I see a couple of problems from
the get go. First is your company name. “2
Brains Creative Group, Ltd.” tends to communicate that you’re a only
a creative consultancy. You know you do more, but your prospect doesn’t
necessarily know. You and your partner might want to think about reworking
either the name itself or adding a strong, clear tagline. For instance, “2
Brains Marketing & Creative, Ltd.” might do the trick. Or, perhaps
keep the name as it, but add a tagline along the lines of, “Strategic
marketing. Savvy creative. One source.” (Sorry, but I didn’t really
give that much thought. I tend to charge for “much thought.”)
By not having a clear mention of the marketing end in either the name, tagline
or both, your positioning requires another step to inform the prospect of those
services. A step you might not always have the chance to take.
It’s also important to have a blurb. It’s a short, digestible explanation
of what you do. You’ll want this to focus on verbs and not nouns, or worse,
labels, like, “I’m a Graphic Designer.” When folks ask me what
the heck I do, I say, “I help small businesses communicate better with
their audience.” Sometimes it varies in language, but that’s the
general idea. This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it tends to get
people thinking. “Gee, we need help communicating.” Next, it’s
usually replied to with something like, “Really? How do you do that?” Bingo!
I’ve got an invitation to open a conversation about how I do what I do
and how it might benefit them or someone they know.
Next is the simple fact that, in as much as we creatives need to be our own
best client, it’s a very tough nut to crack. We do it all day for our
clients, but when it comes to our own businesses, we tend to be too close to
the situation.
It requires a heaping helping of objectivity and outside input to tackle our
own marketing, promotion and branding. One thing I do is an annual survey.
It’s something of a report card for my business. How they feel I ‘m
doing, what I do well, what I stink at doing, etc. But, also strategically
placed in there is a question that says something along the lines of “Please
check all the services you are aware Tortorella Design provides.” That’s
followed by a listing. It helps me target those services that need a wee bit
of a punch up in promotion. That might mean adding a ditty about a certain
service in my email sig, putting out a case study, etc.
Also, talk to your key clients. Take them out to lunch and yap a bit. I like
to do an annual review. For local clients, I’ll take them to lunch and
ask what their plans are for the year and how I might be able to help them
out. I also ask how they feel I’m doing, what their challenges are and
such. You could also ask how they see your company profile - what you offer,
etc. The nice thing about about an annual review is that it gives you a peek
into upcoming projects. For instance, the client says, “Yeah, well we’re
planning to roll out a new product this summer. It’s in R&D now.” Cha
ching! You’ve got an in to say, “Would you like for us to put together
a marketing plan for that? Have you done the background research and focus
groups?” That’s usually followed by, “You do that?” And
there you go off to tell Ms. Client about the virtues of 2 Brains.
I’m really delighted to read that you’ve found a specialty. A niche
like that makes the marketing effort a lot easier and much more focused. Good
going!
As for the ad agency angle, unless you plan to do media buying and broadcast,
I’d shy away from that moniker. Plus, positioning your firm as, “The
marketing consultants who also do design,” like I do, makes you a bit
more unique and that helps positioning.
Finally, look for those opportunities to communicate what you do and how it
benefits your clients. It’s important to focus on benefits rather than
just features. A feature would be, say, research. The benefits to your client
are saving them time by not having to do it themselves and sound information
to help them plan their marketing efforts. You might consider starting a blog,
if you don’t have one already. E-newsletters are also good. A quarterly
postcard campaign is pretty cost effective and usually easy to put together.
You could create a postcard for each service and shoot them out to your existing
clients and prospects as well. |
