WTF is Brand Recognition?

As we read through these blog posts we do our best to address as many important issues as possible because it is our job to keep you guys informed. One thing we noticed is that we spend a lot of time talking about improving your company’s brand name recognition, but we have spent almost no time explaining what brand name recognition is. Let’s change that right now.

What Is Brand Name Recognition?

Have you ever noticed that almost none of GEICO’s advertising mentions insurance? While other companies put together elaborate commercials that explain various risk situations and how they cover your losses for you, GEICO has a little talking lizard telling jokes on a boat outside of Seattle. Who’s insurance are you more likely to buy? You are more likely to buy GEICO’s because of the strong brand name recognition.

Brand name recognition is the instant notoriety of your logo or company name by people who see it. The more you spend to market your company name and logo, the stronger your brand name recognition. We are experts in creating brand name recognition through our online and offline marketing programs and we know how to get your company the attention it deserves.

Does Brand Name Recognition Replace Quality?

We have to assume that GEICO offers quality insurance services because the company has been around for decade. People buy their athletic footwear based solely on which sneakers have the Nike swoosh on them, but those Nike sneakers also happen to be very high quality products as well.

We can build up your brand name recognition in your marketplace to the point where people are buying your products because they are familiar with your company name, but you need to provide quality products and services if you want to keep those sales coming in. Brand name recognition and quality product and service offerings work hand in hand to make your company an industry leader.

Why Should I Care About Brand Name Recognition?

What is your favorite soda pop? When you go to the store to buy soda pop, you are given choices but you always choose your favorite brand. Over the course of many years, you become fiercely loyal to that brand and would never even think of changing brands.

Brand name recognition helps to start the process of brand loyalty by giving consumers a good reason to buy products without actually knowing the quality of those products. A consumer may see your product and see your competition side by side, but your strong brand name recognition means that the customer buys your product. When the customer is satisfied with the quality of your product, then that establishes the loyalty which creates another repeat customer.

When you have such strong brand name recognition that you sell products to new customers based solely on your name, then you enhance the value of your marketing and give professional marketing experts like us a lot to work with. It significantly increases the return on your marketing investment and makes breaking into new markets much easier.

Our marketing professionals are ready to talk to you about a brand name recognition program that we can put together using our services. We will get your name into your target audience and make you a household name in your industry. Then we will show you how we build on that brand name recognition to turn your company into an industry leader.

How Important Are Retail Posters?

These days, many business owners find it easy to get caught up in the digital marketing frenzy that seems to have gripped the entire world. As Internet marketing experts, we understand the intricacies of creating an effective digital marketing plan that will enhance your revenue. But as marketing enthusiasts in general, we also know that offline marketing is still extremely important to your business.

Did you know that many of your younger customers are still significantly affected by newspaper and magazine marketing? Print marketing is essential to bringing in customers for your business and, for retail businesses, that means that posters in the display windows are extremely important when it comes to increasing foot traffic.

Good Posters Catch People’s Eye

Whenever we explain the importance of business posters to a client, we always ask that client to think about their own consumer trends and how marketing affects them. Most people who are driving or walking past a store window will take the time to look at a colorful poster in that window. In many instances, the poster will also inspire those people to go into the store to check out the promotion.

Over the years, we have become experts at turning your marketing message into an effective poster for your business window. We will use your promotion as a way to bring in more clients and help you to grow your revenue, all from the use of a simple window poster.

Window Posters Enhance Brand Name Recognition

When consumers see your company logo and company color scheme repeatedly, then that enhances your company’s brand name recognition. Think about how many people each day drive and walk past your company’s windows and imagine how much more you could enhance your brand name with some good window posters. Even if you have nothing specific to promote right now, window posters can still promote your company to everyone who goes by your business.

Window Posters Need To Be A Part Of Your Print Marketing

If you are planning to pay for newspaper advertising that announces a significant promotion at your business, then you also need to have window posters to make that announcement as well. You can build anticipation for your promotion by having us design some teaser posters that hint at a major announcement, but leave the actual announcement for a later date.

A well-designed window poster campaign will not only increase foot traffic to your store, it will also enhance the visibility of your business. Plain storefront windows are difficult to dress up in ways that grab the attention of consumers. But when you get some colorful window posters from Tom and Company, then you have something that people simply cannot ignore.

A good marketing plan is one that utilizes as many mediums as possible. As you work each day in your business, take the time to watch the foot and vehicle traffic as it goes by your windows. Every day that you do not have something in your storefront windows to expand your marketing exposure is another day of lost opportunities.

Give us a call and we will tell you how we can put those storefront windows to good use for your business. When you want to put together a good promotional campaign, then let our experts show you how all of our print mediums, especially our posters, can work together to get you results that go way beyond your expectations.

4 Keys to Looking Like A Rockstar At Your Tradeshow

A trade show is a place where you can meet new customers, network with industry experts and find out the latest information on industry innovations. But if you want to really find success at a trade show, then you need a booth that will attract and interest people.

We are experts at developing the ideal trade show displays that will bring you foot traffic and get results. When you are putting together your trade show booth, make sure that we are part of your planning process. We can give you four good reasons why your trade show displays matter and how our professional service can make your booth more successful than it has ever been.

Trade Show Visitors Are Looking For Bling

When consumers go to a trade show, they are expecting booths to pop out at them and make them want to talk to sales people. Business professionals are looking to network with companies that give the image of being proactive and show the promise of being an industry powerhouse.

A plain booth with some standard, vinyl signs is not going to get you the status that you need. But when you allow us to create your trade show displays, we will give you the kind of bling you need to get plenty of positive attention.

Good Displays Let You Compete With The Big Boys

Trade shows are like the Internet in that mostly everyone is on a level playing field. Aside from the major show sponsors who get huge spaces to utilize, you and your competition are all setting up in basically the same size space. What you do with that space will determine what people think of your company.

We can create displays that will make your company look like it is a top industry competitor. Even if your biggest competition is three times your company’s size, we can elevate you to their level with an effective set of trade show displays.

Your Trade Show Displays Answer Questions

Good trade show displays with attractive graphics and text that is easy to read can answer questions for traffic that will bring you more interest. When you use professional trade show displays, people will instantly know what your company has to offer and they will be able to make an informed decision as to whether they want to do business with you or not.

Professional Displays Establish Your Brand Identity

We will use your corporate color scheme and corporate logos to create trade show displays that work to unify your brand identity. A big part of brand identity is instant recognition, and putting your logo and corporate colors on a professional trade show display will make your company hard to forget. The next time that potential customer sees your logo, they will remember it and remember your company.

At Tom and Company, our job is to create the best possible image for your company. We do this by using our years of experience in marketing and trade show success. Let us put all of that experience to work for you and create for you a series of trade show displays that will get your company noticed and help you to maximize the return on every trade show you are a part of.

Five Reasons Why Your Website Is Failing Miserably

When you start a business website, you naturally hope that your website starts to generate revenue and adds as an enhancement to your primary revenue streams. If your website is the primary way you do business, then web traffic becomes extremely critical to your success.

Despite the importance of your website and all of the effort you put into it, you are still not getting the kind of traffic you need. We can give you five good reasons why your website is failing miserably and we offer the solutions to those problems as well.

1. You Are Trying To Do It On Your Own

If you owned a brick and mortar store, would you build the storefront on your own, or would you hire professional builders? If you want a storefront that lures foot traffic into your store, then you hire a professional to build it for you.

The same principle applies to your website and its maintenance. When you try to build and maintain your own website, you are not getting the professional results you need to bring in traffic. When you allow a professional organization such as ours to build and maintain your website, then you will have something that will attract customers.

2. Your Site Is Dormant

How often do you add new content to your website? If you want to bring in a steady flow of new clients, then you need to add new content to your website every single day. Whether it is a slew of new products or an engaging new blog post, you need to give people a reason to visit your site and spend their money.

3. Your Coding Is Sloppy

Sloppy website coding will cause your website to take longer to load and it will also steer the various search engines away from your site. Our staff of Internet professionals will make sure that your coding is always clean, which will keep the traffic flowing and put your website in a position to be ranked higher in the search engine results.

4. Your Website Is Boring

Creating an exciting website is definitely a job for professionals. Bright colors and animated graphics are not what make a website exciting to users. You need a site that offers the things that your users want in ways that are interesting to them. If you sell products, then put your pricing promotions on the front page to entice people to enter your site. There are many ways to make a website exciting and our experts know them all.

5. You Don’t Do The Right Marketing

As a company of marketing experts, we pride ourselves in knowing how to get exposure for your website. Doing the right kind of marketing is much different than doing a lot of marketing. You can pay for ads on your own and spend all day on Facebook, but that is not going to bring you traffic. You need to find people who are interested in what your site has to offer and then get your message directly to those people. That is what our team of experts is extremely good at.

Let us show you how a successful website looks and works. Gives us a call and we will make the changes to your site that will bring you the success you are looking for.

Getting Your Money’s Worth From Your Marketing

As a small business owner you will know the importance of getting your money’s worth out of each service you require. And, there are some services that you may not think are as necessary as they are. Marketing and graphic design are two such services that small business owners often underestimate.

Killer Ads to Kill the Competition

A good marketing agent knows how to help you best sell your own products and services in a very competitive economy. Today many people have turned to small businesses and start ups in every field imaginable, including yours. The trick is to find the key words to help your business stand out the best on-line and the phrases to best present your business off line.

Many small business owners get into business because they have a passion for what they are doing. For example, many landscapers start out with a small backyard garden and want to take their love of planting and plant care to the next level. They do not get into their business to develop a brand name plan or run an advertising campaign. Their are in it to do what they love for a living.

A Great Graphical Design

Much as a well designed ad campaign can bring your business to the front of the pack, a great set of graphical design artworks can help to draw the eye to your adverts first. The proper color scheme and cleverly crafted design will create the first impression that is hard to otherwise get. The right colors can convey skill, dependability, creativity and much more. And, it can do it in the quick seconds of a glancing look.

The skills to create such an image are difficult and time consuming to cultivate. In that way they are just like the skills that a small business owner will use to hone and perfect their product and craftsmanship. Much as most people would not wish to tackle their wedding cake creation themselves, a smart business person will enlist the services of a professional to tackle their ad campaign and graphical design needs.

Save Time and Money

While it is true that enlisting the services of a professional graphical designer or marketing agent will cost money, it is also true that avoiding this cost will often cost more in the long run. Trying to run your own ad campaign takes time away from actually running the business. That is lost revenue. There is also the matter of the lost impressions an amateur ad campaign can cause. A new hand at marketing may not know the best places to run ads or pick the best keywords for the website. This means that fewer people will find and see your business’s advertising or website. This costs money.

Your Business is Worth It

By spending the money upfront for a quality product will save your business from wasting time with less optimal advertising and design work. Instead, your business will have the benefits of a good logo, catchy ad campaigns and a well designed and comprehensive public image that will benefit your small business.

Your small business will have many of the same benefits of larger competitors who never use amateur graphical designs or ads. Your company will have a polished and professional face, with no wasted time. It is well worth the up front costs for these benefits.

Picking the Perfect Logo for Your Business

A good logo is both the lynch pin and the first impression of a brand. Designing and perfecting your logo is one of the most important steps you can take to making your brand stand out from the rest. The public sees a logo as an instant reminder of the company or the service that it stands for. Your logo is all of your company’s ideals and goals wrapped into a superbly crafted icon.

You and your designer will work together to help you to realize your vision for your logo. But first, let us go over a few common mistakes that many people make with their first logo designs. Seeing the mistakes of others will help you to avoid them yourself in your logo journey.

Common Mistakes Found In Novice Logos

Now that you have an idea of what to avoid, we can give you a good place to start working on your logo. There are several steps on the road to a great logo.

Number one. Know your audience and your brand.

Who do you what to attract with your logo design? In other words, who is your company’s target audience? Your logo must be crafted in a way to appeal to your audience. Think about your company and its history. Study your old logos and any old advertising that you may have. What was strong about those old designs? What was weak about them? Being able to identify your prior strengths and weaknesses will take you far in deciding which direction to move your company’s next public persona.

Number Two. Avoid Clichés.

Of course you want your new logo to be memorable. And, you naturally want your new logo to be as iconic as any in your field. The problem with stating these as your goals is that they are nearly impossible to design. To get an iconic and memorable logo will require a more nuanced approach. Do you want a logo that uses strong and forceful imagery or something understated and simple? Both approaches can lead to something that is immediately memorable. When it is backed up by your quality service and attention to your customers, it will become iconic for quality.

Number Three. Pick a Great Font.

The perfect font for your logo is the font that is clear, easy to read quickly and that matches the branding of your company. Avoid the lure of the fun ‘gimmicky’ font face or the overly stylized font. Instead, go for the classic fonts with good strong lines. Your logo can be embellished with other garnishes of color or imagery. Keep your font clean. After all, you want your customers to know just who you are!

Four keys to creating killer rack cards for your business

Rack cards are an affordable and easy way to market your business effectively. Between the wide range of finishing options to styling and cuts – the creative scope of what you can do with a rack card is enormous. If you feel nervous about putting one together – or find that you’re new to the game of rack card marketing, then this week’s post is for you! Below, you’ll find four core components that every good rack card should have!

Bold headlines and even bolder graphics

Rack cards are almost always found in groups of other rack cards, so you had better make sure yours sticks out from the pack. Graphics are what specifically draw people in, but it’s great headlines and content that keeps them there. Rack cards in many ways – are like keys to a business. They show the customer how to let themselves in. Make sure you add dynamic maps, directions and describe or show definitively – what it is they can do there.

Incentives and more incentives!

Moving off of what we discussed in the previous point, it’s always important to make sure that your rack card adds value. Whether that manifests itself as a coupon or special promotion for first time viewers; it’s always important to try to think of ways that you can give prospects more bang for their buck. Also – be sure to track – as best you can – the results from various offers and incentives. Seeing which offers don’t work can – in some cases – be just as important as the offers that DO work. Tracking the results simply help you build better rack cards.

Features and benefits, benefits and features

Rack cards don’t afford you with a ton of space to get your point across,  so the words you choose and the message they convey needs to be profound. They also need to be easily scannable and the words – from a graphical standpoint – really need to ‘pop’ off the card. Simply put – remember to be succinct, direct, noticeable and compelling. That’s the formula.

Know your audience

Part of the challenge of putting together a rack card is to know what specific audience you want to speak to despite being placed in a rack full of other products and messages. A good rack card should always have a goal. Whether it’s speaking directly to mothers with young children or inspiring men to come and try a new product, it’s important your rack card speaks to a specific group and does so in a way that sparks them to action!

Four Key Components of a Strong Brand

While there is certainly no, single magic bullet to help take your brand to the next level, there are four foundational ingredients that solid brands have to live on. Mixing these ingredients together is how you succeed in creating a good brand.

The right customer – In a world where everyone wants everything from everybody, the brands that can successfully specialize will be the ones that are going to be here over the long haul. Finding that target customer and relentlessly focusing on them can pay tremendous dividends but also means you’ll have to sacrifice things that aren’t valued by others. Good branding always requires sacrifice. If you try to be all things to all people, you will fail.

Personality, promise, and position – Simply by targeting your brand, you’ve made this part of the branding process that much easier.

Consistent delivery – Good brands always deliver a consistent experience – from conception and sales through to the delivery. In every way a brand is experienced, customers must be able to depend on you regardless of the platform. Strong execution from your team is what tells your brand’s story and proves that your established values are not only authentic, but also widely shared across your organization as well.

Responsiveness – Being able to respond to changes, challenges and opportunities is what will be the true test of your brand’s longevity. The desire to want to evolve, the leadership to effectively execute change and the ability to renew itself is a requirement of any successful brand. Your customers needs will change and so will yours.