Would you rather have an amazing brand that everyone trusts and horrible marketing that drives zero leads, or have amazing marketing that drives a ton of leads but a horrible brand that no one trusts?
For me, this is a tough one. It's ridiculous to think that either one are ok. Of course, we want people to trust us! But that trust doesn't matter if we don't have any leads and no one knows we exist. But, on the other side, we know we need a solid brand that people trust. We can have a ton of leads, but if no one trusts us, we are dead.
Think about dating. We could date 1,000 potential mates, but if we suck as a person (horrible brand), it's going to be hard for someone to fall in love with us.
Listening to businesses talk about their problems and their goals, I've come to the sad realization that a lot of people would choose leads. Why is that? It's easy to hire someone to help with SEO, email marketing, social media management, etc. It's a bit harder and takes more time to build the trust element in their brand. The ROI isn't quite as immediate. We are a culture of instant gratification. We want leads NOW, and hope the trust is already there.
Instead, we should build our brand first and keep it front and center! We should be asking ourselves:
- Why do we exist?
- Who are we?
- Who do we serve?
- What problem do we solve?
- What makes us different?
- What do people say/feel about us now?
- What do we want people to say/feel about us?
- How to we handle problems?
Our goal as a business it to ultimately build a brand that people fall so in love with so there is no other option.
Yes, leads are important. We live and die by driving those leads. But, let's make sure we are driving them to an experience that keeps them coming back. Our brand is the only thing that can make that happen.
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In addition to the clients we have served for many years, and continue to serve, I've started consulting (mentoring) small businesses in need of some direction. I own a small business. I get it. I want to empower the "little fish with big dreams" to define their brands, clarify their message, and bring more structure to their brand and marketing programs. Let's talk.
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