Tag: branding

In a market where 46% of U.S. consumers value trust over price, brand awareness is make-or-break. You might lag even with stellar products, great service, and competitive prices if your brand needs to be recognized.

Consumers lean towards familiar names for a sense of security. Crafting a robust brand awareness strategy is vital. Need help figuring out where to start? 

Here are nine strategies to reach and resonate with new audiences, essential for business success.

What is brand awareness?

Brand awareness refers to the extent to which a target audience is familiar with and recognizes a particular brand. It is a crucial aspect of marketing and branding, indicating how well consumers can recall or recognize a brand in various contexts, such as when seeing a logo, hearing a brand name, or encountering a product or service.

High brand awareness is often associated with increased customer trust and loyalty. When consumers are familiar with a brand, they are more likely to choose its products or services over those of competitors. 

Effective brand awareness strategies typically involve marketing efforts that make the brand visible and memorable to the target audience, contributing to a positive brand image and influencing consumer purchasing decisions.

Why is brand awareness important?

Here are four compelling reasons that underscore the importance of brand awareness:

Competitive edge:

Recognizable brands gain a competitive edge as consumers are naturally drawn to what they know. Being a familiar choice increases the likelihood of winning customer business.

Brand loyalty and trust:

Strong brand awareness builds trust, leading to increased brand loyalty. Consumers are willing to pay more for trusted brands, and familiarity reduces the risk of unpleasant surprises in products or services.

Employee attraction:

Strong brand awareness positively impacts recruitment, with companies seeing 50% more job applicants compared to rivals. Job seekers often consider a company’s brand reputation before applying.

Indicator of success:

Brand awareness serves as an indicator of overall company performance. Measurement of increased brand awareness reflects the effectiveness of various business aspects, including digital presence and customer support.

How to increase brand awareness: 9 effective strategies

Here are nine effective strategies to raise brand awareness:

1. Content marketing campaign:

• Create valuable content, such as blog posts, quizzes, e-books, and infographics, to convey your brand’s voice and expertise.
• Incorporate video content, given its rising popularity, to effectively communicate with your audience.
• Establish yourself as a thought leader and problem-solver to build trust among current and potential customers.

2. Enhance social media presence:

• Utilize social media networks strategically to connect with your audience, share information, and answer questions.
• Target the platforms where your customer demographic is most active by surveying your current customers.
• Implement a content calendar for consistent posting and research relevant hashtags to increase post visibility.

3. Collaborate with influencers:

• Choose influencers aligned with your brand, considering their usage and authenticity.
• Micro-influencers can offer cost-effective partnerships for reaching specific audiences.
• Establish a genuine connection between the influencer and your brand to maximize effectiveness.

4. SEO targeting branded keywords:

• Optimize content with SEO techniques to enhance online visibility.
• Focus on keywords that include your brand name, using tools like Semrush or Google Keyword Planner.
• Incorporate specific keywords in headlines, body content, and URL slugs for better search engine ranking.

5. Paid advertising:

• Invest in paid ads on social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram) and Google Adwords.
• Identify the social media networks where your target audience is most active.
• Allocate a budget within your social media marketing budget for effective paid advertising to increase brand visibility.

6. Referral program:

• Implement a referral program to encourage satisfied customers to become advocates.
• Offer rewards like discounts, gift cards, or credits to incentivize customers to refer friends and family.
• Utilize word-of-mouth marketing to build trust and increase brand awareness.

7. Brand partnerships:

• Partner with brands that share similar values and target audiences but are not direct competitors.
• Leverage partnerships to combine reach and build trust among both brand’s audiences.
• Collaborate on joint initiatives that benefit both brands and enhance brand awareness.

8. Free trials:

• Offer free trials of your products or services to eliminate financial barriers for potential customers.
• Provide a taste of what your brand offers to increase awareness and trust.
• Allow customers to experience your offerings before making a financial commitment.

9. Host or sponsor events:

• Participate in or sponsor events that align with your target audience’s interests.
• Attach your company’s name and logo to event materials for positive recognition.
• Choose events that provide exposure to potential buyers, whether in-person or online, to increase brand awareness.

Also read: How to Create a Brand Identity: A Quick Guide

Link Management Made Easy

Your go to link management tool for CTAs, branded and bio links, QR Codes, tracking and retargeting.

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How to measure brand awareness?

Brand awareness is gauged through several key metrics:

1. Brand impressions:

Brand impressions refer to the number of times your campaign material, such as ads or content, is displayed to the audience. It’s a quantitative measure that indicates the potential reach of your brand. However, it’s essential to note that impressions alone do not provide insights into individual views or the impact on brand recognition. Marketers typically use additional analytics to assess the effectiveness of their efforts in building brand awareness.

2. Website traffic:

Website traffic is a crucial metric that shows the number of visitors to your website. By analyzing website traffic, particularly in the aftermath of a brand awareness campaign, marketers can gauge the impact on online visibility and audience interest. An increase in website traffic following a campaign suggests a positive correlation with heightened brand awareness.

3. Social media engagement:

Social media engagement encompasses various metrics such as reach, impressions, likes, shares, comments, clicks, followers, mentions, and hashtags. These metrics provide a comprehensive view of how the public is interacting with and discussing your brand on social platforms. Monitoring social media engagement helps marketers understand the sentiment around their brand, identify popular content, and measure the success of brand awareness initiatives.

Also read: From Likes to Love: Comprehensive Social Media Engagement Guide

4. Search volume data:

Search volume data involves assessing the volume of searches related to your business and industry keywords. This metric is particularly relevant for understanding how potential consumers are actively seeking information about your brand or related solutions. By analyzing search volume data, marketers can refine their keyword strategies, ensuring alignment with consumer interests and increasing brand visibility on search engines like Google.

5. Brand-awareness surveys:

Brand-awareness surveys provide qualitative insights into consumers’ perceptions and awareness of a brand. By engaging in one-on-one conversations with the target audience, companies can gather valuable feedback that goes beyond quantitative metrics. These surveys contribute to a deeper understanding of branding benchmarks and guide improvement efforts, fostering a more personal connection with the audience.

6. Earned media:

Earned media includes third-party mentions, such as references in articles, social media tags, and blog comments. This metric reveals who is talking about your brand, the context of discussions, and the sentiment expressed. Monitoring earned media helps assess the organic spread of brand awareness and identifies influential voices within your target audience.

7. External links:

External links are a valuable metric for assessing brand awareness, particularly in the online domain. By managing and analyzing external links, companies can gauge the reach of their brand across different platforms. Additionally, this metric helps identify broken links or misspelled words on a website, ensuring that potential opportunities for brand exposure are not missed due to credibility issues.

8. Tracking key metrics:

Tracking key metrics involves analyzing various performance indicators related to user interaction with brand content. These include clicks, average cost-per-click (CPC), click-through rate (CTR), and cost-per-thousand (CPM). By closely examining these metrics, marketers gain insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns, audience engagement, and the overall impact on brand awareness.

Also read: Link in Bio: Drive Engagement Using Replug

Link Management Made Easy

Your go to link management tool for CTAs, branded and bio links, QR Codes, tracking and retargeting.

Get Started for FREE!

How to increase brand awareness in the shortest time possible?

Effectively and rapidly increasing brand awareness requires strategic efforts. Here’s a streamlined version:

Fast-track brand awareness:

Successful brand awareness brings widespread recognition, word-of-mouth referrals, and a boost in the bottom line.

Key tool: Replug

Replug is an essential tool for creating, executing, and measuring brand awareness campaigns.

• Utilize Replug for short links and robust link-tracking metrics.
• Choose the right plan for your business to kickstart brand growth.

Actionable steps:

• Craft a compelling brand message.
• Utilize Replug for concise and trackable links.
• Implement targeted brand awareness campaigns.
• Measure success with Replug’s comprehensive metrics.

Result:

A well-executed strategy using Replug accelerates brand awareness, leading to increased recognition and business growth.

Link Management Made Easy

Your go to link management tool for CTAs, branded and bio links, QR Codes, tracking and retargeting.

Get Started for FREE!

FAQs

What is brand awareness?

Brand awareness is the extent to which consumers recognize and recall a brand. It’s vital for businesses as it builds trust, and loyalty, and influences purchasing decisions.

How can I measure brand awareness for my company?

Measure brand awareness through metrics like impressions, website traffic, social media engagement, search volume, brand awareness surveys, earned media, external links, and tracking key metrics.

What are the key strategies for building brand awareness?

Strategies include content marketing campaigns, social media presence enhancement, collaboration with influencers, targeted SEO, paid advertising, referral programs, brand partnerships, free trials, and event sponsorship.

Arslan Jadoon

Meet Arslan, a skilled website blog and content writer who combines creativity and expertise to deliver engaging and informative pieces that captivate audiences.

Brand marketing examples showcase the power of effective strategies and creative execution in building successful brands.

From captivating ad campaigns and engaging social media presence to memorable brand experiences, these branding examples demonstrate how businesses have leveraged storytelling, differentiation, and consumer insights to create strong brand identities that resonate with their target audiences.

Before moving on to branding examples, let’s see what key elements make brand marketing successful.

10 Key elements of brand strategy

1. Brand purpose: Defining a clear and meaningful purpose that aligns with the values and aspirations of the target audience.
2. Brand positioning: Identifying and establishing a unique and compelling position in the market that sets the brand apart from competitors.
3. Target audience: Understanding the target audience’s specific demographics, psychographics, and needs to effectively tailor brand messaging and experiences.
4. Brand identity: Developing a cohesive and distinctive visual and verbal identity, including logo, typography, color palette, and brand voice.
5. Brand messaging: Crafting compelling and consistent messaging that communicates the brand’s values, benefits, and unique selling propositions to the target audience.
6. Brand storytelling: Creating a compelling narrative around the brand that connects emotionally with the target audience and builds a strong brand image.
7. Brand experience: Designing and delivering consistent and exceptional experiences at every touch point, including physical locations, online platforms, customer service, and product quality.
8. Brand differentiation: Identifying and communicating key points of differentiation that set the brand apart from competitors, emphasizing unique features, benefits, or values.
9. Brand consistency: Ensuring consistent messaging, visuals, and experiences across all brand touchpoints to build recognition, trust, and loyalty among customers.
10. Brand monitoring and adaptation: Continuously monitoring brand performance, market trends, and customer feedback to adapt and evolve the brand strategy as needed, staying relevant and competitive in the market.

Related: Top 22 Personal Branding Tools To Upscale Your Marketing

From strategy to success: 5 Powerful examples of branding

Here are a few branding examples for stronger brand marketing:

1. TOMS “One For One” brand marketing strategy

TOMS’ brand marketing strategy revolves around its unique “One for One” concept. For every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS donates a pair to a person in need. This strategy emphasizes social responsibility, creating a powerful connection between the brand and customers who want to make a positive impact.

Additionally, TOMS utilizes storytelling and powerful visuals to communicate its mission, inspiring customers to buy its products and support its charitable initiatives. Through this strategy, TOMS has successfully differentiated itself in the market and built a loyal customer base that aligns with its purpose-driven approach.

2. Starbucks’ “It Starts with You” campaign

Starbucks’ branding example shows why creating a welcoming and personalized experience is important. Their iconic green logo, cozy store ambiance, and seasonal promotions establish a sense of familiarity and indulgence, making Starbucks a beloved global coffee brand.

Starbucks’ “It Starts with You” campaign was a successful initiative that highlighted the positive impact individuals can make in their communities.

Starbucks encouraged acts of kindness and community engagement, positioning itself as a brand that cares about making a difference.

The campaign resonated with customers, fostering a sense of connection and inspiring them to take action.

In the branding example, Starbucks creates a premium and aspirational image, enticing customers to spend more. Through visually appealing displays, seasonal promotions, and a customer rewards program, Starbucks encourages repeat visits and larger purchases.

This unwavering loyalty is a testament to Starbucks’ ability to create a unique and meaningful experience that resonates with its customers on a deeper level.

3. Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign

Patagonia, an outdoor apparel company, has built a strong brand relationship with its customers through its commitment to environmental sustainability and activism.

Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign aimed to raise awareness about overconsumption and encourage responsible consumer behavior. It taught a valuable lesson about the importance of sustainability and conscious purchasing choices.

By aligning its brand values with its target audience, Patagonia has created a loyal community of customers who share their passion for the outdoors and environmental preservation.

Related: Brand Consistency:  Build Brand Consistency Using Branded Links

4. Nike from “Just Do It” to “Believe in Something”

Nike’s branding example can be seen in its iconic “Just Do It” campaign. “Just Do It” encapsulates Nike’s brand ethos, inspiring individuals to push their limits, overcome obstacles, and achieve greatness in sports and life.

Nike’s ability to navigate controversy and position itself as a champion of social change has proven to be a successful marketing tactic, driving both financial success and a positive brand image.

Nike turns controversy into dollars through its marketing by strategically embracing social issues and aligning with controversial figures. Nike generates significant media attention and sparks conversations worldwide by taking a bold stance on divisive topics.

This heightened visibility helps increase brand awareness and exposure. While the company may face initial backlash from some segments of the population, Nike’s marketing strategy appeals to its target audience, which includes socially conscious individuals who value progressive values and inclusivity.

This approach fosters a strong emotional connection and loyalty among these consumers, leading to increased sales and revenue for the brand.

Best Branding Example: Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad

Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad was a resounding success. Released in 2018, the ad featured the controversial football player and activist kneeling during the national anthem, accompanied by the powerful message: “Believe in something.” Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

The ad sparked widespread conversation and polarizing reactions, but it ultimately reinforced Nike’s commitment to social issues and resonated with its target audience. Despite the backlash, the campaign garnered significant attention, boosting brand awareness and sales.

Nike’s bold stance and alignment with Kaepernick’s activism tapped into the cultural zeitgeist, praising their willingness to take a stand on divisive social issues and inspiring a new wave of brand loyalty among consumers who shared similar values.

Related: Branding on Youtube the Right Way!

5. Apple “Think Different”

Apple’s brand marketing exemplifies innovation, simplicity, and elegance. Their iconic “Think Different” campaign and product launches build anticipation and create a strong emotional connection with consumers.

Apple’s meticulously planned product launches generate excitement and drive sales. Their strategy showcases the power of building anticipation, creating a buzz, and cultivating a strong brand community.

Apple has established a strong and distinctive brand identity through various campaigns that resonate with consumers worldwide. Apple’s campaigns highlight its ability to create compelling narratives, evoke emotions, and showcase the unique features of its products.

Here take a look at their interesting data privacy campaign.

Related: Social Media Risks For Brands

Neuroscience of branding

The neuroscience of branding explores how our brains respond to different aspects of a brand. Scientists use brain imaging techniques to understand how things like logos, colors, and associations with a brand affect our thoughts and feelings.

They’ve found that branding can make us feel logical and emotional, so companies must create positive and memorable experiences.

By understanding how our brains react to branding, businesses can make smart choices to create a strong connection with customers and make them more likely to choose and stick with their brand.

Related: 9 Trending techniques to expand your Businesses via Social Media

Online branding with Branded Link Management Tool

URL shorteners can play a role in branding by providing concise and memorable links that promote a brand’s online presence. Having a branded domain is a smart branding strategy that offers a cleaner and more professional appearance, increasing trust and click-through rates.

Additionally, branded short links can be tracked and analyzed, providing valuable insights into user engagement and marketing campaigns.

Replug is an excellent URL shortener that offers several link management tools for brands and marketers. It’s a complete toolkit to manage short, branded URLs for brand marketing and digital media campaigns.

In the bid to improve brand marketing, Replug could be useful in many ways. No wonder thousands of brands and marketers use Replug to manage their short URLs.

Here are some prominent Replug features has to offer to upscale your branding efforts.

Branded domain and custom URLs

It’s been learned that branded URLs could significantly improve audience trust and user clickability. Many brands, entrepreneurs, and digital marketers use branded domains for social media sharing and email marketing.

Here’s an online branding example

You can also retarget audiences using branded links. Implement this marketing strategy on your branded links to retarget the website visitors who have clicked on your short links.

You just need to add pixel codes to Replug from your famous social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Quora, then reach out to them through social media ads.

Bio links for Social Media

Bio links are in trend these days. The purpose behind bio-links is to have all of your content, from links to audio-visual content, on a single custom webpage.

The webpage is easy to create with drag-and-drop functionality. You can set up your bio link webpage in just a few clicks.

Now anyone can use this one-link solution to create social media bio links and connect all your social media profiles, such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, with this link.

Branded CTA

Replug allows you to customize and place CTA’s to your short links. Creating branded CTAs encourage immediate action and reinforce brand identity and messaging.

Aligning CTAs with a brand’s tone, values, and visual elements can strengthen your brand’s recognition and drive higher conversions.

QR Code Marketing

QR codes offer a unique opportunity for branding by providing a versatile and interactive marketing tool.

Incorporate branded QR codes into their promotional materials to create seamless offline and online experiences.

Businesses can reinforce their visual identity and increase brand recognition enhancing the overall brand experience.

FAQs

What is brand marketing with example?

Brand marketing is promoting a brand to create awareness, build a strong reputation, and establish a connection with consumers. Example: Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign.

What is an example of brand preference?

An example of brand preference is when a consumer consistently chooses a particular brand over its competitors based on personal preference or loyalty. For instance, a person always purchases Nike shoes over other sports shoe brands due to their perceived quality, style, and alignment with personal values.

What is the best example of a branding strategy?

Apple’s branding strategy revolves around simplicity, innovation, and a focus on user experience. They have consistently communicated their brand values through sleek design, intuitive interfaces, and cutting-edge technology. This strategy has helped them create a strong emotional connection with customers.

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Mustafa Niazi

Mustafa Niazi is a blogging addict, a tech fanatic, and a SEO specialist.

Brand marketing and online branding have become critical elements for conquering the digital landscape.

Designing a strategic marketing road map has become necessary to understand the fundamental idea of branding.

Multiple brands have successfully demonstrated effective brand building and brand marketing strategies.

Apple stands out with its sleek design, innovative products, and consistent messaging that evokes sophistication and forward-thinking.

Coca-Cola’s timeless branding focuses on fostering emotional connections and spreading happiness through their refreshing beverages.

Let’s elaborate on the basic concepts and then we’ll move forward to the details.

What is a brand?

A brand is a business or company that sells a product or service and has positioned itself into a well-reputed business in the niche or market segment.

Plus, the brand identity and positioning in the users’ minds play a vital role in the establishment of any brand.

Brand Attributes

Brand attributes are the traits that reassure the brand values by implementing the core values of the brand.

Here are the most common brand attributes that shape brands’ perceptions:

• Relevancy: Brand relevancy means how relevant a brand’s approach is toward prospective customers. The target audience is key to getting noticed by the market segment.
• Consistency: Stick with your publishing or marketing regime, especially if it’s working out for you because consistency takes you ahead of your competition.
• Credibility: Credibility revolves around how a brand is perceived by people. Brands put a lot of effort into building brand reputation because being in the audience’s good books is essential for repeat clients.
• Positioning: Brand positioning is an attribute that showcases how a brand shapes its image in the customers’ and prospects’ minds.

Interesting read: Revamp Your Online Branding with Branded Short Links 

Types of Brand Attributes

Brand attributes can be divided into two types:

i. Hard brand attributes: These are the properties involving visual appearance and tangible qualities. It includes logos, brand names, slogans, sign boards, mascots, etc.

ii. Soft brand attributes: These are the characteristic values of a brand in the customers’ minds. It includes uniqueness, trustworthiness, innovation, convenience, etc.

What is branding and why is it important?

Branding is a marketing buzzword widely used in the sales, marketing, and public relations departments.

Branding is a strategy to build a company’s identity and carve out an image in the end-users’ minds.

The purpose of branding is to create awareness and spread the word about the brand.

For instance, Nike is an American brand known for manufacturing athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment. Plus, they sponsor sports celebs and sporting events across the globe.

The reason we all recognize the “Nike” logo is that they have spent billions of dollars over the years on building their brand’s identity.

Branding encapsulates everything from creating the identity of a brand to shaping the perception through several tactics, such as:

• Choosing a brand name
• Creating a logo
• Making the branded stationery
• Designing the official merchandise
• Putting up the sign boards
• Printing the pamphlets

Benefits of branding

Here are some key benefits of branding to remember:

• Builds trustworthiness: Branding is crucial to building trust between a brand and the consumer base. A brand’s logo, name, slogan, and colors help develop recognition among the masses.
• Establishes brand positioning: Brand positioning is the image of a brand in the customers’ minds. Often brands’ are known for their high-quality products or low prices and such perks help shape their position in the end-users’ minds.
• Infuses brand loyalty: Branding sparks brand association that pulls the loyal customers and fan base toward their favorite brands. Brands understand the psychology of brand loyalty so they use branding to leverage that brand association in their marketing campaigns.
• Helps customer acquisition: Branding works as a channel to communicate, attract, and engage both existing and potential customers. Companies use all sorts of channels to promote their branding, for instance, giveaways, charity events, sponsorship, etc.
• Inspires purchase decisions: Since branding is all about creating awareness about a brand with direct and indirect brand promotion, it excites potential buyers and loyal fans to make a decision who are on the fence.

What is brand marketing?

Brand marketing is a process of establishing a connection between a brand and its users.

Brand marketing focuses on highlighting the effectiveness of a brand and how the entirety of the brand is important to the customers’ survival in the market.

Brand marketing doesn’t emphasize selling the product or service directly. Instead, it paves the way for building and growing a strong relationship with the end users.

Most brands opt for the traditional route and use digital marketing mediums like ads, email, and social media for product marketing. As a result, their goal gets tied with the transactional part of the communication.

Pepsi’s brand marketing strategy revolves around capturing the spirit of youth and pop culture. Pepsi’s online brand marketing efforts are a testament to their ability to connect with consumers in the digital sphere.

Pepsi employs branded URLs strategy to reinforce brand recognition and simplify online experiences. By using customized short links featuring their brand name, Pepsi ensures consistent branding across digital channels

What’s the difference between branding and marketing, and which comes first?

The main difference between branding and marketing is that branding brings recognition, identity, and positioning. Whereas, marketing gets brand attention, eyeballs, and engagement.

The branding vs. marketing debate isn’t worth it because both are essential from publicity and sales standpoints.

However, if you’re wondering which one comes first, it’s pretty clear that branding comes first.

For instance, if you launch an SEO agency; you’d start with a brand name, logo, domain, and website instead of hopping on Facebook to run Facebook ads.

What are the types of brand marketing?

There are several types of brand marketing, the below-mentioned three are the popular types of brand marketing:

i. Corporate brand marketing: It revolves around companies’ strategies to develop their reputation and build a connection with the audience through different means. These corporations often communicate their brand values through a mission statement, promotional offers, and press releases.

ii. Personal brand marketing: Personal brands are individuals who have managed to hone in on certain areas and dominate a small segment of the market. Social media influencers cash in on their personal brands. They use content distribution by leveraging social media platforms and amassing an audience which wants to listen to them.

iii. Product brand marketing: Product brand marketing is a process of branding a specific product by pouring all energies into it. In product brand marketing, brands often pick their best-performing product and try to put it on a pedestal to win the attention of the end users.

4 things to keep in mind when developing a brand marketing strategy

A branding marketing strategy doesn’t build on a whim – it always takes some time to put together a strong brand marketing plan.

Here are a few key elements to consider when developing a brand marketing strategy:

1. Brand marketing is a long-term strategy. Don’t rush it. Otherwise, you might end up frustrated within a few weeks. It’s about building a brand’s identity based on the available resources, relationships, and communications.
2. It takes time to reap the fruit. It’s not a short-term marketing strategy like an ads campaign that shows results at the end of the week, month or quarter.
3. It is ongoing and can take many forms. It doesn’t only revolve around choosing a brand name, opting for a nice logo, and designing the brand’s stationery. In fact, brand marketing encompasses everything you do to establish your brand’s identity through collaborations, partnerships, sponsorship, giveaways, etc.
4. The overarching goal of brand marketing is to grow the business, whether it’s done through building relationships with new prospects, attending seminars or industry meetups, or launching a content marketing plan to attract, engage, and convert the audience.

How to build a strong brand marketing strategy?

Brands with strong business positioning in their industry often are the ones that build a branding strategy and follow it. Remember, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme; branding is a real deal.

Here are 9 tips that can help you can build a strong brand marketing strategy:

1. Identify your brand marketing goals and vision

The first and foremost thing to do when building a strong brand marketing strategy is to identify the brand’s marketing goals. Every brand sets eyes on certain targets to achieve.

In order to build a powerful brand marketing strategy, start by envisioning the future. It doesn’t matter whether it’s gaining a significant market share or entering into a monopolistic market.

Once the brand marketing goals have been set, it gets easier for the team to execute marketing and branding plans.

2. Develop your brand identity

The brand identity means what this brand stands for or is known for. These brands try to develop their brand identity to attract potential customers and social media audiences.

Interesting read: 8 Best Retargeting Platforms To Retarget Your Potential Audience

3. Raise brand awareness

When brands educate the audience about their belief system, they basically share what they believe in to spread brand awareness. Almost every brand tries to position itself as culturally diverse, with no tolerance for racism, and gender equality.

4. Build brand loyalty

To create a strong brand marketing structure, it’s vital to have brand loyalty on the customers’ part. Brands pay close attention to the ideas that help them earn brand loyalty from customers.

Once these things sort out, building a brand identity seems like a piece of cake.

5. Research target market

Understanding the target market and the challenges that might arise is crucial to establishing a solid brand marketing strategy.

Researching the target market means analyzing the market segment you’re about to enter to help bring clarity to the process.

Brands often turn a blind eye to the competition, which is a big mistake. There may have been a couple of reasons: the first is that they overrate themselves right at the beginning of the journey and the second is that they think competitors won’t notice them, so they don’t consider their competitors a threat just yet.

There are two factors to consider when considering research on the target market for building a brand marketing plan:

• Narrow in on the target audience: Zooming in on the right segment of the audience would take you closer to the target audience. This is exactly what every brand dreams of when entering the market.
• Know your competition: Always keep an eye on the competition. Every brand that is crushing on social media or SEO always knows about its competition. They closely follow their content strategy, social media content distribution, SEO tactics, and more. So don’t sleep on this opportunity either.

The target market research would take you ahead of many competitors who don’t care much about understanding the competition or haven’t had a chance to learn more on this topic.

Interesting read: A Quick Guide to Building Custom Audiences through URL Tracking

6. Determine your brand marketing tactics

One of the important steps when building a brand marketing strategy is to determine what route to take to get to the destination. The decisions such as color schemes, blog content style, social media content strategies, and other strategies fall into this category.

Clarifying the brand marketing tactics would provide the team with a roadmap to follow and help develop a system to save time in the future.

However, there are always some inside secrets that only team members know and these secrets aren’t supposed to get out. The reason is that competitors spy on you the way you keep an eye on them.

The keys to remember when determining the brand marketing tactics are:

• Develop brand marketing collateral: Branding marketing requires a set of tools and resources. Developing an arsenal whether it’s a PDF outline or a list of online tool subscriptions – this would come in handy for the team.
• Outline a messaging strategy: The message-driven content always does better than vague and pointless content. Make sure that the content is sending out a clear, concise message to the chosen audience.
• Define messaging and positioning: It’s necessary to communicate to see that everyone is on the same page. The team must be crystal clear about the brand position. Don’t shy away from explaining the brand message to the team to ensure that every individual team member knows about it.

7. Rollout a timeline

Rolling out a timeline means allocating a time window to a specific project or campaign. Brands always set a timeline whether they’re hiring a new freelancer or opting for a new URL shortener.

It’s best to set a timeline for a campaign to analyze its performance and effectiveness at the end. Brands usually choose monthly, quarterly, biannual, and annual timelines for their campaigns.

When you’re building a brand marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to choose a time frame for the strategy. The reason why it matters is that it helps brands measure the performance of the campaign afterward.

8. Create a consistent brand image

One of the goals of establishing a strong brand marketing strategy is to come up with a consistent brand image. A brand image means building a positive brand reputation among customers.

Burger King UK faced backlash for tweeting ‘Women belong in the kitchen’ on International Women’s Day. The tweet was criticized for its insensitive and derogatory language, which undermined the significance of the day and perpetuated harmful stereotypes about women. Many people expressed their disappointment and called out the fast-food chain for the inappropriate message. Burger King later issued an apology and acknowledged the need to deliver a more respectful and inclusive message.

This example shows why it is crucial for companies to recognize the importance of fostering an inclusive and supportive environment both online and offline.

The brand position or image doesn’t establish overnight; it takes forever to establish a brand in the eyes of the audience. It requires continuous effort and a dedicated plan to pull this off.

Brands that successfully establish their reputation and goodwill try to continue that momentum and live up to the customers’ expectations. No wonder they build this brand position and image over the course of several years.

Therefore, it’s vital to make efforts to create a consistent brand image through actions, offerings, customer support, high-quality products/services, and pricing to build and maintain a strong brand reputation.

9. Measure the success of your brand

No one wants their successful strategies to go unnoticed because otherwise they wouldn’t realize what worked for them and might as well try something new.

Therefore, the success measurement of the brand marketing campaign is crucial to the whole process.

In order to get disciplined about measuring the success of the branding strategies, keep the following tactics in mind:

• Create brand guidelines: Don’t sleep on setting the ground rules for everyone to follow. It could be anything from choosing the best time to post on TikTok to using a specific font for social media image copies.
• Make sure your product delivers on your promise: The product or service has to be top-notch to fulfill the promise. Otherwise, your marketing tactics would fall flat.

The question you might ask is how someone could measure the success of their brand marketing strategy.

Well, there are several indicators that might give you an idea of how well or badly your brand marketing campaign has performed over the course of the campaign, such as:

• The number of email inquiries received
• The number of social media followers increased
• The percentage of social media engagement increased
• The percentage of website bounce rate decreased
• The change in the digital marketing ROI

These indicators may vary from brand to brand. I won’t be surprised if some brand would go further down the rabbit hole and analyze numerous other factors to measure the success of their branding campaign.

Interesting read:15 Proven Facebook SEO Techniques To Increase Brand Visibility

How to use social media to market your brand successfully?

Social media has become an important part of the marketing arsenal. No individual or brand could think of marketing a brand without using social media.

The reason why social media is inevitable in marketing is because it has the attention of the masses. Now social media platforms have over 1 billion monthly active users.

So, you might wonder how you can use social media to market your brand without breaking the bank. Well, I have a handful of tips that would help you cash in on the social media real estate:

• Create a community of like-minded people: Don’t shy away from starting something from scratch. Build a community of true fans or like-minded people using a Facebook group discord channel or any other similar tool.
• Put out compelling, helpful content: Publishing high-quality, effective, and useful content is your ticket to engagement, attention, and eyeballs. Social media ads won’t cut it for most people, so use content marketing as a great alternative to advertising.
• Build a strong relationship with the audience: Building a healthy, strong relationship with your audience means you care what they want to know or learn. Provide them with efficient customer support and help them out by going out of the way – it will make a difference in the long term.
• Show up consistently on social media platforms: One of the best strategies to market a brand on social media is to consistently show up on social media platforms. You could always use a social media scheduling tool like ContentStudio to schedule your posts for the future.
• Use promotional strategies to spice things up: Most brands only focus on once-a-year discounts. However, if you’re a B2C company, then use giveaways, discounts, and promotional offers throughout the year to strengthen the relationship with the audience. Don’t shy away from giving away free brand merch or arranging meet-ups with customers or fans.

FAQs

Let’s answer some of the burning questions about brand marketing:

i. What is the marketing of a brand?

Marketing a brand means putting the brand in front of the prospective audience and establishing an image of the brand.

ii. What are the four branding strategies?

Here are four of the essential branding strategies to follow”

1) Start with finding your brand’s mission.

2) Identify the target market to enter.

3) Build your brand’s image.

4) Measure the outcome of the branding campaign.

iii. What are the benefits of using a marketing strategy for a brand?

• Provides clear direction
• Targets the audience
• Increases brand awareness
• Establishes brand recognition
• Defines a unique brand identity
• Engages and fosters customer loyalty
• Maximizes ROI
• Drives business growth

iv. Which is better: marketing or advertising for brands?

There is no right or wrong answer for this one. It depends on the industry, company’s type, growth hacks being followed, and tactics that have worked – most brands tend to use both and put more energy into whatever works for them.

v. When is brand marketing most successful?

Brand marketing is most successful when it effectively communicates a compelling brand story, resonates with the target audience, and drives positive brand perception, loyalty, and engagement.

vi. What should be included in a good marketing plan for my brand?

The common tactics for establishing a solid marketing plan must include clarity of the brand’s offering, effective communication, and a powerful analytical mechanism to measure the outcome.

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Hassaan Khan

Hassaan Khan is a freelance writer for SAAS companies, e-commerce stores, and niche websites. He has contributed to SEMrush, ThriveGlobal, BloggingCage, AllBloggingTips, and several other publications. He builds niche websites, publishes e-books, and helps website investors with his done-for-you niche site-building service.

Are you seeking to strengthen your branding efforts? Building brand authority using vanity URLs for brand awareness is the best way to do it. Having a vanity URL makes your brand unique, trustworthy, and easy to interact with the digital community. However, if you want to boost engagement and create more awareness for your brand, complex URLs are not the way to go. 

Online users are less likely to engage with URLs that look suspicious. Hence, your branding efforts can go in vain. 86% of online users take brand authenticity as a significant factor in choosing a brand. 

However, a vanity URL for brand awareness can be your savior as it allows you to create short branded links that bring trustworthiness and credibility.

What is a URL Address?

URL refers to a universal resource locator and is a unique address for your website. The URL structure of a website includes several components, i.e.

• The protocol e.g. (HTTP and HTTPS)
• The domain name
• Top-level domain
• The path.

What is the Purpose of a Vanity URL?

The prime purpose of using a vanity URL is branding and marketing as it is easy to remember, use and share. 

Besides improving user experiences and engagement, intelligent marketers use vanity URLs to share content and track them. It allows users to evaluate performance as people engage with them. Custom URLs can track the actions of a visitor, which is quite handy when you need to determine the performance of your ads as they are brilliant in data gathering.

Reasons to Use Vanity URLs

Now that we have understood the concept, here are a few noteworthy advantages of using them in our social accounts.

Easy to Use and Share

Nowadays, there is an increase in the usage of vanity URLs. They are shorter, easier to remember, and more trustworthy. They comprise proper and meaningful words rather than random numbers shared even verbally. The image above is a perfect example of how easily comprehendible the URL is.

The ease of sharing comes in handy on a platform that limits the number of words you can share, e.g., Twitter. Of course, it would be best if you edited longer and more cumbersome URLs. However, people are not reluctant to share short URLs.

Easier to Remember

Consider the scenario where someone tells you a website and you do not note it down, and later when you need it, you can’t seem to remember it. Similarly, sometimes we are lost for words to type into search engines to find things of interest. Easy to remember web addresses, it is highly probable to leave a long-lasting impression.

Vanity URLs are also easy on the eyes. Twisted or scrambled web addresses that make little sense are ugly to look at, not to mention difficult as hell to remember.

The other thing you can do is create open-source social networks.

Builds User Trust

The other great thing about branded shortened links is that they increase brand recognition. Sharing engaging and relevant content with your branded domain associated with it will increase brand visibility and improve brand recognition.

A branded link instills trust, which in return increases your CTR. In addition, being willing to share your brand name with your link guarantees you are leading them to the destination suggested in your link.

Related: 9 Ways Brands can use Replug to ascend their Brand Recognition

How Do I Create Vanity URL?

Creating a vanity URL is easy. You need a high-level domain, along with a branded domain name, webpage relevant keyword and SSL certificate for that domain. Using URL Shorteners like “Replug” it’s easy to create custom Vanity URLs.

For example, if data shows that your sales page is the most visited page on your entire website, you can create a vanity URL for brand awareness and share it across your social media platforms.

Three simple steps to create a vanity URL for brand awareness are elaborated below.

Branded Domain Name:

The first step is to incorporate your business name into the domain. The domain name should be incoherence with your business to reflect your brand identity. Include the exact name of your business in the domain for brand recognition.

High-Level Domain:

The next step is to choose the high-level domain type. So it could be an educational site, a news page or a blog. etc using the suffix to domain name (such as .link, .click, .lol, .news, .blog, and so on).

Keyword:

The keyword or phrase used after backslash signifies the nature of the landing page. This brings clarity to the visitor’s mind about the type of page.

Here is another example of converting complex irregular URLs to simple and beautiful branded ones that are much easier to remember.

Do not confuse Vanity URL with a vanity domain as vanity domains are named after the owner’s name. e.g., https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/ or https://neilpatel.com/

Guidelines for Using Vanity URLs for Brand Awareness

Brand Awareness is the familiarity of consumers with a brand to such an extent that the brand name becomes the household name. Every brand owner dreams of their brand name becoming a real word; this concept is called proprietary eponym.

Vanity URLs are a perfect way to achieve brand awareness and marketing goals. But they have to be used in a certain way to extract their maximum potential. Here are a few recommendations on using them in the best way.

Vanity URLs are a great way to promote your brand. Each link you share is an opportunity to market your brand. Using a branded link enough times makes your audience get used to it and teaches brand awareness. Below are guidelines for using vanity URLs for brand awareness.

1. Create Branded URLs

Brand clarity means nothing else than that your brand works. Every aspect of your brand, from your design to your strategy to your brand experience, should be aligned. Unfortunately, nowhere does this concept truly apply while creating vanity URLs.

It is imperative to display your brand’s name in full words. The redirection should also be in the URL to which the visitor will land once they click on it. The keyword used after the backslash can achieve this. There are a few words to play with, so you have to be clear and concise.

2. Avoid Creating Unnecessary Vanity Links

The purpose is to create branded links, but it’s unnecessary to stuff them everywhere. For example, if a link you want to share is already compact and delivers the message, there is no need to create a vanity URL in this case.

However, if you use a link shortener like Replug for analytics or link management, it’s better to edit the link.

3. Create SEO-Friendly URLs

Are Vanity URLs bad for SEO?

Short answer, No. There’s a common misconception that redirecting a link in this way can hurt your SEO. Vanity URLs are used for sharing a clean, tidy and branded link that brings visitors to a less appealing URL. According to several ranking specialists, using URL shorteners doesn’t negatively impact your SEO. Search engines consider vanity URLs as regular 301 redirections.

When searching for a particular brand on Google, the search results often include the social media channels of that brand, coincidence? Not really. By having SEO-friendly URLs to your brand on multiple web properties, you should be able to dominate your SERP with your marketing message. There is a strong connection between SEO and URLs as a short and optimized with relevant keywords in the URL positively impacts user experience and SEO.

Here’s an example of a URL that is not optimized for better understanding.

Now have a look at a vanity URL in the image below.

4. Run Social Media Brand Awareness Campaigns

Social media is a great platform to boost your brand awareness efforts. Many social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter offer users and brands the option to customize their profile URLs. Below are some examples of using vanity URLs to instill brand trust in their visitors.

Instagram

Instagram has emerged as a heavyweight social media network reaching 1 billion subscribers. So it is no surprise that it has attracted so many marketers. Vanity URLs are ideal for making a place with so many eyes to see the content you share.

Instagram demands clean and clear posting as images and links. Using link shortening services such as with Replug, you can create neat custom short links, infuse your brand name in it and share with your audience. Replug also gives you the option to create Instagram bio links.

Here’s an example of Instagram vanity URLs.

Related: 30 Hacks Boost Your Instagram Engagement

LinkedIn

For the B2B community, marketers should capitalize on the LinkedIn market, which has most business and corporate professionals. Grow your brand by keeping your audience engaged with unique LinkedIn post ideas as it’s rated as the most trustable social media platform.

Twitter

Similar to Instagram, Twitter is another popular platform that can spur your brand awareness goals. Majority (59%) of the social media users rely on Twitter to get news. It’s well known that Twitter gives you a few characters to post a tweet. Therefore, when posting a tweet along with a URL, ensure you use a branded short URL. Otherwise, you are wasting characters and you might not deliver your message in the right way.

Here’s an example of Amazon’s campaign using vanity URL on Twitter.

TikTok

 TikTok is another emerging platform that is becoming more popular day by day. As of January 2022, TikTok has 1 billion active users and is increasing. Latching on to the new trends and trending platforms effectively accomplishes your brand awareness objectives.

5. Boost Conversion from Social Media

Social media marketing and ads revenue have skyrocketed in the past seven years and it is here to stay. The crucial thing about social media ads is knowing your audience to create customized ads for each group. Likewise, some social networks offer demographically based ads displaying which helps the cause. But, you might think, where do all these branded URLs fit in?

If you use vanity URLs for social media ads, you can track every click and where it came from. The control of the appearance and text flow is a great reason to use, but analytics (link tracking, sources, etc.) is the most valuable reason to use vanity URLs and shortened links. The image above is one example of using Replug to track, monitor, and convert visitors.

Related: How to Quickly Increase Social Media Conversions in 2022?

6. Integrate Link Retargeting and UTM Tools

Can you track a vanity URL?

The great thing about vanity URLs is that you can track performance. This means gaining data such as clicks, unique clicks, conversion, etc. This allows you to evaluate the links you share and then tweak them to enhance performance. The second part of this activity is to add the people who clicked on the vanity URL in the retargeting list. So even if the link was redirecting to a third-party website, someone was still interested in it to click on it. This technique has proven to increase top-funnel traffic considerably.

Add UTM to URL links you share as they help in tracking, attributing, and accounting for your marketing efforts. Build intelligent UTM parameters and add them to the links you share. Further, boost your LinkedIn retargeting, Facebook retargeting strategies and more with Replug retargeting pixels.

7. Promote Special Campaigns

Some apps let you create specialized campaigns for each type of promotion using vanity URLs for brand awareness. Replug campaigns enable you to segregate ads and associated data in a separate folder.

Amplify your online marketing strategies by creating various campaigns using Replug features such as deep links, traffic routing, A/B testing and much more. For example, let’s say your company wants to promote a new product and is starting a paid social media ad campaign for it. You can create custom URLs specifically for this product and monitor its performance separate from other links you share.

8. Printed Marketing Promotional Materials

Anywhere your brand or website could show up, you create a call-to-action to get people engaged in your social media efforts. So it is time to think out of the box. Many companies distribute merchandise on marketing and promotional events to visitors and potential clients to help them remember the brand. The more people you can create talking, interacting, and sharing your brand, the greater are the chances of your word getting out.

If you have vanity URLs for your brand, you can have them printed on the merchandise and utilize this medium for marketing. The lack of space makes them ideal for printing.

QR code marketing is another way to improve your brand awareness efforts. You can also use your brand’s imprinted QR codes on products like cups, cards, clothing, etc. Here’s an example of imprinted QR codes on disposable cups. Customers can scan the QR code and redirect to a vanity URL.

9. Create Vanity Links that You can Share Verbally

Electronic media such as TV and radio are still the preferred choice of marketers. But, imagine you get air time and the host asks you to describe what you do. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could verbally convey your social channels right there and then?
Many singers, DJ’s, and RJ’s have their social accounts with vanity URLs. This helps them to convey the web address of their official channels verbally. It would be otherwise impossible to say the irregular web address.

The presentation of your brand to the audience should be as frictionless as possible. People are more inclined towards engaging if there is less clutter to what they see. After all, many customers would have converted not through your website but social media.

10. Engage in Comments and Email

People love you and share their opinion on viral videos and news. The comment section is filled with informative and sometimes hilarious comments. This is where most of the community comes to interact. Marketers can take advantage of this congregation and present their cases in a well-formatted way.

Share vanity URLs in the comment section of relevant posts, well-presented to attract potential clients. Branded URLs are a great candidate for this type of promotion as they are short, organized, and contain the brand name to encourage people to click on them.

The same concept applies to email marketing. Email marketing is a tricky business where first you have to establish trust for people to recognize you. Then, they have to be confident enough to click on the promotional link you send in the email. You can achieve this using vanity links.

Start Channelling Your Brand to Masses Using Vanity Links

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Vanity URLs have the multipurpose functionality of pleasing the eye and creating brand trust. In addition, you can use it for social media branding, email marketing and link tracking.
Try using them today so that your business keeps appearing in the right place at the right time.

Wasiq Naeem

Wasiq Naeem is a content and digital marketing veteran who is passionate about his writing. Extensive research and producing high-quality content is just another day at the office for him.