Branding and strategic communications can be nice-to-haves during the pandemic recovery. We share 4 insights for SMEs to consider using strategic communications to help them differentiate from their competitors and get a head-start in the recovery race in 2021.
SMEs have traditionally regarded strategic communications and marketing activities as a nice-to-have, and associate strategy with high cost. In the middle of building product and engineering better customer-product fit, it can seem like a luxury to spend hard-earned revenue on (just) a brand campaign, or take up management’s time to workshop on positioning and key messages.
In previous articles, we shared about creating a strategy for strategic communications that considered insights, environment, offering, value to the customer, as well as resource allocation and innovation. These considerations all belong to the business owner, entrepreneur or management team. In practice, they are usually spread out unevenly across the team, resulting in a mishmash of expectations, execution and conclusions.
Here are 4 insights about how strategic communications can help a SME with growth outcomes for 2021.
1. It is difficult to be equally good across product leadership, value to customer and operational excellence categories
From a resource allocation perspective, it is criminal for a business leader to not aim to be fantastic in one category and elect to being average across all three.
Don’t flirt between categories looking for that magic bullet that will add revenue multiples to your bottom line. Instead, pick one category and excel in it. A weak approach is like a parasite; it infects the thinking and culture in an organisation and renders the brand and product mediocre leading to a zombie-fied existence of “just making enough not to die”.
Use your strategic communications champion to be the objective member in the room. Start from strategy, move on to organisation positioning and choose the ground to defend. Secure successful customer executions and reinforce them with consistent and frequent messaging to gain momentum against the competition.
2. Hard and soft numbers are all equally valid metrics to determine direction and approach
Stop settling for simple metrics that are easy to quantify and use them as a shield to defend short-term decisions.
For example, the product team is not as good as how much revenue they make, or the profit margin they generate. They are good when customers return and increase their LTV with your company.
Consider combining quantitative metrics with intangible (or qualitative) input/output. Create ‘blended’ measurements that are unique to your organisation that generates insights that lend themselves to understanding direction and approach.
Strategy is equally about resource allocation as it is about growth through differentiation. Picking the right measurements can help a SME decide upon costs such as marketing and sales campaigns, hiring of talent that can help drive towards measurements that move the needle; and even on material costs that can improve a product.
3. Pick a hill that your SME will defend and if necessary, die on.
As we prepare for 2021, there are certain facts we can base our planning on.
There is a high chance of a COVID-19 vaccine becoming available, that will contribute towards re-opening various sectors of the economy. Singapore considers risk management a better strategy than reactively opening and closing borders due to subsequent waves of the pandemic. Economies – especially trade hubs – need travel to restart, and confidence in health security across flights, accommodations, venues grow. The business costs associated with testing, contact tracing and quarantine have to come down for sectors to reopen.
Against this backdrop, there will be increased competition and lesser demand for a period of time. Businesses cannot gamble on the duration of this period. From a strategy perspective, failing to differentiate from competition will result in their business becoming a me-too copy and customers will force decisions to buy based on price. For many SMEs, it will be based on lowest price.
These are areas – branding and brand preference – that strategic communications is critical. A communicator will help the brand relook at positioning and approach, highlight points of differentiation and build a reputation for delivering high-value, in-demand solutions to your customers.
SMEs have to choose to become the go-to specialist in a selected area that they can deliver superior value in and become the preferred solutions provider for an area of specialty.
In order to do so, you have to figure out how to deliver superior business value coupled with building strong customer relationships such that your customers will not bargain on price and instead buy fully into the value you promise to deliver.
4. It is possible (and arguably better) to do branding and communications with limited resources
In this customer climate, it is unwise to dilute resources across all branding or marketing opportunities at the same time. This is an example of doing marketing for the sake of the action; and that might not bring in results to support the organisation’s measurements. This has a ripple effect since management decisions are based on weak data, creating even more reactive actions to double-down or reset directions in the future.
The reality remains. A brand has to provide an offering that meets a market need. They should identify influencers and connectors that can be pitched to and convinced to believe in the offering. Initial outreach should revolve around sharing information to the audience segment that can help broadcast to their network and community.
From a limited resources (read: realistic budgets, and not meant to be as little budget as possible) perspective, strategic communications can be primed to prioritise audience segments, focus on testing and execute on outreach in small batches.
To conclude, especially in these challenging times, customer acquisition and revenue generation are key for a SME to survive.
However, it can be short-sighted not to prepare for recovery and only focus on short-term tactics to bring in revenue. Building a long-term structure has several organisation-wide benefits including clarity, alignment of direction as well as instilling confidence and trust across the management team and employees. The last – in particular – creates a positive work culture which has a positive loop effect on productivity.
We are Brand Utility is a business consultancy. We work with brands in the corporate, professional services, retail, travel and technology spaces. Our principal founder is a registered management consultant, certified and recognised by the Institute of Management Consultants Singapore.
We offer strategy and tactics to support growth outcomes - revenue, scale, regional expansion and market entry – for our clients.
Areas of support include:
· Strategic communications: Approach to market, brand concept and map, positioning, messaging, story and narrative, thought leadership
· Marketing: Campaign/programme planning, story-based marketing execution, digital marketing, community amplification, content planning and production, go-to-market execution
· Lead generation: Digital advertising, social media advertising, social commerce, e-commerce
· Integration of marketing with business operations: We plan and execute as a seconded marketing and/or PR lead for your brand
Discover more about our services at our website or book an exploratory consultation through this link.
Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash
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