Establish Your Brand

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A brand is more than a logo, symbol, slogan or color combo (though all of these elements can help communicate your message). Think of it as a pledge: This is what customers can consistently expect from my company and its products or services.
4 easy questions to define your brand
Given its weightiness, defining your brand isn’t a speedy exercise. At the very least, you’ll need to determine:

• What is your company’s mission?
• What product benefits and features are you offering?
• What qualities do you want customers and prospects to associate with your company?
• How do customers, prospects and employees already perceive your company?

Once you figure out exactly what you’d like people to think about when they see your company’s name, run the positioning by some of your loyal customers.
Based on their own experiences with the company, would they agree the branding is on target? From there it’s important to maintain the consistency of the brand in every interaction you have with clients, from customer service to marketing communications.

Top 5 benefits of direct mail marketing
So you’ve established what you stand for, but how do you spread the word? Anyone who’s used direct mail can tell you that it’s a powerful way to deliver a message right to your customers’ doors — and bring more business through your own.
Direct mail helps strengthen your brand by keeping it visible and generating response from customers. It lets you literally put your brand in the hands of your customers, prospects and others in their households — something that can’t be said for many mediums.
Consider that it’s also:

• Targeted. Mail lets you selectively target people most likely to respond.
• Personal. You can address your customers by name, speak to them individually and appeal to their interests.
• Flexible. From letters to brochures, there is a wide variety of inexpensive formats you can use for your direct mail campaign.
• Measurable. Mail is one of the few mediums that let you track the success of your campaign. It’s as simple as counting the inquiries you received or the number of coupons redeemed. By tracking and analyzing your results, you’ll see what’s working and can make adjustments to future mailings if needed.
• Easy. You don’t need a big budget to advertise with the mail. With a computer, some desktop publishing software and a little know-how, you can create your own professional-looking direct mail piece.

Remember, by creating a strong brand — and reinforcing that message — you can win customer loyalty, project credibility and increase the open rate of your direct mail pieces.