Branding (part 1)

• personality
• strong brand name and design
• powerful profile across various social media platforms
• professional images, stylish stationary and packaging

During this I would like to cover various aspects of branding from market research through to Avatar designing.

With this information you can build your brand so that it is easily recognisable, will attract new custom and keep loyal customers coming back for more.

The first thing to be considered when starting up a new business is to find out what's out there, what's not, what people want and what isn't popular. There may well be new products out that may bring in profits as well as success for an ongoing business.

We often think about market research as something large companies/organisations would do, a mysterious and complex project that is out of reach for a small craft business, in fact in its simplest form, looks at what products or services  people are willing to buy, in what quantity, to see if you can meet their requirements and still make money.

It is a smart way to research and evaluate your collected data, you will also discover whether you need to alter aspects of your business packaging, delivery and selling.

There are different ways to use this data collection you can either use it to create a craft business and marketing plan or to use it to measure your existing business success.

What is important when carrying out market research is that the right questions are asked to the right people in the right way.

Every business needs to know what products are wanted or needed, the target audience, the best way to offer goods to potential customers and keep existing.

Don't panic if the results are not what you expected- adapting is part of the process. Remember opinions change so it is worth repeating at different stages, PinkPeonyPetals usually collects data after a large event or celebration Christmas, Halloween, Easter,

What was popular what wasn't, customer feed back on delivery, packaging, what they would be interested in receiving in the future and more,

unique  business cards

  

There are 2 types of research...

Primary- information that you personally collect from people and then analyse. This is done through interviews, questionnaires, surveys, emails, social media, face to face.

Secondary- information already gathered by someone else and published as a report or article.

Before you jump in and spend your hard earned money and valuable time on market research there are basic mistakes to avoid

• using only secondary information
• using only the web resources
• surveying only people you know
• only listening to positive feedback about your craft business or brand idea, you also need to listen to those who are critical.

Questions to ask...

• what do you think about this craft
• would you be willing to buy this
• what would you be willing to pay for this
• have you brought something similar in the past
• if so where did you buy it

Things to consider...

are your craft products like hundreds of others out there if so how can you make yours stand out.

 Research your competition and plan how to make your craft stand out from the crowd.

Visit your national statistics or census website to find out info on everything from peoples spending habits to how price changes this is all free market data.