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Getting new customers is essential to the growth and profitability of any business. You can create customer personas that accurately reflect your ideal client by having a thorough understanding of the needs, pain points, and interests of your target audience. After gathering this data, you can utilize it to establish marketing strategies that are specifically aimed at your ideal client, enhance customer support, and provide goods and services that will appeal to them.
This is the final episode of our three-part series on Branding. In episode 6, we discussed the impact of the Customer Experience on building trust and increasing sales. Then in episode 7, we explored the importance of the Customer Journey. I encourage you to listen to those episodes as they are a critical part of how to solve the customer acquisition puzzle.
A fictitious representation of your ideal customer is called a customer persona. Although it is based on your experience, study, and data analysis, it is not based on a real person. A customer persona may be generated by using actual consumer information, such as age, gender, education, income, occupation, hobbies, pain points, and habits.
Customer Persona Benefits
Improved Understanding of Your Target AudienceIncreased PersonalizationBetter Customer SegmentationImproved Decision-Making and Resource AllocationShow Notes
Visit the Show Notes for this episode on our website for more information, templates, and resources (https://theknowledgecatalyst.com) -
As a small business owner, do you struggle with the financial side of the business? Managing your financials can be a challenge for a number of reasons. For example, are you using an accounting system, do customers pay you slowly, or does your record keeping need improvement. Cash flow and financial management is the lifeblood of any business. If some of these issues sound familiar, stay tuned, your business transformation begins now.
Managing your cash flow and finances is crucial for the success of your business. Without proper financial management, even a profitable business can run into difficulties. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business and It's essential that you're able to meet your financial obligations, pay your bills, and invest in the growth of your business.
One of the first things to understand about cash flow is the difference between profit and cash flow. Profit is the money left over after all your expenses have been paid, while cash flow is the actual cash coming in and going out of your business. Even if your business is profitable, it doesn't mean you have positive cashflow.
When it comes to financial management, one of the most important things to do is to keep accurate financial records. This means keeping track of your income and expenses by using an accounting system. This will help you to identify any financial problems early on and to take corrective action before they get out of control. Here are few tools you can use to manage your finances and cash flow:
1 . Accounting Software. Accounting software can help you to track income and expenses, create invoices, estimates, and generate financial reports.
2. Budgeting software. Budgeting software can help you to create and manage a budget. Budgets not only can be used to track your income and expenses, they can also provide insights into where your money is going and uncover opportunities to reduce costs.
3. Financial Dashboards. Financial dashboards can help small business owners to visualize their financial data rather than reading reports full of numbers.
the key takeaways in this episode are: Use an Accounting system to improve your recordkeeping. Create a budget to gain insights into where your money is going and look for opportunities to reduce costs. Use metrics such as financial ratios to manage your business. And finally, maintain a good relationship with your bank to get access to credit when needed. Cashflow and financial management are essential to your long-term success.
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As a small business owner, you might be wondering: What is Branding, and why is it so important? A strong brand identity is one of the most crucial components of any organization, whether large or small, retail or B2B. In increasingly competitive marketplaces, having a solid brand strategy gives you a significant competitive advantage over your direct competitors. But, technically, what branding your business mean? What impact does this have on a small firm like yours?
Building a strong brand identity as part of an overall marketing strategy takes time and effort. Your ideal customer or target audience will recognize your company more quickly if you have a branding strategy. A strong brand attracts more attention, and target customers tend to remember it. Without branding, you may miss opportunities to sell your products or services.
In this course, we discuss successful brands, what makes a good logo, how to create a mission statement, how to protect your brand, and the characteristics of a solid brand. This course contains ten video lectures, a 200-page book on branding, a branding checklist, and more.
If you are a small business, entrepreneur, or someone interested in learning about branding, sign up today. You can enroll in the course here. (thelearningctr.com)
What You Will Learn
- How to create a brand and what makes a brand successful
- How to build trust in the marketplace
- What makes a good logo
- Where to place a logo on your marketing materials to increase exposure
- How to manage your brand reputation
List of Resources
- Course: Introduction to Branding | Enroll Here (https://thelearningctr.com/courses/introduction-to-branding/)
- Other resources available in the course.
Episode Sponsored By | The Institute for Business Success (https://thelearningctr.com)
Related Episodes
- Customer Journey Maps: The Best Path From Awareness Thru Purchase To Increase Sales | https://theknowledgecatalyst.com/tkc/customer-journey-maps-the-path-sales/
- Customer Experience: Tips On How To Delight Your Customers To Improve Branding | https://theknowledgecatalyst.com/tkc/customer-experience-delight-customers/
Key Terms
Customer Base – Database or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system containing customer or prospect contact information.
Marketing Strategy – is a method that allows a company to focus its limited resources on the most promising chances for increased sales and a long-term competitive advantage.
Target Market – is a group of prospects within a company's serviceable available market to whom marketing efforts and resources are directed.
Target Audience - It is a specific group of consumers within a predetermined target market that have been identified as the recipients or targets of a specific advertisement or message.
Ideal Customer - It's a description of the type of consumer who will get the most out of your product and will give you the most value in return.
Buyer Persona - A buyer persona is a thorough depiction of a hypothetical individual who represents your target market. This character is made up, but it is based on extensive study on your current or target audience.
Customer Experience - Is the total of a customer's interactions with an organization during their relationship with that firm or brand. Listen to our podcast on this subject here. (See the link to this podcast in the Related Episodes section below.)
Customer Journey Map - Is a tool that helps marketers understand the set of interconnected experiences that customers want and require, whether it's accomplishing a task or navigating the end-to-end journey from prospect to loyal advocate. Listen to our podcast on this topic here. (See the link to this podcast in the Related Episodes section below.)
Customer Loyalty - depicts a continuing emotional relationship between you and your consumer, manifested by a customer's willingness to engage with and purchase from you over your competitors on a regular basis. Customer loyalty is a result of a pleasant experience with you, and it helps to build trust.
Did You Know
- Branding can account for as much as 30 to almost 50 percent of a company’s value.
- According to Accenture, 66 percent of consumers think that a company's culture and transparency entice them to buy from them, and 62 percent want companies to speak out about problems that they care about.
- Building trust is a key component of a great brand identity, with 81 percent of consumers citing trust as one of their top deciding criteria when making brand purchasing decisions.
- It can take up to 5-7 brand impressions for someone to remember your company.
- More than 72% of your customers will interact with your business via your website.
Benefits from Branding Your Business
- Good branding makes employees feel like part of the team. Employees who are proud to be associated with the business will be more engaged and motivated, which in turn helps attract new potential customers. Branded apparel, marketing materials, and business cards using the company's color palette will give your employees a visual identity, a sense of belonging, and connection with your mission statement. Branding also assists with finding your target audience and ideal customer. It is essential to consider the key elements of your branding early on which includes color schemes, core values, buyer personas, and a mission statement to get the best results. You will find that it will save you time and money in the long run.
- Branding helps you spend your marketing budget efficiently and improve the return on investment on your advertising campaign and marketing activity.
- Branding is it reinforces customer loyalty. Suppose you have a product that is popular among your customers. In that case, a brand that stands out will increase a person's likelihood of buying it again. Implement branding methods that will help you stay competitive and attract new customers. The most critical step in branding your small business is building a solid brand and reputation.
- A solid branding process involves research, development, and maintenance. It affects all aspects of a business's identity, including advertising, customer service, social responsibility, and reputation. Effective branding will help your business stand out among competitors. In addition to building awareness, branding will help you extend your product line and mix. With careful branding, you can build a positive perception of your company among consumers.
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- Facebook | https://facebook.com/schconyc
- Twitter | https://twitter.com/SCH360
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- Show notes, contact us | [email protected] | Include episode number
Please send your questions or comments to [email protected] -
A common challenge for most small businesses is how to attract new customers. Our guest today is Jason Wardrop, who is going to give us some ideas on how to market your business on a small budget.
If this show provided any value or knowledge insights, please consider buying us a cup of coffee. It would be appreciated and will help us to keep producing content to help you grow your business.
Topics Discussed
•How do you advertise your products to attract customers within limited budget
•How can you market your business on a limited budget
•What are examples of good marketing campaigns on a small budget
Key Terms
Customer Base – Database or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system containing customer or prospect contact information.
Marketing Strategy – is a method that allows a company to focus its limited resources on the most promising chances for increased sales and a long-term competitive advantage.
Target Market – is a group of prospects within a company's serviceable available market to whom marketing efforts and resources are directed.
Social Media Marketing – is the promotion of a product or service via the use of social media platforms and websites.
Email Marketing – is the act of sending an email with a commercial message to a group of people. Every email sent to a potential or current consumer might be considered email marketing in the broadest sense. It entails sending advertisements, soliciting business, or soliciting purchases or donations by email. Typically, email marketing tactics aim to accomplish one or more of three primary goals: loyalty, trust, or brand awareness.
Statistics
•Never be afraid to mash-up and re-promote previous content; chances are, a substantial portion of your audience has never seen it before, thus it will be fresh, 100 percent new content for them.
•Word of mouth is the most important element in 74 percent of consumers' purchasing decisions.
•When friends or family recommend a product or service, 77% of consumers are more likely to buy it.
•Referred consumers have a 37 percent greater customer retention rate, according to referral marketing statistics.
•Email is preferred by 73 percent of millennials when communicating with businesses.
Takeaways
•Begin by marketing to existing customers
•Use word-of-mouth advertising
•Create custom audiences on Facebook (Meta) to target the right potential customers
•Monitor your KPI’s and adjust your campaign accordingly
Resources
•Free Marketing Budget Template | https://bit.ly/3ukiI9L
•Free Course: Target Marketing: Techniques To Find New Customers | Email us for access
Knowledge Insights
Want to uncover more knowledge insights and expand your learning? Here are a few research articles/case studies that connect theory with practice in the marketplace. Note: These articles are highly technical (i.e., the research method, data collection, and data analysis sections). To receive the most benefit, focus on the introduction and the conclusions/findings.
•Marketing Budget: Towards An Effective Marketing Plan | https://bit.ly/3wuAc6b
•Low-Budget High-Impact Marketing Plan | https://bit.ly/3qu5NRo
•Cutting-Edge Technologies For Small Business and Innovation In The Era of COVID-19 Global Pandemic | https://bit.ly/3Dc4bBa
Contact, Join, and Follow Us
•Facebook | https://facebook.com/schconyc
•Twitter: https://twitter.com/SCH360
•YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn79aQH09frGwNqeac3PV7w
•Show notes, contact us | [email protected] | Include episode number
Please send your questions or comments to [email protected] -
Have you considered being your own customer? What I mean is look at your business from the perspective of a customer. For example, if you sell your products online and notice your cart abandonment rate is high. Or perhaps, you have a retail store with substantial foot traffic, but the end of day sales are lower than expected. Another scenario could be that you have a high engagement rate on your marketing campaigns, but your conversion rates are low. If you are experiencing situations like these, then it may be time to map the journey of your customer from the initial contact through closing of the sale.
Free eBook
Customer Experience for Dummies | https://bit.ly/3xZR9lU
Contact, Join, and Follow Us
•Please send your questions or comment to [email protected]
•Twitter | https://twitter.com/SCH360
•Facebook | https://facebook.com/schconyc
•YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn79aQH09frGwNqeac3PV7w
•Website | https://theknowledgecatalyst.com
Academic Research
Want to uncover more knowledge insights and expand your learning? Here are a few research articles/case studies that connect theory with practice in the marketplace. Note: These articles are highly technical (i.e., the research method, data collection, and data analysis sections). To receive the most benefit, focus on the introduction and the conclusions/findings.
- Managing the Total Customer Experience | https://bit.ly/3yWc6iO
- Understanding Customer Experience | https://bit.ly/3AR1XED
- The Impact of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Experience, and Customer Loyalty on Brand Power | https://bit.ly/37OrbqR -
Have you ever seen customer surveys on a website asking this simple question? On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?" This is essentially a customer feedback question to determine how loyal a customer is to their brand. Research by a financial services company found that 86% of their loyal customers are willing to pay more for a positive experience. Alternatively, another study found that 91% of unhappy customers leave a brand without complaining creating customer churn and low customer retention rates. This data suggests the customer experience (also known as CX) creates your brand and defines customer expectations. This month we kick off a three-part series on branding. In this episode, we uncover the benefits of creating superior customer experiences, managing customer expectations, and the effect of a bad experience when interacting with your business.
Key Terms
Customer Loyalty - The degree to which a consumer will continue using a product or service after experiencing it. Customer loyalty is decreased from a Bad Customer Experience whereas positive customer experiences increase loyalty.
Brand Equity - A measure of the value consumers place on a particular brand. It represents the sum total of all positive experiences they have had with a brand over time.
Customer Segments - Any marketing strategy should be centered on one of four client segmentation channels. Demographic, Psychographic Geographic, and Behavioral segmentation are examples of the four categories of segmentation. These are some popular ways for businesses to segment their market based on gender, age, lifestyle, and other factors.
Customer Touch Point - From start to finish, customer touchpoints are the places of interaction for your brand. A touchpoint is any time a potential buyer or current customer interacts with your brand–before, during, or after they make a purchase from you. This is the main area where consumer interactions can result in a bad experience or can create loyal customers.
Customer Experience Metrics - The Client Experience Metrics play a key role in the development of KPIs that the company uses to track customer feedback. These measurements can assist you figure out how satisfied or loyal your consumers are. Net Promoter Score, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Effort Score are three of the most prominent customer experience measures. The metrics play a critical role in the customer experience management process.
Customer Perception - What is the significance of customer perception? Perception has an impact on more than just each individual sale; it shapes the long-term relationships that buyers have with your company, for better or worse. As a result, every interaction your organization has with clients must have a favorable impact on their perception.
Customer Experience Strategy - A customer experience strategy describes how your organization intends to provide the best possible customer experience in your specific situation. The sum total of a client's view of your company is called customer experience.
Buyer Personas - A buyer persona is a thorough depiction of a hypothetical individual who represents your target market. This is a hypothetical individual who exemplifies the attributes of your best potential clients, not an actual consumer. This consumer persona will be given a name, demographic information, interests, and behavioral characteristics.
Episode Takeaways
Customer Experience Strategy - The Benefits Of Optimizing Your Customers' Experiences
1. Improves Brand Perception
When people think about brands, what comes to mind first? Is it price, quality, style, convenience, etc.? If so, then you're probably thinking like most businesses do today: "How can I make my products/services cheaper, faster, easier, etc." But if you want to be successful long term, you need to start thinking differently. You should focus less on making things cheap and fast, but instead focus on creating an amazing an customer journey and experience. When someone thinks about your brand, what do they see? Happy customers or online reviews reporting negative customer interactions. What image does he get? How would he describe your brand? These questions help define your brand perception. And since perceptions drive behavior, improving your brand perception leads directly to improved sales and profits.
2. Increases Sales & Profits
A recent report published by Forrester Consulting showed that companies who rank high in terms of customer satisfaction also tend to outperform those who don't. They found that companies with higher levels of customer satisfaction were able to increase revenue per employee by $4,000 annually! That means that every dollar spent on providing great customer service yields four times as much profit than spending money elsewhere. So why aren't more companies doing this already? Well, there are two reasons. First, many organizations still view customer service as something that costs them money rather than an investment. Second, some believe that focusing too heavily on customer service could actually hurt their bottom line because it might lead to lower revenues. However, research shows that these fears are unfounded. Companies that provide excellent customer service not only enjoy increased profitability, but they also attract new customers and retain existing ones.
3. Builds Trust With Consumers
Trust is one of the key drivers behind any relationship between a buyer and seller. According to Harvard Business Review, trust has become increasingly important in our society.
Topics Discussed
- What is the customer experience
- Customer experience example
- The customer experience can be physical, emotional, sensory, or spiritual
- The scope of the total customer experience
- The customer experience also includes user generated content and online reviews
- The creation of virtual communities for sharing information and experiences
- Experience can only be gained from use, not from advertising or marketing
- The experience is the brand in the eyes of the customer
- 5 ways to improve the customer experience
Resources
- Free eBook: Customer Experience for Dummies | https://bit.ly/3xZR9lU
- The CEO Guide to Customer Experience | Article
- Customer Experience Measurement: How to Gain Customer Experience Insights | Article
Contact, Join, and Follow Us
- Please send your questions or comments to [email protected]
Twitter: SCH360
- Facebook | https://facebook.com/schconyc
- YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn79aQH09frGwNqeac3PV7w
- Show notes, contact us | [email protected] | Include episode number
Contact us
Academic Research
Want to uncover more knowledge insights and expand your learning? Here are a few research articles/case studies that connect theory with practice in the marketplace. Note: These articles are highly technical (i.e., the research method, data collection, and data analysis sections). To receive the most benefit, focus on the introduction and the conclusions/findings.
- Managing the Total Customer Experience | https://bit.ly/3yWc6iO
- Understanding Customer Experience | https://bit.ly/3AR1XED
- The Impact of Customer Satisfaction, Customer Experience, and Customer Loyalty on Brand Power | https://bit.ly/37OrbqR -
Do you want your brand to grow and have name recognition like some of the most iconic brands? I'm referring to those brands where you may see a logo or hear a sound, and you instantly know the company's name. If you want to be like them, you can use an "old school" marketing tool that is very effective but rarely used by most business owners and entrepreneurs. Press releases are an excellent way to promote your brand and increase the awareness of your products and services. In this episode, we discuss how press releases can boost brand awareness and build trust for companies that want to expand their market visibility in a cost-effective manner.
Episode Topics & Takeaways
•What is brand awareness
•Brand equity
•Word-of-Mouth promotion
•Rules for creating press releases
•Determining your target market
•Press release distribution services
•Press release syndication on social media
Resources
•Free eBook: Press Release Ideas | https://bit.ly/50Prid
•Press Release Toolkit (Lists, Templates, Checklists) | https://bit.ly/press-release-toolkit
•How to Format a Press Release in AP Style | https://www.newswire.com/blog/how-to-format-a-press-release-in-ap-style
Contact, Join, and Follow Us
•Please send your questions or comments to [email protected]
•Twitter: SCH360
•Facebook | https://facebook.com/schconyc
•YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn79aQH09frGwNqeac3PV7w
•Show notes, contact us | [email protected] | Include episode number
Knowledge Insights - Academic Research
Want to uncover more knowledge insights and expand your learning? Here are a few research articles/case studies that connect theory with practice in the marketplace. Note: These articles are highly technical (i.e., the research method, data collection, and data analysis sections). To receive the most benefit, focus on the introduction and the conclusions/findings.
• Brand advertising as creative publicity. https://bit.ly/37qPFpR
• Understanding the concept of publicity in public relations: A synoptic review. https://bit.ly/3isASRX
• The impact of brand awareness on companies marketing strategies. https://bit.ly/3s2i3rT
• Building a strong services brand: Lessons from Mayo Clinic. https://bit.ly/3AlFbog -
I recently attended a local Pop-Up Shop event. In case you are not familiar with the term, a pop-up shop, sometimes referred to as flash retailing, is a trend where an entrepreneur randomly opens a sales space for a short amount of time, usually one day. The idea behind this tactic is to generate interest in your products, make sales, and engage customers with your brand. The ability to market effectively is a pain point for many small businesses and it was very evident at this event. In this episode we are going discuss how you can attract more customers to your business by understanding your competitive advantages and using your strengths to promote your brand.
Episode Main Topics/Takeaways
- Typical customer engagement at a Pop-Up event
- Collect marketing analytics (age, ethnicity, gender, personality, brand affinities, opinions, etc.)
- Building trust/Building your brand
- Creating/identifying your competitive advantages
- Competitive Advantages examples
- Understanding the competition
- List of ways to create competitive advantages
Resources (eBooks, suggested reading)
- Free eBook - Internet Marketing Metrics | https://bit.ly/36SdhU3
- Course | How to Identify and Create Your Competitive Advantage | https://bit.ly/sbmw
Contact, Join, and Follow Us
- Leave us a voicemail with your comments or questions | https://bit.ly/3ruMI0N
- Twitter | SCH360 | https://twitter.com/sch360
- Facebook | @schconyc
- The Knowledge Catalyst Podcast | Website | https://bit.ly/36WSpeG
Interested in Being a Guest on The Knowledge Catalyst?
Send us your bio and information about your company to | [email protected]. -
In this episode, we discuss how to build and email list using Facebook as a traffic source as part of a lead generation strategy. We also introduce the concepts of Customer Personas, A/B Testing, and Capture Pages.
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Episode Summary
In this episode we discuss high-impact approaches to grow your local business. Effective local lead generation strategies can help you acquire more customers. However, many digital marketing strategies are unfocused. The strategies we present are targeted to your local market and are easy, affordable, and effective.
Sixty percent of marketers state that lead generation is a key pain point for their company. Determining a good lead is more complex than just targeting people who downloaded your white paper, and it’s important that your sales reps don’t waste their time cold calling unqualified leads when there are ways to narrow down the pool of prospects.
When you implement a lead generation program, you increase brand awareness, build relationships, generate qualified leads, and ultimately close deals. The higher quality leads you direct your sales team to, the more of those leads will result in sales.
Resources
Facebook Ads | https://www.facebook.com/business/ads
Google Ads | https://ads.google.com/home/
Trade Show Listings | https://www.absoluteexhibits.com/top-100-usa-shows/
Free eBook | Internet Marketing KPIs (Metrics)
Course | Lead Generation Essentials
Contact, Join, and Follow Us
Leave us a voicemail with your comments or questions | Here
Twitter | TMA360
Facebook | @schconyc
The Knowledge Catalyst Podcast | https://sch.podbean.com
Interested in Being a Guest on The Knowledge Catalyst?
Send us your bio and information about your company to | [email protected] -
Auditing the marketing function within your organization is the hidden
link between long-term customer engagement and sustainable revenue
growth. In this book, we provide a questionnaire consisting of 50
questions that will allow you to align your marketing activities with
the dynamic needs of your customers. Buy the eBook here.
Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook and be purchased here: https://smarturl.it/tkcp -
The communication channels to the consumer have expanded in number as
well as complexity with the global expansion of the Internet and related
information technology based products and services.
