31 Mar Spring Cleaning for your Brand

I’ve got Spring Fever. I’m opening all the doors and windows in my house. I’m swapping my winter boots for summer sandals. And I’m ready to let the sun shine a bright new light on just about everything. . .including my business.

How bout you?

‘Tis the season to take a fresh look at your business, your processes, your marketing and your brand. A quarter of the year is already over. You’ve got all the results from your efforts last year. Are you evaluating what you’ve been doing? Are you changing course if it feels like it’s not working? Are you sticking to your old habits? Or are you looking to try some new things with your brand that you’ve never tried before?

To keep your marketing fresh and relevant, you have to try new things. And, now more than ever before, there are plenty of new things worth exploring.

Twitter’s Periscope offers live streaming video – an interesting new medium for resorts and events. Instagram now offers video as well. Social media has given us a whole new – FREE – outlet with which to engage and learn from our customers. And it allows us to market in real time – to take advantage of a momentary happening or event and react to it instantly. This is a revolutionary ability that we should all take advantage of.

Digital options abound. Google Adwords search and display ads allow you to control your spend and provide an exact ROI — with no long-term commitment. If it doesn’t work, you can turn it off. Immediately. Same with Facebook and Bing/Yahoo ads.

Native advertising allows you to hide your ads in the context of editorial. It remains to be seen how this will go over with consumers long-term, but. . . it generates clicks.

Digital outdoor boards allow you to change your creative on a dime — with no production costs. During the Wyndham Championship, we even stream the leaderboard on digital outdoor boards. We couldn’t have done that ten years ago.

And what about your website? Is it less than two years young? Do you have a content management system that allows you to update it daily or weekly without calling your ad agency? Is it responsive (does it work as well on tablets and smart phones as it does on desktops)? If you answered no to any of these questions, you need to take a good hard look at it. Your website is your front door to the world. It’s worth the investment.
As temperatures warm, roll up your sleeves and test some new waters. Get outside of your comfort zone and try something you’ve never tried before. Even if it doesn’t work, you’ll learn something new about your business and/or your target audience. And that’s what really makes brands grow.