ANTenna Blog -- Business & E-Business

Cost cutting is the top priority for most business owners right now. Yet, extracting maximum value from efforts is just as important as slashing expenses. That's particularly true with marketing efforts that bring in new business and keep your business brand fresh in customer's minds.

Cultivating your company brand is crucial to the long-term viability of your business. It drives awareness, creates innate value (that can be quantified in goodwill if you choose to cash out), and makes your products and services distinct from the competition. Recently, the managing partner of the MadisonWest Agency, Patricia DeAngelis, offered 5 tips (including not cutting loose your agency) to help growing companies boost their brand in tough financial times.

1. Define Your Objective -- When creating a campaign, you must be clear about it's purpose, objective, and goals while setting expectations and developing calls to action. Clear goals will help determine the most effective deliverable.
2. Know Your Audience -- Don't make assumptions about who your customer is now based on who they were in the past. Times change, so do people and their priorities, so select targeted channels accordingly.
3. Refine Your Message Architecture -- Many Web sites are cluttered with information resulting in sensory overload for the visitor. Too much information is confusing and dilutes a company's ability to direct the reader. Your brand will benefit from your ability to direct the visitors experience while educating them and inspiring them to take action.
4. Be Brand Consistent -- All marketing and communications including Web sites, brochures, mailers, and other collateral must convey a consistent identity and design. A uniformed look and feel will build brand awareness, and not confuse the perspective audience.
5. Keep Your Customers Close, And Your Agency Closer -- It may seem financially counterintuitive to keep your agency engaged, however, bringing them up to speed on initiatives, you tried to do without them and the current state of marketing efforts wastes time and money. The more involved your marketing agency is in your day-to-day communications planning, the more they will be able to recommend relevant initiatives, which will result in more effective and cost-efficient communications.

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