How to “Brand” Your Company

Many small to medium business owners ask me how to get their “brand” “out there more.” There is no single trick or formula that applies to every business, because different markets and demographics respond in different ways. Trends are important factors; so is the economy. When focusing on your brand marketing, you must be open to new things, and expect a learning curve to overcome. The point is: be flexible.

You “brand” your company by having your logo and “mission statement” in as many channels as possible. Linked In, Facebook, your website, Youtube (if you are going to do lots of video, which I recommend), postcards, stationery, etc. The process of “branding” is nothing more than “stamping” your logo and mission statement on everything that you do, much like ranchers do with their livestock. Think of it this way: if a rancher branded his livestock, and then sold them off to dozens of other ranchers, those other ranchers will think about the first rancher that they got the livestock from. It would serve as a continual visual reminder of where the livestock came from.

Suppose the other ranchers took some of the livestock that they bought to an auction where thousands of people would be viewing them for a possible purchase. Take into consideration that a portion of those people will see the brand on the cattle, and may look up that brand right there with their mobile device (iphone, android, iPad, etc) to learn more about the original livestock owner so they can find out what their practices for raising livestock are. So, they Google the brand, to help determine the true value of the livestock and help them make a more informed decision. In the search results, they not only see a listing for the original rancher’s website, but also his Facebook page, a YouTube channel that has videos about his livestock and the facilities used, a LinkedIn profile for the ranch owner, and if he’s spent some money on marketing, perhaps a few news releases or blog posts about cattle sales and raising livestock. This type of branding coverage is not just impressive and smart, but it is quickly becoming the norm for business owners that are serious about marketing online—having a website is not enough anymore.

The larger the venue that your printed and/or digital materials appear in…the more people that see it, and the more influence your “brand” has for generating leads for your company.

Obviously, this shouldn’t be your primary way for coming up with new leads and sales, because there’s no way to track the impact it generates. It does, however, mean that when you meet new potential clients, there is a better chance they’ll say, “Yeah, I’ve heard of you guys,” or, “I’ve seen your logo a few times.” It’s called brand recognition, and it’s a powerful way to subliminally get your name (or your company name) in front of an audience of people that will probably never visit your website or find you in a search result.

Now, the trick with this is if you sell a service and not an actual tangible product. It’s easier to establish the brand for a company when the logo and company information / graphics is on every product that they sell. So, as a company that offers a service just like you do, you have to get creative in how you get your information out there.

Where we need to start with you is to get you in all of the media channels that you should be in without saying. In other words, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Linked In is where you want to start, because everyone is already using those social media and advertising channels.

You “brand” your company by having your logo and “mission statement” in as many channels as possible. Linked In, Facebook, your website, Youtube (if you are going to do lots of video, which I recommend), postcards, stationery, advertisements, billboards, etc. The process of “branding” is nothing more than “stamping” your logo on everything that you do, much like ranchers do with his livestock. Think of it this way: if a rancher branded his livestock, and then sold them off to hundreds of other ranchers, those other ranchers will think about the first rancher that he got his livestock from. It would serve as a continual visual reminder of where the livestock came from.

Suppose the second rancher took some of the livestock that he brought to a rodeo where thousands of people would be admiring them for a possible purchase. Take into consideration that a portion of those people will see the branding logo on the cattle, and look up that brand right there with their mobile device (iphone, android, iPad, etc) to learn more about the original livestock owner so they can find out what their practices are for raising livestock. This could help determine the true value of the livestock and help them make a more informed decision. The larger the venue that your printed and/or digital materials appear in…the more people that see it, and the more influence your “brand” has for generating leads for your company.

Obviously, this shouldn’t be your primary way for coming up with new leads and sales, because there’s no way to track the impact it generates. It does, however, mean that when you meet new potential clients, there is a better chance they’ll say, “Yeah, I’ve heard of you guys,” or, “I’ve seen your logo a few times.” It’s called “brand recognition,” and it’s a powerful way to subliminally get your name (or your company name) in front of an audience of people that will probably never visit your website or find you in a search result.

Now, the trick with this is if you sell a service and not an actual tangible product. It’s easier to establish the brand for a company when the logo and company information & graphics is on every product that they sell. So, as a company that offers a service just like you do, you have to get creative in how you get your information out there.

If you are just getting started to market your brand, then you need to start with the most popular media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. It’s in the process of setting up these channels that you may have a good idea about how to market your brand in a special way that your competitors may not have discovered yet.