It’s the question I always get as a Marketing Agent. And frankly, it’s one a client should always ask. “When will my new brand start producing a return on investment?”
The short answer is…as soon as you put it out there.
The long answer (rather, the ‘how’) provides a better explanation.
Here are five different ways your brand can turn meetings into money.
ATTRACTION: One of the toughest jobs in marketing is reaching the right audience with the right message. We’ve all no doubt launched [what we thought were] incredible, creative campaigns, only to find that either they didn’t reach the intended prospect—or the message just didn’t resonate. If you’ve established and communicated a message that is clearly different and meaningful to your ideal customer, your brand will actually ATTRACT the RIGHT customers. Everything about your photo, branding images, tagline, messaging, call to action, etc. should clearly communicate who you help—and why. When you can do this, you eliminate much of the waste in marketing, thus not only making more money with the right targets, but saving money with the wrong ones. Here’s the truth about awareness in marketing.
“You don’t just need people to know you exist. You need the RIGHT people to know WHY you exist”.
COMPETITION: The world is full of competitors, in every field. Many of your competitors will be worthy. Some will not. But the one with the strongest brand often wins. If your brand and message is different and concise, you’ll begin the 100 yard dash at least 50 yards ahead of any competitor. In fact, if you’ve done a good job with your marketing, your brand actually walks in the room before you do, which brings me to my next point.
“Your brand actually walks in the room before you do.”
ARRIVAL: This goes back to the idea of ‘cold calling’. I don’t believe in it (hang tight, sales geeks—explanation coming). That doesn’t mean that you should never approach someone you don’t know. It simply means that you should never walk into a room where they don’t know YOU. There are way too many creative, clever and yes, even downright simple marketing tools available today to get you and your message in front of prospects before you walk in the room. Never arrive unannounced. And when you can get a current customer to do the announcement for you, those meetings turn into money even faster.
AUTHORITY: When your brand is strong, you become a sought after AUTHORITY. People want to work with you. In fact, they can’t imagine not working with you. Chances are, before the very first meeting with you, they’ve already told at least five people about the upcoming meeting. And after the meeting (if your brand is authentic), they’ll tell ten more how excited they are to be working with you. It’s because the message that attracted them to you in the first place has now been verified by your expertise and authenticity.
INVITATION: You can’t expect guests at your party without sending out invitations. Put your message out there. Work with an expert to help you determine who your ideal customer is and where they spend their time. Then put your message in front of them consistently, concisely and helpfully. This is the part where they learn about you before you walk into the room.
Now, back to the short answer. When will your new brand start to pay dividends? Now. Today. And with every ideal customer who is exposed to you and your message. It starts with, “great new photos”, “I didn’t realize you were [insert your personal tagline]”, “I see you everywhere these days”. The truth is, they don’t see you everywhere. They just see a much more defined, memorable YOU. You’ll no doubt begin to hear those and many other comments, both direct and subtle, to let you know your brand is resonating. And that, my friends, turns meetings into money.