Digital Marketing: Where do I start?
First impressions are everything, so you need to think a lot about how you want your brand to be seen. That’s why the logo, name, website and countless other things need to be coherent, clear and convey your message. If you think of McDonald’s, you see that iconic M in your head instantly.
The market is never-ending. It is starting to feel like the majority of unique ideas are taken, and new businesses can really struggle to stand out. That’s why marketing companies are usually employed to come in with fresh ideas (hello, by the way!). This is a rough guide on what the first plan of action should be after starting a company, and how much it could set you back.
The importance of branding
When new/small businesses are trying to find their feet, it’s often seen as quite far down the list of priorities to create a brand. That’s fair, given the lack of money a company in its infancy will have. You have to work out staff wages, supplies, rent for your premises and whatever else is seen as a top, top priority. Branding isn’t usually near the top, but it is important because of the customers it could bring in. Something that stands out, be it a clever name, interesting logo or something else, will attract consumers far and wide, and grow your popularity.
There are many factors that make up an effective and successful business. However, without marketing, a company gets next to no exposure to customers. Your product could be perfect, but there’s no potential for growth unless you put it out there.
You can decide how much you’d like to spend on marketing, but we’d recommend somewhere between 7-10%. In 2017/18 there were a few bold characters, MindBody, Salesforce, Bottomline Technologies, Tableau, and Oracle, who decided to spend 20-50% of their revenue on marketing, according to Vital. It’s also worth noting that all of the above have grown hugely year after year.
Overview
For a business that’s creating their brand from scratch, there’s four main things you should start on as a baseline:
- A mission statement
- A name
- A domain name
- A logo
Of these five, only the first three cost money. You should do the other two yourself, as they’re more about your own personality and values.
1. Mission statement
A mission statement should be done first, as it puts everything into perspective- the other three should come into place after this. A good one covers all these points:
- What your company does for its customers
- What your company does for its staff
- What your company wants to achieve
It helps to give a story, explaining the reason you set out and started the company, what you’d love to be known for, and how you plan on getting there. If you’re trying to make things easier for customers, make it be known! If you’re trying to do something differently and change the world, say it! This is the short body of text that should start a close relationship with you and your customers.
2. Brand name
Even if you’ve just started your brand, you’ll probably have a name. It can be done for free, but there are people out there who specialise in creating something more memorable than a person’s name or a short description.
A good brand name makes a person think positive thoughts from the get-go, as the name is the first impression you give people when you explain your company. It should contain your values, brand personality and style, because a funny company, for example, should have a name that makes people laugh.
While it’s hard to find one that isn’t taken these days, one-word names are perfect for a brand. They’re memorable, strong and simple. Think Spotify, Google or Twitter- they’re all one word. Another thing to note is that these aren’t real words, which is another plus, because it’s a blank slate for consumers. If someone hears “cat”, they might feel anything between happy thoughts and hatred. If someone hears “Spotify”, they think of the company and all of the good or bad experiences they’ve had with them. This puts the power into the business’s hands!
Two words is fine if you can’t work out a name with one word, but avoid any names with three or more words. Long names make domain names, packaging, social media usernames and a lot of other things more difficult for no good reason.
3. Domain name
Many business owners don’t think too much about their domain, and it really punishes them. There are numerous factors you have to consider to make it reflect your brand name, as well as being easy-to-remember and straight-forward.
The best bet is to take your brand name and try to get it as similar as possible. apple.com is a lot better than applecomputers.com or appletech.com, but the two last ones are a lot more effective than apple-comuter-and-tech-store.com. Avoid inserting hyphens, numbers, or other gimmicks that may complicate it, as you want people to just be able to type your company name with a .com and find your site. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for customers or potential ones to find you.
We’d also recommend trying to get .com if you’re trying to operate worldwide, but your own national TLD (e.g. .co.uk or .fr) if you plan on operating nationally. 75% of websites use .com, so people naturally tend to type it if they want to find your site.
4. Logo
With this one, you should really go to a professional. They specialise in encapsulating everything you want your company to stand for!
Once you’ve worked out your brand personality, that’s a pretty good guide already on what the logo should represent. Hand it to a graphic designer and communicate with them! You can get a few drafts back and choose your favourite.
If you’d like to learn about why your business needs a good logo, check out this great post by Erin of Looka, as they cover everything you need to know!
We can do everything here!
Here at TribeMiner, we can get you started on this wonderful journey! All you need is a product or service, and we can get you on social media, build a site, guide you through a mission statement and anything else you need help with. You can contact us on the homepage or in the chat box in the bottom right to learn more!