branding?

Can a small business have a brand? What about a brand community? Both groups agreed it is essential to purposefully embody what the business or organization stands for. This is especially true for those whose marketing efforts must be targeted locally, or with specialized offerings. Perhaps even more so when a business’s identity is an extension or embodiment of an owner’s personal belief system.

Specific takeaways included:

• Authenticity in marketing is not a choice. Social media and ubiquitous access to all information gives the buyer a clear picture of who you are, and the degree to which your actions are congruent with your statements.
• Good brands attract the right people, rather than trying to reach all people.
• Constant, purposeful evolution is essential. Executives must make continuous brand development a high priority.
• A positive, well-defined brand identity attracts the right people in every facet of business. Happy and engaged employees generate happy and engaged customers.
• The world, and the customer, is constantly changing. Identify what your brand stands for. Pursue that goal. Tell that story. Customers who share your passion and values will come.

Lunch was catered by Tony’s Market. Attending were:

John Brackney – Facilitator
Chris Coberly
Heidi Culbertson
Kathleen Fortenberry
Bob Golden
Shiloh Kelly
Sue Kenfield
Dr. Lee Weisbard, DDS
Elizabeth Lewis
Michelle Lyng
Mike Maloney
Ishmail Nassardeen-Buckley
Barb Nasser
Ellen Penrod
Ashlie Reynoso
Steve Roper
Neal Rosner
Rick Roundy
Peter Sherwin
Becky Takeda-Tinker
Hilary Taylor
John Vachalek – Facilitator
Jon West
Robin Whitelaw

The post Can a Small Business Have a Brand? Executive Roundtable Recap appeared first on Webolutions Digital Marketing Agency.

Branding Strategy

As a full-service Denver Digital Marketing Agency, Webolutions frequently works with clients to review all of the different ways their brand connects with clients, and find ways to turn those touch points into memorable experiences.

When does the experience of your brand begin? If you own a restaurant, it would be easy to say the experience of your establishment begins when your guests open the front door and ends when they pay their check. In the current marketplace, it’s important to think bigger than that to set yourself apart from all of the other choice that are available today.

A vacation to a Disney theme park is a high point in an experience that often has been going on for years before a family arrives at their destination. Disney fans are part of an ongoing Disney experience thanks to the movies, retail stores, live performances, TV commercials and hundreds of other touch points that continue to tell the story.

You don’t have to have the marketing budget of a Disney-sized organization to start to make a bigger impact on your clients.  There are a number of easy things you can implement to broaden the experience people have with your brand.

Here are some ways to get started:

Make follow up calls. When is the last time you followed up with a recent client to see how they are doing? And I am not talking about a routine survey that everyone gets. Block out some time to send a birthday card or call and ask the question “How are things going?” Extra effort like this is often all it takes to stand out from your competition. Communicating that you value your clients is a simple way to create a bond that a 10% discount from a competitor will never break.

Improve business development with eNewsletters. Webolutions generates a great deal of new business from our ongoing eNewsletter. It may take a few years for a subscriber to get to point that they need our services, but when they do, the eNewsletter is often key factor in prompting them to call.

Create hashtags for events & seminars. If you have an event or a seminar/webinar, create a hashtag and encourage everyone to use it in their social media posts. This allows attendees to connect with each other and also creates a crowd-sourced record of event highlights. The annual South by Southwest conferences in Austin, Texas uses the hashtag #SXSW and it is active year-round, for musicians, filmmakers and tech pros on Twitter.

Turn the shipping department into the gift department. If your business involves sending physical goods through the mail, what can you do to make receiving your stuff a great experience? Turn your package into a gift. Include a handwritten thank you note next to each client’s order. Include a postcard that explains more about the design and history of items that have been purchased. Add a business card with the address of your social media site of choice and encourage your new customer to leave a review or share a photo of their fantastic new purchase with their friends.

If you would like to brainstorm ways to create more impactful experiences to build your brand, please give us a call at 303-300-2640.

What are you doing to make the experience of your brand stand out from the marketplace? Share your successes in the comments.

The post Broaden Your Brand Experience appeared first on Webolutions Digital Marketing Agency.