Think about branding powerhouses like Procter & Gamble, General Motors and IBM. They all have one thing in common: You know exactly what they sell and what they stand for. Among the modern, high-tech, business-at-the-speed-of-thought, search- driven, web-based companies, branding has fallen out of favor. Or perhaps it’s just not even considered. There isn’t time.
That’s a mistake. Most website design & development companies tend to view marketing as an inbound process. Do all the right things and customer will find you on Google. What else is there?
Well for one thing, after they found you, what are you going to say? Where do you start? How do you get prospects to buy your stuff using the web, or trade shows conferences or even a brochure, or trade ad?
As a website design & development company in a high-tech area like Portsmouth NH, we see small to mid-size companies that often have dozens of abstract products and services based on the web. When we look at their website, collateral and trade show materials, it isn’t at all obvious what it is they are trying to offer. We could begin a hard-hitting SEO or PPC campaign. But, what would be sending prospects too?
That’s where branding comes in.
At Kirk website design & development company, we have created a specific process that is designed to successfully develop brands for high-tech, web-services, SaaS and cloud-based companies.
As a website design & development company we tell high tech companies there are two things that are most important to branding. First, discover the big picture. Small details may close a deal, but the big picture gets the deal started. You’ll never capture prospects with a small view. To get them to spend money, you need big reasons – captured in the big vision your company has established for itself. Branding captures the big picture of what your company is all about.
Second, tout benefits… not features. If you were told that a product received three new colors, has new door handles that are more comfortable, is quieter than last year’s model, and it has a bigger motor, you would probably think the product was a new car. In actuality, it’s a new refrigerator. The benefits? Keeping food and drink fresh and cold.
Companies spend a lot of time designing and building features. But the features of a refrigerator say nothing about what the product’s benefits are. Far too many companies tout features over benefits. Which leaves potential buyers wondering how the product will help them. Benefits are where your brand lives. By finding and defining the benefits, you begin to develop your brand. Once your brand is defined, that’s when website design & development can begin.
