Building a strong brand that customers recognize and associate with is the main aim of all marketing departments. Unless you can increase brand awareness and inspire trust in your brand, you’re not going to be able to push your business forward. Unfortunately, that’s often easier said than done.
There are a lot of different marketing techniques that you can use when trying to build a brand, but most people tend to focus on the online world these days. Using digital techniques to build a brand, especially social media, is one of the most effective ways to do it because you have a very large reach and you can connect with your consumers on a personal level.
The most effective companies are the ones that create a relatable personality around their company and use it as a means to connect with their customers. If you can do this effectively, without it coming across as forced, you will do well. Other online techniques, like content marketing, are ideal for building trust (which is a very important part of branding) and driving more traffic to your website. Great content gets a lot of shares on social media so it helps to boost your performance on there as well.
However, it’s not just about the online world, and a lot of businesses seem to forget that these days. Your business should have a good online presence, but you should also remember that not everybody uses social media and you need to find other ways to reach those potential customers.
If your business is looking to target an older demographic, this is particularly important. A good branding strategy is multifaceted and combines effective online methods with offline ones as well. If you’re putting all of your focus into the online world, you should seriously consider some of these effective offline branding strategies.
Speak At Events
One of the aspects that people like about interacting with a company on social media is that it feels a bit more personal. They’re getting a response rather than a template marketing email or a page on a website. They actually get the sense that there’s a real person behind the logo and they gravitate towards that.
But if you really want to build that personal connection with your customers, face to face marketing is the best way to do it. Speaking at events is a great way to connect with customers face to face and give them a sense of the people behind the company and the online persona. As long as you speak well and have an approachable personality, you will have a positive impact on your brand.
As well as showing people a more personal side of your company, speaking at these events also lends legitimacy to the business. If you can show people that you’re an industry expert, they will be more likely to trust your judgment and therefore your products.
Finally, speaking at trade events gives you the chance to network with other business leaders and potential customers, which is always good for your company brand. Building those personal connections and relationships is always more effective than connecting with people online.
Branded Merchandise
A lot of people ignore branded merchandise because they think that it’s a bit outdated, but it’s actually a lot more effective than people realize. If you create some great promotional products that have your company logo and maybe your contact details on, you can distribute them to people and easily increase your brand awareness. As long as you choose things that people use like USB sticks, keyrings or reusable shopping bags, you can be sure that your company logo is always in view of them and anybody around them.
The other major benefit of branded merchandise is that you’re giving a customer something of value without first expecting a payment, and that helps to build trust. It works in the same way that content marketing does online, you give them something for free that demonstrates your value to them and shows that you’re willing to invest in the relationship before you start marketing paid products to them.
Cold Calling
Cold calling is a difficult one because a lot of consumers really don’t like it. Companies tend to think that it’s one of the least effective ways of marketing their products and building their brand because people find it annoying, however, that isn’t always the case. You’ve got to remember that phone calls are still the most personal way of reaching a customer aside from speaking with them face to face. Many consumers don’t mind cold calls as long as they’re actually relevant to them, and that’s where a lot of businesses go wrong.
If you’re going to use cold calls effectively, you need to make sure that you’re targeting them properly so you’re more likely to reach people that are interested in your products. Even if they don’t buy anything, positive interaction with them on the phone still helps to build your brand. But if you don’t have a solid reason for the call and you can’t offer them anything of value, that’s when people are going to start getting frustrated with your cold calls. It’s also important that you train your employees in good phone manner because whenever they speak to a customer, they’re a brand ambassador and it’s important that they represent your brand in the right way.
Print Publications
You probably already put a lot of time and effort into content marketing but have you considered using the same methods in the offline world? Getting content and testimonials about the business on websites is a great way to boost your brand but you should also look into getting similar content into print publications. You can also buy advertising space in print publications relatively cheaply, as long as you’re not going for the big national publications. This is an ideal way to build a brand if you want to focus on the local area. People that aren’t active on social media are also more likely to read these kinds of publications so it’s a good way to reach people that you might be missing online.
Direct Mail
Email marketing is an effective way of building a brand and it’s often a central part of a businesses marketing strategy. By sending out emails that detail offers and deals, you can entice more customers and position yourself as a company that offers good value and rewards loyalty. It’s also a good way to keep customers in the loop about any new product launches that you may have coming up, which is why it’s so effective for generating repeat customers that keep your business ticking over.
The only downside to email marketing is that people get so many emails on a daily basis and the majority of them are marketing related, so the percentage of emails that actually get read is very low. They’re more likely to be deleted before they’re even opened and may be reported as spam so any future emails don’t even reach the consumer. However, If you want to learn more about email read receipts, check out this blog post for actionable advice.
Direct mail isn’t a strategy that businesses use as much as they used to, but it can solve some of these problems. People will still bin direct mail without opening it if they’re not interested, of course, but the percentage of people that read it will be higher than it is with emails.
Direct mail costs more than email marketing, which is a problem, but it can also be positive. It shows customers that you’re willing to invest more money in that initial contact which means that you’re more likely to get a response. Companies often find that they get the best results if they supplement their email marketing campaign with direct marketing as well.
Guerilla Marketing
Getting people talking about your company is one of the main goals of building brand awareness. You want to put yourself on the map so consumers will think of you next time they’re looking to buy the products and services that you offer. One of the most effective ways to do that is through guerilla marketing.
Guerilla marketing simply means recreating and displaying your brand in a physical space. Things like oversized product models or pop-up locations, for example, are common forms of guerilla marketing. When you change a physical space and people take notice, it gets them talking about your brand and your company. If you can incorporate some kind of interactive element into that, it will get people to engage with your brand in a big way.
The best way to get the most out of guerilla marketing is to combine it with your social media marketing. If you can post about the events and displays that you’re putting on, the offline and online buzz will both feed into one another.
Building brand awareness online is important but if you only focus on that and neglect these great offline strategies, you’re only limiting yourself.