3 Signs You Should Rethink Your Branding Strategy

 

When business growth stagnates, talk inevitably turns to increasing advertising, website redesign, lowering fees, etc. to earn back former clients and entice new prospects. All of those tactics can be effective, but only if they send the right message to your audience. So, if your firm’s growth has slowed, referrals aren’t as strong as they once were, or you’re having trouble recruiting top talent, it may be time to consider a brand refresh.

Having to refine your branding strategy does not mean your brand has failed. On the contrary, the evolution of your brand can be the natural outcome of your growth and changes in the market. But research shows that brands that do not refresh every 5 to 10 years will be out of synch with the marketplace and struggle to remain relevant.

Your Brand—More than Just a Logo

Your brand is more than just your name and logo. At its core, it’s the essential message you send to the marketplace to communicate your story and promise. When done well, your brand will help you to accomplish important marketing objectives, including the following:

• Share your values and vision with the marketplace, which will help you attract both new clients and top talent.
• Increase brand awareness—your firm’s visibility—in your market.
• Encourage referrals by giving influencers a clear and consistent message they can share with others.
• Furnish employees with a compelling and consistent vision that will influence their work
• Encourage employees and clients to be advocates of your firm on social media and in networks.
• Attract top talent
• Command higher fees—The percentage varies by industry, but a recent study showed that top brands can earn up to 32% higher fees than lesser known competitors.

If your growth has slowed, you are entering into a new market or offering a new service, or the visuals associated with your brand looks dated or “tired” it is time to refresh your brand.

Growth rate has slowed

Flat growth or an inability to get to the next level are important indicators that your brand may no longer be relevant. Lack of a clear and compelling brand message makes it harder for prospects to quickly understand what you do and how you can help them.

Prospective clients and top talent commit themselves to strong brands with a compelling vision of the future.  If your message and brand are unclear, influencers can’t articulate your advantage to prospects.  And if your brand seems outdated or unclear to those outside your firm, it will also be perceived that way by your own staff and potential job candidates

Entering a New Market or Offering a New Service

Humans are interesting creatures. We are capable of great depth and complexity, but our internal filing systems are stubbornly simple. Perceptions are not easily changed. Once a business becomes known for a particular service, it’s very hard to change people’s perceptions of that business.

A significant change in your firm will also likely require a change in your brand and your messaging. Unveiling a new logo or tagline are very effective ways to introduce your changes to the marketplace and begin to change how prospects and clients perceive you.

Your visual brand looks tired

We know from our research that 80% of people who are referred to a firm check out that firm’s website before reaching out. If you are hesitant to send prospects to your website or feel sheepish when you present the outdated graphics in your firm’s PowerPoint deck, it’s time for a refresh.

The speed of today’s market drives graphic design trends and tastes. Websites and collateral need to be refreshed every few years to look relevant to the marketplace. A website that looks outdated—or does not address the problems the prospect is trying to solve—can quickly deter a prospect from further interest. And a competitor with a fresher, more on-point message is just a click or two away. Even small tweaks like updated images, font, and new colors can make a big difference.

Whether your goal is to bolster your firm’s growth, increase awareness in the industry, or simply to remain relevant in today’s dynamic marketplace, a brand refresh is something to consider before investing precious time and money in tactics (advertising, brochures, etc.) that will be sending an outdated or ineffective message.

Hinge Marketing

7 branding mistakes your company should avoid

 

Your brand is your promise, and it's important that you build it thoughtfully and deliberately. A brand has never been successfully established by simply uploading a good-looking logo and writing a few lines on social platforms. To create a real identity, brands have to invest a lot of time and effort. There's research to be done, competitors to be identified, and expert professionals to be consulted. Every business should learn what branding is and why it's needed. Whether you're starting a new business or have already established one, mistakes are unavoidable. However, here are 7 mistakes brands make that you'd be wise to avoid.

1. Failure to research the competition

This is especially important if you are a new business. Researching the competition helps you understand what established businesses in your industry have done: where they have failed, where they have succeeded and where you can give your brand an advantage. Your research should include products, services, target audiences, websites and social platforms. If you don't, this could trip you up in two ways: first, being unable to judge the competition properly and second, replicating a competitor's strategies without truly understanding them.

2. Failure to understand your target audience

Before you start selling or even pitching, you've got to understand what kind of audience you're speaking to. You should understand their demands, their expectations, the things they identify with and the kinds of brands they favor. Once you do find your target audience, branding and messaging will get a lot easier.

3. Taking feedback from the wrong sources

Depending on the type of product or service you're looking to sell and the market you want to cover, you'll need to take feedback from the right sources. Limiting your sources to positive reviews won't help you set or measure appropriate goals. Friends, family members, employees and relatives might give you positive reviews no matter what, so think before accepting reviews from them. For any modern brand, the best platform for reviews includes both social media and review sites.

4. It's not just about logo redesign

As already stated, branding's not just about a logo or a tagline. Branding constitutes everything that you represent—even your company's voice and the style of content you create. You will find an audience when you have a competitive advantage and a distinct style. Without that, there's no value!

Some companies rebrand and spend thousands of dollars on logo redesign but not enough on other brand assets. For example, an online fashion brand can't boost sales by just changing its logo design. To build a profitable e-commerce brand, it should focus on its customer care team, product quality, advertising (both online and offline), competitive pricing, and many other factors.

Here's a real-world example. When Marissa Mayer became Yahoo's CEO, she decided to change the logo of the company. It made for big hype among the users, marketers, bloggers and everyone else. But when Yahoo finally unveiled its new logo, all expectations were crushed. It wasn't terrible... but it wasn't exciting, either. It turned out to be just a minor change that didn't bring any significant growth to the Yahoo brand.

5. Inconsistency

Brand consistency has a tremendous impact on your business. Consistency helps build familiarity, loyalty and eventually, credibility. Be consistent with your promotions, personality, communication and every other interaction you make with your audience.

For example, Coca-Cola might just be the most consistent brand in history. Its logo has hardly changed in 130 years. Everyone recognizes its fun-in-the-sun summer campaigns and heartwarming Christmas campaigns. The brand has built such loyalty that no other soda can beat it—even when Pepsi famously won blind taste tests with consumers. Now in the digital age, Coca-Cola has built a huge audience of followers on social media, so it's quite easy to reach its target audience wherever they may be.

6. Not focusing on first impressions

There's no logic in trying to get an audience before you've established what your brand is about. Branding is the first step to entering the marketplace, and you should prioritize it before trying to make money. The first impression is always the product packaging design—the first point of contact between your brand and the customer.

Don't be in a hurry to change the packaging design of your products. Sometimes, it might cost you a fortune. In 2009, Tropicana changed its packaging design and invested $35 million in advertising. Later, consumers rejected the new packaging and Tropicana recorded a loss of $30 million. Pretty quickly, the company decided to revert back to the old packaging design.

7. Not having a Plan B

There are many businesses that think a brand is something you establish and then it takes care of itself. Today, that's completely untrue. You should constantly refine and revise your offerings to deliver better quality and adapt to the changing needs of the market. Not all branding strategies will work the first time. In those instances, you need to be ready with a second plan to ensure that recovery is immediate.

Managing a brand is not an easy thing. But you must always understand that your business is more than just its products and services. Success depends on the way you shape the experience of your customers. This is what defines your brand identity. Once you've established trust in your brand, you'll never want to look back.

Culled from: Lucid Press

The Thin Line Between Branding and Marketing

 

Branding and marketing are two crucial words that are easily mixed up by non-industry professionals. Some have stopped trying to understand the difference between the words, and have instead settled for using them interchangeably. But there is a gulf of difference between the words, more than the thin line that the title of this article suggests. To make the terms clearer, some definitions may come in handy.

What is Branding?

Branding in its simplest form can mean a process that captures a company’s reputation in a few words. It could be a single word that gives personality to the company or that rekindles the unique attributes of the company whenever it is mentioned. When you mention a brand like Apple, it evokes certain images in the mind. The images of elite, class, chic and hip come to mind. These are attributes that sometimes make consumers of their products stand in line to buy their latest products, even at midnights, whenever there is a new release.
What is Marketing?
Marketing refers to the processes that deliver the message of the brand to consumers. While a brand remains the same, marketing evolves to deliver a brand’s core values. Marketing encompasses many activities; it deals with the advertisement, and it also tries to understand the consumer’s tastes so that it can utilize it to the brand’s benefit.

Where Branding Meets Marketing

Branding and Marketing both aim to achieve the same goal, that of communicating a unique identity to a target audience. In the process of marketing, branding is sometimes incorporated in order to win customer loyalty. On the other hand, the information gathered from the marketing process can be used in representing a brand in a certain light that appeals more to consumer’s taste.

Where Branding and Marketing Part Ways

Your branding strategy forms the bedrock of your marketing communications. Therefore, branding is strategic in that it doesn’t evolve as marketing is wont to do. Rather, it seeks to win and maintain customer loyalty on a long-term, and also counts on this to continue to thrive after marketing campaigns are over.
On the other hand, marketing is said to be tactical because it doesn’t seek to influence the consumer’s feelings towards the product on a long-term. Rather, marketing is more concerned about building awareness for the brand and not sustaining a brand loyalty. It marshals its points to convince the consumer and the campaign ends there.

Which One Should You Put Your Money into?

Branding has its own purpose, and so does marketing, and in relation to that specific purpose, they are great investments that can bring in returns. It is the knowledge of that purpose that prevents wastages. In order to carry out a successful marketing campaign to give your brand a boost, you need only the best marketing communications firm to handle your campaign. Look no further than TRW Consult, the award-winning marketing communications agency that can guarantee your brand a long-term relationship with customers. Call us now.

7 Bold Marketing Lessons You Can Learn From Apple

 

Not too long ago, for those of us who were born in the last century, Apple was an afterthought.

Post-2000 the company rebranded itself in a revolutionary way. Despite the fact that they’re roughly on par with other computers and devices, they enjoy a reputation for being the best and command a premium price because of it. It’s not all due to the aesthetic design, either.

Even if you’re not a fan of their products, we all know someone who is almost slavishly loyal to the brand. They proclaim them the best at every turn, and word of mouth is a powerful force.

This leaves us asking ourselves: what exactly did they do to revamp their entire image in only a few short years?

The answer is simple: downright brilliant marketing.

I wholly endorse learning from the best, and when it comes to branding and advertisements they’re definitely up there. Learning this way means one thing: we have to ask ourselves questions about the success of the company involved.

After all, if you don’t know what’s been done it’s pretty hard to replicate.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the seven best lessons I think you can take from Apple’s marketing and talk about how to adapt them to your own business.

1. Think Carefully About the Need for Advertising

Apple actually runs pretty minimal advertising despite their increasing market share.

Think about it, apart from an ad once in a while most of the stuff you hear about their products comes from those who are fans of their products. Whether it’s reviews or the friend who can’t stop raving about his new iMac, they allow their products to speak for themselves.

There is also a lot of product placement done by the company, particularly in high-budget films and TV shows.

You can take the same approach with your business, provided that you’re supplying a high-quality product.

Now, it’s unlikely that you have the budget to have Tony Stark wielding your product in the next Avengers movie. Instead, you’ll want to scale this down to the basics.

What you can do is supply a high-quality product or service that speaks for itself. Try to get major influencers within your niche to utilize it.

If you’re providing a service, then a free trial is a great way to do it if your business model can allow it. Otherwise, you might want to collect and publish testimonials from those who are using your business to succeed. Publish them high and low. See if you can convince a few to do it of their own accord.

Case studies are also a bold move in the right direction. If you increased traffic by 200% with your SEO services, or your copywriting increased conversions by 75% or whatever else you may do, you can easily format a study to show why you should be picked over your competitors.

It’s easier said than done, but the less you have to spend on traditional advertising campaigns, the higher ROI you’re going to experience.

2. Don’t Engage in Price Wars

Apple avoids price wars. They cost more than any comparable product and still manage to sell tons of products.

Price wars are always a losing proposition. Ask a freelancer some time. Anyone who’s actually succeeding will have a bottom price and won’t take anything under it, no matter how you try to haggle with them.

When you engage in price wars, you always lose.

Instead you should do what Apple does: focus on telling your customers why you cost more than the competition… then prove it. Justify the cost and it’ll get paid.

While you still need to be wary of the competition, if they start dropping their prices make your own product or service better and don’t give in to the temptation to stoop to their level.

You can also offer different levels of service or different types of products in order to make sure that those buying from you have a wide variety of options. Keep your high ticket sales, but also offer some lower priced options.

But never, ever drop your prices en masse simply because your competitors are doing so.

3. KISS: Keep it Simple Stupid

If there’s one place that Apple really shines it’s in how easy their products are to use. There’s a reason that tech nerds prefer PC and Android products: they’re more customizable and versatile for the most part.

They’re also more prone to failure due to user error.

Even their advertising is relatively straightforward and simple. When was the last time you saw any of their copy directly advertising the technical specifications behind their product?

This reduces the potential customer’s apprehension about the product. The fact of the matter is that most tech users don’t actually care about the specifications behind a device as long as it does what they want to and has a user-friendly interface.

From the aesthetic on down, Apple really is a simple company.

Try taking the same approach with your own business and you’re sure to see some pretty impressive results. Overwhelming consumers with information is exactly what you don’t want to do.

Instead, wow them with the ability to make even the hardest-to-understand principles easy. Then show them what they need and gently guide them to making the right decision: your products.

If you take any of these lessons to heart, make it this one. It’s easy to apply no matter what industry you’re working in.

4. Emotional Marketing

Building on the last lesson, the way to really reach a consumer is through their heart.

When you see an Apple ad you don’t see a bunch of technical specs, you see people sitting around and enjoying their device. After all, who cares what the resolution is? Look at all those happy people enjoying their new iPad.

Forging an emotional connection with your customers is one of the best ways to get through to them. Most people aren’t exactly rational when it comes to choosing the things they buy. Instead they buy them based largely off of their emotions.

Forging ahead and making your potential customers laugh, smile, and perhaps feel just a touch of awe when they see your marketing is one of the most important ways you can connect with them.

And if you connect properly, they’re going to be a lot more likely to buy from you instead of a competitor.

5. Take Aim at Your Audience

Apple targets a specific part of the market and they do it extremely well.

What’s more, they know how to talk to them.

As I’ve pointed out, the average Apple user isn’t likely to be the type who’s wowed with the hardware. Instead they already want an Apple product and just need to figure out which one.

Their pages are covered in large pictures of the products and simple, easy-to-understand copy about the benefits. The specifications are there, of course, but to get to them you’ll first see what amounts to beautiful ads in an old glossy magazine.

They speak directly to their customers, in language they understand.

Being able to do this is one of the keystones of any type of marketing. This isn’t unique to Apple, but they do it better than almost anyone else.

It boils down to this: know your target audience and speak in their language.

6. Nurture a Sense of Community

Apple users tend to flock together. They talk about their products, they rave about them to those who aren’t part of the “cult”, and, above all, they’re loyal to the brand.

This also means that a large part of their content marketing is done by the end consumer instead of having to be produced by the company. There are countless “unboxing” videos online, arguments emerge on social media with users of other devices, and all of this serves to keep them constantly at the top of many people’s minds.

In short, they’re a community.

While it’s not possible with all products and services, if you see the potential to develop this kind of thing with your business you absolutely should. The more people are talking about what you’re selling, the higher your profile will be.

A higher profile means more things being sold.

Engage with your customers. Subtly encourage them to share your products with their friends, and also to share their experiences. If you can tap into it properly, you can form a loyal base of customers which will drive sales beyond your wildest expectations.

7. Become “the Brand”

Apple is the brand when it comes to computers. You’ll rarely hear of people rapidly loyal to Dell or HP or ASUS for their laptops after all. The latter three are pretty much interchangeable and bought on their technical specifications alone.

But Apple users… buy Apple products. Because they’re made by Apple.

Now, not every business is going to be able to take advantage of this powerful level of branding. If you’re running a start-up, however, and you have a truly novel idea you have the potential to do exactly that.

Lady Gaga Taught Me These 4 Secrets To Building A Successful Brand

Lady Gaga is on fire … again. With her recent breakthrough performance in A Star Is Born, she is generating a lot of Oscar buzz. In the film, Gaga plays Ally alongside Bradley Cooper’s Jack — a couple whose personal relationship struggles as Ally’s professional life takes off. With many publications betting she will shine during award season, Gaga is hot.

But, this isn’t Gaga’s first rodeo. Having launched her singing career around 2007, she has been a chart-topping role model for thousands of fans, broken records, taken home countless awards and influenced the industry.

Yes, she is an international star. But, she is also an extremely savvy businesswoman — and I have learned everything from her when it comes to building my successful business, Archangel, which helps mission-driven entrepreneurs, and its annual conference, Archangel Summit.

It was around 2013 when I started following Gaga. I was watching the music industry – and it was in a decline. Yet, there were some artists who were killing it. Lady Gaga was one of them. While she had been around (and super successful for years), she was continuing to get stronger and stronger, despite the current landscape. At the time, I knew nothing about her, but I was intrigued by her success. What was so special about her? I began my quest to figure that out.

 

Secrets to Building a Successful Brand

 

Here is what I learned from Lady Gaga on what it takes to build a successful business – and what you can learn from her, too.

 

1. Get crystal clear on who you want to help.

It is so important to find the right customers for your company.

Like a lot of people, Lady Gaga is attracted to people who were like her. She has written countless times about being bullied in school and feeling like an outsider. It was these same people she went after when she decided to build her community (more on that in a bit).

For me, I needed my perfect avatar to target. I wanted to help entrepreneurs like me: those who are mission-driven and want to create an impact. To find these people, I met with anyone and everyone and started asking a million questions to get to the root issues and how I could be of help. I started to look for patterns to define my mission.

For you, focus on whom you want to help right off the bat. Take a stand. Look at your core values, what issues are important to you and your mission. This will help create cohesion and bonds among your core base. Look for those people who fit into that community. But also, just as importantly, do not try to please everyone. You can’t.

 

2. Build a tribe.

 

Next, you need to find these people — a lot of these people — and build your tribe.

When it came to building her community and ambassadors, Lady Gaga didn’t go for the traditional, top 40 pop audience. She went after the fringe — the people who were bullied, those who didn’t fit in, the outcasts — and made them her family. And then she branded her tribe — “Little Monsters” — which was so important.

Every year, for our Archangel Summit, we sell out, with more than 3,000 people attending. We are able to accomplish this by building our own tribe. When I launched the entire Archangel platform, I didn’t start off with a product, service, experience or event and try to sell people on that business model. Rather, I started off with a tribe and asked out how could I serve them.

By going down this path, it is much easier, in the end, for entrepreneurs to sell. After finding this passionate audience, you can figure out the most common challenges this tribe is facing and how you, as the founder, can be the most helpful.

 

3. Focus on being memorable.

 

Whatever you do, be remembered.

Usually, when artists perform, they do pretty much the same act in each city. It can be a bit, well, blah. But, Gaga customizes her shows to each specific audience — adding in personal touches to make each performance memorable. It is very micro level. So, people throw things on stage, and she interacts with them. I have seen her do it with a Canadian flag, which she danced with; a denim jacket she put over her dress; and a touching moment, when a concertgoer named Brittany tossed up a letter. Lady Gaga stopped the set, opened the letter, learned that the girl had just come out to her parents, who didn’t accept it, and asked Brittany on stage. She then sang directly to her. I am not rehashing this story for no reason; I am doing so because I remember every single moment of that concert.

In each instance, she made people feel special, like they belonged.

For us, I go crazy when it comes to the day of the Archangel Summit event. It isn’t just panels and keynotes, but also Cirque du Soleil-style performances. I do this to not only keep people energized, but because I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

Do the same for your own business. Do things that don’t scale — and they don’t have to be such a grand level as having trapeze artists swinging through your event. For instance, you can insert personalized videos into emails, thanking someone for her purchase. Or send a special thank-you card after your service. Whatever you choose, you just need to show people you care about them.

 

4. Keep the momentum.

 

There are only so many product launches you can have, events you can hold or online courses you can unveil. Between those big milestones, keep the community going.

Lady Gaga does it by creating a special, almost secretive culture. She and her Little Monsters greet each other with the “Monster Claw” sign and use words like “monster hugs” to show affection for each other. They have their own social media platform where they can interact all year round, and a strong Facebook page where Gaga often posts.

What I have done that can work for any founder is create a strong social media group. (Some people do this with Google, others with Facebook.) In it, we highlight stories of community members and the impact they’re creating, we co-create our events with the tribe (for instance, asking which speakers to have for future events) and we share strategies, to name a few ways we engage.

During the year, we also keep people engaged by continuing to educate them with webinars, email newsletters and smaller, more intimate events. These all help to continue to develop this community, so when our next major event occurs, it isn’t hard to sell out.

Culled from Entrepreneur

Why Blogs Are Crucial for Online Reputation Management and Repair

 

What are blogs, and why are they crucial for online reputation management?

Blogs generate good content that eventually push down negative links, build trust by showing industry expertise, and is a way to get visible online.

Here are some tips for excellent posts and four ways blogging is important for online reputation repair.

What to Write to Repair a Damaged Online Reputation

A blog is a place for brief, targeted articles online. Knowing what to write and where to post them are crucial details to get right for the repair process.

Blog articles should be at least 500 words long but ideally about 1,000 words (a page or two). The topic should address a specific issue for readers or clients. For example, write about top business-related questions that often get asked, offing some of the best solutions. The idea is to generate good content that people legitimately find interesting and pertinent to them.

Include Keywords, Headings, Images

A blog should include keywords–phrases that are useful for searches, which are related to the topic–sprinkled throughout the article; headings help break the blog into easy to read sections; an image placed at the top, relating to the topic, gives a visual queue to the story; lastly, be sure to include your name or business name a few times, but avoid artificially “stuffing” unnecessarily.

Find the Right Place for the Right Blog

Post to well-trafficked platforms, such as LinkedIn or Facebook, to dedicated industry-specific blog sites such as Avvo.com for law, etc., or general sites, like Medium.com.

The best place, however, is to post an article on one’s own business or personal blog because this generates website traffic, in turn pushing up positive links.

Here’s four reasons why to write blog articles to help repair a damaged online reputation or build a positive one.

1. Blogs Push Down Negative Links

Blogs are powerful tools in the reputation repair process because they can push down negative links. Popular and well-written pieces eventually show up on the top of Google searches,  suppress damaging articles posted by competitors, disgruntled ex-clients or employees with an axe to grind.

2. Builds Trust, Showing Industry Expertise

Building trust and showing that you are an expert in your field is another prime benefit of blogging. If someone conducts a Google search–which clients do–and there is little information, the business could be perceived as not being active, inexperienced or not tech savvy. Having a list of articles that address prospective clients’ concerns shows expertise, leading directly to increased sales.

3. Part of a Social Media Strategy

Blogging is, or should be, a vital part of a social media strategy. A great way to generate interest in social media feeds is to write good quality information. Writing a blog post and then sharing it on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, etc., not only makes those posts more visible, but they also generate more traffic on those platforms.

4. Blogs Create Backlinks

Blogs are also powerful because they create backlinks–links that go back to your site–which Google finds very favorable and is a key part of its ranking formula. This too is a way to drive up positive articles, helping to push good ones to the top of Google searches, thereby suppressing negative pieces off the first or second page.

Bottom Line

Writing a blog should be an integral part of online reputation management and repair because it pushes down negative links, shows you as an expert, improves existing social media campaigns and helps your Google ranking. The key is constantly writing quality articles.

This article was first published on Recover Reputation