Branding is a two way relationship between a company and their customers. A company can create the brand image that they want, but how customers connect with the brand will determine the true brand meaning.
Building a connection with customers is not a simple nor a quick endeavor; rather, it takes consistency, determination and a personal touch. The following are six ways to cultivate customer relationships. Continue reading
The term branding is thrown around a lot in relation to every facet of marketing and advertising, and as such its’ true meaning has become lost in the shuffle. A company brand is not its’ logo, slogan, or website, these are a product of a brand just like the services or products that a company sells. A brand is the external, and internal, perception of a company and/or products/services it sells. In comparison, branding is a process of defining how a company wants to be perceived by their customers and internal team, as well as how they will go about achieving this goal.
I recently read a very interesting article by Jesse McGowan at Atomicdust titled The Brand Spiral of Death (and other thoughts on branding). Continue reading
This article breaks down:
When developing your brand strategy, are you thinking about your brand from a marketers point of view or from your customers’ perspective?
Would you like to know which point of view will help you create a better strategy? Check out this great article!
I recently watched the WebTrends webinar “Adapting to Your Dynamic Customer Base” presented by Jeremiah Oqyang and Susan Etlinger of the Altimeter Group, and Justin Kistner from Webtrends. It was a very insightful presentation about what the dynamic customer is, what they expect from you, and how to meet their needs. The following is a recap of the exciting presentation:
In the last few years, there has been a drastic change in consumer behavior. Consumer purchase behavior no longer follows the purchase funnel of
Consumer behavior has become more dynamic, and in turn so must business’ marketing strategies. There are three emerging practices in the new dynamic customer journey:
These emerging dynamic consumers want to engage with a business through social media, mobile, and websites. The opportunity to reach the new dynamic consumer is found in building brand presence through an integrated campaign. Brands should focus on creating a community using multiple platforms, such as:
In order to reach the emerging dynamic customer, use diff media types, new screens, and new sources of info. Using social media as part of your integrated marketing campaign has become vital because consumer’s now view their peers as experts and trust them most. Mobile apps and websites enable brands to reach consumers at the point of purchase. Mobile and social media campaigns are truly intertwined and show not be considered separate campaigns.
“More than 50% of adults are buying on smartphones today, more than 2/3 have the device in-store, still many aren’t being served.”
In order to track and determine success of a marketing strategy that spans multiple devices and channels, businesses need to determine measurements that will expand into all areas of the digital landscape. The following new measurements have evolved:
One of the biggest challenges for measuring how dynamic customers using an integrated campaign is the inability to track users using multiple devices. While cross domain tracking in social media is available, cross device tracking for mobile is not. (Deciding to view site on a smartphone then on a tablet) There is no single ROI for social media or integrated campaigns, ROI will differ by corporation, divisions, and business objectives.
“The future of branding is marketing with people and not at them.” This is one of the great quotes included in this new article from BrandGrowth. This post is based around the book Brand Against the Machine (which I am definitely downloading onto my Kindle when I get home).
This article does a great job explaining the 6 Steps to Building a Branding Framework from the book and how they apply to your brand:
I highly recommend checking out the full article, and I can’t wait to write about what I learn from this book as well.
As I have written in some of my other posts, maintaining brand consistency extremely important to customer relationship management, marketing, product development, advertising, company relationship with employees,and basically every facet of your company.
This article by Ben Erickson is a perfect breakdown of why maintaining your brand should always be at the top of your list. He does a great job of explaining how branding is important to your customers, differs by business size, and the team you will need to maintain it all. I highly recommend checking out his post What is Business Branding?
Does color affect a customers’ purchase experience? Will it increase the chances that a customer will by your product?
The answer to both of these questions is YES! Color is one of the most important factors that a customer considers when making a purchase, both consciously and unconsciously. Check out the infographic below on how colors affect purchases.
Here my 3 favorite facts:
Also, check out below what emotions your brand’s colors invoke when your customers see your logo or product. The infographic also breaks down how time, overall design, and words can impact purchase decisions.
In the comments below let me know what you think of the infographic and/or if color has ever swayed your decision to make a purchase.
So, you have created and implemented a great social media strategy for your company.
It is creating conversations and growing your brand.
But…what do you do next?
What to Do When Your Social Media Strategy Is Successful [VIDEO]
Recently I noticed that about an hour or so after reading a post from a company I follow, the number of comments on the post had almost doubled, or maybe even tripled. While I was amazed, I also knew that this was the power of Social Media in action; creating conversation and buzz quickly and in real t
ime. The number of comments on a brand’s single post can reach into the 1000’s in the matter of hours.
Moderating a large, and rapidly multiplying, amount comments can be difficult and overwhelming. One reason that moderation can be difficult is because of the Facebook culture. Facebook users expect a two-way conversation with the company, not just the other users. The combination of the users’ expectations and the vast number of comments turns social media brand management into a 24/7 job.
When venturing into the Social Media forum, it is important to plan not only one when, where, and what you will post, but also how you will respond to your audience. For most companies, the difficult questions or comments that you receive now, whether through email or phone calls, are the same questions that you will receive in the social media forum. Setting up a protocol on whether you will respond to comments, and if so, which ones. This is imperative for brand health.
The expectations of users varies by platform, Facebook users are more likely to expect a response than twitter followers, or at least expect a response sooner. At times, it may seem like it would be easier to delete negative comments that show up on your company’s page, but that may actually lead you down a more difficult path. Facebook users notice when a comment has been deleted from the comment thread and are often offended. Be very cautious when deleting comments, because this action may spark a larger negative backlash.
It is very common for Companies to post a “commenting policy” in the info section of their Facebook page, which would include protocols for dealing with inappropriate or offensive comments. If an inappropriate or offensive comment is posted on the page, then the established protocol should be followed to a “T”. In the Social Media world, it is considered justified to remove the offensive comment from the page. In addition, you should also respond to the comment via the comment thread or through Facebook message. You could mention your company’s “comments policy” and ask that they contact you via email with any questions or concerns.
If you only remember one thing when deciding to do Social Media, is that it is imperative that you prepare as much as possible beforehand. Social Media is an amazing tool that can grow and build a strong community around your brand, as long as you are prepared and active.