New businesses are opening in abundance every day all around the world. Since the demand for similar businesses can’t follow this rate of the constant rise of new companies, standing out in the crowd can be a tedious task. If there are a lot of companies that are competing for the same pool of customers, how can you achieve that your is the one that they choose? Well, there are plenty of strategies dedicated to solving this issue and boosting your business to stay on top of the competition. All of them differ in one way or another, but the connecting point is the fact that most of them are based on your branding.
Branding is incredibly important when it comes to business success for many different reasons. Not only does it show what your business is and what it stands for, but it also represents how you want to be viewed as a company. In a way, branding is the best way for you to directly affect your perception. Naturally, a lot of time and effort must be funneled into branding, and this article is here to help you with all that. So, if you want to find out more about marketing ideas that can help you out with your branding, make sure that you keep reading!
The impact of promotional items
This strategy plays with the fact that everyone likes free stuff, this is just a fact. No matter whether you’re offering pens, t-shirts, tote bags, or something completely different. The point remains the same – Custom promotional products are a great way for you to insert your brand into the daily life of your customers. In fact, did you know that around 80% of people recall a brand solely on their promotional products? This is a large number, so, don’t underestimate how important investing in promotional items truly is. It may seem like handing out free merchandise at the beginning, but promotional items are an intentional way of marketing just as pulling up billboards.
The balance between authenticity and relatability
Both authenticity and relatability are incredibly important when it comes to branding, and hence, with marketing. One of the very common mistakes when it comes to creating content for marketing purposes is overly focusing on just one of these aspects. Being “too authentic” can oftentimes decrease relatability and vice versa. Now, based on all this, one might think that these characteristics are in direct contradiction to each other, but this is not the case. There is a sweet spot that combines authenticity and relatability perfectly. All that is great in theory, but how do you utilize this knowledge in practice?
The answer is similar for all the marketing mediums, so, images, videos, music even. You want to ensure that your content isn’t heavily edited and scripted to the point that it depicts “perfection”. This tends to be off putting, even uncanny if really taken over the edge. That being said, you want to shoot for content that conveys candidness and truthfulness. There are some great areas of art that can help you convey these exact parameters. Specifically, make sure to draw inspiration from photojournalism, as it ticks all the boxes.
Always focus on storytelling
Your brand represents more than a logo and a business idea, it should represent a complex combination of emotions, ideals, goals, struggles, and perseverance. The best way to combine all these is through storytelling, and there are many ways in which you can direct the story that you want to tell. Don’t get us wrong – you don’t want to sell fiction, you only need to emphasize your brand story to be entertaining and memorable. So, how do you do this? Well, there’s no better way to do so than by making the most of your social media.
There is not that much room on your website and more official mediums to show people all the ideas mentioned above. But, on your social media, you have the ability to use live streams, stories, posts, videos, and texts that are way more personal and up to date. Creative blogging is another way to achieve the same goal. In any case, don’t be afraid to try out different things, as conveying your story truly is a trial and error process.
Make sure to convey emotions
Emotional marketing isn’t a made-up term – it is a strategy that is being used by all the big companies out there. Take Coca-Cola for example, everyone is familiar with the emotions of happiness, overall connection, and love that come with their commercials. The impact of conveying emotions while marketing is immense on how people perceive your brand. This is exactly why it is important that you intentionally convey the emotions that you want people to connect with your brand.
Now, if you’re running an IT business, you aren’t going to go for the same pool of emotions as Coca-Cola. Instead of connection, happiness, and similar, you want to focus on providing people with safety and reducing stress. The same idea applies to any branch of business out there – your marketing must focus on depicting relevant emotions! The goal here is to ensure that people already know how they feel about your business – even before actually buying your services.
Working on SEO is unavoidable
Working on Search Engine Optimization might seem like a menial job at this point, but it still plays a huge role in your branding. While its purpose may be for your business to show up first when a relevant set of words is looked up, it also helps with your branding immensely. This is especially true for internal SEO, as it requires feeding your website with relevant content. By doing this, you are going to ensure that you provide relevant keywords, images, articles, titles – all with a clear representation of your business. In a way, you are directly articulating what are the buzzwords that are related to what your brand is going to be. When combined with all the aspects discussed in the article, it heavily helps with painting the entirety of the picture that is your business.
In the end, delicate details and the attention given to them are crucial when it comes to branding. There are no shortcuts to building your brand, every aspect requires care and thought. Directing the perception of your business is indeed difficult, but it is indeed worth it. Marketing tactics are powerful tools for directing your business growth, so, don’t underestimate their impact!
Now that you have gained some inspiration on the things that you could try out yourself, it’s time to get to the drawing board. Call your marketing team, and start building your way to the top!