Month: August 2022

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Brand Positioning – Recent Findings

We Looked Into Brand Positioning in 2022, So You Don’t Have to. Here’s What We Discovered 

For several entrepreneurs, it’ll only take them failing at starting a business or two before realizing that one major reason they failed was that they lacked the strategic insight to prepare for both long and short-term business growth and challenges. 

However, not all entrepreneurs can afford to learn the hard way, as resources are too precious to waste on trial and error. It’s better to know what works before jumping head-first into business. One of the easiest ways to do so is to understand what your customers desire and what type of brand would impress the audience demography you’re targeting. 

And that’s just what we did with our research. We compared businesses with traditional brand tones to those with modern and current ones to see how consumers responded.

Why Did We Perform This Research?

We were interested in discovering more about the kinds of companies that various consumers love and how that varied by age group.

As a business owner, realize that connecting the name of your firm and other branding elements to the demands of your customers can enhance and raise the likelihood that your enterprise will succeed.

In order to reach the study’s goal, we questioned American consumers whether they preferred patronizing companies that use classic brand tones or those with modern tones.

Why’s This Question Vital?

Every entrepreneur should be aware that choosing the right brand positioning strategy is one of the most crucial choices you’ll make when beginning or rebranding your company because it significantly affects brand positioning.

Building an outstanding brand requires a thorough understanding of your target audience and your company’s identity.

Entrepreneurs must dedicate time to getting a good name for businesses and products because the right name communicates a compelling tone that’ll enhance your brand’s positioning and have an impact on how the public perceives you. 

The Main Results of Our Survey

In order to better describe our findings, we divided the data we collected into several age groups. And although the results of our survey weren’t very surprising, the reactions we received were interesting.

Here are the results of our poll of 301 people.

  • Customers under the age of 30 are more inclined to be captivated by businesses with a new and current brand tone, while those older will prefer a more traditional tone.

  • Customers between 35 and 45 years were equally split between modern and traditional brands. With how close the results were, it’s clear that this demographic is open to modern or traditional companies.

  • The results show that customers between the ages of 45 and 54 favor traditional businesses.

  • Customers aged 55 to 65 are particularly aware of the difference in the two options and strongly prefer old and traditional companies over new and modern ones.

  • The study found that men have no bias for modern or traditional companies.

  • Women, in contrast, choose trusted traditional companies over new and modern startups.

  • Of the 301 respondents, 148 of them preferred contemporary, modern brands, whereas the remaining 153 preferred classic, traditional brands.

Based on our results, you can build your brand with either a classic or modern tone, provided that it satisfies the needs of your target market.

Start Positioning Your Business

Building a solid brand identity requires time and dedication. So ensure you apply the results of this survey when coming up with your value proposition, advertisements, and brand name. This way, you can start infusing every element of your business with your brand tone.

Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me, so please leave a comment.

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Consider an Advisory Board

Josh Sweeney Presentation on Culture First Hiring

I look forward to meeting with Paul, a good friend, and colleague, tomorrow afternoon.  Paul and I have much to discuss, including my responsibility on his company’s newly created Advisory Board.  The agreed-upon location is a convenient cigar bar, my preference for conducting business.  I cannot meet in this venue every day, but it is a great pleasure when I can.   I have been helping Paul connect with the financial community to support his company’s development goals.  One of those connections suggested establishing an advisory board would be a good idea.  As the common denominator in this process, they both agreed to invite me to join their Board.  Naturally, I accepted.

During my career as an Executive Recruiter, many candidates expressed interest in serving on the Board of a prestigious company.  Those folks were looking for paid Board seats but never considered a voluntary Advisory Board.  As that type of search was not in my wheelhouse, I could not help them.  After fifteen years of experience serving on Advisory Boards, I am enthusiastic about steering qualified candidates in that direction.

Large, established companies and small emerging companies form Advisory Boards to manage their businesses.  Profit-oriented companies and not-for-profit associations use them.  The scope of responsibilities will vary from organization to organization, depending on its size and complexity.  Organizations expect Advisory Board Members to offer unbiased advice.  They do not have decision-making authority or fiduciary responsibility, significantly different from a Board of Directors.  Advisory Board members are chosen based on their skills, experience, and accomplishments relevant to the organization in question.  To be invited to join the Advisory Board of a commercial startup, you will probably need direct experience with commercial startups.  You should expect to have significant experience in the company’s industry segment.  My friend and colleague, Mark McClellan, just reminded me that people with experience raising capital are in demand.

Compensation also depends on the organization’s size, complexity, and life-cycle position.  Some are paid, including travel and meals, but many are uncompensated.  Most of my Advisory Board roles have been voluntary and uncompensated, although our host provided food and beverage at each meeting.

Why would one become a member of an Advisory Board that does not provide compensation?  It isn’t about the money, at least not immediately.  As I mentioned earlier, serving on Advisory Boards has been personally gratifying.  Each offered a new opportunity to gain skills and experience.  They provided networking connections that led to new business opportunities.  I have enjoyed giving back to the community, especially during my alum board years.  That experience strengthened my relationship with the institution.  If a career goal is to sit on a BOD for a prestigious company, serving on an Advisory Board is an excellent place to gain experience and credibility.

My first Advisory Board experience was with the National Alumni Association for my Alma Mater, where I served for three years.  It was because of my affiliation with the Atlanta Chapter that I was nominated to join that body.  The Executive Director of the Association talked to me about joining the Executive Committee, a pathway toward becoming Chairman.  Regrettably, I had to decline that invitation as I was not in a position to devote the time or energy required for that responsibility.  Nevertheless, my service on that Board was gratifying and a significant learning experience.  I believe that serving on an Advisory Board for a not-for-profit association or a charitable organization is an ideal gateway for consideration in similar roles in the private sector.  It worked for me.  I gained visibility from that role which led to invitations to join profit-oriented and not-for-profit advisory boards.

Organizations need the kind of unbiased advice one can offer.  Your expertise is required.  You should consider joining an Advisory Board if you want to expand your skill stack, make new connections, and further enhance your career.  If you are interested in becoming a member of a more prestigious, compensated Board of Directors, an Advisory Board is a possible stepping stone.  A great place to start is with your College Alumni Association, an Industry Association, or a Charitable Organization.  You will enjoy the experience and find gratification by giving back to your community.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me, so please leave a comment.

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Why Newsletters Are the New Cover Letters for Growing Your Customer Base

Newsletters are an effective way of keeping your customers up-to-date with what’s happening in your business. Moreover, newsletters can not only help you maintain your current customer base, but they can also help you grow your customer base too. So without further ado, ITB Partners reveals how to create a memorable newsletter or newsletter sequences to captivate your audience’s attention.

Tips for growing your email newsletter

Thanks to modern technology, there are many ways to grow your email database, from gated content to opt-ins to pop-ups to giveaways. There are many ways to grab and hold your audience’s attention – until the next newsletter, that is.

How to create a buzz with the newsletter the first time around

Perhaps you’re at the beginning of creating your newsletter sequence, and you’re wondering how to create an impactful newsletter that your audience will really take notice of. In essence, the most successful newsletters will comprise any of the following elements, which include:

Create an entertaining subject line

Your subject line will need to stand out at first glance, so it best must be entertaining and speak to the needs of your audience by addressing a certain pain point, for example. 

Storytelling

No one has the time these days to read long-drawn-out, boring newsletters that don’t really serve a purpose. Rather, when you incorporate storytelling into your newsletters, you can create a personable story that people can relate to. This is made even better when you are able to add any other relevant information that people might not know about your brand to make your newsletter that much juicier. 

Make it irresistible

One of the main points of creating a newsletter is to show customers that you appreciate them taking time out of their day to read your newsletter, which is why you should usually offer them something in return for doing so. Share on X

It should be brief

Brevity is key here if you want to hold the attention of your audience. Again, the times we are living in are busy, so we should be doing our best to accommodate the limited time that most people do have by making sure newsletters are as short and succinct as possible. 

Remember a Call to Action

Your call-to-action will drive customer sales, so don’t forget to include it in your pitch, whether it’s to sign up for your next exclusive offer, take advantage of a coupon offer, or ask them outright to sign up for exclusive discounts, benefits, and more. 

Designing your newsletter from scratch

Of course, you want your newsletter to be able to read nicely in terms of its flow and readability. An email marketing platform can help provide you with a basic template. But then you’ll need to add in something special of your own so that your newsletter doesn’t seem so standardized. For example, suppose you want to add a few images to your newsletter, but the backgrounds aren’t to your liking, then you can try an image background remover to remove them from your chosen images swiftly and easily. All you need to do is upload the image and edit it as needed, then insert it on your email template where you want it. 

If you want to improve your marketing strategy, then newsletters should be an important component of this. You’ll surely boost your brand’s online presence and gain a loyal following.

Image via Pexels

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me, so please leave a comment.

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Employ Digital Upgrades for Innovation!

We live in a highly-competitive digital world. Today’s businesses require constant innovation in order to maintain a competitive advantage and remain relevant. Thankfully, the latest tech innovations are not reserved for the world’s biggest brands. Small and mid-sized businesses can also benefit from digital advancements, many of which are entirely affordable on a small business budget. In this article from New Century Dynamics Executive Search, we’ll explore some digital improvements to consider and how they can enhance your business.

Learn About Business Process Management

Business process management (BPM) is the practice of analyzing existing business processes and identifying areas for improvement. The right BPM strategies will improve efficiencies and optimize regular business processes to save time and money while reducing errors. If that’s not enough, streamlining your laborious business operations can help you get employee buy-in on new tech upgrades, making it easier to introduce advancements in the future. Be sure to monitor the effectiveness of your BPM upgrades so you can make continuous improvements and optimize your results.

Invest in Time-Saving Tools

If there’s one thing most small and mid-sized businesses struggle with, it’s time. There’s just never enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done. How do you ever find the time to focus on growth-related projects when you’re spending all of your energy on business maintenance tasks? Spending all of your time keeping your business afloat will only work for so long. Eventually, you need to focus on bigger projects so you can take your business to the next level.

Investing in time-management tools will help you and your team work more efficiently. Some great options include a calendar app to track meetings and deadlines, project management software for easy delegation, and instant chat tools to minimize delays and speed up information sharing.

Embrace Unfamiliar Technology

Many small business owners are hesitant to adopt new technology. After all, there is always a bit of a learning curve when it comes to implementing unfamiliar software. Don’t let this hold you back! You can find all kinds of resources online that teach you the basics of almost any digital tool. Many resources will also help you learn how to get the most out of business software, like how to integrate new tools into your existing suite of technology so that everything works together seamlessly.

Ask for Feedback from Customers

If you’re not sure how your business can better meet the needs of your customers, ask them! Seeking suggestions from customers is easy with the help of digital feedback collection tools. For example, you can place a survey after your cart checkout process asking customers to let you know what they liked and disliked about the shopping experience. Beyond asking your customers for direct feedback, you can also analyze website analytics and customer behavior trends to uncover opportunities for improvement.

Give Your Employees More Freedom

Your employees can drive innovation at your company, but only if you give them a chance. Identify people who show promise when it comes to creative and innovative thinking, and give them the freedom to explore new ways of doing things. Welcome fresh perspectives, encourage people to share their opinions and make sure all of your employees see the big picture. Employees in specialized roles can have a hard time envisioning beyond their position, so consider rotating employees so they can experience different challenges and perspectives.

Encouraging new ideas is all about creating a culture of innovation at your company. According to TalentCulture, business leaders can do this by trusting, mentoring, and empowering their teams. Give your employees the autonomy to find new ways to solve problems. Most importantly, avoid criticizing employees for ideas that fail. Failure is inevitable on the path to innovation!

Adopt Artificial Intelligence

You don’t need to be a tech company to benefit from artificial intelligence. AI can enhance your business in countless ways! PCMag explains that AI has many practical applications for business, including customer relationship management (CRM) improvements that can speed up your customer support process and boost customer satisfaction. Start by identifying problems you think AI could solve so that you can search for effective tools. For example, AI can help you predict customers’ preferences and anticipate what they will buy. Using this information, you can show personalized content to different customers, boosting your conversion rates and customer lifetime value.

All successful businesses prioritize innovation. If you’re not innovating your business, you’re falling behind. It’s important that today’s businesses are constantly looking for new ways – such as utilizing BPM, embracing unfamiliar technology, and adopting AI – to save time, cut costs, and get ahead of their competitors. So don’t be afraid to experiment with new technology and see what it can do for you!

 

Image via Pexels

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me, so please leave a comment.