For the last couple of months, we’ve been looking at how to build a brand in bite-sized pieces, from what brand identity is to the steps you need to take to build lasting connections. Now that you’ve learned how to establish your brand within your company and taken the necessary steps to develop it, let’s look at how you can connect with your audience, advertise effectively, and integrate your brand in your community!
In this day and age, your content online is your brand. Every piece of content you publish defines who your brand is, so quality content is imperative. The connection between the two is simple for consumers: great content? Great brand. Boring content? Boring brand.
To hook your audience you should focus on producing accurate, helpful information and fun, exciting campaigns in a way that gels with your brand identity. To keep things authentic, use language and imagery that matches your brand’s personality. The last thing you want is for your content to feel fake or forced.
Use social media to tell compelling stories that connect
Beyond the language you use, a strong brand identity will establish an emotional connection with your target audience. This can be a solid foundation for a lasting relationship with your brand. People love stories that move them, whether emotionally or to actual action, making them an ideal starting point. Content that is personal and relatable will help build trust with followers, and keep them coming back for more.
Today’s consumers expect personalization from brands and businesses they are interested in. Using robotic language, baby talk, or annoying over-enthusiasm makes them feel looked down on, and comes across as entirely inauthentic. Make an effort to understand what your target audience is truly looking for, and find out the tone they respond to the most. Fortunately, social media gives you ample opportunities to do just that!
The number of social media platforms available offers up nearly endless digital real estate that you can use to further establish your brand identity. Social media also allows you to converse directly with your clients or customers, which can go a long way towards fostering an affinity for your brand. Keep yourself active in the comments section of your posts, and be sure to reply to any tweets, statuses, or posts where your company is mentioned. This is especially important if the person posting has a question, concern, or complaint. Social media gives you the chance to be on the front line of communications, and if you use this advantage wisely, it can win you followers that you can leverage into clients!
Maintain a clear message
Even the strongest brand identity can be undone by mixed messaging. Know what you want to say, and use appropriate language and visuals to say it! This is where the information in our previous blogs comes in handy. When you’ve taken the time to really get to know your brand and have a clear vision of the message you want it to convey, you can create content that reaffirms and reinforces that. Keep it fresh, original, and in your brand’s voice, and your audience will be much more likely to connect with it.
It’s important to maintain consistency between your online and offline content, as well. While your print material will obviously have a different look from your online platforms, it should immediately be recognizable as your brand. Creating a memorable identity requires consistent use of colors, fonts, images, and language, but it’s worth the effort.
Raise brand awareness through unique promotions
This is the fun part! The right promotion can mean different things for different brands, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box and experiment to see what works for you. Social media campaigns, radio ads, local magazine advertisements, billboards, content marketing—figure out what gets your target market excited and go from there!
This is a really important step for raising brand awareness, and you should be prepared to dedicate a significant amount of time and resources on it. If you’re ever stuck for ideas, Neon Canvas has a cracking creative team that are happy to help you brainstorm!
Brand awareness keeps new leads coming, and is the first step towards converting them into clients and hopefully brand ambassadors. These ambassadors help grow your brand through word of mouth, creating a snowball effect that will allow your audience to grow authentically.
Brand awareness is also the foundation for relationships with your clients. By actively measuring and promoting a positive brand image, you’ll be able to execute all stages of the purchasing cycle, not just the initial ones. That’s why it’s important to have a highly targeted branding effort that is consistent and coordinated throughout a consumer’s journey.
In this three-part series, we’ve explained what goes into building a brand and why it’s important to invest in brand awareness. This information is essential for growing your company and helping your audience understand your value! Brand awareness isn’t just about generating traffic and increasing engagement—it also has the power to drive sales, fuel new business opportunities, and uncover insights that can transform your marketing for the better.
We might have made it sound easy, but building a brand is quite an undertaking. That’s where we come in! Neon Canvas has an experienced team to help you create a brand identity from scratch or boost the one you already have. Whether it’s a new website, marketing insights, or social media campaigns, we’ve got you covered! Anything you need for increased brand awareness, we’re on it. Thanks for allowing us on this journey with you and your brand. We appreciate your trust in us, and can’t wait to see how far you go in the year ahead!
Kyle Fagala, DDS, MDS
Co-Founder, Neon Canvas