Monday Thought Starter on April 3, 2017

Happy Monday everybody, Jordan Trask here of PreFocus – and that’s exactly what I help you do, prefocus before spending any money on your brand.. Now, I wanted to start this week off right as I’ve taken a little bit of time off from my podcast. I’ve been meeting with some really insightful people that take branding to another level. Whether it’s implementing your strategy, your voice, or your brand persona internally in order to develop a strong culture that people are attracted to and intrigued by – or the cognitive aspect where you’re transitioning branding into an advertising campaign or marketing strategy (online or offline).

As I’m putting the next podcast together, I wanted to begin a Monday thought starter to inspire a couple businesses that aren’t sure where to begin with their marketing efforts. I was a part of a marketing workshop for the Chamber of Commerce in Glendale, AZ last week and we really went down the entire process of developing a marketing strategy. We discussed planning it out and what it really looks like in real time. We talked about how many moving pieces are actually involved and how messaging can really leverage consumer engagement and even improve conversion rates.

But when it comes to small business, some don’t have that big budget that allows them to expand their marketing and branding into different channels and be able to measure their return adequately. This also hinders them from expanding the successes they’ve had into other areas, whether that be on or offline. So, I just wanted to try to just inspire some of you this week if you’re not really sure where to begin.

I challenge you to use social media (or other platforms like your onsite blog) to harness your value, originality, and authenticity as a brand, company or small business. You know, take pictures of your people. Try showing your happy customers and the enjoyable experience they’re partaking in. Show your vehicles or showcase your facilities and anything else that’s easy to capture and promote on your own. These things should be easy to discuss because it’s specifically what makes you authentically you.

Don’t ever be afraid to take things to the next level by explaining the differentiation of your services or products. What makes you different? What makes you more valuable or more interesting to your target audience. How can you stand out amongst your competition? Take some time to really identify and define your ideal target audience and figure out who or what resonates with them the most. These are all small things that you can do internally with a small team or as a CEO and president of your company.

Don’t be afraid to take pictures, even if they’re selfies. Highlight your people enjoying what they do and do your best to capture the passion they relay. When companies convey happy employees that love providing the branded value, they’re essentially establishing trust with consumers. That’s the easiest way to get on social media and really draw people to your brand. They’re going to want to become a part of the culture you’re establishing. The best part about it is it’s free, you can do it yourself. You can type an authentic message that has something to do with a certain situation that your audience can relate to. This creates a trustworthy perception that makes your company more believable.

As always, I endorse a prefocus as purpose means everything in marketing. I urge you to not invest in wasteful initiatives and activities that really draw people away from the validity of your brand.