Although the business of branding has been around for a few decades, the art has not been perfected. What works for one product, service or company does not necessarily work for another since small details and differences can have an impact. Here are some of the basic branding techniques successful agents use when trying to increase brand awareness to consider.
Define the Brand
Once the brand has been defined and created, successful agents can move on and put together a game plan that will increase its awareness. When it is put together, the direction is pretty much defined. Then, it just becomes a matter of rolling out the relevant campaigns on the appropriate channels. Defining the brand is about putting together all the elements. This includes messaging, colors and fonts as well as the logo and every detail of its appearance.
Define the Customers
If at any point during the process a successful agent gets stuck, they can define the customer for the particular product or service they are with at that time. Diagramming the ideal characteristics of the customer can determine the direction of the brand. Whether it is a high-end or mass market product, or a service meant for the busy professional or busy student, these characteristics can help you speak the language of the target user.
Define the Market
When you are branding a product or service, it is a good idea to take a look at the resiliency of the item against all market conditions. You want to know if the item can sell during the peaks as well as the valleys. While the market conditions should not necessarily deter or delay a product or service roll out, it could alter how it is branded, sold and marketed. In a down market, it is important to determine how to market something on a smaller budget. When the market is reaching a peak, maximizing your budget is a good idea while not spending it all in one place. This maximizes the return on investment and sets up the successful agent for the next campaign on a good foot.
Put Together a Game Plan
When the brand, customer and market is defined for the successful agent, it is time to put together the game plan. Marketing plans today consist of online and offline strategies. Offline, free promotional item giveaways, business partnerships and events are some options. Online, search engine optimization, influencer integration and social media marketing are other options.
Evaluate the Game Plan
While the offline marketing side of your plan might be a little difficult to measure, you can strike a balance by using online marketing components. Software and social media offers several opportunities to use analytics. From analytics tools, you can extract data that helps you determine what strategies are delivering and those that require some tweaking. If you utilize customer relationship management software, you can determine how successfully you are branding your business.
Increase Brand Awareness
To increase your brand awareness, it has to be marketed effectively. Plus, you have to set up benchmarks. The successful agent might pass out flyers, for example. Those flyers can contain a discount code. You can determine the success of that campaign by taking note of the number of times the code is redeemed. If you decide that a redemption of 50 is a success and that benchmark is reached, you can safely assume your brand's awareness was increased. Online, the number of followers can be your first benchmark. Then, likes, shares or positive comments can be others. Every time an online marketing goal is reached, you can safely determine that your brand's awareness was increased again.
More Tricks the Trade
Successful agents understand that first impressions are important. So once again, when you decide on the brand, stand by it. Think of the brand as a magnet that attracts customers to everything else your company has to offer. A mantra can make that magnet more effective because it is another tie-in.
The importance of being 100% confident in the brand you have created for your service or product cannot be overstated. When you stand firmly behind it so can your target audience as its brand awareness is increased.
