Branding your health IT business is no easy task. It takes both creative and strategic thinking. It requires smart execution. It demands patience and a long-term mindset.
For the inexperienced marketer, branding is often filled with indecision, misconceptions, and frustration. Lots of things can go wrong. In building a brand, the big things matter a lot… and you must get all the little things right too because everything matters.
Getting your brand wrong can result in a pretty negative impact on how your prospcts, clients, marketing partners, vendors, and competition perceive you.
Often times, as a result, businesses look for a quick brand fix. A band aid.
All too often these band aids fail… and lead to more marketing pain.
5 Brand Band-Aids to Avoid
1. Copycatting- The worst thing you can do to establish and build your brand is to copy another business. What breaks through all the noise and choices today is different.
While your health IT competitors are positioning as tech companies or innovators, maybe your brand position is completely different? You position your health IT firm as a employee empowerment firm through practical, tried and true communications. The technology and innovation works in the background.
Apple didn’t copy other computers, phones, or personal entertainment devices. They created a whole new category.
2. Outrageous, Insensitive, and Stupid- Hijacking current events is all the rage to gain quick brand exposure. But even the biggest brands make fatal errors. An outrageous , insensitive, or flat-out stupid Tweet can blow a huge hole in your brand.
3. Brand Buying- It’s the Super Bowl approach to branding. You buy the biggest ad to get your name out there. While you’re probably not tempted to buy a Super Bowl ad for your health IT business, tread carefully on sponsoring an event at HIMSS, running an ad in Forbes, or paying a PR firm to land a write up about your business in The Wall Street Journal.
Even if you do get the exposure, and it works, chances are you’re unable to respond, sort, and handle the inquires. A sloppy response can kill your brand image and double your costs.
4. Price Slashing- Discounting your prices on products and services always devalues the quality perception of your brand. Yes, it’s ok to reduce pricing but always have a logical reason for doing it that protects your brand and positioning.
5. The Over Promise- Making promises of the results you can deliver and then falling short might land you clients in the short-term. However, under promise and over perform. If your brand says fast, don’t subject clients to lengthy voice prompts and long voice mail messages. Give them a path to connect instantly to get an answer.
Keep in mind, the least expensive way to brand your business is to have clients talk about you. When you Wow clients they will spread the word.
Avoid these 5 brand quick fixes. Put your health IT firm on the path to branding nirvana–being known for your compelling and differentiated value.
Have Health IT Brand Questions? Let’s talk today.
photo credit: Zero Style via photopin cc
