From the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership
With the arrival of our new Marketing Specialist, The McMinnville Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) is taking the time to strengthen our brand and develop consistency in our marketing techniques.
Several weeks ago, Jennifer Morrow of Creative Company hosted a one-time Social Media class, as well as talked to the Women in Business group about the importance of Social Media Marketing and branding for [small] businesses. She offered several tips and tricks to ensure that businesses understood the need for targeted social media campaigns and a strong brand.
MEDP consulted with Creative Company almost two years ago to redesign the MEDP brand standards. Since then, MEDP has done a few small things to implement this new branding; however, many small businesses like ours can find it hard to spend the time needed to develop a strong brand. Are you one of them? We know establishing a brand can be daunting, but one thing MEDP has learned is that once a brand is created, and you stick with it, the rest falls into place.
Small businesses need to keep a consistent brand in order to create solid marketing campaigns. Time and resources may be scarce, but taking the time initially to develop vision and mission statements and think through what you will promise to customers is important. This creates your brand foundation, and once you have a solid foundation, it is much easier and less time consuming to develop marketing within the parameters of your established brand. Ultimately consistency is key, so keep true to your established brand!
Here’s a quick tip: try HootSuite to start easily managing your social media accounts. You can connect up to 5 accounts free and they offer an easy to follow, live webinar to get you started!
