Have you ever received a written “thank you” note? It could have been from an employer telling you how great you did on a special project, or from your favorite client about the team that worked on a new building, ad campaign, or even a thank you for the referral you gave to them.
Referrals and testimonials are often forgotten ways to generate a substantial amount of potential business. It’s time to rediscover the possibilities.
Years ago, the predominant form of business communication was the formal business letter. The texture and color of the paper, the appeal of the logo, and the reverence given to content and grammar was essential. Everything had to be just perfect; two spaces here, three returns there, and never closer than a half inch from the bottom. Formal business correspondence had VERY specific rules and etiquette, including who typed the letter. A poorly written letter and improperly addressed envelope was a direct reflection on you and your company, also known as your brand.
Social media marketing and communications is a phenomenal opportunity to influence customers, increase traffic to your website, and boost your brand awareness. If you’re working there’s a good chance you have a LinkedIn profile but do you use it beyond a personal networking tool?
LinkedIn is a powerful social network and resource with a reader reach that hasn’t fully reached its potential. Thousands of people can be reached every second of the day. Did you know a single post on your company page shared by at least one employee can be seen by 4 times more people than your webpage or Twitter or Facebook? And all those “likes” and “shares” of posts you click have the potential to reach a million eyeballs (your connections, their connections, and so on).
Having a company website is no longer a question of if you should, but rather an imperative—you must have a website. The Internet is the first place everyone searches to see if you’re ‘real’ to find a telephone number, even to see if your company personality is a fit for them. Yes, your firm is judged by your website. It is an extension of your identity (or brand), and supports your company’s message. Furthermore, a website should be more than a quick response to the directive “Let’s just get this thing done so people can find us.” It’s a commonly heard comment from companies, and it’s a dangerous approach. A website is much more than staking your claim on the internet. It is often your first impression to potential clients, customers, and employees. Make it the best it can be.
Once you have created your key message and understand that company identity can be defined by absolutely everything in a company, creating the collateral to support both of these should be pretty easy right? Well…”easy” isn’t the best word to choose. When a client says to me, “I need a mailer” or “I want a company brochure”, the first question I ask is Why? What is it that you are trying to accomplish?
When clients define “identity”, their first response is often “it is what the company looks like; the logo and the colors we use.” Some include the professional service they sell and the manner in which they sell it. Yes, Identity is all of this . . . and more. Much more.
Identity is everything about your business and the company you manage: from your message, to your market, to your logo, to your employees, to your proposals, to your website, to your social connections . . . See what’s happening here? Identity is the all-encompassing sphere that is you and your business. Even your internal policies and procedures take part in reinforcing your identity. If your identity is muddy, it’s likely that more than just your logo is outdated.