Creating a brand is an effective strategy to reach out to your customers. But, it is certainly not a child’s play. Brand communication plays a crucial role in building a sturdy and robust brand. However, there are certain strategies and tactics that can be used in creating a persistent brand name.
How To Improve Your Brand Communication Strategy
How are big brands created? The journey from being an organization to a brand name that resonates with its customers is not an easy one. Brands are not made overnight. It is your customers who hold the power to turn your product/service into a hot selling brand! The key is communication. If the brand communication is clear and hits the audience in the right places, you’ve got a winner.
With social media as a powerful communication tool, every business has the means to directly communicate with its end user. Imagine the power to not just reward a loyal customer instantly, but also handle and retain a disgruntled customer with tact and ingenuity at that very moment when the user shares a bad experience. Here we discuss how you can establish such a resilient brand communication strategy and win your customers’ approval every single time. Even when you goof up. Yes, that’s right. When you build a strong relationship with your consumer based on trust and mutual admiration, your customers become your loyal brand evangelists. And they do forgive a slip up just like they forgive an erring friend. Confused? Let’s understand.
Finding Your Brand Voice
To find the right voice for your brand it is imperative to first figure out the following:
- Identify your buyer personas
Learn and research your core customer groups. It’s the best way to get started when you are still looking for the right voice for your brand. The ideal way to know if you’re touching the right cords with your customers is to know what kind of customers you’re catering to. - Know your USPs
Once you figure out who you’re going to talk to, it’s time to understand what you’re going to talk about. What is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of your product that makes it stand out from others? How is your brand giving value to the customer? - Build a brand personality
Given your USPs and buyer personas, choose a personality you wish to showcase to your customers. Ensure that your brand personality remains consistent throughout different channels and touchpoints. This will help consumers identify with your brand and connect in a better way. - Choose your marketing mix
With every business going digital, it’s best to recognize the most high-paying and valuable channels for your branding exercises. Choose media that suits your brand and is preferred by your target audience. Whether it’s social media, email marketing, or marketing event presentations, make sure it has the same brand voice.
How To Follow A Winning Brand Communication Strategy In 7 Easy Steps
1. Be Genuine And Honest
You don’t need celebrity brand ambassadors promoting your brand if your customers become your brand advocates. If they’re the ones talking about your brand, sharing with their peers and spreading positive word-of-mouth publicity for your brand, who needs anybody else. They are your most genuine and authentic agents of brand promotion. Therefore, it is your prerogative to ensure that all brand communication from your end is also genuine and spontaneous. Don’t use automated replies nor respond like a bot. A humanized, empathetic, and authentic brand voice builds an immediate connection with the audience which is built on trust. Don’t make your responses seem forced. Tackle them with a humane touch, always.
2. Create Conversations
When a customer shares a positive experience, go further than just saying ‘thank you’. Give open-ended responses and strike conversations that help your brand find its humanized voice. People love it when a brand takes the time to have a conversation with them – one on one. Even if it’s a fun and playful conversation, people will remember your brand more for how you made them feel. When you reach that stature of having natural real-time and positive conversations with your customers, soon they will be the ones doing your marketing for you.
3. Provide Relevant Content
In the world of brands, content is still the king. Creating content that appeals to the target audience and is yet relevant to your brand needs a bit of skill and practice, but it isn’t rocket science. It’s a wise and smart choice to always ask your audience to share, comment, vote, or suggest what they wish to see more of. When you listen to them, they will listen to you! In this way, your customers become the co-creators of your content.
4. Don’t Always Self-Promote
People don’t like brands that just gloat about themselves. Even in the real world, people don’t like those who can only talk about themselves. Similarly, brands that overtly promote themselves without offering any value to the client, are often at the risk of losing customers, and that too without any apparent reason.
5. Be Transparent
Being open and transparent, and letting your customers in on what’s going behind the scenes helps a brand earn the trust of customers. This practice not only helps the organization educate customers but also dispel rumors and improve brand awareness – all the while attaining a special respectful place in the consumer’s mind.
6. Post Some Content For Pure Fun And Customer Enjoyment
Post content that you think your audience will enjoy, just for the sake of fun and some light-hearted enjoyment. Do not put any link to your blog or any other Call-To-Action. This will send a strong message to your followers that you’re not just here to sell, but to delight and serve your audience. This will make the readers look forward to reading your content and also enhance the confidence they have in your brand.
7. Leverage Consumer-Generated Content
Pay close attention to what your customers are saying or sharing in forums/comments about your brand. And when you know what they want, act quick and give them what they want. Leveraging user-generated content is not as hard as it seems. As customers continue to take co-ownership and influence their favorite brands, companies should work on improving their product offerings based on that. Simply share consumer content and tweak your services/products/communication to give your audience exactly what they want.
With the advent of the digital age, the focus is now not how to market your product to the consumer, but how to market your product with your consumers! With these 7 tips of collaborative marketing, a branding communication strategy will work wonders by targeting its consumers effectively and successfully.
Culled from E Learning Industry
