Brand Management Services
Does this sound like you?
- You can't remember the last time you sent a marketing piece out to your mailing list.
- Your "monthly" newsletter might get sent out once a quarter... if you're lucky.
- You refer people to your website reluctantly, and then apologize for the out-of-date graphics and inaccurate information.
- Your website looks like it hasn't been updated in years... and the information there is also inaccurate.
- You're constantly adding services or new information products to your repertoire, but your marketing materials don't mention your newest inventions at all.
If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, then your brand isn't doing its job.
A brand's job is to tell the story of who you are, what you do, and what makes you different, all in a way that will help you connect with your target market. And if your materials are inconsistently produced, don't talk about your full range of services, or aren't often updated, then they can't be doing their job well.
If this describes you, don't worry: you're not alone. Often, entrepreneurs are too busy running their businesses to manage their own marketing and brand well. And, frankly, why should you stress yourself out even more to do it all yourself? It's a lot of work!
Nevertheless, you know that marketing and getting your brand out in front of your clients consistently is very important to growing your small business. And you have to be consistent in terms of your visual design (or your brand identity), your marketing message, and the timing of your marketing to ensure that you bring in business and stay busy year-round. Aaah! What to do?
Well, don't panic: elf design has the answer. I offer full Brand Management to small businesses to enable you to create consistent marketing and make your business an even greater success. Having elf design do Brand Management for you is a lot like having your own in-house marketing department... without having to hire a full time staff person to manage your marketing.
What Brand Management Is — and Isn't
Brand Management is intended to extend and maintain your brand. Design activities that are within the scope of Brand Management include:
- Visual Vocabulary development
- Website maintenance
- Layout of information in existing templates, like eBooks, newsletters, and PowerPoint presentations
- Small print projects, like flyers
- Customizing/editing print material templates
- Ongoing search engine optimization
- Implementing new items in your shopping cart
When you become an elf design Brand Management client, you'll also receive big discounts on Brand Design projects, like:
- Logo design
- Initial template design and setup for newsletters, PowerPoint presentations, and print design materials
- Major website redesign and rearchitecture
- Brochure design
Additionally, if you have a Brand Management package, you'll get a Preferred-Client Discount on any Brand Design services you need to build your brand.
How does it work?
I've developed a process that starts the Brand Management process smoothly and ensures that your brand plays a huge role in your business's growth.
- Initially, we would talk about the current state of your business: what you're making, who you're working with, how many clients you need, how you're marketing now, how long it's been since you've edited your marketing, and so on. We'd also talk about where you want your business to go: do you want to keep it at the same level but just outsource your marketing stress? Do you want more clients—or to change your target market or the services you're providing—and to change your marketing to reflect and achieve those things?
- Next, we'll put together a Brand Plan to get you there. The length items included in this Brand Plan will be determined by the results we're going to create: how often you need to hold marketing campaigns or create updates, how much work needs to be done to your current materials, what new materials you need to create, and so on.
- We'll create agreement about how much marketing you really need to do to create the level of success you want, and how to best do that to reach your target audience: another piece of your Brand Plan. This is flexible, and can be changed to fit your needs. For example, if your Brand Management Plan kicks off with a lot of work but then slows down over time as it approaches maintenance mode, then we can plan for that.
- On the other hand, if you already have a good idea of the level of Brand Management you want to outsource, we can create a plan to best optimize the amount of time that you want to commit to.
- Once a plan and agreement have been created, we'll get started! Each month, we'll have a short check-in meeting. At this meeting, I'll update you on the overall progress we've made together in the last month. At this check-in meeting, I'll also get the input and information required from you to implement the next month's plan.
What does it cost?
All Brand Management design activities are available on an hourly basis at the rate of $125/hour. But you can purchase retainer packages of Brand Management services at a sliding-scale discount rate:
|
Brand Maintenance:
5 hours/month $550 (save $75/month)
Brand to Expand:
10 hours/month $1150 (save $150/month)
Build A Grand Brand:
15 hours/month $1650 (save $225/month)
|
Frequently Asked Questions:
Sounds great! Can you write my materials as well?
Writing isn't my strong point. I'm happy to review text for overall consistency and to make small edits, but I do recommend that my clients have their text professionally proofread. Or, if you can afford it, your marketing pieces will be much more effective if they're professionally written as well. I'd be happy to recommend the best writer for your project.
How much for printing?
Printing costs vary, according to many factors, including number of printed pieces, number of inks used, printing method chosen, and even type of paper. I'm happy to offer some rough ballpark figures, but I won't be able to nail down a price for you until the piece is designed.
Do You Have Your Own Questions, Or Want to Learn More?
Contact me using the form below, and I'll get back to you to schedule a free 30-minute consultation about managing your brand.
Brand Management terms:
- Hours do not roll over month-to-month.
- Each package requires a commitment of at least 4 months per year of branding work.
- Hours per month are changeable: if you need more hours in a particular month, then that's available to you. Just let me know 7 business days before the start of the new month.
- Larger packages of hours are available if you need to do a large amount of design work all at once.
- 30 days' notice is required when terminating the Brand Management agreement.
- Months may be spaced out if you need to do quarterly marketing pushes.
- Credit card required for autopayment.
|
