Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business. —Steve Forbes

From Google to Apple to Amazon, technology branding is everywhere you look. Your company’s brand is its identity. It’s how you establish your purpose along with the products or services you sell. Branding is your personality.

Consumer buying behavior is driven by how your brand connects with the public. In a recent Gartner study, 65% of marketers said that brand is a critical driver of buying behavior with existing customers and 58% said the same with prospects. 37% percent of CMOs cited brand strategy as crucial to a successful marketing strategy.

Build Your Brand

Branding is your business’ promise to the public. But consumers are inundated with so many brands every day, it’s easy to get drowned out. You run the risk of being pushed aside in favor of your competitors if you neglect a solid brand-building strategy.

Things to consider when building your brand include what your values are and how you want to communicate them. Ask yourself what you want to achieve. Who are you, and what is your position is in the industry?

Here are six simple steps to explore when building your brand:

1. Define Your Brand

You might know the Oscar Wilde quote, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” Great advice! With your business brand, you can create your own narrative, just like you would with your personal brand. Here is a good place to differentiate. While your personal brand is a combination of your core beliefs, unique strengths and your character, your business brand is your business name, what makes you different, your objective and your reputation. Both can work in tandem to improve and strengthen the other.

2. Build Awareness

Awareness through consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by 23%, according to Forbes. Before your reputation is earned, you have to let people know you exist and that you’re worth knowing. And your brand needs to stand out from the crowd.

Brand identity is how you want to be perceived, and you control the message. Take into consideration the following: 1) What are some differentiators to your product and services, 2) what is your unique story, and 3) how will others perceive you?

3. Get Active on Social Media

Almost 75% of small businesses invest in social media marketing as part of their brand strategy, according to the business news website, The Manifest. Caution: 90% of consumers prefer an authentic and honest brand personality on social networks, according to HubSpot.

With more than half of the world’s population active on social media, according to Hootsuite, it’s a smart move to leverage social media to boost your brand. Stay ahead of your competitors with these best practices.

• Stay away from religion and politics
• Provide value
• Be genuine
• Be friendly
• Stop and think — if you’re not sure, don’t post it.

Here are some general guidelines to follow for the various social media channels:

Facebook – Join and create FB groups, and optimize for SEO with your posts and profile content. Post and reshare watercooler content, using hashtags, and check out your friends’ connections to see if they’re viable connections for you and your business.

YouTube – Create a page and SEO while creating the title and description of your content, post and share thought leadership and product information, and share this content on other platforms.

LinkedIn – It’s the Google of business — use it. Use filters to prospect and connect. Use hashtags and tags, follow and engage with prospects and clients to form digital relationships, and do not sell. The point is to build relationships.

4. Share Engaging Content

Through blogs, social media, emails and newsletters, use content that tells a story. Content should create awareness, interest, desire, action — and loyalty. 82% percent of customers feel more positive about a brand after reading customized content, according to Demand Metric.

5. Mind Your Colors

Be selective of the colors you choose in your logo and on your website. Do you want to convey optimism with warm colors? Do you want to seem peaceful with green tones? Maybe you want to be perceived as creative with purple hues? Color improves brand recognition by up to 80%, meaning customers are 80% more likely to identify you if you use the same colors consistently on your branding material, according to Forbes.

6. Stay Consistent

When you think about brands, the Apple logo or Starbucks’ indelible double-tailed mermaid logo may come to mind. One thing you might notice is that these companies never change their logos or colors. They’re consistent, which helps people trust the brand. 59% of shoppers prefer to buy new products from brands they trust, according to Invesp. Branding with attractive logos, colors and other visual elements helps your business get recognized.

To remain trusted — and top of mind — you need to get in front of people and stay there. It takes five to seven impressions before someone remembers your brand, according to smallbizgenius. And that’s if you’re consistent. If you’re changing your colors or tone of your content or your logo, you might as well start from scratch. Fewer than 10% of B2B companies say their branding is very consistent, according to “A Demand Metric Benchmark Report,” giving you an edge to remain consistent and top of mind.

How Marketopia Can Help

Maintaining a cohesive branding strategy helps build customer loyalty, fuels connections with consumers and lays the groundwork for future marketing by establishing an audience and your brand positioning. Establishing your brand is a triumph for your company.

The steps above are designed to help you build your brand and create awareness. We hope these tips help you get more leads.

The team at Marketopia is ready to manage all your marketing needs. Whether it’s lead generation, sales support and boosting your technology brand, our mission is to deliver lead generation for your business to help you thrive. Contact us today for your free Growth Assessment to get started!

Marketopia Expands Global Footprint by Acquiring London-Based Company

PINELLAS PARK, Fla., January 20, 2022 (Newswire.com)

Marketopia, the technology industry’s premier marketing and lead generation company, announced today that it has acquired Continuity Marketing, a London-based marketing firm that serves MSPs, vendors and technology companies.

“We’re extremely excited to form a unified marketing firm that will only ascend from here,” said Terry Hedden, CEO & Co-Founder of Marketopia. “This is a powerful team of 175 channel experts spread across the world that will drive lead generation and demand while creating opportunities for our customers on a global basis.”

The team members making up Continuity Marketing and Marketopia collectively have hundreds of years of experience in marketing and the technology industry. The new partnership brings the capability to execute growth strategies that include all aspects of digital and telemarketing with round-the-clock services and a team fluent in several languages.

The acquisition will help Marketopia expand its presence in London — it opened an office in the U.K. last April — and better serve clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“We’re thrilled about this partnership and how it will further our global value to the industry,” said Andra Hedden, CMO & Co-Founder of Marketopia. “MSPs, vendors and technology companies around the world will now be able to rely on us as they strive to achieve their global growth goals.”

Continuity Marketing specializes in marketing, lead generation and website optimizations and rebuilds. The London-based company is looking forward to expanding its reach by partnering with an established brand like Marketopia.

“Marketopia is the standard when it comes to marketing for the MSP and tech industries,” said Jamie Daum, Co-Founder of Continuity. “We’re eager to leverage their vast expertise, especially in outbound sales, to help our clients grow even faster.”

“This acquisition will benefit each company’s clients and prospective clients,” Terry Hedden said. “We’re one of the top marketing firms in the U.S. They’re one of the top marketing firms in the U.K. And now we’re joining forces to help each other and our clients grow better together.”

About Marketopia

Marketopia is the premier marketing and lead generation agency for the IT channel. We are uniquely positioned to serve the needs of software, hardware and cloud vendors, distributors, MSPs and VARs. With deep roots in the MSP world, Marketopia’s understanding of the industry helps the company’s lead generation, marketing and sales training services stand apart from our competitors in delivering leads, sales and profit. For more information about Marketopia and our proven demand generation system, visit www.marketopia.com, call 844-482-4769 and engage with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Continuity Marketing

Incorporated in 2019 by Richard Thompson and Jamie Daum, Continuity Marketing has demonstrated exceptional business resilience, growing to a multi-million-dollar agency with customers including Barracuda, intY and over 70 Microsoft Partners. Continuity has attracted 30 MSP marketing experts into its team and experienced much of its growth during a tenuous two years for businesses worldwide.

Using Science and Data to Generate Profit

When it comes to introducing your business to potential investors, employees and prospective clients alike, their perception is reality. However, that doesn’t mean you have to feel powerless against these subconscious judgments. As technology drives our understanding of human behavior, marketing, economics and decision-making forward, a new branch of psychological principle has emerged — neuromarketing. Let’s dive into the basics of what neuromarketing is and how you can capitalize on the latest research to benefit your bottom line and improve your MSP marketing and sales efforts.

What is Neuromarketing?

Neuromarketing combines neuroscience and marketing by utilizing our understanding of the human brain and underlying psychological and behavioral principles. And with the abundance of data available for businesses to utilize, the worlds of marketing and technology are experiencing intense revolutions. This means that you have more data and greater technology to increase intentionality in your sales and marketing processes.

How Can I Leverage Neuromarketing Principles?

Luckily, you don’t have to be an expert in psychology or MSP marketing to start benefiting from the research and tools available. Here are three areas of neuromarketing research your team can focus on today to bring in more leads, more sales and more profit.

1) Consumers Love Personalization

You read that right. Consumers seek out a personalized experience and expect the data collection that helps companies to provide it. Salesforce research shows that “84% of consumers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business”. Personalization can be utilized both in the marketing and sales process to help convert your leads into engaged customers. Whether you use AI-based programs like Crystal to gain insight into the person you’ll be meeting with or tailoring your marketing to hit specific demographics, there’s power in selling intentionally. Take a look at your processes and audit yourself by asking, how can I create a more personalized experience for my prospects and clients?

2) Data Privacy Equates ROI

The numbers don’t lie. When companies invest in data privacy and security, there is a direct correlation to ROI. Cisco researchers discovered that the average company receives $2.70 in associated benefits for every dollar spent on privacy. Additionally, 97% of companies have seen benefits like a competitive advantage or investor appeal from investing in privacy, according to Cisco. These statistics are powerful and persuasive sales points to arm yourself with when discussing the importance of cybersecurity, vCIO and managed services with prospective clients. We understand the importance of data security, but the translation to financial impact can be the nudge that helps prospective clients over the finish line and signing a contract.

3) Behavioral Design Will Optimize Outcome

Humans are biologically inclined to make subconscious judgments rapidly. According to Forbes, “within the first seven seconds of meeting, people will have a solid impression of who you are — and some research suggests a tenth of a second is all it takes to start determining traits like trustworthiness.” But this split-second judgement isn’t isolated to physical interactions, Forbes also notes that “visitors may form an impression of your [web]site in as little as 50 milliseconds.”

This is why consistent, professionally branded marketing collateral and frequent sales enablement training are critical to winning business. And with digital tools readily available, you can collect further data on your collateral and make micro-adjustments to further enhance your close ratio.

Lean on Experts for Support

The rate of innovation within our fields excites us, and we want to help your business reap the benefits of what’s possible with today’s cutting-edge technologies and strategies. If you’re interested in learning more about how Marketopia can support your efforts in IT and MSP marketing, sales enablement or appointment setting, connect with one of our experienced growth consultants to schedule a free growth assessment for your business!

Want to Learn More About This Topic?

Check out what Prince Ghuman, expert neuromarketer and behavioral designer, has to say on the topic in his 2020 TEDxHultLondon talk: “Neuromarketing and the Future of A.I. Driven Behavior Design.”

Marketopia Announces Charity Car Wash to Support Pace Center for Girls

Local Event to Raise Awareness and Funds for Florida Non-Profit

Pinellas Park, FL, May 27, 2021 — Marketopia, a full-service marketing agency specializing in the technology channel, announced today that it is hosting a car wash to benefit Pinellas Park’s Pace Center for Girls, a 501(c) non-profit organization.

Pace provides free, year-round middle and high school academics, case management, counseling, and life skills development for girls. The fundraising car wash will take place on Saturday, May 29, 2021, in Pinellas Park, FL.

“At Marketopia, we live the Golden Rule,” said Laura Simmons, vice president of finance at Marketopia. “We believe in doing what’s right and taking care of our partners, clients, team members, and our community. Pinellas’ Pace Center for Girls provides positive opportunities to girls at a time when counseling and empowering young women is more important than ever. We are honored to support such a great cause.”

Pace provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, and advocacy. The organization believes each individual deserves an opportunity to find her voice, achieve her potential, and celebrate a life defined by responsibility, dignity, serenity, and grace.

Saturday’s event is 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Marketopia’s office at Gandy Blvd. and US Hwy. 19 in Pinellas Park.

“We hope members of the local community join us,” added Simmons. “We would love for people to stop by, get their car washed, and donate to Pace Center for Girls.”

About Marketopia LLC:

Based in Pinellas Park, FL, Marketopia is a premier global marketing agency specializing in the IT channel. The firm delivers world-class marketing, lead generation, and sales enablement solutions to help companies in the IT channel find success. Marketopia’s work provides its clients with a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace by leveraging their team’s skill, experience, and insight.

About Pace Center for Girls:

Pace Center for Girls (Pace) is a nationally recognized program that provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, and advocacy. For more than 36 years, Pace has impacted the lives of more than 40,000 girls and young women, helping them heal from past trauma and transform their lives for the better. For more information about Pace Center for Girls, please visit pacecenter.org.