Marketing 101

Building Brand Identity 

Establishing brand identity is a critical first step to any successful marketing effort. But what is a brand identity?

• Logo
• Colors
• Fonts
• Slogan/Tagline

It’s all the visual elements that distinguish your business from others:

Let’s look at colors, for example. What did you see the last time you walked down the power tool aisle at a hardware store? Black and yellow — DEWALT. Red — Milwaukee. Blue and Red — Bosch. You knew which company’s tools you were looking at before you read a word because those brands chose an impactful color scheme and used it across everything they put out into the world. You want this kind of brand recognition.

So, put together a striking logo, pick your colors, choose which fonts you’ll use (no more than three!) and use these across your advertisements, social media posts, vehicle wraps and more. If you’re having trouble getting all this together it’s worth it to pay a professional marketing or design agency to do it for you. They’ll create a “style book” with suggestions on how, where and when to use these visual elements, which will save you a lot of time. 

Your Website 

When you’re building your website, think of what action you want users to take when they land on the site and make sure it’s the first thing they see. For some contractors it’s as simple as a phone number and an address. But the reality of your website is that people visit to find out how you can help them — so your services and solutions should be easy to find and position you as the expert.

Considering it’s 2024 and 97% of Americans own (and shop from) a mobile phone, it goes without saying that your website should be optimized for viewing on a mobile device. A GoodFirms survey of web designers reports that 73.1% agree that a non-responsive website is a top reason for visitors to leave the site, followed by slow load times, bad navigation and poor content structure. It’s clear a “mobile first” mentality helps ensure a smoother user experience.

Other elements of a good website include photos, particularly those of your team working on noteworthy projects. Highlighting recent or in-progress projects can be an effective way to build customer trust and showcase your range of products and/or services. Installing Google Analytics is another beneficial tool for your website (and your marketing team) because the data it collects is invaluable to informing your future marketing strategy. 

Not to harp on brand identity more, but make sure every page of your website reflects your brand identity.

Social Media Presence 

Social media can be a marketing powerhouse for your business by promoting brand awareness, driving website traffic and connecting with your customers in a more personal space. It’s also more cost-effective marketing than more traditional advertising. However, it takes a fair bit of organizing to make sure you’re posting engaging content and maintaining a cohesive brand presence. If your team is already strapped for time, hiring a full-service marketing agency can help execute your plan effectively.