The Credibility Curve, 2nd Impressions and Social Media

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February 27, 2012

I was listening to someone over the radio the other day speaking about sales on how the importance of building your credibility in your networks will attract more business opportunities. I wasn’t really paying attention at first and I suddenly thought:

“Hey, isn’t this true on social media networks too?”

If you take a look around, you’ll find many companies, businesses and individuals trying their very best to accumulate masses of fans. You know how it works – some put together promotions and contests requiring you to first “Like” their page or to “Share” with their friends, some go all out to build connections and to send personal invitations, some create a welcome page with a freebie to give away upon a “Like”, and some go by the shady way of just purchasing fans / followers.

Where am I getting at

Many tend to spend their time accumulating, amassing huge amount of fans by creating a very well polished, presentable and approachable first impression. It’s like walking into a newly opened cafe in town and the waiters are friendly. They greet you by name, start small talks and will even leave you something so that you’ll come by again. All these are great to have, however…

How many take note of creating a great 2nd impression?

It is very easy to start off something big but it is never easy sustaining its growth and its the same on social media. You see, being social does not end at having amassed 100,000 or 1,000,000 fans. In fact, whatever the number of followers are, that is only the beginning and here are 3 reasons why:

#1: You’re the new kid in town

Which also means that you’re probably one out of the many competitors out there doing the same thing.

A painful truth: Your followers may have “Liked” you only for the sake of winning that brand new gadget you offered as a prize.

What can you do: Show them you’re not just a pretty face. Give them reasons to remember or to talk about you in their personal networks. Leave them something to share and to take action of, keep them involved in one way or another.

#2: You’ve left them looking forward for more

Consumers have high expectations, especially when you’ve created an unforgettable first impression. They’ll want to experience it again, or more.

A painful truth: If you’re unable to keep up with their expectations on their 2nd experience with you, there’s a possibility that you’re out.

What can you do: Never, ever over promise beyond your means. Can you still fulfill that promise if you have 10, 100, 1000 or even 10000 customers? Go small, but strive to over deliver all the time. Ask yourself, “What else can I offer to create a better experience?”. Sometimes the key is not to create an extensive but a unique experience.

#3: You’ll be forgotten, soon

No matter how good the experience is, there’ll be a time where your customers will experience something better elsewhere and you’ll be forgotten.

A painful truth: They forget quicker online. Can you remember all the pages you’ve “Liked” on Facebook in the past? When was the last time you posted / interacted on a brand’s Facebook page?

What can you do: Don’t let the momentum of your launch campaign go down. Start putting out content that matters. It helps when you tell your fans what you want them to do or to even ask for suggestions on what you can do better. This may sound like common sense but the more people you get interacting, the more people will see your brand on their timeline.

So how is credibility related to this then?

Creating memorable experiences naturally breeds memorability towards your business. When that happens, a relationship is formed between you and your customer – because you’ve been there with them. It’s a feeling of familiarity, or trust. The reason why you say or think that social media isn’t working for you is because the perception of risk continues to supersede the perception of trust among your customers.

To make social media ‘work’, you’ll need build your credibility with your customers.

So if you haven’t already, remember,

2nd impression matters. It drives credibility.

Yes, even on Social Media.

Photo credit: Bob Gorrell

What Would You Do If All Odds Are Against You?

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January 16, 2012

| Jan Wong

You’ve probably heard that one of the main attributes of an entrepreneur is the ability to take risks. However, what an entrepreneur actually does is to take CALCULATED risks. That’s right, they don’t take risks for the sake of taking it. They take risks because there’s something worth fighting for and have considered all options before taking the risk.

But what happens if all odds are against you?

Recently I stumbled upon a particular comic strip in Chinese which resonated quite a bit with me that I thought it’ll be great to share with you (I’ve translated the text to English for your viewing pleasure):

what would you do if all odds are against you? - english

click for larger image

Original comic (in Chinese)

The comic strip got me thinking – which citizen would I be in the comic strip? Would I be watching the live telecast in front of the television screen waiting for it to happen? Take the opportunity to rob the stores to get that 60-inch plasma television that I always wanted? Or would I try with whatever I have (or can) to face the problem (in this case, a meteor) head on?

While it may sound silly to face a meteor with a baseball bat…

Many ideas started off silly too. Let’s warp back in time for a bit, what would you say to Mark Zuckerberg when he was working on Facebook, during the prime time of Friendster? Or Apple when they were working on the iPad? Remember how everyone claimed that it was an oversized iPhone and that it’ll never sell?

The thing is, your ideas will constantly be challenged as you talk to people, or as technology advances and sometimes the odds really are against you. Maybe investors are not buying into your idea, your business partner disappeared, you’re losing money, loved ones aren’t being supportive or maybe you’re feeling that you can’t cope with the expectations of the shareholders anymore.

I’ve personally lost count on how many times I’ve went against the odds myself. There were smaller odds but definitely big ones with much at stake. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from them is that if they (challenges) did not happen, I wouldn’t be who and where I am at today.

The really question is – Are you ready to face the odds?

A Crawling Restaurant Experience @ The Hungry Hog

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January 11, 2012

| Jan Wong

It was my mum’s birthday last weekend and we decided to head to a nearby cozy local restaurant for a simple celebration dinner. It wasn’t our first time there so we ordered our usuals and all was well… until my dad started swinging his leg about. He stood up and lo and behold, a cockroach fell out of his trousers. Yes, it crawled into his trousers when we were eating. Disgusted, we decided to get the bill and leave.

Being concerned customers, we told the waiter (or what seemed like the boss) what happened and to my disbelief, she just shook her head saying:

“Sorry, it’s too bad. I just got in so I didn’t see what happened.”

Followed with the bill, with a 10% service tax and the usual 6% government tax.

What was she thinking!?

Now, we weren’t expecting a discount or a free meal but it would be nice if we got a (nicer) apology rather than a (very) poor excuse. While you’re nodding your head in agreement (I’m guessing you are), it’s amazing to see similar occurrences happening even on digital platforms. From the recent Paul Christoforo to Versace’s Facebook wall-closing incident, we can learn two things:

1. Treat your customers like customers. Sure, some customers can be a pain and customers are not always right but they’re still your customers. Did you know that for every 1 complaint received, there are 26 others that did not complain, making up to 10,000 dissatisfaction?

2. Avoiding the situation won’t make things better. In fact, it’ll get worse. In the case of Christoforo, let’s just say that his career is over. As for Versace, well, they got a whole lot of blasting themselves from fans and supporters.

With all that said, it is important for businesses today to remember that…

Customers today are social customers

They no longer are customers who purchase blindly and allows you to get away with things easily. The proof?

social media supporting consumer decision making in malaysia

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Malaysians actually rely pretty heavily on social networks to receive advice prior to making a purchase. On top of that, 78% of the Malaysian internet population are on Facebook and 31% of them has a blog on Blogger (source: Nielson Research). This also means that if they don’t like you, there’s a 78% chance you’ll end up on their Facebook wall or in a blog post somewhere in the digital world.

What happens in the digital world? It gets worse

Not only the complaints are visible to potential customers, they are permanent. And since these content are user generated, you have no way of removing them. A well optimized complaint on a blog will probably guarantee frontage results across search engines. Same goes to negative reviews on FourSquare, Amazon, eBay or TripAdvisor and shared across Facebook and Twitter.

Think about it – would you really want that for your business? What if you’re able to turn that around to a positive testimonial instead? Wouldn’t that be good? I’m sure it is.

With an experience like that, will we go back there again? We won’t. Will you?

Have You Stopped Improving Yourself? 4 Ways to Stay In The Game!

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January 9, 2012

| Jan Wong

I’ve always enjoyed the game of badminton and I’ve been playing the game ever since I could remember. I could safely say that I’ve been a decent player with some tournament wins here and there and have also learnt a great deal from this sport. As time passed, I got pretty busy. From playing the game everyday (in high school) to thrice a week and now, barely once a month. Needless to say, my plays naturally declined as I wasn’t playing enough to improve – and that got me thinking.

It is really the same in real life

I’ve known of some really talented tech guys when I first started exploring the industry and I’ve learnt quite a bit from them. However, over the years they’re seen repeating what they already know over and over again to the point where it became obsolete, especially when technology advances so quickly. To cut the long story short, they switched to a different industry. Mind you, they were experts before.

What does this mean?

Many great teachers will tell you that you stop improving when you stop learning, and it is true. No matter how good you are in what you do now, time CAN take its toll on you if you’re not constantly practicing, learning, improving and sharpening your skills. In fact, I think one of the most important trait of a teacher / expert / leader is the willingness to learn and to continuously improve as people will respect that.

A good example would be Mark Schaefer (@MarkWSchaefer) – he’s already good at what he does, he has his own business going, a huge blog community and he can as well just make money by selling his thoughts. But what I think made him so successful in what he does is that he never stops listening, he never stops learning and he never stops growing (which is the name of his blog community, by the way). I would also say the same for Robert Dempsey (@rdempsey), he never stops testing and experimenting on different marketing ideas and strategies and documents them on his site.

What should you do?

#1: Don’t be contented or comfortable on the level you’re at

Yesterday you’ve 10 Friendster accounts with thousands of friends and testimonials (those were the days) in every one of them… today, Friendster is no more. Are you ready to lose out just like that, knowing that you may have the ability to achieve what you could have achieved? Challenge yourself consistently.

It doesn’t need to be big but keep yourself on your toes. Spend some time daily to learn something new. Read articles, watch videos, do something that can help you improve your knowledge / skills in what you do.

#2: Stop giving excuses

Ah, how easy it is to put a task off. We are all master procrastinators at one point or another. The best part is that we often argue ourselves out of it. After all, it makes sense right? Wrong. Here’s the deal – if you’re not gonna make it work, nobody will! So if you really want to improve yourself, get moving!

#3: Set achievable goals

I’ve been reading a number of posts saying new year resolutions don’t matter simply because you won’t fulfill them. I say that’s rubbish. You couldn’t fulfill them simply because you’re doing #2 or you’ve set goals that you may not have been able to achieve anyway! Set goals that are within your means to reach (at least of a start).

Set a short (smaller) term goal followed by a longer (bigger, accumulated) goal. You can’t possibly run for an hour everyday if you haven’t done that in years so start once a week then twice and slowly add to it. You’ll find your goals easier to achieve that way.

#4: Don’t be too hard on yourself

It is very easy to give up, trust me, I know. At times it seems as though all the effort was flushed down the gutter and you feel like throwing the towel. You know what, giving up is easy. But what makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur is that he / she does not give up.

If you ever find yourself in such a situation, you need someone that you can trust to be your support system. Whether it is a loved one, a family member, business partner or a friend, that’s where you should go to, vent, and move forward from there. I definitely have mine.

Have you ever found yourself falling back on what you (or used to) do best?

4 Social Media Predictions for Malaysia 2012

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January 6, 2012

| Jan Wong

2011 has been an amazing year in the digital realm. From the major Google Panda update somewhere in February 2011, to the design overhauls with major social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even StumbleUpon, the introduction of Google+, the beta launch of Kred and the list goes on.

What excites me most is that more and more businesses are seen to be adopting and experimenting on social media, leading towards exciting times for both marketers and consumers alike in 2012 – a concrete indication that social networking is indeed changing the way we communicate, do business and definitely not a trend.

Having seen all that, have you wondered what 2012 would be like for social media? Here are my four (4) predictions of social media in Malaysia for 2012:

Prediction #1: Increased social media adoption among small business owners

Why: Social media campaigns have been prevalent in larger corporations throughout 2011. However, small businesses (known as Small-Medium Enterprises) makes up the largest business establishment in Malaysia with 99.2%, equivalent to 518,996 businesses in which the huge majority (86.5%) are in the services sector which includes retail, restaurant and wholesale businesses. (source: Census of Establishments and Enterprises 2005)

What does this mean: With larger corporations leading the way in 2011, the SMEs in Malaysia have tangibly seen the implementation and results of different online marketing campaigns and may emulate the success. On top of that, the nature of businesses in the services sector (especially B2C) can greatly reap the potential of social media networks.

If you’re a small business owner, here’s a bonus article on why your business benefits best on social media.

Prediction #2: Rise of social commerce

Why: Malaysians spent MYR 1.8 billion on online purchases back in 2010 . In 2011, there was a rise of e-commerce enabled websites (putting behind the usual blog layouts), electronic marketplaces (e.g. Mudah.my, AsiaAsiaMegastore.com), digital services (in government and private sectors alike), group buying sites such as Groupon and the recent opening of PayPal’s Global Operation Centre in Malaysia. To top it off, these businesses have been promoting their sites across social networking platforms using various methods with 94% of Malaysian online consumers using social networks as a guide to shopping (source: Nielsen Company).

Before and After E-Commerce Integration: Online Fashion Entrepreneur – Soul Chic (from the MOFEW community)

What does this mean: Businesses in Malaysia are beginning to recognize the importance of using electronic mediums while consumers are experiencing the convenience of online purchasing. Having that said, consumers may grow and continuously seek social proof or recognition from their peers and businesses when making a purchasing decision.

Prediction #3: Increased importance of social media integration in marketing campaigns

Why: Existing local business pages on Facebook have been using similar strategies in building their presence using various promotional campaigns such as sweepstakes or contests in which will continue to grow. Having said that, competition will increase having to attract the consumers’ attention which may lead to the need for more innovative or integrated social marketing campaigns to break out from the norm.

Local businesses such as the above video are already innovating to be different from their competitors.

What does this mean: As business competition increases across platforms, the demand and expectations among consumers also increases. This demand may act as a requirement benchmark in which businesses have to keep up (or surpass) with, whether it is the level of engagement, method of engagement or even the tools of engagement.

Prediction #4: The growth of mobile

Why: The growth of smart phone users in Malaysia is scary. A recent report by Nielsen’s online consumer survey in Malaysia revealed that the number of smart phone users are expected to rise from 48% to 89% within a year.

Thousands of people queuing at the launch of the iPhone 4s. Image source: www.yogaretnam.com

What’s even more interesting is that 83% of existing smart phone users are using free apps while 37% are on paid versions.

What does this mean: This suggests that the penetration rate of smart phone users are not as low we thought it has been and people with such devices ARE using mobile apps. We may be able to see a rise in the adoption of mobile driven / optimized websites, apps, mobile games or a wider use of quick response (QR) codes.

What do you think?

Brand Focus #11: Interactive Videos As A Social Media Marketing Campaign [Wing Heong]

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January 4, 2012

| Jan Wong

The local dried barbecue meat industry in Malaysia has always been competitive especially when the Lunar New Year is around the corner as it is commonly made as gifts during the festive season. The delicacy producers, however, have been relying on traditional promotional methods over and over again – television commercials, radio commercials, print ads, in-store promotions, roadshows to popular shopping malls, giving out free samples and etc until recent.

The Change

Wing Heong, one of the producers of this delicacy decided to make a change. A change in which was told (after the campaign) that yielded unexpected results and a visible increase in sales – all through a single interactive video (as below) shared primarily on Facebook.

My first reaction was: “Whoa! This is REALLY smart!” and I instantaneously shared it. The thing is, I wasn’t the only one.

Here are three (3) important aspects to learn from this interactive video social campaign:

#1: One size cannot fit all… Know who you’re targeting

The barbecue dried meat has been a delicacy for years especially among the Chinese community during the Lunar New Year. This product has been popular among the older generation and Wing Heong wanted to go beyond that – to also reach the younger (tech savvy) generation of today which led to the development of this campaign. If you would to think about it, a full-fledged digital campaign may not be able to reach their existing (more mature) customers as there’s a digital divide – it was a risk they were willing to take which leads to my next point…

#2: To know them well… And use the right approach

“We came out with the Superhero character called ‘Yok Man’ to represent the new generation and to rebrand Wing Heong so it would be perceived as a young and vibrant brand as opposed to a traditional brand.” – Wilson Pee, creator of the interactive video campaign

Wing Heong took time to understand their audience. They knew they needed to be different from their competitors who were also using digital animation to reach out to the consumers. They created an animated character that was closely representing kungfu legend Yip Man that was made popular in a recent Hong Kong made movie, a movie the local Chinese were able to identify to easily.

On top of that, the fictional storyline is closely knitted to Malaysia and the introduction of another popular local delicacy, the Seremban Siew Pau (baked dumpling) to draw a greater relation with the Malaysian-Chinese target audience.

#3: Drive them home… By giving them something to remember you by

Marketers understand the importance of creating memorability with their consumers. Visuals and content are both important and great but what makes a campaign memorable? With a young and engaging story line in place, the creators of the Wing Heong campaign allowed their target audience to actively interact with the characters itself by punching in commands to assist ‘Yok Man’ in defeating his enemies.

The Results

This interactive video garnered 565,792 views to date, shared over 131,000 times and “Liked” over 243,000 times on Facebook.

If an average Facebook user has 130 friends, the video and the name ‘Wing Heong’ has potentially reached more than 17 million impressions on the most popular social network in Malaysia. Sure, anyone can create an interactive video and it may garner even more views but what made Wing Heong’s campaign standout wasn’t just the video but the ingredients and groundwork behind it that made it work.

The combination of the above made the character ‘Yok Man’ into an immediate icon simply because the consumers are now able to identify a kungfu legend and an engaging story line to the brand.

My 1000 Awesome Things: Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

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January 1, 2012

| Jan Wong

In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

2011 was a very challenging year for me. Don’t get me wrong – it was great, but challenges abound and I’m happy to say that I’ve managed to rise above the challenges. I’m sure you have, too! Here are some of the highlights (and reflections) of my life throughout the year 2011:

#1: (Still am) a part time lecturer

I was a little skeptical whether I am capable at first but I actually really enjoy teaching and working with young people. The opportunity to share my experiences with my students and to learn from them in return really is priceless.

#2: The evolution (and growth) of OpenMinds Resources

OpenMinds Resources started off as a tech based start-up company but took a turn in 2011, now focusing on assisting brands and businesses establish their web presence using various tools with social media being one of them. With the recent additions to the founding team, the company is now positioned to grow even more in 2012.

#3: The opportunity to represent Malaysia at the International Greentech Eco Products Exhibition / Conference

This came as a surprise as I was invited to speak on the potential and benefits of utilizing social media in the green industry at the conference among international delegates that were representing their country’s green tech ministries.

#4: Having launched two major consumer events in Malaysia

The Lelong.my E-Commerce Fair was Malaysia’s first ever offline e-commerce event which drew more than 60,000 visitors in August 2011. I also had a simple social experiment done throughout the event. The Malaysia’s Online Fashion Entrepreneurs’ Weekend (MOFEW) successfully featured more than 100 online entrepreneurs nationwide having received tremendous support from industry leaders such as PayPal and over 30,000 visitors.

#5: The opportunity to present my academic research paper at the Global Communications Conference

This was quite an experience. Never in my life I was given the opportunity to stand in front hundreds of academicians from all over the world to present a piece of academic research. The experience was amazing and to my surprise, it was very well received!

#6: Published my first academic research paper

The presentation wasn’t all! The paper entitled: Social Media Integration Framework will be published somewhere in 2012. This will be my first academic publication yet! I’ve also made available a copy of the research paper here if you’re interested.

#7: Meeting the Deputy Minister of Higher Education in person

Another exciting experience having to step into the parliament to have a meeting with the deputy minister himself at his office. It wasn’t a long meeting but it was great to have the opportunity to sit down and share what MOFEW is all about and to know of his support towards young entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

#8: Involvement with youth movements and projects

It’s been an honor and privilege to be able to work alongside Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in putting together activities and events to grow and nurture up and coming entrepreneurs. Just recently I’ve also been invited to be part of a panel of speakers for an entrepreneurship campaign in which I had to create a series of video sessions before the actual talk. The introduction video of myself was just released a week ago (this is also my very first video recording)!

#9: I am still alive!

Yes, I am! I’m grateful and it’s true because it is also in this year that a truck decided to drive into the back of my car on the road. Now I don’t drive a big car so the lorry was huge in contrast to what I was in. Amazingly the damage wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and no one was injured. Thank God for safety.

2012

I’ve no doubt 2012 will be an awesome year with great challenges ahead but really, challenges only allows you to be better positioned for the future. One wouldn’t be able to grow without challenges so brace them and brace them proud. Never give up. Keep moving forward.

Here’s to an awesome 2012!

and all these are possible because I’ve got an awesome God!

1000 Awesome Things is initiated by Neil Pasricha and I’m simply sharing my own 1000 awesome things to remind myself of how awesome life can be if we pay attention to the small yet awesome things in life.
What is that awesome thing that happened in your life today?

Social Media Integration Framework

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December 5, 2011

| Jan Wong

Social media is no longer something mysterious to businesses and the number of businesses integrating and accepting social media as part of their branding and marketing efforts are increasing as time passes. The question is – how many of them are successful in doing so? Business and social media experts generally agree that social media works when it is done right – through understanding your target audience, actively engaging and to be human when interacting.

The Problem

Having that said, why do businesses still find it difficult to integrate social media into marketing strategies? With so many businesses all around the world hopping unto different social media platforms fighting for attention from the consumers, how can organizations today engage the target audience effectively?

With these questions in mind, I decided to write a research paper and to propose a Social Media Integration Framework to assist organizations (brands) when integrating a social media strategy. The research is split into two different parts where Part 1 is merely the preliminary stages of the framework (i.e. planning and design); while Part 2 will be an in-depth research upon the actual implementation / execution of the planned social media strategy.

Here’s the proposed Social Media Integration Framework:

The framework is basically a walkthrough of different phases for organizations that are looking at integrating social media that spans from identifying the objectives to the actual launch. It is meant to be a guide for marketers / decision makers on how to go about integrating social media to better their chances in being successful by ensuring the strategy produced covers the important aspects.

To test the importance of having a clearly defined social media strategy, this research compared three (3) different organizations of similar criterias:
1. from the FMCG industry;
2. have an existing social media presence quantified by a minimum of 45,000 Facebook fans and minimum page views of 500,000 – 1,000,000 monthly
3. have their social media goals derived from not more than 1% of existing traffic
4. looking to increase fan base, page views and engagement with their target audience

These organizations utilized different social media strategies where:
Company A – had no specific social media plan / strategy with a simple microsite
Company B – had a specific target audience with a product based microsite with Facebook sharing
Company C – had a specific target audience, Facebook contest microsite with sharing and online banners
Note that Company A has no social media strategy in place where Company B and C has a social media strategy derived from a process that resembles the proposed framework

The Findings

From the findings above, it is seen that Company A struggled to meet their goals while Company B and C surpassed them. As seen in Company C, a well planned strategy and by being relevant to the target audience can in turn generate a larger response and level of participation. This may very well indicate that consumers are likely to participate with a brand should it be relevant to them.

This can be done by first identifying the objective(s) of brand in integrating social media, identifying the target audience and the relevant channel(s) before even attempting on putting together a strategy as illustrated in the diagram above.

What’s Next?

This preliminary research only indicates the importance of having a well defined social media strategy in today’s businesses to maximize the level of participation with your target audience. Part 2 of the research will be looking at Part 2 of the model, the relationship between the content and the audience and an introduction to methods of monitoring social media efforts.

It will take a while before Part 2 of the research is done so hang in there!

If you’re interested in this research and would like to receive a copy of the research paper, simply leave your details below and I’ll personally drop you an email with it! On top of that, you’ll be informed when Part 2 is ready :)

Note: the academic research paper entitled “Social Media Integration Framework in the Creation of Brand Strategy: Preliminary Stage” is written by Jan Wong & Albert Quek and was presented at the Global Communications Conference 2011, expected to be published in 2012.

My 1000 Awesome Things: My First Publication

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December 4, 2011

| Jan Wong

In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

A couple of months back I was offered with the opportunity to submit a research paper on social media and I thought to myself “this could be fun!”. I submitted an abstract with the title “Social Media Integration Framework – Preliminary Stage” and it got accepted by the Global Communications Conference (GCA).

The framework speaks about the importance (and the process) of creating a social media strategy in organizations today and will be split into two different papers.

With that, I presented the proposed Social Media Integration Framework to academicians / professors from different countries and to my surprise, it was very well received and the paper will be published in 2012!

This will be my first academic publication yet.

Awesome!

Stop Thinking Like a Big Brand and Go Small

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November 28, 2011

| Jan Wong

I can’t help but to notice a pattern among small business owners and start-up entrepreneurs as it would seem that the buzz word among them is “global”. Now, don’t get me wrong as I’m not against being visionary and ambitious but overindulgence in this “global” concept can very well be a mindset that comes into your way in growing your business.

Take any sport as an example – you do not challenge the course with the highest difficulty when you start out simple because it will probably leave you injured or killed (depending on the type of sport). However, it is good to look forward in challenging that course in the future – when you’re fit for it.

So, why should you not think like a big brand? Here are 4 reasons:

#1: Budget

I’ll skip the part explaining the difference in marketing budget between a big brand and a small business but know this – branding and marketing is not dependent on how huge your budget is. Money simply has the potential to speed up the growing (or declining) process of your brand.

Thankfully, the web is favorable to small businesses especially with the introduction of social media. If your target audience is on Facebook, focus on building a relationship with them and grow your network organically. This will create long term traction for your business with significant savings on cost. Don’t be fooled by the misconceptions of social media.

#2: Manpower

With limited manpower on your team, you may not be able to go on a labor intensive campaign such as roadshows or huge events. Forcibly doing so may spread your workforce so thin that it may hurt your business in return. Instead, use this limitation to your advantage by being able to provide a closer communication with your customers.

One of the beauty of a small business is communication. Big brands often let the account managers, sales or marketing team do the job while in small businesses, you as a business owner work on it hands-on and that makes a difference. Focus on providing personalized services and that will keep you ahead of your competitors. Even big brands are moving into personalized services.

#3: Systems and Procedures

Big brands in general have various systems and procedures to keep them in check whether it is for sales, requesting for support or even to get a marketing campaign approved. Sometimes, it takes weeks to get a request approved due to the many departments involved. While the control is there, it is not what your small business should be doing.

Small businesses usually have the luxury of being quick and fluid in decision making thus allowing a shorter turnaround time. Use this to your advantage and keep the ideas going and experiment on them.

#4: Networks and Reputation

Most big brands are already well connected and engaged both online and offline. Having that said, it is likely that their marketing campaigns will automatically gain a whole lot more participation or visibility than what you can achieve with your small business.

Turning that around, you can establish your reputation in local communities and this is something big brands are unlikely to follow. Be targeted in your marketing campaigns and reach out to your target audience individually and grow together with them – this will lower your overheads but gives you a laser-point focus.

Go Small but be Scale-able

Likewise in start-ups or small businesses, instead of thinking about going global and becoming a big brand, think of how can you start SCALING your business towards becoming global. Remember, even big brands started small.