Believe it or not...branding is not a one size fits all approach. The key to nailing your brand is to determine what makes your company and product truly unique and stick to sharing these features with your target audience. Once you have identified your “selling points” next up is to craft how you will present this to your ideal customers. What colors will you use? What fonts may work to convey your brand’s message? Even, what graphics can you leverage to tell a brand story that will resonate with your potential customers. All of this “heavy” lifting should be done early and often to ensure that what you present online matches with what you want your customers to say and know about your brand.
The branding and web design experts at Snowball Creative Group have outlined the most effective types of branding that you can use to appeal to your target audience while still being authentic to your company’s brand.
Spirit Branding - Is there a feeling you want your customers to have every time they use your product? Perhaps you want your product to be an integral part of their day - something they cannot (or won’t want to) live without. Is using your product going to alleviate a large problem in their life or make things in their lives easier? If so, be sure to showcase this “feeling” often in everything you do that is customer-facing. Be sure to leverage images that convey the feeling you want your customer to associate with your product. Carefully choose your website text and product descriptions to drive this “feeling” home. And, most importantly, make sure your web presence coincides with this spirit you want your customers to know and love about your company. For example, if you want to be known as the “stress free way to learn” then having a cumbersome and hard to navigate website may be sending the wrong feeling to your customers.
Cause Branding – Is there something unique you do to support a local or global cause? You may donate a portion of your profits to a charity or your employees may be actively involved in volunteering in their local communities. Whatever the cause you support, broadcast this to your potential customers and include your charitable activities in as much of your marketing material as possible. Studies have found that 94% of people are willing to buy a product if it supports a cause that they believe in. What better way to cash in on doing social good than by even including the logos of the causes you support on your website or business cards. It is these little added touches that can help your brand stand out from the rest and showcase just why your product and company culture is better than your competitions.
Co-Branding – Is there another brand, in a different industry, that may resonant with your customers? For example, if you’re trying to attract working professionals then partnering with social event planners or with travel agents to participate in co-branding opportunities can be beneficial. The key is to find a few areas you know your customers may be drawn to and find ways to work with brands in each of those segments to position your brand in front of your target audience. In today’s digital age, customers are used to and expect a high level of convenience, so working with brands they may already know and love can be a great way to generate buzz and start to build up brand equity.
There are a host of different types of branding that you can do, outside of the three listed in this blog. To really maximize your brand, you want to consider what makes your company unique and determine an appropriate branding type and strategy that will work for you. No matter what branding type or combination of types you choose, be sure that all of your marketing elements, including your website, social media accounts and printed marketing materials all align and support your overall branding strategy.
If you’d like help drilling down what branding type may be best for your business, give the branding specialists at Snowball Creative Group a call today. We’d be happy to arrange a no strings attached consultation to walk you through some important branding elements to consider.
