As marketing and advertising have become more sophisticated, they have also become more specialized.  These days, the most experienced gurus have watched firsthand as the art of influencing potential customers has evolved from simple graphic design and desktop publishing to the focus group intensive environment based on psychology that we see today.  As a result, marketing strategy has become extremely effective, and the companies able to leverage it (typically the largest and most profitable out there), have enjoyed record profits as a result.

Many of these large companies are willing to attest to the power of their marketing strategy; digital marketing and brand management is incredibly potent, and are integral parts of modern business strategy.  How though, can owners of small businesses learn from these same, effective principles?  Start with these three simple tips:

• Properly target your demographic – Your company can’t be everything to everyone.  Keep your marketing message simple and sweet, to avoid confusing customers and diluting the power of your brand message.  Be completely honest with yourself as to how you can really target that block of customers which actually drives your revenue.

• Take advantage of your clients’ emotions – Not everyone is a cold rationalist.  Studies show time and again that people respond best to emotional hooks, rather than functional ones.  Keep this principle in mind and discover how your customers feel about your product or service.  That should give you some insight on properly designing an emotional appeal to them.

• Always be consistent – Remembering to be consistent with your messaging efforts 100% of the time is difficult, but must be done if you want to achieve real success.  Each time someone interacts with your company publicly, no matter where or when, you want them to have a consistently excellent experience.

As you can see, there are plenty of techniques that small businesses can pirate directly from their larger competitors, and turn to their own advantage.  Brand management in particular tends to be a weakness of smaller businesses, many of whom don’t know how much they are missing out on.  Consult with a business coach from Mandell Enterprises today to learn more about marketing strategy.