Brand Marketing: 8 Strategies to Move the Needle

Image Credit: Gerd Altmann | Pixabay

Branding is more than just logos, colour palettes, and website design. It’s an intricate process of storytelling that aims to convey your company’s goals, mission, and values to customers without coming off as disingenuous or overselling.

Effective branding is what separates you from competitors and makes your content more memorable to consumers. This extends to every part of your business, from each product, service, and every customer interaction.

The marketing key in the current digital industry is to stand among the billion website posts and reach out to your customers first. Here are some strategies that can help you increase online brand buzz:

1. Invest in Facebook and Instagram Ads

With over 2.7 billion monthly active users, Facebook and Instagram will open a whole new door of opportunities and exposure for your business. The great thing about it is that every post that you make is free.

However, if you want to reach a targeted audience, you’ll need to spend on paid ads as well. Compared to television commercials and newspaper ads, social media campaigns have a longer staying power and influence.

As it continuously promotes 24/7 and lets you keep your generated reach even when the ad optimization has finished, it’s an affordable and cost-effective investment. Social media marketing also reaches a wide array of demographics, from millennials, Gen Zs, and Baby Boomers.

So, if you’re trying to target a certain audience, then social media ads are the way to go. And, even just the fact that you’re on social media already creates a positive brand image since it shows customers that you are ready to innovate your products and engage with them.

2. Customize Content for Local SEO

The main goal of local SEO strategies is to make your business easier to find. By customizing your brand for local customers, you’ll be able to establish and build a local customer following in that certain area.

This reliable stream of organic traffic can promote your brand’s credibility since it encourages other potential buyers to trust you. Prioritizing local SEO also shows customers that your brand cares for consumers who are often left out by huge corporations that are usually catering to the mainstream city audience.

Local SEO Search Inc. usually uses keyword optimization to help you better tailor your content for local audiences. This is achieved by adding the location after your main keyword. So, if you’re a furniture business, you can use “furniture rentals Toronto” to make it easier for customers and search engine algorithms to pinpoint your services.

3. Collaborate with Influencers

Pairing your brand with a recognizable and trusted voice is a great way to gain influence and increase business credibility. In today’s digital marketing arena, these personalities are associated with celebrities and influencers.

What separates the latter from the former is that they have become famous through social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram, which makes them more relatable to consumers. Partnering with these influencers will not immediately gain the same level of popularity for your product, but sponsoring them is much more affordable.

4. Schedule Live Streaming

Live video streaming offered by social media platforms, opens your business operations to the public. Since it’s happening live, the interactions between your brand and the consumers are more authentic and genuine.

Viewers are also able to ask questions in real time, which can help in strengthening engagement and trust. However, before you decide to schedule live streaming, make sure to do some technical run-throughs, or create a program beforehand, to make the session more organized and professional.

5. Create a Brand Hashtag

Hashtags are one of the most useful tools created by social media platforms to make it easier for their users to find the community or information they’re looking for. This simple symbol serves as a metadata tag that allows social media algorithms to group certain content depending on their common topics.

Local SEO Search Inc. recommends taking advantage of this tool, by creating your own brand hashtag that customers can use if they want to talk about or search for your services. You may also incorporate other hashtags in your content posts to associate them with stronger and more relevant topics.

6. Give out Promos

Everyone wants free stuff. By handing out giveaways and raffles, you are drawing in a potential crowd that is after your prize while they learn about your brand.

Promotional generosity is an excellent way of increasing awareness for a brand that isn’t that well known. So, if you ever decide to conduct a contest or giveaway, you can send out an SMS broadcast. With unmatched open rates of 98%, you can rest assured knowing that your message will be seen. Therefore, your text broadcast campaigns will drive better open and response rates, which ultimately results in greater engagement and more people being aware of your contest or giveaway.

7. Conduct Customer Surveys and Polls

Knowing what your customers need and want is crucial in branding and content marketing. This can be done by conducting surveys and polls that give you insight into the pulse of your targeted market.

Through the customer feedback that you’ve gathered, you’ll be able to understand and discover what aspects of your business you should highlight and improve upon.

This strategy is especially useful for niche businesses like transmission repair in Ajax, whose customers have unique demands and needs. Setting up these polls will also show customers that your brand values their opinions.

8. Generate a Sudden Demand

Limited offers and instant sales are online shopping’s most commonly used strategy to create a sudden burst of demand in the market. This is often done during holidays, paydays, and summer vacations when people are looking to relax and splurge a little.

Businesses create this sense of urgency by playing to the customer’s Fear of Missing Out or FOMO.

You can use this strategy to your brand’s advantage by creating limited-edition products or limited-time offers. Doing so is guaranteed to have customers running through your shop doors and website while spreading awareness about your company.

Canada’s Local SEO Search Inc. will tell you that there is no one guaranteed way to increase your online customer engagement. Some tips and strategies will help you, but this will depend on how compatible it is with your brand and how much effort you’ve put into it.

In today’s digital world, branding has become synonymous with online influence. Gone are the days of traditional marketing or “brick and mortar techniques” with billboards and flyers. So, invest in these brand marketing tips now to make sure that you are not left behind.