Technology has made it easy to see just how well your business branding efforts are trotting long. Or so you may think. The reality lies in the fact that metrics cannot tell the whole story. Neither can reviews posted online or the bottom line on your P & L from the accountant.
Obviously if you Google your business and don’t find a serious number of organic hits, such as news, feature articles or pressers on your brand, you know you are missing out on the great opportunity that is content production. If your product or service is not enthusiastically reviewed in a positive light across social media and review sites, or the net profit numbers are not laid down on a predictable ascending track then of course, these are bright flashing signals urging you to take action.
A savvy business owner should review all three factors like a hawk searching for its next meal. But measuring the success of branding and marketing is much more than a quick print out of numbers from an Excel screen and a weekly management meeting.
Branding is about building loyalty and trust in your business product or service. Markets change. People change. Think of your business as a train that is pulled by a steam engine on a track. The route or track you choose will determine the destination. How you get there and how long the trip takes will be determined by how you stoke the fire.
You can pull down the window in the corridor of the carriage and stick your head out to see the engine steadily pulling the long train that is your business along behind it as it winds uphill. But where is the fuel for this engine? Who is stoking it?
That most necessary tender or wagon, that the locomotive pulls, must be kept full of coal and/or water to power the entire train and keep it moving at a good pace. Steadily climbing up the sales hill to reach the top of the pass. The fuel source is your content producer. The coupling between each carriage is your social media, eblasts and newsletters.
What stations does your train stop at and who is standing on the platform. Do they buy a ticket and come aboard, or do they stand aside reading the paper (probably full of information and education from other businesses) and wait for the next train, your competition?
The prospective passengers are not always the same people. People retire, move, age in and out of the need or desire to take the train.
You can be sure that folks will be keen to board the train that arrives on time and delivers the result they expect, that of reaching their chosen destination in good time and in good order. Excellent customer service and a great product or service is a must have for both the journey and the end result.
But the train will only reach its destination if you keep feeding the engine.
Turn your wheels and visit Nikki Alvin-Smith, Horse in a Kilt Media Inc., to learn more about how to resource her professional grade marketing skills as a content writer, equestrian blogger, columnist, and marketing specialist. As a British/American professional Grand Prix competitor/coach/clinician she brings a unique experience/angles and thought leadership/authority to her wordsmith wizardry.
Toot! Toot!
About Nikki:
Internationally published writer, content creator, PR/Marketing specialist, photographer and equestrian Nikki Alvin-Smith offers “Engaging Content that Engages Riders to Read,” with unique and fresh material for your horse or pet related business, magazine, website, newsletter, blog and email blast sales machine. Her portfolio of works is extensive and includes equestrian and pet features that have been published worldwide in over 230 different magazine titles. Her clients include equestrian and “B” list movie celebrities for whom she regularly ghostwrites and provides PR services; manufacturers of equine and pet related medical devices, feedstuffs, supplements, grooming supplies, fencing and barn equipment, horse transport, horse structures and professional equine service providers; profit and non-profit initiatives and organizations; and non-equestrian related businesses/publications in the pet industry, investment, real estate and international travel and rural lifestyle.
Nikki Alvin-Smith is a British international level Grand Prix dressage competitor/trainer/coach/clinician. Together with her husband Paul, who is also a Grand Prix dressage rider, Nikki operates Willowview Hill Farm in the Catskill Mountains of New York; a full service horse training facility. The duo provide ‘team’ clinician services to clients worldwide to riders of all levels and many riding disciplines.
Contact: Nikki Alvin-Smith: Content Writer; PR/Marketing Specialist
Email: Nikki@NikkiAlvinSmithStudio.com
Website: NikkiAlvinSmithStudio.com
Cell: 607 434 4470