Small Business Solutions Hub Explores Essential Marketing Tools in Latest Program
On September 20, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its quarterly Small Business Solutions Hub event, and the program focused on a hot topic for business owners. Marketing IS Your Business! Branding, AI, and Marketing Tools for Small Businesses was tailored for Chamber members seeking a valuable deep dive into essential marketing tools.
Building Stronger Brands
After a networking lunch, the event kicked off with an engaging talk about the importance of branding for small businesses, led by marketing expert Dana Turell, President of Turell Group, who worked with the Springfield Chamber on its full-scale rebrand last year. Dana shared insights on how creating a consistent, authentic voice for your brand is key to successful marketing. She reminded attendees that branding isn’t just for large corporations – small businesses can stand out by defining their unique identity and fostering trust and familiarity with their audiences.
“A ‘brand’ is what separates you from all your competitors … the more you can dig in to who you are within that brand, and what you uniquely express with that brand, the better idea you are giving your potential customers of why they want to choose YOU over someone else offering something similar.”
– Dana Turell, President, Turell Group
Furthermore, Turell spoke in depth about leaning into your mission and vision, understanding your target audience, and finding an appropriate tone for your messaging and materials that accurately represents your business.
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Marketing
Casie Brabham of the Lane Small Business Development Center followed up with an insightful introduction to using artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing strategies. Whether you’re a fan of AI or skeptical about its future, Casie emphasized that small businesses can’t afford to ignore this emerging technology. She introduced practical AI tools that small business owners can use to automate tasks, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences.
“The way we’ve seen A.I. help our clients the most – it’s helping them generate ideas they may not have thought about, or fine-tuning their writing skills.”
– Casie Brabham, Lane Small Business Development Center
Brabham’s extensive background in social media and business planning made her an worthy guide for exploring these new frontiers. She dove into ways that AI affects social media content, writing, and image creation; discussed how ChatGPT prompts need to be structured in order to reap useful results; explained important distinctions in available AI software; and even touched on concerns around privacy and security.
Both presentations were followed by a short Q&A session, providing attendees with actionable strategies to take their businesses to the next level. From learning how to build a brand that resonates with customers to discovering the benefits and pitfalls of AI, Springfield’s small business owners walked away better equipped to refine their marketing strategies.
The Small Business Solutions Hub continues to be a cornerstone of the Springfield Chamber’s efforts to support local entrepreneurs. Many thanks to the attendees and our featured speakers, Dana Turell of Turell Group and Casie Brabham of the Lane Small Business Development Center. Thank you as well to IEQ Technology for sponsoring the lunch portion of the event, catered by Crema & Bloom.
The Chamber would also like to thank their Small Business Solutions Hub title sponsor, Kaiser Permanente, as well as their investors, Ask Erik Computer Services, Belfor Property Restoration, Chambers Construction, Eugene Area Radio Stations (EARS), Hershner Hunter, OCCU, and WaFd Bank.
Please enjoy the video of the full program embedded below; also available on the Small Business Solutions Digital Hub under the Springfield Chamber Resource Library.
About Small Business Solutions Hub
The Small Business Solutions Hub is a digital resource designed to connect small business Chamber members to a network of local experts and partners, business advising services, and a library of Chamber education tools. The hub will evolve to meet local needs with quarterly business education programming, and information from local investor partners.
