When promoting your product or service, it is important to build a strong brand, not just a business. Your brand is what consumers remember so it needs to be easily recognizable and memorable. Brand success is made up of a positive image that sets you apart from the rest.
When launching your brand online, and in general, you need to have done some research. The name you choose needs to lead the customer into having an idea of what they are looking at or for. Check that there are not already other businesses with the same or similar names. You need to research your specific target audience and main competitors.
You need to decide upon your core focus and values – your brand personality. A logo and slogan or tagline are important devices to use for your brand. Here it is worth investing time and money into these and possibly hiring a professional who is experienced with logo and identity design. With this will be included the “look” of your brand – you will, with your designer, choose colors, font, patterns, image style, and web elements.
Once you have your brand identity established it now needs to get out there and be seen to gain recognition and validation. Your unique qualities and features need to be revealed to your consumers. Your website or eCommerce site needs to be easy to navigate and memorable to customers. It should also load quickly and be mobile-friendly.
For these reasons, it may also be worth making use of a website designer who can incorporate your brand voice, message, and personality into building the site. You then need to create an online presence by sharing your knowledge – not all posts need to be about business. Social media networks should all link to your website to create further traffic on your site.
Assign someone to be highly responsive on these platforms. It is advisable that this person take a training course in social media marketing – there are numerous free options available. Relevant high-quality content and blogging also demonstrate your expertise to the customers and builds trust and recognition.
Customers should be encouraged to post reviews and share content – these are effective tools in creating more awareness with regards to your brand online.
It is also important to actively promote your brand offline. Join professional groups and boards, be seen at events, donate time to charity, give presentations, and guest lectures. These are perfect opportunities to have your brand noticed: add your logo to promotional items and hand these out as gifts. Staff members all wearing shirts with the business logo and using branded stationery and bags increases visibility. Another effective tool to use for promoting your business brand is press releases. These create anticipation and excitement regarding the aspect you are focusing on revealing.
To establish a strong online brand presence, consistency and transparency are imperative. Once your brand has been established and received some recognition, it is essential that follow-through occurs so that consumers keep talking about it (online or word-of-mouth) and returning to use your services.
As mentioned, your branding needs to be consistent across all platforms: environment – your storefront or offices and staff uniforms; signage and product packaging designed and presented by experienced professionals like Pro Motion Industries; website and online advertising; content publishing; and sales and customer service.
Your brand must always reflect who you are, what you offer, and why people should take note. Your brand is your identity and your business values should shine brightly – showing that you are unique, trustworthy, and likable.