5 Actionable Strategies to Boost Your Brand
Once, a brand of a business was like a meticulously kept garden; an organised and straightforward concept solely controlled by the company.
Today, with the introduction of digitalisation and e-commerce, the business brand has lost its domesticity and has become a wild and tangled-up thing with far-reaching consequences. Company marketing teams are not the only influencers, there are more stakeholders than ever, and the consumers have a direct and powerful impact on the success story of a business.
You might wonder, if the situation is so unruly, what can be done?
Fear not, the company brand may have transformed into a wilful and turbulent child, but it can still be directed. With the proper strategic measures, you can turn things around and take advantage of the situation to build and promote your brand.
We’ve got 5 actionable, practical, useful tips to help you on your branding journey.
Why Is Branding Important?
The brand is the company’s identity. It is how customers, recognise and perceive the business. Branding is made up of 5 aspects.
Who knows about the brand? Can your target audience recognise you?
How does your audience perceive you? What impression did you make on the population?
What is your worth according to the target market?
What are the mental associations made when your brand comes up?
How likely is it that your customers make repeat purchases?
With a high brand value, you can charge more for a particular product (premium goods). Brand loyalty means customers keep buying your products, despite similar products being offered in the market. Brand awareness promotes recognition, and as people tend to buy products that are familiar, it will increase sales.
Calculated branding can positively affect your business across numerous points. Listed below are just a few.
- Attracts more visitors to your e-commerce store or website
- Increases CTR and ROI
- Generates more lead conversions
- Fosters trust with customers
- Increases market share
- Decreases price sensitivity
5 Actionable Tips for Better Branding
Invest in a Branding Package
Your brand should be distinctive and memorable so that customers can easily recognise you. Recognition leads to familiarity, and familiarity leads to trust. More than 82% of online buyers claimed that they only buy familiar and trusted brands.
How?
Create a distinctive and meaningful logo. Pictures are processed faster than words. Your logo informs the buyer in less than one second about the company’s identity.
Choose a colour scheme, font style, graphic style and other aesthetics for your brand. Some brands have made certain elements their own: such as Pepsi and the colour combination of blue and red, Disney and its unique font, and The Yanks with the baseball bat.
Although its main job is breeding familiarity among consumers, it is also a communication method. The imagery is interpreted by the audience and they make subtle connections. Google’s use of multiple solid colours in its logo implies solutions to different needs while Disney’s playful font exudes fun and a child-friendly attitude.
Product Listing Optimisation
Product listing optimisation refers to the process of ensuring your products are listed at the top of SERPs. It is a continuous operation as your listings can climb or fall depending on the structure of your listing. So why is this important for branding? A higher rank on search results means increased visibility which leads to increased brand awareness. Search engines crawl through both your front- and back-end content and index it according to their algorithms. If your content is relevant to the search query and is of high quality then you are ranked higher. Being ranked high by a search engine like Google or Amazon is by itself a stamp of quality. Moreover, about 30% of searchers do not go beyond the first page of results. Being ranked high also results in increased click-through rates and eventually sales.
How?
Regularly go through both your front- and back-end to check if it adheres to the latest search engine algorithms and criteria.
Infuse your content with relevant short and long-tail keywords for accurate indexing.
Write content for humans. High-quality, relevant content means visitors stay longer on your page. Search engines note this and will rank you higher. Your visitors will also have a good impression of your brand.
Make use of enhanced brand content (EBC). Some consumers like text, some prefer images, while others prefer videos. Having all three on your page means that everyone has something to stay for. Also, shopping online creates a gap between the consumer and the product. Displaying the product through images and videos bridges that gap and is likely to generate more conversions.
Use Advertisements
Similar to how optimised product listings can help you rank higher for increased brand awareness, advertisements can also do the same. Except, advertisements can get you there faster and without as much work (but you have to pay for it). Strategic marketing requires you to use different avenues to get your product out there. Advertising is one route. Even if searchers prefer organic content over paid ads and skip your result, your brand is displayed at the very top for your chosen keyword. Your target audience who searched for that keyword saw your brand. Next time, when they come across your brand, it is a familiar brand and so is more likely to be clicked on. This is long-term marketing. Though it may not provide immediate results, you are working on your brand awareness. It is also a clever way to embed your brand as the first result in your consumer’s subconscious.
Gather Positive Reviews
Reviews are given by those who have used your products and have assessed their quality. Positive reviews help build credibility in the business and increases the rate of conversion.
Online shopping is a leap of faith. The consumer must decide based on information provided by the business (whose purpose is to make a sale). A review is information about the product from a different source. It was written by someone who is similar to the potential buyer and doesn’t gain anything through the sale, which makes it trustworthy. Recent research shows that just 5 positive reviews could increase conversion by 270%. Consumers believe reviews more than they believe elaborate descriptions provided by the seller. Reviews can either make or break your business.
How?
Follow up on buyers. Ask them if they were satisfied with their purchase. If the consumer is satisfied, request a review. If they were not satisfied, offer an exchange/refund or a discount on future purchases to foster goodwill.
Offer discounts or prizes to those who review to encourage testimonials.
Showcase the reviews you’ve received as social proof.
Utilise Social Media Platforms
Social media erases the distance between people. It is even more attractive because it brings together exclusive figures such as celebrities, brands and other phenomena closer to the general public. The history of social media imbues it with a sense of honesty and freedom of speech. Meeting your consumers on such a platform is an opportunity to connect and build a relationship with your consumers, employees and other stakeholders. In this digital world, having a social media account makes you more real; the things you post and ideas your share lends you validation and credibility. Consumers like the idea of immediate communication and the freedom to call out anybody who is not being true to their projected ideals. Establishing an online presence through social media helps your brand reach more people (brand awareness) and create a good name (brand image) for yourself.
How?
Share official news about your business to keep your followers updated.
Engage with customers on a personal level by responding to posts and direct messages.
Regularly share high-quality and visual content that is relevant to your target audience.
Make sure your posts are aesthetically pleasing, engaging and positive.
Collaborate with influencers in your niche market to promote your brand.
Conduct regular audits to ensure logos, visuals, and other elements are consistent across all platforms.
Conclusion
Every day, there are businesses that fail and every day there are businesses that succeed to sell another day. The most important thing to survive today is to keep up with the times. In this fast-paced world, where decisions are made in seconds and trust is hard to come by, the power of branding is immeasurable. If you can get your branding right, the potential buyer will search for a keyword and find your product at the top. They will recognise your brand, subconsciously remember all the impressions they’ve formed of the brand, and make a decision to click on your product – all done in the space of an eyeblink.
Strategic branding is the secret to long-term success.
