News + Notes on Branding
You feel like you're doing well, but how do you know you're headed down the right path?
Keep track of how you're doing. Understanding when and if you are successful is a critical step. In fact, there are a number of statistics that you could (and should) track on an ongoing basis to see if your brand marketing efforts are working. Are sales going up? Are the number of leads, phone calls, or e-mails to your company going up? Is store traffic going up? Is customer retention or the percentage of repeat customers going up? If any of these are going down, it could be your brand strategy that is failing, or it also could be the way you're implementing your sales and marketing tactics.
How can you tell the difference? When you're devising a marketing and branding plan, make sure you know what kind of behavior you're trying to influence. If you're trying to increase customer lead rates and at the same time increase customer retention, make sure there are individual tactics used to meet each of these goals. Then track your success to see if they're working or not.
Survey, interview, or focus group your customer base after your campaign has been rolling along. See what they think about your changes and if those changes caused them to change their behavior. Typically, a combination of bottom-line numbers and research feedback will give you the input you need to know.
Example: Flag Hill Winery and Distillery developed their first spirit — a vodka made from apples — a couple of years ago. They decided to go with an unexpected product name to set it apart from competitors while giving it local appeal. They called it "General John Stark Vodka", after the New Hampshire revolutionary war general whose biggest claim to fame is his quote that became the official New Hampshire state motto "Live Free or Die." They also added the slogan "The Spirit of New Hampshire" to the product to emphasize the fact that it was the first-ever spirit made in New Hampshire. Set at a premium price, the product was the most successful sales launch of any spirit ever sold through the New Hampshire state-run liquor stores. Based on this success, Flag Hill is starting to sell Stark Vodka throughout New England.
Having a better understanding of who you really are as a business by tracking what you do and collecting feedback from customers will be like a deep look in a mirror. This is who you are ... at least the image you're projecting to the world.
If this image isn't exactly the face you want to show publicly, then you have to look and act differently. Think of it just like a workout program. Realign. Set goals. Make progress.
Change is never easy, but it's good for you. In fact, it may make all the difference for your future success.