Dynamite comes in small packages… it’s the small things that count… Yes, it’s true – little things can make a difference to your business. And when it comes to marketing, there are some small, quick and inexpensive things you can do to increase your company’s impact.
Here are our favourites – and they all relate to carrying your brand values through in all your interactions with clients:
- Smile when you answer the phone. Whether it’s a client or supplier on the other end, they’ll feel more special if it sounds like you’re happy to hear from them. This also works for calls from inland revenue or unhappy customers – it’s very hard for them to have a go at you if you’re sounding warm and friendly
Disarm them all with niceness and make them feel valued.
- Create (and use) branded email stationery. This is an opportunity to get your brand out there each time you send an email. Keep the file size down and the design simple but impactful and you’ll be sure to get compliments. And it’s cheap and easy to do.
- Respond quickly. Acknowlege voicemails and emails as soon as you can, even if it’s just to say ‘Thanks for your message. I am a little snowed under at the moment so it might take me a few hours to respond properly, but I just wanted you to know that I have received it and am working on it.’ Nobody wants to feel that their messages disappeared into a black hole or that they’re being ignored.
- Pick your main brand value and live it! The word that we’d like to think epitomises us most is ‘enthusiasm’. This is printed out and stuck in strategic places in our office – next to phones, on noticeboards, etc. Every interaction we have both internally and externally needs to be infused with enthusiasm. It makes for a better workplace, plus it’s contagious – and makes us more memorable.
- Personal touches. One of our clients prides themselves in building strong, trusted and personal relationships with their customers. We suggested that they send each customer a handwritten birthday card each year. Not a corporate card with their logo and sales messages all over it, but a beautiful card in a colourful envelope with a genuinely personal message written inside it. Thoughtful, inexpensive and impactful.
- Cheap, on-brand gimmicks. Is there something inexpensive that you can source that’s tied in cleverly to your brand that can make it memorable? From stickers to magnets to confectionery – there are tons of merchandising ideas out there. At Joe Fish restaurant in Pinelands, Cape Town, the bill comes in a little tin ‘treasure chest’ filled with marshmallow fish (on brand!) instead of on a saucer with predictable mints. Read Jo’s BizCommunity article about how jellybeans and Tabasco helped two other businesses build customer loyalty.
What can you do to create an impact for your brand?
