Communicating your brand in the marketplace can be a daunting task for the small business owner. One just needs to look at the budgets that are bandied about by other organisations. But it doesn't have to be that way. You need to find an agency that you can build a relationship with. The key is to create trust between the client and the agency. One immediately establishes a bond at the first meeting and the relationship happens after continuous contact.

Communication is a science. It has logical basic principles and in order to do it right, make it work for you without wastage, you have to follow these principles. The most common and expensive errors are made because there is no planning or preparation. Without a plan you can run into problems - the messages become mixed and the customer confused. Once-off projects cannot make a large enough impact. Keep reminding your customers that you are out there.

After the planning you need a good basic design. A well-designed strong corporate ID is a must. You also need to use the right elements from the communication mix; advertising, PR, one-on-one contact or electronic, etc. The mix comes out of the plan. Quality communications must have impact, be effective and relevant - not only from a design point of view, but also right down to the medium.

The response from many first time communicators is: "They are too expensive for me. Look at what they've produced in the past - I can't afford that." Let the agency work with you. You'll be surprised at what you can afford. Be honest about what you want to achieve and the budget you're prepared to invest. I've heard said that "It doesn't matter what the budget, the agency will always use it all. If I don't give them a budget, I can always negotiate costs". So, out of fear of the unknown, many small business owners keep the budget to themselves and don't trust the agency. When this happens both the relationship and the brand suffer. Allocate a realistic budget and let the agency use it optimally.

The reason why the entire budget is used is, not because you can't trust the agency, but because communication is expensive and you need every cent allocated to do it properly. What I would suggest is that you find an agency that you feel comfortable with, one that has the right mix in terms of services, and/or has access to the best of out-sourced services, and make sure that the person with whom you interact makes you feel comfortable. Don't let them baffle you with technical terms! Make them explain what they're saying!

Everyone has to start somewhere and some start with a very small budget. Once the business sees a return on your advertising budget, you will be able to, and will indeed want to, allocate more to spend. Remember why you are communicating - to create revenue for the business!

Hints for an approach:
Look at a communication plan in the same way as you would view an architect's plan for your new home. For example, you say to him that you'd like 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. But because you don't have the funds yet and you only have one child so far, you would like the plan to have 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, but you will only build 2 bedrooms and one bathroom now. Once you have more funds, you can look at building the rest. Planning up front can save a lot of money in the long run.

The same goes for communications. Be honest with the agency. Tell them you don't have the money and are looking to plan a strategy that grows with time. Tell them what you can afford now and what you plan for the future. Look at a phased budget approach over a period of time that's comfortable for you. Based on your needs the agency should be able to put together a plan that'll work both in the long and short term. They will advise you as to what the minimum amount of work it is that you need to do in order to make a difference. I've worked on some plans where it is left up to the client to do a portion of the work (under the agency's guidance) to save some money.

Talk to the agency first. Get a feel for the kind of guidance they are likely to give. Let them guide you as to the right mix, be it PR, media planning, etc. If you're honest about what you want to do and you're honest about how much money you have, you will be surprised at how much you can do on a small budget.

A plan is the most important part of the communication. It is so easy to do an ad hoc now and another 3 months later, but all this usually does is dilute the impact and spend the budget. If planned with enough of a controlled communication to the right audience, there will be an impact.

Picking the right mix is as important as choosing the right message. This is where you need the experience of the agency. So many people go for the bargain, or the quick-fix and all that it does is use up the money without any sort of communication to the right audience.

A plan gives guidelines, it sets parameters and forces everyone to go back and keep asking the question - are we on track in terms of the positioning, audience, etc.? The plan doesn't have to be complicated, the simpler the better. What it does do is allow everyone to work towards a common goal.

Talk to the agency. You know your product better than anyone else. They know communication. Together you can do great things!

Sheryl is the Director of Inspiration, the co. She can be contacted at sheryl@inspiration1.co.za

Back to www.bizland.co.za