How are you coping in the current business environment? And what is your focus?
For some businesses, it’s all about scaling. Others are simply trying to survive or need to rebuild after a few extremely trying months the global business world faced. Or perhaps you’re thriving, but you understand the necessity of not letting your guard down.
Which category do you fall into?
Did you know, for all these groups, branding strategies are continually key to reaching your goals? Of course, you don’t always have time to implement complicated techniques and processes. We compiled a set of actionable branding strategies, so you’ll be able to adapt them into your plans easily.
Yes, you can adapt your plan for future brand success straight away.
Making Design More Important
Your first strategy is simply a decision: place quality design higher on your priority list than before. The motivation for this is that competitors, industry leaders, and customers judge you based on your look. From business cards to the styling of your website, they’re looking for proof that you prioritize professionalism and keeping up with changes in the market.
This means it may be time to redesign your stationery, such as letterheads, envelopes, notepads and more. If it still carries the same look as three decades ago, your brand needs a facelift. Fonts can go out of style, and perhaps your logo even needs a redesign. Even market-leading companies like Apple have used logo updates to move with the times.
Also, discuss possible design upgrades with your website developers. You may need new plugins or features that your audience expects on modern pages. For example, are you offering all the payment methods modern shoppers expect on eCommerce pages? You’ll need your design team to make those options obvious, so no one navigates away because they don’t notice the VISA or Bitcoin button.
Some of these are easy to implement. And even making a few small tweaks can greatly impact how others view your brand.
Improving Customer Experiences
Here’s an original thought many companies miss: your brand isn’t only what you look like, but it also involves what others think of you and what they can expect from you.
And what’s one of the biggest role players in your public reputation? What your customers tell others about their experience. Word of mouth remains powerful and must be part of your branding discussions.
To up what your audience thinks of you, implement strategies that improve their experience:
- Train your customer service agents better
- Provide more information on your website so customers can feel informed at a glance
- Adjust your website layout, so it’s more intuitive, so users find information quicker than before
- Respond to social media comments, so customers don’t feel ignored
Harnessing AI
Some strategies do require you to use the latest in technology. Without it, you won’t keep up with the competition. Remember, more and more businesses are harnessing tech.
A smart tool to use is data analysis through artificial intelligence (AI). By using a tool as simple as an app that uses AI, you can gauge your customers’ preferences, which online influencers they follow and what times of the day they look at online content the most. This helps you fine-tune your branding strategies.
With AI, you can also:
- Research the web to determine details about your online brand image and sentiments.
- Provide better customer service through AI-driven chatbots to prove you’re a brand that cares about its audience.
- These days AI can even help design your logo and website for you.
Automate Parts of Your Marketing
You also need strategies to keep getting the word out about your brand. However, you probably know it can get very time-consuming to manage this manually, such as sending out sales and branding emails.
You can instantly automate some of these tasks, so you engage more without using more of your precious time. These days, the software is advanced enough to send personalized emails to different types of customers, leads and prospects. For example, they can get a message soon after sending an online enquiry or if they left a cart unattended in your eCommerce store. Let the system send out messages and channel authenticated leads to your sales team;
How does this relate to branding? Yes, this will boost sales but also improve your brand’s image. You’ll be associated with prompt replies and being hands-on with customers.
Ensuring You Have Good (RELEVANT) Content
By giving detailed descriptions of products on your website, you’ll answer more questions without your client even phoning you. Or write an article and post it on your website to help your audience understand your niche. This makes your brand synonymous with being a source of valuable information in your industry, getting you the respect you deserve.
Just remember that information is only really valuable if it’s relevant to your customers’ needs. You can do some research via a marketing pro or keep it simple:
- See what people ask on Quora or Reddit.
- What questions do your customers ask you the most?
- See which questions pop up when you type in your product, service or industry in a Google search bar.
Now write content that relates to those questions. This proves your brand is led by someone who understands the industry. This can lead to you being noticed as a market leader.
Share but Also SELL on Social Platforms
Social media platforms are extremely dynamic for branding strategies. You’ve probably heard about the importance of having a Facebook profile for your brand. You can use this to engage with your audience and share links to your website pages. All of this helps get your brand message out there.
But remember to keep up to date with Facebook and other social media platforms’ new features. Facebook recently launched a tool that empowers you to set up a shop on the platform. Your customers don’t even have to navigate somewhere else.
Firstly, you’re showing your brand keeps up with the latest developments. Secondly, you’ll be known as a brand that helps clients get fast results.
Branding is a continuous process, so flourishing and struggling companies need to give it attention. And these strategies are practical AND fast to implement. Pick the branding strategy that will boost your name in the industry. Then, your future CAN look better than where you are today. Start now.
About the author
Christy Young is a professional copywriter who’s just started her freelancing career. She writes on diverse topics, including business, marketing, branding and real estate. From blog writing to ad copy and SEO writing, she delivers top-notch content to her clients.
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