Many entrepreneurs think that branding is a fancy word for logo design. Actually, the branding process goes far beyond a company’s visual identity. In a dynamic market, companies often need to invent innovative branding techniques in order stay competitive. The Digital Era has reshaped the branding process and entrepreneurs often have trouble to adjust their brand to digital marketing requirements. In this article, we’ll share useful tips that will help you take your brand to the next level.
Provide great customer service
Today, consumers are looking for exceptional service, the best turnaround time and money-back guarantees. They want to avoid any type of hassle and that’s why they often base their choices on the efficiency of a company’s customer service. In the digital world, an excellent customer service requires effective time management and a ‘happy to help’ attitude. Avoid any type of commercialization of customer service interactions. Hard-sell and ‘do you want fries with that’ tactics won’t result in more sales. They will only make you look desperate and sleazy.
Use your customers as brand advocates
If you want to turn your customers into loyal brand advocates, you’ll need to cultivate a voice that delights them and makes them feel important. Delighted customers will spread a positive word about your brand and create online content that will reach other consumers and deliver them your message in the most natural way. Exceptionally good and valuable products or services are the best tools for increasing customer satisfaction. You can also offer various useful incentives and keep your customer service at the highest level. AirBnB is very good at recruiting the most loyal members of its community and using their suggestions and testimonials for marketing purposes. A few years ago, they’ve managed to turn this touching Berlin Wall anniversary story into a highly successful marketing campaign.
Know who you’re talking to
In order to delight your customers, you need to know who you’re talking to. Try to extract as much information as possible. You can do so by asking them to fill out forms, throughout the purchasing process. The information you receive will help you create accurate buyer personas and closely define your target audience. After doing this, you’ll be able to adapt or reshape your marketing campaigns, so they fit your customers’ needs and interests.
Offer endless customization options
Customers like to personalize and customize the products they buy. For example, if you look at the website of Amazing Wristbands, you’ll see hundreds of customizing options. This is one of the characteristics that make this brand exceptionally popular among young and rebellious consumers, who want to express themselves. Companies that are ready to fully customize their products in accordance with their customers’ needs and wishes are usually considered more caring and customer-oriented.
Show your personality
Many marketers get lost in the branding labyrinth, while trying to find marketing models that won’t exclude or insult any member of their targeted consumer group. Creating a marketing campaign can be a very daunting process, and sometimes you simply need to let go and say what’s on your mind. In recent years, brands like Old Spice and Mountain Dew have become famous for their funny ads and brand personality. Although these companies have taken incredible risks with releasing ads like PuppyMonkeyBaby or Smell Like a Man, Man, they’ve managed to turn the absurdity of these ads into their advantage and achieve incredibly high brand recognition rates. Crazy advertising campaigns are nothing new, when it comes to branding. My generation still remembers the Budweiser’s Wazzup ad and the worldwide craze that followed. Almost every phone conversation was starting with a “Wazzup” scream that was followed by ‘Watching the game, having a Bud’.
In the digital age, branding is becoming increasingly consumer-driven. The introduction of social media was one of the major game-changers in the field, because it has enabled brands to communicate directly with their customers. From that point on, companies have been required to target their audience on many different levels, if they want to stay competitive.