Episode 20
Build a Brilliant Brand Without a Big Budget
Building a killer brand doesn’t have to drain your wallet, and that’s the real tea we’re spilling today.
In this episode of Better Marketing, Marketing Magic in Minutes, I take a deep dive into how to craft a brilliant brand without busting your budget. Spoiler alert: it all comes down to having a solid strategy and knowing your audience like the back of your hand. Forget the flashy ads and expensive campaigns; it’s about being relevant and trustworthy to your customers.
So, if you’re a small business owner wondering how to make a splash without a big marketing budget, stick around because we’ve got some savvy insights that’ll help you shine bright without overspending!
Transcript
Hi there, I'm Tracy Heatley and welcome to this episode of the Better Marketing Podcast.
Speaker A:I'll be bringing you marketing magic in minutes.
Speaker A:This episode is called Build a Brilliant Brand without a Big Budget.
Speaker A:I had to really focus on saying that.
Speaker A:I felt like I was saying a tongue twister.
Speaker A:I'll say that again.
Speaker A:Build a brilliant brand without a big budget, because that's absolutely possible.
Speaker A:I've helped many businesses do exactly that and that's what I want to help you to do today.
Speaker A:So let's dive straight into it.
Speaker A:First of all, I wanted to talk to you about strategy Overspend.
Speaker A:So first things first.
Speaker A:Your brand is not defined by how much money you spend.
Speaker A:What really matters is having a clear strategy.
Speaker A:You need to be reaching the right people in the right place at the right time, and importantly, using the right methods.
Speaker A:That matters so much more than spending a fortune on flashy campaigns and unnecessary tactics.
Speaker A:For most small business owners, there isn't the budget to do that.
Speaker A:And quite often brand is associated with high spend.
Speaker A:But it doesn't always have to be that way.
Speaker A:One of my favourite sayings when it comes to business finances is turnover is vanity and profit is sanity.
Speaker A:And that applies to branding too.
Speaker A:It's not about looking like the biggest fish in the pond, it's about being the most relevant, trusted and memorable brand to your target market.
Speaker A:So let's talk about some real world results that back up what I'm saying to you now.
Speaker A:I worked with a client a few years ago who trebled their turnaround.
Speaker A:I worked with a client a few years ago who trebled the turnover.
Speaker A:I worked with a client a few years ago that trebled their Turnover in just 12 weeks.
Speaker A:And we did it on a shoestring budget.
Speaker A:The secret focus, we nailed their brand messaging, honed in on the right audience and only spent time and money where it mattered.
Speaker A:And when I say money, it was very little.
Speaker A:There wasn't a budget available.
Speaker A:If I'm honest, there wasn't.
Speaker A:I wasn't given a set budget for them to work with.
Speaker A:We kept to the bare minimum and spent very little.
Speaker A:This kind of success isn't rare when you get the strategy right.
Speaker A:Now, this was a mentoring client, so it wasn't a project where I was doing it for them.
Speaker A:I was guiding it through doing them for themselves.
Speaker A:So what was important as well was that we found the right branding approaches and marketing techniques that suited the business owner as well as the brand.
Speaker A:It's why I always say, don't just dive into branding and marketing until you've laid the right foundations.
Speaker A:Get your groundworks in place for your marketing and your branding.
Speaker A:Now let's talk about flamboyant.
Speaker A:Marketing isn't always smart, because it's not.
Speaker A:Sometimes less is more.
Speaker A:I've seen businesses get swept away trying to match their competitors and what they're doing or what they think they should be doing to compete instead of following their own path.
Speaker A:Now, one of the ways that you can set a marketing budget is if you want to compete within your marketing, let's say there's a certain competitor that you want to beat.
Speaker A:I suppose sometimes putting your budget together might mean working out what they're spending on marketing and trying to match it.
Speaker A:But that's not always the right way.
Speaker A:So be careful about that if there's not the budget there because you can be overspending unnecessarily and that's when things can start to spiral out of control.
Speaker A:And there are other ways that you can allocate, allocate your budget as well.
Speaker A:So if you want to know more about that, get in touch with me.
Speaker A:I think there's, there'll probably be blogs and podcasts somewhere that I've already done on that for sure.
Speaker A:You don't always need overly expensive photo shoots, massive ad budgets, or rebrands every six months.
Speaker A:You don't always need that to support your brand.
Speaker A:And don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of professional photos.
Speaker A:I think they make a massive difference to perception and but if you're on a shoestring budget, you can do things wisely.
Speaker A:You need a brand that speaks to your ideal customers.
Speaker A:It stands out in a way that feels authentic to sometimes you as a business owner, but certainly for your business and your business values.
Speaker A:And also that builds long term trust and credibility.
Speaker A:So let's focus on profit.
Speaker A:Focus branding.
Speaker A:Branding should always be aligned with your business goals, as should all elements of your marketing.
Speaker A:If your overall business goal is to increase profit, then your branding and messaging need to support that and not just chase likes and chase visibility.
Speaker A:Remember what your focus is.
Speaker A:Remember what your goals are.
Speaker A:That's why in my strategy cycle program, for example, and my marketing mentoring sessions, we always bring everything back to the business objectives.
Speaker A:The very first session I do with any businesses about what's going on internally.
Speaker A:And one of those things is about building better goals.
Speaker A:So if you've not already got your business goals, get them in place.
Speaker A:And there is a blog, it's one of my most downloaded blogs actually on my website about better business goals.
Speaker A:And that's not me saying all these are better.
Speaker A:I've put a system together for developing your business goals, and I call it Better Goals because I use the acronym BETTER to guide you through it and to take you through it step by step.
Speaker A:So if you've not already had a little look at that blog, then head over to my website and have a little read.
Speaker A:I think it is either the first or second most downloaded blog I've ever written.
Speaker A:So have a little look.
Speaker A:So everything must be aligned with your goals, with your message, with your visuals and your marketing activity.
Speaker A:It's important to stay on track.
Speaker A:So let's focus on that now about staying on track.
Speaker A:Because it's easy, isn't it, to get sidetracked from things.
Speaker A:It's easy to get distracted.
Speaker A:You might see or you might actually be one of those people that's always seeing, like, shiny new pebbles.
Speaker A:I call it Shiny object syndrome.
Speaker A:So I think we've all had that, you know, experienced at some point, some more than others.
Speaker A:So if you're tempted by a new marketing platform, a new design trend, or a competitor's ad campaign, you need to be aware of all those things.
Speaker A:But sometimes you've got to just put your blinkers on a bit and ignore it a little bit.
Speaker A:You know what springs to mind?
Speaker A:You know, when you see shire horses sometimes and they have like patches to the side of their, their eyes or something, it's to divert them from seeing things either side and to distract them so that they're focused on what lies ahead.
Speaker A:And it's a bit like that, isn't it?
Speaker A:That's a really good analogy for staying on track.
Speaker A:Get those, get those patches on, stop yourself from seeing those shiny new objects and remember, your brand is your own.
Speaker A:So stay consistent, stick with your message and refine rather than reinvent.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's important to rebrand.
Speaker A:You know, I do branding strategy.
Speaker A:I work with clients if they're, if they're rebranding.
Speaker A:But sometimes it's not always necessary.
Speaker A:So if you're thinking about doing that, then seek the help of a professional and get that guidance.
Speaker A:If you've got yourself a good consultant, they will give you good and honest advice.
Speaker A:I've advised businesses not to rebrand and I've advised businesses to rebrand.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's necessary, but it's not always.
Speaker A:Sometimes you just need to stay on track and remember that getting those messages right is important as well.
Speaker A:So if you're not sure about that and you need to speak to me, get in touch.
Speaker A:Because sometimes you've Just got to revisit your own strategy or your original strategy, and it might just need tweaking a little bit as well.
Speaker A:So that's exactly what help people do day in, day out so that they can transform their results.
Speaker A:So to kind of wrap it up and share with you my final thoughts on this topic, you don't need a big budget to build a brilliant brand.
Speaker A:You need clarity, confidence, consistency and commitment to doing what's right for your business.
Speaker A:If you're ready to start building a brand that works for you and your customers, not just your competitors, remember it's not just about what they're doing, then let's chat.
Speaker A:You can find out more about my consultancy, mentoring and training programs, my strategy cycle program.
Speaker A:You can find out more about all that at my website, which is TracyHeatley.com and that's T R A C Y H-E-A-T-L-E-Y.com and don't forget, when you go to the website, you can download my free guide.
Speaker A:It's called A Small Business Owner's Roadmap to a Better Strategy.
Speaker A:It's called that because that's exactly what it does.
Speaker A:It gives you all the that information that you need for that.
Speaker A:And at the same time, you can fill that form in.
Speaker A:You can enter my podcast competition to potentially win a free power hour with me, which is online.
Speaker A:So wherever you are in the world, we can do that for an hour online if you win.
Speaker A:And we can use that session to focus on whatever you want to do with your marketing and AI.
Speaker A: uide that you use the code POD: Speaker A:Don't forget that.
Speaker A:So head over to the website.
Speaker A:Traceyheatley.com I am Tracy Heatley.
Speaker A:I'm a chartered marketer.
Speaker A:I'm a certified CIM AI specialist and I'm happy to share my insights with you here.
Speaker A:But if you want to work with me, do get in touch with me via the website.
Speaker A:And if you're not quite ready to work with a professional yet, just carry on listening to the podcast.
Speaker A:Just make sure you subscribe and review.
Speaker A:So next time I'll be sharing with you some real world branding and marketing stories that you can learn from.
Speaker A:So stay tuned.
Speaker A:And until then, remember, better marketing, better business.
