In today’s hypercompetitive SMB ecosystem, brands need to stand out to attract new customers.
And, to do so, you need to start building a recognizable and memorable brand.
If you have already chosen your brand’s visual elements and invested in digital marketing, it is time to get the most out of them.
Here are six effective brand building tactics to implement.
- Establish a Unique Selling Proposition
Instead of selling to everyone, narrow down your reach and focus on the audiences interested in your products.
Most importantly, build a unique selling proposition (USP) that resonates with your target customers.
A USP is what helps you stand out in the sea of similar brands. It highlights unique product benefits that are relevant to your target customers.
Perform detailed competitor analysis and identify the product/service features that make you different than your rivals.
- Decide on your Brand a Voice
Your voice does not focus on what you say but on how you say it.
For starters, define the personality of your brand and align your voice with it. Do you want to sound authoritative, friendly, or thoughtful?
Your voice also depends on your target customers. Say you are selling women’s trendy clothing. You first need to build a buyer persona and make sure your brand voice resonates with them. Selling to a teenager and a working mom requires different approaches.
Next, analyze your competitors’ messaging to identify what type of interaction resonates with your target audience.
Finally, apply your brand voice consistently across all marketing channels you use. It should inspire people to take action and, above all, reflect brand consistency and trustworthiness. Over time, as your brand grows and your audiences change, analyze and update brand voice.
- Give your Brand a Face
Another way to humanize your brand is to give it a face.
For example, you can use a real or cartoon face on your logo. When you see KFC, Wendy, or Starbucks, you immediately recognize them.
Additionally, familiarize customers with your employees. For example, build the Our Team page on your website. Publish your team members’ photos and names to help visitors meet the people behind your brand. Sharing employee stories and accomplishments on social networks can help you gain customer trust.
- Build Trust with Customers with Social Proof
You cannot build a relationship with customers without trust. In today’s overcrowded digital marketing landscape, consumers do not trust companies easily. Therefore, biased PR articles and TV ads where brands boast their own accomplishments do not cut it anymore. These content types only make your brand arrogant and distant.
Now, there are many ways to build trust with customers. Social proof marketing is your safest bet.
- Publish customer testimonials.
Publishing customer testimonials on your website is also a great idea. Always include customer names, photos, and locations. Creating testimonial videos can help you boost customer engagement and earn their trust.
If you are a B2B brand, you can also display logos of companies that purchased your products/services.
- Encourage customer feedback.
For starters, claim your My Business Account to show customer reviews and ratings on Google’s SERPs. Register on relevant business directories, too.
Leverage the power of social networks. Use social media monitoring tools to track brand mentions and provide faster feedback. Encourage customers to review you on Facebook.
- Connect with influencers.
Statistics show that 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations. By connecting with authoritative faces in your industry and hiring them to promote your brand, you will boost your reach, maximize sales, and gain customer trust.
- Improve Customer Service
Remember that most customers perform searches and interact with brands via mobile devices.
Therefore, build an omnichannel strategy that allows them to reach you 24/7 via multiple channels.
Make sure your business is available via email, call center, live chat, chatbots, IM apps, and social networks.
To facilitate customer service and boost customer retention, invest in a CRM for customer support. The goal is to centralize all customer service channels under a single platform so you can respond to customer tickets faster and provide consistent feedback.
- Create Authoritative Content
Content marketing and storytelling are a crucial brand-building technique.
Quality content, such as articles, guides, tutorials, e-books, or infographics, helps you position your brand as an authoritative source of information. Seeing the value of your content, people will trust you more and purchase faster.
Some content types, such as videos or photos, are also perfect for evoking emotions in customers. Coca-Cola’s holiday ads are a perfect combo of joy, escapism, humor, and nostalgia.
Conclusion
Building a brand in the digital age goes far beyond logos and slogans. It includes a wide range of factors, from content creation to customer support. Only by harmonizing them will you build trust with customers and get them to purchase faster.
Testimonials are great way to gain authority and trust of customers. They feel comfortable by seeing others relying on the brand. All the strategies you have mentioned are very effective when it comes to build a brand and will definitely help the needy ones. You are solving the problem which many businesses face when it comes to building a brand and they don’t know where to start from. So kudos to you for giving the strategies to implement.
One thing which we would like to highlight in this article is the simplicity. The way you have explained everything is amazing. Really impressed.