http://www.artexgroup.net/ | Try these 6 simple tips to be smart about marketing your business. Find strategies like using embroidered patches to add value to your image. Use some classic approaches applied to current market demands and watch business grow.

2. • Smart marketing for businesses of any size
begins with a well thought-out strategic plan.
Set aside a little time to outline the plan
basics, then review weekly to keep goals and
priorities top of mind.
• There are lots of great sources for detailed
marketing and business plans out there. The
bigger your business, the more detailed your
plan should be.
• Most small businesses can concentrate on
some essential steps, outlined in these
pages, to build a profitable, thriving operation.
Here are 6 hot tips to get you started.

3. • A well-informed strategic plan requires knowing
the market. There are countless stories of failed
product introductions that clearly missed this
basic step, like the Chevrolet Nova’s introduction
in South America. The automaker overlooked a
name change, despite the impact of labeling a
car as “No-Va,” or “it doesn’t go” in Spanish. And,
in fact, it didn’t, becoming a classic failed product.
• The lesson is, start with data you already have at
your fingertips by analyzing your customer base.
Try to understand who buys your products or
services—and speak to them in language they
will understand. Look at demographics, income
levels, and geographic distribution, among other
things.
• Use the information to create a customer profile,
a powerful aid in visualizing your most likely
customer. How well does your product serve the
core customer, and are you doing enough to
reach that person or business?

4. • Your brand is your identity and connects your
business to customers. It should be unique
visually and in the way it is used to communicate
your product or service.
• Brand image and awareness are essential to
success. Use the brand to build customer loyalty
by associating it with positive aspects of the
products or organization, and by making it a part
of every contact the customer has with your
company.
• Give each customer repeated exposure by
placing the brand logo prominently on every
packaging element and all print materials, in all
online platforms, on licensed merchandise, and
on company apparel or uniforms in the form of
badges and patches.
• The company logo should telegraph key brand
information at a glance, conveying an image that
reflects core company values.

5. • Embroidered custom patches are a time-tested way to
spread the logo and image in every setting and in
places other advertising may not reach. Your logo
takes on a 3-D quality that enhances a good design
and strong colors.
• A logo patch on employee uniforms clearly labels
each individual as a trusted representative, increasing
consumer confidence.
• Apparel emblazoned with a logo patch is like a mobile
advertisement endorsed by the wearer. It can also be
a supplementary revenue stream if the brand image
has a certain appeal.

6. • When you think of classic logos like Toyota and Nike, a whole
company history, product experience, and probably one or two
favorite marketing campaigns come to mind in a flash (“Just Do
It”).
• Patches have a long life, suggesting the quality image of an
established, respected institution. Motorcycle clubs use patches
and emblems to convey information about the group and its
social norms.
• Fans trade and collect different styles of patches, spreading
awareness in the process. This early form of viral marketing
was used with great success by the Boy Scouts of America,
and can still be effective for a small business.

7. • Go back to your customer data set and identify
communities within it—groups that naturally
share common interests, demographics,
location or some other important rallying point.
• Plan ways to identify your brand with the group
and convey key messages that will inspire them
to share the information.
• Groups can gather around a specific cause, like
collecting backpacks for underserved
schoolchildren, or around an interest, like
motorcycle clubs. Practical advice that
promotes your useful product or service—
school backpacks or collectible club patches—
will certainly get shared.

8. • Unless you have invented the first of a new,
never-seen product, chances are you have
competition. Obviously, you want to excel and
offer the best version of a product or service.
How can you differentiate successfully in a
crowded marketplace?
• Be the best. Ensure that everything you offer is of
the highest possible quality, or that it offers
something unique that other brands do not.
• Identify your products’ strengths and compare
them with the competition’s weaknesses. Work on
building awareness of your brand’s advantages—
without going negative on the competition.

9. Artex Group has made over 30 million embroidered patches for
companies around the world. Their high quality patches are found
in Toyota and other top-name vehicles, and on apparel and
products for companies large and small, as well as government
and civic institutions. Contact them for ideas, information, and
pricing, by visiting www.artexgroup.net, or call 1-866-845-1042.