A Brand! Something that is so mystical that only wise gurus understand its true meaning and its secret can never be revealed. Knowledge that can never be revealed even to those who seek answers. To understand the full power of a brand, you must seek a path of self-discovery and then you can learn the secrets of the mystical ‘Brand’.
If you have read the first few lines this is the impression you get when you read through a lot of marketing journals. In other words it’s a load of non-sense!
Branding is nothing like setting sail on some magical mystery tour! For Businesses, Branding is important and a critical way of gaining a competitive advantage.
But what’s is all the fuss about! When you turn on your radio or TV you are bombarded by adverts that are designed to get your attention. Even when you log onto your internet on you are constantly targeted by pop-up or banner ads.
Businesses are always vying for a space in people’s consciousness which is essentially the market place where decisions are made. However that space is very limited and attention spans can be short.
To ensure that your product or service remains at the forefront of people’s minds, a Brand is essentially the mechanism that drives the buying process, distinguishes you from competitors and builds long-term loyalty.
What is the definition of this mysterious word ‘Brand’? A Brand is a name, symbol, identity that distinguishes itself from other businesses product or service. A brand is what sets you apart from the rest. A brand helps to build customer confidence and trust in your product or service. But that’s not enough to build brand equity.
To build on trust and confidence a brand must look at creating long-term relationships with a customers. Therefore it’s important to build into the brand process your key messages in the form of a brand positioning. A Brand position is important in terms of how people perceive your product and where it lies within their sub consciousness.
A Brand message should focus on its attitude, values, guarantees, personality etc. All these elements help to add value to the customer buying process. If they experience a positive result in using your brand, a lasting impression is formed. This positive impression reinforces your brand values and builds a long-term relationship that will ensure rival brands can’t compete in that customers mind.
What does all this mean for Social Media? Well Social Media in essence is… Social! Unlike other marketing platforms, marketers must be conscious of the ‘Social’ element within Social Media. This means that marketing of brands should shift from talking at their customers to talking with them.
To build brand awareness engaging with your customers is crucial as this empowers them to move towards ownership of the brand. For brand engagement to be created on Social Media, Content is a vital element of the ‘Brand Building’ process.
Essentially the question remains how do you Build a Brand on Social Media?
To build your brand and find your Social Media voice it’s vital you follow our 3 E’s
- Emotion
- Expertise
- Engage
We will look into these element of branding in part two of our blog. For more information on our Social Media Service and Grow Your Brand Online contact us by filling out the form.
