Business Owners Beware: Four Marketing and Branding Pitfalls
Clients come to us for a variety of reasons, but many of them are hoping to jumpstart their business and redefine their brand identity. Perhaps they’ve plateaued, and they’re looking to invigorate sales or maybe they’re looking to switch up their marketing tactics. Perhaps they’re rethinking the strategies that have brought them this far in their entrepreneurial journey and realizing that to move forward, they need a bold new approach. We’ve discovered that no matter how these clients come to us, they generally fall into one of four categories.
The Disconnected
The disconnect can befall any business owner, even one that has clarity in their messaging and impeccable visuals. These business owners may go boldly forward into the digital ether confidently telling a story that they themselves inhabit and personify. The problem with this approach is that sometimes, the marketing is speaking loud and clear to the business owner but not necessarily to the populations that they wish to reach.
Disconnection in Action
Several years ago, we worked with a boutique workout studio run by a married couple. They were both in their sixties and incredibly strong and energetic. When we met them, they were marketing holistic lifestyle packages that included nutrition, mindfulness and physical conditioning programs that they themselves lived by. It was impossible for them to separate themselves from their brand. Their marketing assets included professional photographs of the two of them with serious expressions, lifting heavy weights and posing in daunting, advanced yogic stances. With these visuals, they aimed to demonstrate their own earnestness, vitality and knowledge of health and fitness industry.
Without knowing it, the business owners were marketing to people like themselves: lifelong athletes pursuing peak physical fitness, but their clients were largely middle aged and less interested in lifting heavy weights or participating in a boot-camp-style, strenuous physical fitness challenges. As a result, the marketing was intimidating the very populations the owners aimed to serve. Furthermore, classes at the studio—by all client accounts—were lively, engaging and geared towards all levels. The programs and classes the studio offered were well-suited to their clientele; however, the disconnect was in the messaging: this jubilant, community vibe was not reflected in the stern, muscle-bound marketing that the owners had embraced.
The Cowbird Fix
To resolve this disconnect, we shot new photos and videos for the studio, complete with staff and owners participating in lively, accessible workouts of all levels with actual studio clients. We crafted materials and messaging that underscored the studio’s friendly, community vibe.
The Disorganized
Business owners are so often awash in the language, atmosphere and details of their industry that it's easy for them to get lost in the particulars when it comes to marketing. The result can be disorganized, alienating messaging that confuses and deters prospective clients. It’s impractical to deliver messaging that is too broad, too specific or all over the map and expect to speak to a particular clientele.
Team Handball
Several years ago, we worked with an organization in the Northeast that facilitated team handball classes and leagues. The business owners were European, and though they understood that team handball was more popular in Europe than the US, they didn’t at first see the confusion in their messaging. Their copy spoke primarily to advanced players of the sport; and yet, their intention was to pitch the sport as a perfect entry-level activity for hobbyists and general athletes as well as advanced players. The website lacked context to clearly define the sport for an American audience (most of whom were only familiar with handball as a game involving one’s hand, a bouncy rubber ball and a solid wall).
The Cowbird Fix
Together we reframed their copy to 1. Describe the sport and distinguish it from its American counterpart 2. Create excitement around the game for potential players with a range of skills from hobbyists to competitive athletes 3. Spotlight particulars of the sport and highlight the perks of the facilities for advanced players with interest in structured league play.
The DIYer
Imagine a world where, as a solopreneur, you did what you could to keep costs down in your first few years of business. You asked your sister-in-law (who took a few graphic design classes in college), to design your logo. Your photography and video assets were shot by your best friend, who had just purchased the newest iPhone. You wrote your own copy which, while legible, did not take full advantage of keywording and SEO. Perhaps this DIY vibe served you well for many years. However, now that you want to level up, you feel your rustic materials and messaging may be holding you back from marketing yourself as a premium brand. You feel a bit stuck…but maybe you should just stay where you are…after all, you’re making a profit, right? If this circular internal conversation sounds familiar, maybe it’s time to take a deeper look at your brand and messaging!
DIYer in Manhattan
One of our favorite clients is a Pilates Studio owner who wanted to expand her successful business. She taught private and group classes in a high-traffic neighborhood in Manhattan and rented her studio space to a roster of very experienced Pilates instructors. However, she was not fully at-capacity with her studio, and she wanted to book more clients and eventually expand her offerings to online courses. She had a vision of elevating her DIY marketing and branding materials to identify her studio as a premium space.
The Cowbird Fix
We partnered with her to create a sophisticated look and feel to her website, which included elevated, professional graphics, a sleek new logo and photography and videography that identified her brand across all of her digital platforms.
The Dreamer
This pitfall describes business owners and entrepreneurs who have a fantastic idea, and who may even have a few solid pieces of the business puzzle solidified, but who ultimately lack a concrete foundation for messaging and branding. They barrel ahead full steam with their idea and start making a profit immediately. However, they’ve skipped a step. In an effort to prioritize sales, they haven’t given serious thought to defining their brand identity and messaging. When a business takes off suddenly, some owners don’t devote time to thinking through key foundations like company values and long-term goals. The more immediate thought is the deliverable—the need for a basic logo and a website, and so they pop in a placeholder with the intention of finding time later to build out a true brand identity. However, the truth is that branding and messaging are built around foundations like business vision and goals and not the other way around.
The Architecture Firm
We recently worked with an architecture firm that has been in business for over 17 years. They employ a team of thirty people and were the creative minds behind dozens of properties in the tri-state area. The company had reached a stage where they faced a bit of an identity crisis. None of the partners could agree on how the company should move forward, and there was not a strong consensus about what the company stood for. During our first meeting, the key stakeholders were unable to answer basic questions about their business goals and marketing strategies. Despite their years of financial success, they had reached a plateau in their business which required a tectonic overhaul.
The Cowbird Fix
Before we could design a new logo or website, we had to understand their audience and the philosophy driving their innovations. The company had grown so fast in the developing stages of their business that they never solidified these basic principles, and as a result, they had to return to square one to rethink their brand from the ground up. We interviewed several partners at the firm and conducted independent research and ultimately provided a written assessment of our findings. From here, we were able to provide actionable items and long-term recommendations for marketing strategies and in-house communications efforts and to pitch opportunities for creative services to support the business going forward.
Does any of this sound familiar?
If your small business has reached a plateau—and you fear you may fall into one of these categories—check out our Spark Package . We offer a professional audit of your brand, website and social media and provide actionable tips and a long-term strategy for taking your business to the next level.