Branding

Your “brand” is what your prospect thinks of when he or she hears your brand name. It’s everything your prospective customers think about you when your brand is mentioned. Both factual and emotional. Your brand name exists objectively; people can see it. It’s fixed.

However, your brand exists only in someone’s mind.

That is so important that better alternatives are often passed over in favour of a strong brand. And it doesn’t have to be a company. It can be a person. Eg: Well known business people or Movie/TV Stars with millions of followers.

It is well known that existing brands are often used to build unknowns, such as famous models building a lingerie brand. That is because the trust in one brand can be transferred to another.

Branding is about trust and associations. Trust in something that has a reputation to meet your expectations without them thinking further. Trust in competence. Trust in Integrity. Trust in reliability. And so much more

The right branding can cause knee jerk reactions in your favour to anything your business provides, without the need to consider competitor alternatives. The right branding can also desensitize any potential cost issues and much more.

And often it’s a question of quality fund allocation than quantity, although building a brand is not inexpensive. It is however one of the best investments your business can ever make as the medium to long term gains are enormous, especially if you want to sell your business one day.

Building a Brand

If you have installed an association of being able to meet a buyer’s requirement in “X” because you have a reputation/brand for doing so, you are more than half way to a sale already. Sometimes 90% of the way there.

With so many other company’s communications around, proven techniques need to

be employed to achieve this.

And if you want to make the most of your budget, that takes expertise.

Blending Branding

The key is to enhance your brand using a variety of communication techniques, ranging from image development, such as positive reviews via social media, to making you more memorable with the people who are most interested in what you offer.

Brand orientated purchases that result from social media advertising is 74%. That is how important having a brand developed, just by using that technique !

Social media marketing best practices include:

Creating relevant content

• Publishing original content (PR)

• Engagement and target group building

• Advertising on social and other networks

A well-defined social media strategy will help determine what to achieve in order to better connect with your customers. This is because some social media platforms are not only much more precise in their ability to reach just the right people (ones who need what you offer the most) but in the right way. Striking at opinion leaders and getting the word about your brand and all its good associations spread.

Every brand should be represented consistently across all social media networks via the posting of relevant, high-quality content.

With social media, a three step process is used.

1) Gain trust.

2) Become loyal.

3) Advocate your brand’s products and services

The techniques available for branding are so numerous that it is essential the right ones are selected and optimised. Much of it revolves around creating “nail on the head” imagery and copy writing that causes the type of perceptions that help to create your brand. (Contributions to brand identity don’t always have to be logical – emotion plays a large part aswell). So when the need for your product or service occurs, you are the “Go to” business.

Branding is upstream

There are upstream variables and downstream variables.

You’d be surprised how many businesses favour the downstream/midstream ones (Eg: low level communications such as letterheads, business cards, literature, personal selling without support,) over the upstream ones.

Upstream variables like correct targeting, positioning, content marketing (very important) social media planning are far more effective in blending with a brand and producing the best results.

Any expert will tell you this.

Email me, Nasir Kadar, now at nasirkadar@provencontacts.com with a brief idea of your business with social media links (if any), and after I’ve studied your material, I will call you for a meaningful conversation as to how I can build a brand for you (and what it will cost).