Coming up with a great product idea is the first step in launching any business, but a lot of people find that it’s often the easiest bit. Next, you need to start marketing the product and the most important part of that is building a strong brand.
If you look at all of the successful companies around you, it’s clear why it’s so important to build a brand and increase brand awareness. All of the most successful companies have a recognizable brand that customers associate with quality and good service.
If you can increase brand awareness and build a brand that customers trust, you’ll find it so much easier to market your products effectively. Unfortunately, that’s often easier said than done and a lot of businesses struggle with it.
Social media is often the best place to start and if you can build a profile with a good personality that really connects with people. They will start to take notice of your brand. But social media alone isn’t enough and you’ll need to try some of these other branding tricks if you’re going to succeed.
Even here at Inspire to Thrive I have logos on pens, on my briefcase and shirts when attending networking events. People often ask what is Inspire To Thrive when I wear them. It’s a great conversation starter.
Promotional Items
Everybody loves something for free! So, if you can put your logo and branding on some great promotional items, that’s a very simple but effective way to spread brand awareness. When you’re choosing promotional items, you should try to pick functional things that people will use a lot so they’re constantly seeing your logo every time they use them.
Lanyards, for example, are a great one because people will literally be walking around advertising your brand for you all day long. If you visit LanyardsFactory.com.au you can get some great custom made lanyards with your logo printed on. Get all of your employees to wear them as much as possible and try handing them out at events and things as well.
There are so many other great promotional items that you can use like pens, notebooks, bottle openers and diaries etc. that people will use on a regular basis. They are not that expensive to get made. You can leave them in all sorts of different places where people will pick them up and help build your brand.
Referral Programs for Building a Brand
Referral programs are a great tool that businesses don’t take advantage of as much as they should. Everybody likes a discount or a special offer and you can use this to encourage people to spread the word about your brand.
If you get existing customers to refer their friends and give them a reward for each one that makes a purchase of some kind, it’s a great way to spread your brand.
For example, you could offer people a 10 percent discount code on their next purchase if a friend buys something from you as well. If you’re offering a subscription service of some kind like computer software, for example, you could offer a few months free for every person that they refer. It’s a good strategy because the customers benefit at the same time so they’ll be more inclined to do it.
Another idea would be to give gift cards with your logo on them for referrals as a way to say thank you. These gift cards could be used in giveaways too.
Marketing Collaborations
Marketing collaborations are a popular way to increase your brand awareness. Most importantly, expose your brand to a market segment that might not normally be aware of your business. If you can find another company that is similar to yours but not in direct competition with you, both parties will benefit from a collaboration.
For example, if your company sells sunglasses, you could consider partnering with another company that sells summer fashion. You’re not in direct competition with one another but the chances are, both sets of customers will have an interest in the other company’s products. If you do a joint marketing collaboration, you will both increase brand awareness significantly.
However, entering into a partnership with another business can be risky. So, it’s important that you consider it carefully before agreeing to anything. If you visit Medium.com, you can find some great tips on how to handle marketing collaborations the right way.
Make sure that the terms of the collaboration are set out clearly and you have a solid contract in place. You also need to be sure that you’re both going to benefit equally. Otherwise, you’ll be investing money in a partnership that doesn’t really do much for your business.
Car Wraps To Build Your Brand
Car wraps may seem a bit old fashioned and you might not think that they’re a very good marketing strategy but they’re actually surprisingly effective. They’re very cheap to buy and when you put them on your car. Your are exposing your brand to so many different people, especially if you’re driving on busy roads.
In terms of the number of people that you reach and the cost, they’re actually one of the most economical forms of marketing out there. They are a step-up from the old fashion bumper stickers.
A lot of business owners use car wraps on company cars to offset the cost. You are paying for a company car but you’re seeing some return on it because you’re using it as a marketing opportunity. These car wraps are increasing brand awareness and boosting sales.
Content Marketing
The best brands are the ones that consumers trust. If people are buying a phone, for example, they’ll go to one of the big companies like Apple or Samsung. They are far less likely to buy a phone from a company they haven’t really heard of. Even if that phone is a lot cheaper and it has the same features.
They know the big companies and they trust their brand, so they also trust the quality of the product. But they don’t know the brand of the smaller companies and assume that the quality of the phone won’t be good. That’s why building a trustworthy brand is so important.
One of the best ways to inspire trust in your brand is through content marketing. If you’re posting regular content on your website that gives people good information about your product and related subjects, you can paint yourself as an industry expert. Once people see you in that way, they will have a lot more trust in your products.
Social media is an important tool when you’re trying to build a brand but it’s not the only way. Make sure that you use these great offline methods as well with your social media.