By LeeAnn Brook
President, Brook Design Group

In recent issues of Shop Owner magazine, we’ve covered the value of having a brand (July/August 2011 issue) and how to build a brand (November/December 2011 issue) — two key factors in the success of a growing business. Now that you understand the value of developing a brand and have created some of your first marketing materials, it’s back to work, right? Wrong!

One of the biggest mistakes I see businesses make, is that after they’ve created a logo, website, brochure and ad campaign, they haven’t developed a coherent plan to implement the effective use of these materials. They feel that the basic things have been done, and that they will work on their own. Well, yes…and no.

The great thing about a strong brand is that it works very hard in portraying exactly who you are and what your unique offer is. Ideally, when customers quickly see your logo, they should get a quick take on who you are as a business. So, yes, a logo is a real workhorse. But it does not work by itself. Designed well into your marketing materials, it should complement your ­message.

But looking good is not all it takes. Being visible on a regular basis is key to the effective use of your hard-earned marketing dollars. Like Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Too often, businesses don’t show up on a consistent basis. One of the most effective things to invest your time in is an actual Marketing Strategies Plan ­outlining your goals, ­objectives and specific strategies to obtain those goals. ­Marketing ­gobbledygook talk? See the example I’ve provided in the sidebar at the end of the article (and a free plan!):

The plan outlines just one goal, and one objective, but you can have as many as you want. Just make sure that you have the time to implement all that you create. Prepare a dedicated marketing calendar that lists the specific dates that you will accomplish each task above. Even the best plans fail without specifics.

Integrated Campaign Strategy
Notice how the strategies in the plan relate to each other. An ­integrated strategy that has one campaign leveraging on another builds interest and ­effectiveness. In other words, first someone may see a brief post you made on ­Facebook about preparing your car for summer travel. The article then links to your blog where they could read the entire story. They become curious, and check out the rest of your website, ­realizing that they had seen your ads in the newspaper about your “car care for women” workshops coming up. They see the listed workshops and sign up. And guess what? Hopefully, they are back on Facebook making a post on what a great job you did helping them at the workshop. What goes around comes around. Get it?

Make sure to complete the circle using all of the marketing materials and media that you have identified for your business for the year. Don’t rely on people finding your website, just because you put one up. A good ­advertising ­practice is using a mix of media, along with leveraging your relationships. So the next time you donate a gift certificate for $100 worth of your services to a local charity, make sure it has your website on it. (Yes, ­community ­involvement is one way to garner positive recognition in a very big way.)

Last, be pro-active. No one is as ­passionate about your business as you are, so be your own steward. This doesn’t mean that you have to go back and learn how to build your own ­website, but just make sure that your web design team knows your business’ goals and objectives, inside and out. (Who knows, the programmer for your website could be a woman!)

LeeAnn Brook is president of Brook Design Group in Nevada City, CA, and has run a successful design and marketing firm for more than 35 years, specializing in branding campaigns. Visit www.brookdesign.com.

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Reliable Auto Service 2012 Marketing Strategies Plan

Goal: To increase sales in 2012 by 20%

Objectives: Market to women, our primary customer

Strategy: Utilize marketing materials developed in 2011, and implement as follows:

• Social media: Women statistically are huge users of social media (Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, etc.). Develop posts based on ad campaign below, on a weekly basis.

• Ads: Create an ad campaign that specifically addresses women, i.e., “Knowledge is Power,” and become known as the “approachable car expert for women.”

• Outreach: Hold monthly workshops on knowing your engine, how to do weather-related checkpoints, etc.