An ongoing task for your business is creating name recognition. Throughout the life of your company, you’ll often turn to branded promotion and opportunities to showcase who you are and what you stand for.
Edelman surveyed over 33,000 respondents across 28 countries for their most recent Trust Barometer report. While other sectors lost public trust, 68% of people felt business should fill the void and CEOs should step in when the government fails. With trust in country leadership and media at an all-time low, it’s vital businesses embrace transparency and authenticity.
When promoting your brand, keep in mind you want to build an image that draws people to your company. Trust is a driving factor in whether or not people choose to buy from you or one of your competitors. Once you understand the importance of being forthright, you can more easily choose the types of branded promotion you wish to use for your business.
1. Content
When you think about branded promotions, your first thought might be on free items you pass out at a trade show. However, there are many other ways to get the word out about your brand and leave your mark.
The content you place on your website and guest post on other sites makes a huge difference in how people see your brand. Stick to your wheelhouse and focus on the topics you know best. You want to establish yourself as the go-to expert in your industry.
2. Personalized Products
The world is quite impersonal today. People wear masks, stay at home and feel like just another number for most businesses. Anything you can do to show you still see people as individuals will increase customer loyalty.
One of the best branded promotional tools for your business is personalized products. Give away a pen with the person’s name on it, a water bottle with your logo and their name or tap into the overall buyer personas for a gift they’ll adore.
You may only give out personalized products to your top clients or you might want to make them an incentive for signing up for a new account.
3. Team Efforts
Do you want to get the word out about what your brand does and reach a new audience? Tap into the power of joint promotional efforts. Make connections with other businesses in your area that complement what you do.
For example, a heating and cooling company might team up with a real estate agent. You then run joint promotions where both brands gain exposure. The cost to advertise is less but you reach your customers, their customers and hopefully some new customers for both brands.
4. Influencers
Influencer marketing has gained popularity in the last few years, but the way brands use it changes frequently. No longer do you simply need the person with the largest audience.
According to the State of Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report, 90% of marketers wanted to work with micro-influencers. A micro influencer might have a small following but those people are the exact customers you wish to reach.
Look for an influencer who has a highly involved fan base. Are they commenting, sharing and buying the products the person recommends? The person will be the face of your brand, so make sure your values and theirs align.
5. Websites
If anything you do shows off your personality as a brand, it should be your website. Make sure people get the same sense they do when viewing an ad, visiting your brick-and-mortar store or speaking to you on the phone.
Create a brand guide, so anyone working on your website knows what the brand color palette is, how you want photographs presented, the voice you’d like for your brand and fonts to use.
The more detailed your design guide, the more consistent the experience will be. People need to know they can trust you to stand by your product. Consistency shows them you aren’t just saying something to get their money. You mean it and you stand on your word.
Make sure you tell your story to the audience. Branded promotions are about how the outside world sees your business. You can’t fully control the narrative, but you can guide them in the direction you want by sharing what you’re passionate about, the challenges you’ve overcome and what your goals for the future are.
6. Social Media
Social media is sometimes overlooked as a possibility for branded promotion. However, with the right header, profile image and regular posts, you’ll have another tool to show what you stand for.
Think about the causes you care most about. The Edelman Trust survey mentioned above found the majority of people want a company to adopt a social cause. You do have to be a bit cautious in the causes you embrace.
You want to choose something you can get behind and believe in. However, be careful about choosing anything too controversial as it might offend some of your customers and have the opposite impact you’d like. Make sure you know your buyers well enough to know what they care about.
Follow-Up
Running after-sale surveys is one of the most powerful things you can do to continuously improve the impact of your branded promotional efforts.
Find out what giveaways and efforts were most effective. Pay attention to what people say and your return on investment. Repeat the things giving you the most bang for your buck. Consistent effort over time is what builds an unstoppable brand image your audience relates to.
Eleanor is the editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the director at a marketing agency prior to becoming a freelance web designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and dog, Bear.