Thursday, October 28, 2010

Marketing Must Haves

Regardless of size or even budget, there are key marketing items that every business, big or small, needs. Below are the basic marketing items that can help build your company’s brand.

The Essentials

Strategy. Throwing marketing against the wall to see what sticks wastes both time and money. The rest of the marketing essentials fall into place once you have a strategy set.



Logo. A professional logo for print and online usage as well as black and white executions are the building blocks of your company’s brand identity.



Website. When prospective clients are looking for a product or service, their first step is usually Google. A well-designed and easy to navigate website can be developed on any budget.



E-blast template. More communication is done via e-mail than ever before. Make sure your company is not left behind with the typewriter and design a template that incorporates your logo and branding.



Business cards. An old school favorite that still has impact, this is truly an essential marketing item for in-person networking that shouldn’t be left to a fly-by-night printer/designer.



As with any list, there are going to be many of you who feel I missed an “obvious” essential (leave your thoughts in the comments section).

Marketing is a sum of its pieces and what is essential to one company might be an extra to another. CMA works with all of our clients to put together a customized marketing strategy for their unique needs.

Are you ready to put together your “essential” marketing pieces? Give us a call.

Jeffrey E. Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Humanizing Your Brand With Social Media

More and more businesses are breaking into the world of social media and are utilizing this medium as a way to promote their brand and products and services. Fully delving into social media and capitalizing on the world of two-way communication can be rewarding for any business, if done effectively.

Having a thought leader from your company act as the social media liaison truly helps humanize your brand. Customers and prospective customers will be more comfortable sharing feedback about your company and its products and services knowing they are speaking directly to someone from the company. Consider these tips for humanizing your brand with social media.

Be open. Since you are trying to create a comfortable atmosphere that will encourage participation and feedback, make sure you share information about yourself with your audience. The more they know about you, the more willing they will be to provide their thoughts on your brand and its products and services.

Provide stimulating content. When participating in any form of social media outlet, make sure the content is stimulating and valuable. Your goal is to effectively serve your customers and engage prospective customers. Providing content that won’t help them in any way will lead you further away from obtaining and keeping their business.

Keep readers engaged. Respond to comments and create an ongoing dialogue. Post as frequently as possible.

Need help charting a social media course for your business? E-mail us today.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com