Marketing and Business Strategy Advice For Women Business Owners from NAWBO

Q: The terms and phrases used in branding confuse me. Help - what do they all mean? 

In my 25 years as a brander and a marketer, I have seen a lot of confusion around what the various elements of branding and marketing mean. So, don't worry - you're far from alone!

As we kick off this new column on branding, it's my hope to clear up a lot of confusion as we talk about many different aspects of brands. I want to help you unleash the power of branding and to learn how to use that power to advance both your business and your career. But first, to answer your question, here's my take on the most common branding terms.

Philanthropic marketing is essentially a win-win-win-win 

Doing good things for society makes people feel good, and when a philanthropic spirit is incorporated into a company's marketing strategy, it's no different - owners feel good about being generous corporate citizens, employees have a sense of pride, customers feel good about doing business with companies that give back, charities see the donation tally grow and are able to increase awareness, and the beneficiaries of causes get what they need.

Philanthropic marketing means getting involved as a supporter, partner, sponsor or through planned giving. It's what we like to call feel-good marketing. When it's integrated into your "big" plan, it can do good things for revenues, but only if done right.

Here are a few things to remember when choosing the right philanthropic partnership:

Analyzing social media marketing efforts is crucial for businesses 

It’s difficult to track direct sales from social media  marketing efforts, but there are applications like Hootsuite and even Google Analytics that make things  easier. Marketers are commonly asked about ROI as it pertains to social media  marketing investment. It seems like assessing ROI should be easy, but it isn’t  always so; at least, not as easy as it is with a printed postcard campaign.

The following five steps, however, can help draw a bead on whether or not all those social media marketing dollars are driving actual paying customers to a business.

A brand doesn’t just consist of a logo and specific design elements. What defines a brand is the way customers perceive your business 

On the same token, a brand that is vague, bland, and unmemorable means that your customers will perceive your business in the same way. Keep in mind, too, that a brand does not have to be related to a specific company. As a business woman, you can create a personal brand, one that will accurately portray your defined image to potential employers or clients. You can then incorporate this personal brand onto your personal business cards, letterhead, and more.

12 Ways to Develop Brand Power! 

There’s man-power, girl-power, flower-power, horse-power, higher-power, nuclear-power.

Now there’s... BRAND POWER? Are you building it?

No matter what website, blog or social media site you go to in the marketing, business , advertising and sales space, branding and personal branding are going to come up! Must be important then right? It is, very. Don’t get tired of it, sick of it or bored with it because it will make the difference in your personal and business success.

We’ve gone from the dawning of the age of Aquarius to the dawning of the age of Brand-Poweredness!