Building Effective Sales Funnels with a Marketing Consultant

 When it comes to having a specific person who handles branding and brand management, the majority of start-ups do have someone responsible for branding, although not as a full-time job. Only two start-ups have a member who has been educated or trained in this area, while the rest have been operating on a learning-by-doing basis. The start-ups, who currently do not have a branding-specific employee, have outsourced designers with a design

identity of their brand. Considering their acknowledgment of the importance of branding, these start-ups have claimed that they are either currently contracting potential staff for branding or they plan to do so in the near future. The graduated start-ups, however, claim to have a dedicated member/team for branding and brand management. Two of them have contracted marketing agencies that take care of their branding, while one start-up has the founder serve 

as a brand manager among other responsibilities. It is worth pointing out that the founder has been managing the brand through his learning-by-doing experience rather than obtaining a degree or other relevant education. Branding Activities Although the majority of start-ups have acknowledged branding as a significant practice, when it comes to the brand-building  

Building their brand In contrast

the graduated start-ups have a much more developed branding strategy and have performed more brand-building activities; some of them have also begun the process of rebranding. This section will discuss the major brand building activities that have been undertaken by the start-ups. Logo was the first branding activity that all current start-ups identified when they were asked about the branding activities they have performed until now. Eight of the interviewed 

current start-ups have had their logos designed by an experienced member in this field, while the other two were developed by individuals who have learned logo design by themselves. Similarly, two of the graduated start-ups had a professional develop their logos, while one was developed through learning-by-doing. When asked about the meaning behind the logo or 

even the name of the start-up, all start-ups had put effort in choosing a meaningful name for their start-up. The majority of them conveyed this meaning either in the design of the logo symbol or in the chosen color palette for the logo and brand in general. Brand concept: All of the interviewed start-ups have a clearly defined brand concept they want to develop, although some of them have not been aware of this in the first place. When asked about their vision, 

All start-ups had a clear vision of

their business idea and they had a defined brand concept. This leads to the conclusion that all start-ups have finished the first building block of the Startup Branding Funnel, namely Building Block Zero – Vision, which was elaborated in the literature review. Although some of the start-ups might have not performed that much of branding activities, having a clearly defined brand concept will enable them to maintain consistency throughout all the branding activities they 

will pursue which eventually strengthens the overall brand identity. The brand concept followed by a brand mission statement displays the values provided by the company and serves as a reference point, which is to be reflected on the logo, the voice of the brand, the slogan, the message, and the brand’s personality. Target audience includes the people that 

the start-up is trying to reach and all of the interviewees had a clearly defined target audience. Defining the target audience puts start-ups in the Context Building Block of the Startup Branding Funnel process. They were all aware of the fact that different groups of the audience will respond differently to the message they want to spread with their brand; therefore, each message needs to be tailored for the particular group. One start-up representative in 

Particular made the following remark 

on the issue of having a target audience: “Yes, we have a target audience. If you do not have a target audience from the start, it’s hard to sell anything” Some start-ups that have multiple products have a unique target audience for each respective product, ensuring that the intended recipient is clear about the brand message. The clearly defined target audience is seen of particular benefit for the start-ups, both current and graduated, especially when it 

comes to the advertising efforts of the brand-building process. Product packaging is another activity that the start-ups have performed or are currently working on. Regardless of whether the start-up offers a product or service, there is a well-developed packaging through which it is presented. For instance, one start-up has developed a working prototype of their first product which carries the attributes of the brand including simplicity, functionality, and 

understandability. The external design of the product is consistent with the brand look and this consistency is conveyed in the functional aspect of the product making it easy to understand and operate with. Another start-up that provides services is currently developing the packaging for the service, namely all the related materials through which the service will be presented where among others it includes the visual presentation of results, a folder which 

Conclusion

will contain the results, a flyer describing the service, social media post calling for free testing, a banner which stands for the particular service, and a user-friendly application interface through which the users will be able to view their results as well. All of these materials have been developed in such a way to display consistency within the brand, while being customized for their target audience. Employee branding efforts have been noticed in five of 

the current start-ups, and such efforts were present in all of the graduated start-ups. The employees of the respective start-ups were all knowledgeable about what the start-up is, what it does, and they have internalized the brand values and the desired brand image which they convey externally to the customers, either through word of mouth or social sharing. To promote a sense of brand unity, one start-up has designed hoodies with their logo which the 

team members wear on different events to differentiate themselves from others. Another start-up is going to train its staff in service delivery and brand representation through their behavior which will be consistent with the brand values. As such, these start-ups are turning their employees into their most valuable brand ambassadors which will eventually increase employee loyalty, motivation, promote a positive brand reputation, and ensure to attract the 

right future employees. Office Space: Although none of the current start-ups referred to office space presentation as part of their branding, the environmental design of their offices was among the first elements that have made an impression on me as the interviewer and visitor to the start-up. The consistency of the brand image was in most cases conveyed through the office spaces as well. Some start-ups put more effort than the others when it comes to brand