My Big, Fat Greek Branding Strategy — 3 Tips for Lead Generation

When creating a strategic marketing plan, it is easy to focus on the bottom line. Lead generation and nurturing are important because properly managing sales leads is the only true way to attribute marketing efforts to business success.

However, an iconic line from the 2002 box office hit “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding” is echoing in my mind today. “Let me tell you something, Toula: The man is the head, but the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants.” While lead generation is often our campaign objective, branding is at the core of every customer decision to engage (or not engage).

(Is my excitement for last weekend’s Greek festival influencing my writing, you ask? Yes. Greenville’s annual Greek festival is truly the most wonderful time of the year, and if homemade spanakopita isn’t something to get excited about, then I don’t know what is.)

Leads are the head, but branding is the neck, and branding can turn the head any way it wants. A recent study from LinkedIn surveyed over 500 business decision makers to nail down factors that impact their purchasing decisions. This article recaps the findings and notes that 52% of the decision makers indicated that the most influential factor on their engagement with a B2B salesperson was whether this person was representing a well-known company with a strong professional brand.

Here are three tips to make sure your branding supports your lead generation efforts:

1. Define your brand identity. The identity is the foundation on which a strong branding is built. Your mission statement, value proposition and brand promise are essential building blocks to building a solid, unified brand.
2. Create a consistent presence. A consistent presence that supports your core identity helps tell a story to your audience. Consistent messaging, voice, visuals all contribute to your audience’s perception of your brand.
3. Ensure your sales and marketing efforts are aligned. In order to successfully create and convert leads, you need strong brand presence to back the claims and benefits of working with your company. And a strong brand exists to supports sale efforts by creating and expanding selling opportunities with your target audience.

Branding has a direct correlation on prospect engagement. The success of your business relies on a defined brand identity, a consistent presence and the alignment of your sales and marketing efforts.

Tell us how your branding plays a role in your lead generation campaigns in the comments below!