Branding is the whole identity of a company or product. It encompasses everything from graphics to website design, to customer service. A brand can be anything, but it has to have everything working together in order for it to be successful. Perhaps even more so than other aspects of a business, a brand relies heavily on marketing, so it’s important to know the dos and don’ts of marketing your brand in order to get it out there.
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1. Networking
Never work on your brand alone. You may think that you’ve got a great concept and know exactly what it is you want, but chances are there is at least one person who hasn’t seen the whole picture yet. As a professor of collaborative innovation, and the creator of meetmatch.biz notes that it’s incredibly important to find other professionals with whom you can make long-term business relationships. Feedback from other people will make sure that your brand is perceived as well as possible by a wider audience, and therefore increase its chances of being successful.
On the other hand, avoiding any sort of networking with other professionals can lead to disaster. Being mindful of competition is one thing, but keeping yourself isolated from a community of other businesses is a surefire way to not get your brand out there. This is because networking opens up your clientele. When someone takes a look at your brand, they want to know who else is out there, so you get the chance to prove yourself via recommendations from others.
2. Socially Conscious Branding
Your goals are what drive you to do all the work for your brand, so it’s important that they’re strong and motivating. You have to be able to answer the question, “why are you doing this?” You can’t just say that you want to make money. If the reasoning is weak, your clients won’t feel motivated to do business with you.
Having a goal means having a purpose for your brand. And people are much more likely to buy from brands that have a purpose other than making a profit. It’s a way to connect with your audience and make them feel like they’re part of something larger. Having a blog related to your industry is a great way to generate an online following for your brand. And having followers on social media sites can give your brand extra credibility.
Look at what your audience is passionate about, and find a way to promote those values with your brand. Socially conscious brands are becoming more and more popular, as people want to buy from companies that take morals into consideration. While some say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, it isn’t something that’s true of brands. There are many ways to get your name out there, but they all have their costs. And when people associate your brand with bad press or unappealing content, that’s the opposite of what you want for your marketing campaign.
3. Consistency
Once you have a brand, it’s important that you stick to the same style every time that you’re marketing your brand. Don’t just do whatever pops into your head at the moment. The way your logo looks should always be the same on every piece of promotional material as well as your website and social media sites. The same goes for your brand’s tone, which should be professional and friendly. Customers want to work with professionals that they feel comfortable around.
Once you land on your logo, colors, slogan, and even font style, don’t change any of those elements unless there’s a good reason to. It’s important that all of those things indicate what the business is about. On the other hand, if a potential customer finds your website and isn’t sure that your brand is what they’re looking for, it could cost you a sale. Changing things up too frequently (or at all when it comes to the fundamentals!) will confuse your audience. And once they’re confused, the only thing that they’ll remember is that you made them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.
4. Flexibility
One of the best ways to find out what works and what doesn’t as far as marketing your brand is to look into the data. In today’s technological age, almost every action you take online will have a result of some kind. Whether it’s a percentage increase in conversions or a change in customer demographics, there’s always something that can be learned from data analysis.
Only by finding out what your audience wants can you deliver to them with your brand. Even if you have a clear idea of who you’re trying to attract, it’s good to validate that idea every so often. If the numbers are low, then it might be time for a change in strategy or tactics when it comes to your marketing campaign. Sometimes it’s not even about the product or service you’re offering, but how you package it.
Brands that aren’t flexible won’t last very long. Understanding your audience and providing them with what they want is the only way you’ll be able to successfully market your brand for years to come. Even if you’re convinced a marketing idea you have is amazing, you need to let the data speak for itself. If all you do is chase a certain demographic without looking at the numbers, you might lose a lot of money trying to gain people who aren’t going to buy from you.
5. Social Media Presence
You have a handful of social media sites that are either all about your business or related to it. It’s a great way to generate leads and attract new potential customers. But just because you have the capability of posting on those sites doesn’t mean that you should post every day. It’s important that you leave some room for your audience to breathe. If they’re bombarded with your brand’s presence on a regular basis, it could turn them off. They’ll start to see you as a bother or a pest that just won’t leave them alone.
On the other hand, if you space things out at an interval that is comfortable for your audience they’ll be more open when it comes time to engage. Spamming your audience is never a good idea, but giving them too much breathing room could also lead to them losing interest. It’s all about striking the right balance.
When deciding on how to market your brand, it’s important to keep in mind that there are rules. These rules were written by your audience, so it’s important not to deviate from them if you want to be successful. If your customer has specific expectations for what they need out of a brand, then it only makes sense for you to provide them with exactly that.
Just like no two companies are exactly alike, no two customers are exactly alike when it comes to what they want from a brand. Brand authenticity is the key to successfully marketing your brand, so always make sure that there’s a purpose behind each and every marketing idea you try.
