Developing an image of your company that resonates with consumers is a complex task that seemingly never ends. However, it is a great way to improve your brand. There are certain tried-and-true things you should do year after year:
- ensure you have a style guide
- add unique content
- get your name out in the local community and world at large
You’ll also need to add some strategies so that you can reach new audiences and reinforce your presence.
Researchers have found that brands with a pointed purpose grow twice as fast as brands without one. Before you implement any of the following techniques, make sure you know the purpose of your organization and why you do what you do. Once you have a firm foundation, consider the following 10 tactics to get your message into the right hands and improve your brand.
Create shoppable posts
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but social media drives online shopping today. The very nature of social media allows retailers to put interesting products in front of their ideal target audience. Over time, it becomes easier for people to purchase directly through the app they’re using. For instance, Instagram allows people to purchase via business posts. Roughly 70% of Instagram users state they’ve made a purchase via the app.
Engage on Twitter to improve your brand
Gaining followers and engagement on Twitter requires more than creating a page on your site. You have to be active on Twitter and interact with influencers as well as audience members. Add something of interest to the conversation. Provide precious content they can’t find anywhere else. Instead of selling your products 24×7, start relating to them on a personal level.
Green your business
Let’s face it – going green is a big deal these days. People who care about the planet will appreciate your efforts to reduce your carbon footprint. That being said, eco-friendly practices can easily become part of your overall branding strategy. Look for means to recycle your company’s waste and encourage your customers to get active in green living as well. It’s important that you don’t just go green to gain customers. You truly need to believe in the reasons behind environmentally friendly living, or you’ll fade out on the effort involved. If you genuinely care about going green, you’ll look for others who seek out like-minded businesses based on their overall green rating.
Host an experience to improve your brand
Many consumers say that they connect better with a brand when they emotionally engage via real-life experiences. Consider how you can spread the word about your company by hosting some sort of event or experience. You may invite local media to a soft opening of your restaurant for instance. YOu can also pull in experiential graphics and create a unique event with a theme, such as images from “The Avengers” or a popular television series.
Get personal
Marketing professionals can access more data today than ever before. You likely know where your customers live, what type of browser they use and even what keywords they’ve searched before landing on your page. With cookies and surveys, you can collect even more information about your site’s visitors. Use said intel and create a personalized experience for them. Offer products they might be interested in based on past browsing or buying behaviors.
Find the right influencers to improve your brand
Brands are expected to spend an estimated $15 billion per year on influencer marketing by 2022. However, this trend is shifting away from seeking out the biggest, most popular influencers and toward finding smaller, niche influencers with targeted audiences. When seeking out influencers for your brand, pay close attention to who interacts with their posts and if their followers engage and share. Focus on the type of people they reach instead of how many they affect.
Make use of immersive technology
Set your brand apart from the crowd by using chatbots and other immersive technology to grab site visitors and keep them engaged. Instead of hiring 24/7 live agents to staff your chat, you can make use of a chatbot to answer common questions and collect basic information before moving the user to a trained customer service rep. Seek out ways that use technology to set your brand apart from your competitors while keeping the experience affordable.
Share your story to improve your brand
Every brand and we mean every brand, has a unique story that starts well before they open their doors. Consider your own tale and its differences from the details of other beginnings. What challenges did you face…how did you overcome them?
Pull at the emotional core of your target audience. ONce you have your story fleshed out, share it via a video on your website, a series of social media posts or a timeline on your About page.
Start an online community to improve your brand
Online communities provide numerous perks to your branding strategy. Members typically ask questions and provide solutions, helping keek your image a positive one. These outlets also allow members to feel heard and instill trust in your company.
Communities have a strong return on investment (ROI). After two years, the ROI is around 1,352% for most brands. YOu can easily start a community via your Facebook page. The more you can tie your group into social media, the more participation you’re likely to generate.
Keep creating content!
You may wonder if it’s still worthwhile to create content for branding purposes. The answer, in short, is YES!
In a recent report, researchers found that 91% of brands still use content marketing to reach consumers. The key to using your content for branding is making sure you have guidelines in place about what type of content you’ll use, how it looks and where to place it. Make sure that you’re consistent with the types of information you offer and the voice you use. Even your images need to have a similar theme and be extremely relevant to your business.
Closing thoughts: know thyself
Before you can even think about creating a brand image in the eyes of others, you must know yourself as a business. Outline your principles and your goals as an organization. Once you’ve done this, set out some plans for how you’d like others to view your company. Understanding who you are and what you stand for makes it easier to reflect that vision for others.
