Branding

With the right branding and “packaging”, a company can multiply its sales. Problem is, most SMEs undervalue the importance of branding, and fail to market their companies effectively.

There are many similarities in the way large and small entrepreneurial organizations achieve success. All require a well-established “brand” in order to create incremental value and effectively market their products or services. The process for establishing a strong brand name is fundamental to any small business in order that it may compete and grow. To fully understand the relationship and importance of effective branding and value creation we must explore:

• How Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) create brand dominance through new innovative services which ultimately generate strong brand equity – mainly through social media and social networks.
• How businesses effectively compete on a consistent basis against their larger, better resourced competition – find alternative channels that produce the same outcome for less expense.

Because of their size, SMEs tend to relate better, and understand the needs of their valued customers or clients. How important is customer service, how is it generated, how can it be measured, and how can it be used by an SME to effectively create a competitive advantage? And how is the brand effectively and efficiently managed throughout the entire organization?

Brand-building plays a key role of defining your organization in the public eye. It is an integral part of the SME’s marketing mix and expenditure, which should also include direct marketing strategies for lead generation and sales entry, as well as social media marketing for consumer engagement strategies. Successful SMEs traditionally display a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and leverage that spirit through a defined culture to provide innovative services and products.

Effective branding and value creation continue to represent the cornerstone of every successful company. But results are not immediate. There is a misconception by many companies who view branding as a marketing function or a tactical approach that will produce fast results. The brand can be viewed as a philosophy to be applied to a company’s functions, and like a promise that the business gives to its customer.

In fact, brand image must be consistently delivered and supported by the organization’s values and culture. A well-structured strategic planning process requires team consensus on brand strategy and develops integrative sales and marketing promotion programs which must align with the overall business strategy and create brand value. Successful SMEs who can leverage their competitive advantages easily expand their client base year in, year out. This can only be done through a sustained and integrated brand management strategy.

SMEs must understand the importance of branding. Branding is not only restricted to advertising for television, print media or radio. SMEs must promote its products through social media which is very effective. Social media is very cost effective as compared to other advertisement mediums. Social media has become a platform for personalized engagement with SMEs. Branding can contribute in this area significantly. This is a smart way to engage with the target community. The capability of social media is immense for SMEs as they can target their potential markets according to the regional specifications.