Client-Agency Relationship

6 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Conference

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There are hundreds of manufacturing conferences that are held every year around the country. As the owner of a manufacturing business, it would do you a lot of good to attend just one of these conferences. Unfortunately, many business owners don’t take the time to attend any of them. There’s a chance that you may not have gone because you simply weren’t aware that these conferences were being held. It’s more likely that you’re afraid that they won’t be worth your time. As a business owner, time is precious. You don’t want to waste what time you have traveling to and from a conference that may have nothing new to offer. If this is your line of thinking, then you should strongly reconsider. The following are six significant reasons why you should attend a conference:

6 Reasons To Attend a Conference

1. Find New Prospects

Building relationships with existing clients shouldn’t be your only goal. You’ll find that conferences are attended by many prospects as well. They may be looking to educate themselves about the industry before they even choose a manufacturer to work with. This allows them to make a more informed decision. As such, these conferences are a great opportunity to introduce yourself to potential prospects, thereby giving you a better chance at closing new customers.

2. Build Relationships With Existing Clients

There’s a very good chance that you’ll run into existing clients at one of these conferences. Clients often attend a conference in order to better educate themselves about the industry. Doing so gives them the confidence that they’re investing their money responsibly. They also use these conferences as a way to network. By showing up as well, you’ll be able to interact with existing clients and to build your relationships with them. Not only is it a great opportunity to re-engage, but they’ll also see that you’re making the effort to improve your business. This, in turn, helps to build trust in your brand, which will improve your chances of turning them into brand evangelists.

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3. Meet Experts And Influencers

Networking with clients and potential clients is important, but those aren’t the only people worth meeting at these manufacturing conferences. You will also listen to and meet numerous experts and influencers within your field. Building relationships with these people can be incredibly beneficial as well. For example, experts can provide you with advice that can help you solve issues that your company is currently having. Influencers can be key in helping you find new customers or discovering new markets that your company could enter.

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4. Learn New Approaches And Ideas

Attending conferences isn’t just about networking (although it’s an excellent opportunity to do so), it’s also about learning. Most conferences will schedule a list of speakers from throughout the industry. They will also hold numerous workshops that you can participate in. It’s a great way to better educate yourself about your industry and to learn about new approaches and ideas about the manufacturing process, your business strategy, or your marketing strategy, to name a few potential subjects. As a business owner, you should always be looking for ways that you can improve your company. Knowledge is power when it comes to not just surviving in the industry, but succeeding in it.

5. Stay Updated On New Trends

Staying up to date on all the latest trends within the manufacturing industry can be a real challenge in itself. Not only do you need to keep up to date with the latest technologies, tools, and strategies, but you need to figure out which are worth implementing. Conferences are a great way to learn about the latest trends. For example, new manufacturing technology may be presented at the conference you can learn about. Additionally, going to a conference is a good way to learn about the trends that are actually worth following, thereby giving you a better idea as to whether they will benefit your company.

6. Speak About Your Own Business

Conferences give you the chance to speak publicly about your business. This can help to generate interest in what you’re doing, thereby building your brand name and reputation. However, it also provides you with practice pitching your company and its services. Refining this skill will come in handy whenever you’re speaking with prospects in the future.

These are six reasons why you should attend a conference. Attending a manufacturing conference can not only help to educate you about different aspects of the industry, but it can also help you stay up to date on the latest trends as well as to network with hundreds — if not thousands — of people within your industry that are worth knowing.

Make A Difference

Beyond Pixels: Unconventional Non-Digital Marketing Ideas to Elevate Your Brand

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In a world dominated by digital marketing, it’s easy to overlook non-digital strategies. While online platforms offer incredible reach and targeting options, there’s something uniquely effective about tangible, real-world interactions. In this article, we’ll explore some unconventional non-digital marketing ideas to boost your brand without relying on screens and algorithms. 

Non-Digital Marketing That Creates Direct Interaction:

Handwritten Thank You Notes:
These days most communication is digital, receiving a handwritten note can be a delightful surprise. Send personalized thank you notes to customers, partners, or supporters to show genuine appreciation. 

Host Workshops or Classes:
Share your expertise by hosting workshops, classes, or seminars related to your industry. This positions your brand as an authority and creates opportunities for in-person connections with potential customers. Home Depot does a great job at this by hosting free workshops that educate and bring visitors out to their stores. 

Pop-Up Shops or Experiences:
Set up temporary retail spaces or experiential installations in high-traffic areas. This allows you to directly engage with potential customers and create a memorable brand experience. IKEA did this by creating fun pop-up stores. Even if your brand isn’t retail, consider creating a simple pop-up tent experience. It’s a good way to bring an experience closer to potential customers. 

Vehicle Branding:
Turn your company vehicles into moving billboards by incorporating your brand’s logo, colors, and messaging. This not only advertises your brand, but also adds a professional touch to your business operations. If you don’t have the budget for a full vehicle wrap, displaying your brands website url or a QR code in the window is a good way to bring awareness to your brand. 

Non-Digital Marketing That Increase Brand Visibility

Branded Merchandise:
Create custom-branded merchandise like apparel, mugs, or tote bags that people can use in their everyday lives. This not only provides value to your audience, but also turns them into walking advertisements for your brand. A word of caution: It’s easy to want to order all the same things other companies do, like can koozies, pens, etc. Really think about what branded items will really parallel your brand. Also, cheap is not the best approach as well. Getting one premium item vs many less expensive items can make a big impression.  

Read more about branding: The Power of Story Branding

Unique Packaging and Presentation:
Your product’s packaging is an often overlooked marketing opportunity. Consider creating distinctive, eye-catching packaging that sets your brand apart on the shelves and leaves a lasting impression. This past Halloween consumers were bombard with custom packages and flavors, all appealing to the emotion that coincides with the holiday. 

Sponsorship and Partnerships:
Forge strategic partnerships with other businesses or events that align with your brand values. This could involve sponsoring local sports teams, community events, or collaborating with influencers in your industry. Additionally, more brands are embracing the use of influencers because they already have an audience and they create the content using your brand. 

Unconventional Non-digital ideas

Guerilla Marketing:
Guerrilla marketing involves unconventional and often surprise tactics to grab the attention of potential customers. This could include things like flash mobs, street art, or unexpected pop-up events. It’s a bold way to create memorable brand experiences. 

Street Art and Murals:
Commissioning local artists to create street art or murals that incorporate your brand can be a visually striking way to engage with the community and generate buzz around your products or services. 

While digital marketing remains a powerful tool, there’s a world of untapped potential in non-digital strategies. Implementing these creative ideas can help your brand break through the noise and establish a meaningful connection with your audience in a tangible, memorable way. By thinking outside of digital, you’ll not only differentiate your brand but also create experiences that resonate with your customers on a deeper level. 

 

brand loyalty

The Brand Loyalty Of Generation X

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When customers buy products or services from the same brand every time, it is called Brand Loyalty. Even though there are other brand options available, customers prefer the same brand for their purchase. It is counted as a strong connection between a customer and a brand. Consumers like certain brands. They develop a trust that the brand’s products are of the right quality and a good value. That trust, along with other positive emotions, causes consumers to develop brand loyalty, where they tend to buy certain products from particular brands now and into the future. How brand loyalty works depends on many factors, age and status in life being two.

It is critical to understand how a particular generation develops brand loyalty. The insights gained by this understanding make marketing to the generation in question much easier. Let’s look at Generation X for example.

What Makes Generation X (Gen X) Unique?

Generation X is usually defined as those born between 1965 and 1980. This generation sits between the much larger Baby Boomer and Millennial generations. Because they are smaller than those two generations, many marketers forget they exist.

Members of Generation X straddle a critical divide. They remember times when Internet access wasn’t the norm. They grew up with a more traditional business model. However, they also came of age at the beginning of the Internet revolution. They have adapted quite well, using the Internet in many of the same ways their younger Millennial siblings do. By straddling this critical divide, Gen X feels comfortable in both traditional and digital marketing.

How To Develop Content To Build Customer Loyalty 

Opinions of Gen X vary greatly. As Gen X came of age, they were called slackers, loners, and apathetic. However, as Gen X emerged into adulthood, the descriptions changed. They are often called independent, dedicated, savvy, and innovative. Many of this generation grew up as “latchkey” kids, coming home to an empty house because both parents worked.

Because they came of age during a time of high unemployment and a stagnant economy, Generation X tends to be skeptical and cautious, with a bit of cynicism thrown in. They also look for lower price, high-value options that are convenient.

Generation X and Brand Loyalty

In June 2015, CrowdTwist conducted an online survey of just over 1200 North American consumers between the ages of 18 and 69. Approximately 1/3 of the people who participated in the survey were part of Generation X. The results of this survey provided critical insights into how Generation X develops brand loyalty and how brands can retain that loyalty.

Due to this generation’s built in skepticism, brands have to work to gain their loyalty. High quality products and excellent customer services are two components that members of Generation X value. They also want brands that are authentic and trustworthy. They must be relevant and stay relevant. Brands must prove they have value. Marketing pitches and overt salesy advertising are two things that turn members of Gen X against certain products.

The good news is that Gen X tends to stick with the brands they love. Almost 50% of Gen X survey participants indicated they are extremely loyal or quite loyal to their favorite brands. Only 14.6% said they are quite willing or moderately willing to try new brands.

Also Read: Customer Engagement Strategy

Takeaways

If you are targeting Generation X, you need to understand what it values if you want to develop brand loyalty with this age group. They can be cynical, skeptical and cautious. That requires a company to prove their authenticity and relevance. Gen X wants high value, cost effective options. They expect good quality products at affordable prices. They also love it when these deals are easy to find and easy to purchase.

Once your brand earns the loyalty of a Gen X member, that person is likely to remain a loyal customer for years to come.

 

 

How to Develop an Outstanding Business Development Plan

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Developing a great business development plan requires a strategic mindset, comprehensive analysis, and meticulous execution. This may involve pursuing new market opportunities, diversifying products or services, expanding into untapped regions, forging strategic alliances or partnerships, or enhancing customer engagement. The strategies should be realistic, measurable, and time-bound to ensure effective execution.

The business development plan should include a well-defined implementation process with clear responsibilities and timelines. It is essential to allocate sufficient financial and human resources to execute the plan effectively. Regularly monitoring and evaluating progress against the set targets is critical, allowing for timely adjustments and corrective actions when necessary. By creating a well-structured plan that aligns with the organization’s goals, identifying growth opportunities, and implementing effective strategies, businesses can position themselves for long-term success and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Here are 8 proven steps to developing a winning business development plan:

1. Conduct a Comprehensive Business Analysis

Conduct a thorough analysis of various aspects of the business, such as market trends, customer demands, competition, and internal capabilities. This will provide you with invaluable insights to inform the development plan.

Through a comprehensive analysis, you can identify your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) and capitalize on your advantages while mitigating risks. It helps in understanding the market landscape, target audience, and emerging trends, enabling you to effectively align your development plan with market demands and customer expectations. Additionally, analyzing competitors’ strategies and industry benchmarks allows you to differentiate yourself from the crowd and gain a significant competitive edge.

2. Define Clear Goals and Objectives

Clearly defined goals and objectives provide a sense of direction and purpose, guiding the entire development process toward success. By setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, you can effectively chart your path to growth and expansion.

Furthermore, clear goals and objectives provide a basis for evaluating the plan’s progress and success. They enable your organization to track key performance indicators (KPIs), measure performance against targets, and make data-driven adjustments if necessary. Regularly reviewing and assessing the progress towards these goals allows for continuous improvement and ensures that your plan remains aligned with the evolving business landscape.

3. Identify Target Markets and Ideal Customers

Identifying target markets and ideal customers enables you to concentrate your efforts, align your strategies with customer needs, and seize lucrative opportunities for sustainable growth and success.

Pinpointing ideal customers also empowers you to discover untapped opportunities and niche markets that align with your strengths and capabilities. This knowledge allows you to position yourself effectively, stand out from competitors, and tailor your offerings to meet the unique demands of your ideal customers.

4. Craft a Compelling Value Proposition

A compelling value proposition serves as the foundation that defines the distinct value your business offers to its target customers, setting it apart from competitors. By presenting a clear and engaging message, the value proposition becomes the linchpin of the plan, resonating with the intended audience.

Additionally, a compelling value proposition guides the strategic decisions and actions outlined in the business development plan. It assists in identifying target markets, shaping marketing strategies, and determining pricing and positioning approaches. The value proposition ensures that all activities and initiatives align with your business’s unique value, creating a unified and consistent customer experience.

5. Create Lead Generation Strategies

Lead generation strategies play a critical role in attracting potential customers and nurturing them into loyal patrons.

By implementing robust lead generation strategies, you can generate a consistent flow of qualified leads, nurturing them through the sales funnel and converting them into loyal customers. This drives revenue growth, enhances customer relationships, and fuels the overall success of the business development plan.

6. Establish Sales and Conversion Processes

Establishing effective sales and conversion processes can help streamline your operations and maximize the conversion of leads into paying customers. Having well-defined sales processes enables businesses to effectively manage leads and guide them through each stage of the sales funnel. This includes activities such as lead qualification, nurturing, and closing.

By implementing standardized processes, you can ensure consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness in your sales efforts. This helps identify bottlenecks, optimize the customer journey, and improve conversion rates.

7. Monitor, Evaluate, and Adapt

Monitoring involves tracking and evaluating the implementation of the plan’s strategies and goals to ensure effective and efficient execution. By monitoring progress, you can identify areas of success and areas that may require adjustment, enabling you to stay on track and achieve desired outcomes.

Regular monitoring allows you to assess key performance indicators (KPIs) and measure progress against set targets. This data-driven approach provides valuable insights into the plan’s effectiveness, enabling timely adjustments and corrective actions when necessary. Monitoring progress ensures you allocate resources appropriately and align activities with the plan’s objectives.

8. Build Strategic Partnerships

Strategic partnerships allow you to access new markets or customer segments that may have been difficult to penetrate independently. By leveraging the partner’s existing customer base or distribution channels, you can significantly accelerate growth and expand your customer reach more effectively. Moreover, strategic partnerships help in fostering knowledge sharing and innovation.

Bottom Line

Developing a successful business development plan requires a strategic and systematic approach. By following the steps outlined above, B2B organizations can drive customer base expansion, lead generation, and sales growth. Regularly monitor, evaluate, and adapt your plan to ensure sustainable growth and profitability.

Fostering a culture of innovation, adaptability, and continuous improvement is crucial for developing sustainable business growth. It encourages collaboration across different departments, facilitates knowledge sharing, and promotes a customer-centric approach.

 

visual storytelling

5 Brand Storytelling Examples To Learn From

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Your brand identity goes beyond your name, logo, and the products or services you provide. A brand identity is all-encompassing: it also includes your goals, your beliefs, and the feelings you elicit from your audience. To create a strong brand identity, you need to create a narrative that’s consistent across all channels. This is where brand storytelling comes in. Brand storytelling involves using storytelling techniques that bring together both facts and emotions to create your brand identity. The following are five brand storytelling examples that you should use as inspiration to help create and drive your own brand story:

1. Apple

Apple is arguably one of the greatest examples of successful marketing in the history of marketing. They were able to capture a small corner of a market dominated by Microsoft and, through the use of incredibly effective brand storytelling, turn themselves into a behemoth. Knowing that they were up against Microsoft, Apple decided that their message would be to go against the grain. They would position themselves as a revolutionary innovator. Their “think different” tagline showcases this, as does all of their other advertising. Their most famous ad is the most obvious example: the 1984 ad in which a woman defiantly smashes the screen with a sledgehammer.

How to Share Your Message With A New Brand Strategy

2. Ikea

Ikea has built its brand on the functionality and simplicity of its products, which they showcase using lighthearted humor. Their most famous commercial “Lamp” highlights this. It’s a commercial showing an old lamp being replaced and being thrown away. It’s a sob story until a narrator shows up to exclaim that the viewer is crazy to feel bad about the old lamp since it doesn’t have feelings, and the new one is much better. It gets a great laugh and emphasizes the need to update old products with newer, higher-quality versions.Brand Storytelling

3. Old Spice

Old Spice used to be a brand associated with older men. The word “old” certainly didn’t help. They altered their brand storytelling to emphasize that the scent of old spice was how men should smell. They used humor and great writing to convey this, but what made the storytelling particularly effectively was that they didn’t target men — they targeted women. Old Spice essentially focused on delivering a message to women about how their men should smell, so that they could influence men on Old Spice’s behalf.

4. SoulCycle

What’s interesting about SoulCycle is that it basically consists of a class full of people riding exercise bikes. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it. But their brand storytelling has lifted this simple service into something much greater. They have positioned themselves as a high-end fitness service that’s not just a service, but a lifestyle. This lifestyle includes the use of teachers who are essentially fitness influencers and classes that are almost club-like in their atmosphere. Members feel like they belong to a community, not a gym. Without their incredibly effective brand storytelling, you could argue that they would be a glorified gym with limited equipment.

5. Warby Parker

Warby Parker is a frame manufacturer that has positioned itself as a company that sells fashionable frames at reasonable prices. Their storytelling focuses on how they build their frames and on the customers that buy them. In fact, much of their content is user-generated, which helps emphasize that they are frames built for everyone. Their message gets across because they keep their brand storytelling simple and focused.

These are a few brand storytelling examples to keep in mind when crafting your brand story strategy. Successful brand storytelling will strengthen your company’s identity, thereby making it easier to evoke an emotional response from your audience and to build long-lasting connections with them. By implementing an effective brand storytelling strategy, you’ll be more likely to increase your company’s visibility, impact, and — eventually — profit.

what To Know Before Hiring a Package Design Company

What You Should Know Before Hiring a Package Design Company

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Packaging plays a crucial role in the overall performance of your product. Creative and well-designed packaging will always impact the sale of your products. So, the first thing when choosing a package design company is to find one that can bring the best design. Your designs should relate to your products in terms of graphical presentations, color, typography, shape, and format.

Your design should also communicate effectively and create a positive user experience. With such a design, you will likely win yourself, lifetime customers. Remember that most consumers judge a product by its package. We have discussed all you need to know about packaging design in the sections below.

What is Packaging Design?  

Packaging design is creating a functional yet visually appealing package for a product. The design should create a package to hold your product and allow easy transportation and storage. Aside from the physical functionality, the package should attractively appeal to the target audience.

An effective package design will make your product stand out on the shelves. To achieve this, understand your target audience and then develop design concepts based on what they like.

Things to look for in a Package Design Company  

looking ofr a design company

Creating an effective packaging design is not just about making your product look great; it’s also about showcasing your brand. A good package design company should have experience in graphical and structural designs, offer affordable pricing, and have a strong reputation. We’ve covered these in detail below.

1. Quality of Design 

Design quality plays a crucial role when choosing a package design company. The design should ensure that your product is noticeable and unique, which increases sales. Your design company should be an expert in graphical and structural designs. This makes it easy for them to design creative, attractive, and functional designs. You can review their past projects to understand their taste and whether or not they fit your brand.

Additionally, it would be best to consider a company that offers sustainable and environmentally friendly packages. Cardboard-based designs are examples of such packages.

2. Cost Optimization

When considering the cost of a package design company, it is important to balance high-quality design and affordability. You have to ensure that your design can withstand competition in the market but also remain within your budget.

Before approaching a design company, know what you want and what you think works best for your product. For instance, the type of packaging material, visual presentations, and size you want for your product. With such a presentation, your designer can easily develop a design that satisfies your needs and is within your budget.

3. Quality of Customer Services

Work with a company that offers intuitive customer services. The company should be present throughout the stages of your package production. Right from the design process, production, and delivery. This is important, especially when changes or advancements are necessary. The company should also request your opinion or discuss the package design tips and styles they’ll use.

4. Understand their capacity

A company’s capacity is its ability to take on your project and meet your deadlines while maintaining quality. Factors such as turnaround time, flexibility, team size, and project management can help you gauge the capacity.

Similarly, these factors will affect the company’s timely and quality product delivery. For instance, a company with large design teams and budget may use more packaging design resources hence faster service delivery and less turnaround time.

5. What’s their Reputation?

Look out for customer reviews to know how the company operates and what other clients feel about the company. Look for reputable and certified companies to avoid falling for fake reviews, as some companies use them to make impressions.

Also, browse their portfolio to assess the performance of the firm’s designs. The designs should be diverse, as this demonstrates the ability to cater to your varied needs.

 

 

Benefits of Working with a Package Design Company  

Have you ever reviewed your product’s packaging and wondered whether you have the best design? And do you know what works best in your niche? If you are being sincere, you don’t have the best answer for each of these questions. And that’s not your fault. It can be challenging to figure all that out on your own, and it could also cost you a lot of money. If you consider hiring a package design company, here’s how you’ll benefit:

Learn What Works Much Faster

A package design company knows what works in your niche. This takes much of the testing and guesswork out of the process. Your designer may not have the perfect design in place right away, but they will save you a lot of time.

Instant Access to Experts

A package design company has a team of professionals who have seen the most devastating mistakes. Hiring such a company is like taking a safer shortcut past much of the difficulty you might experience if you tried making your design on your own.

More Profitability

While your designer may still insist on some testing as your product goes to market, you will have a profitable one, to begin with. That means you have more money available to invest in your business than you would if you created your packaging design.

brand recognitionIncreased Brand Recognition

When consumers buy from you because they value your brand, you’ve hit a great milestone. Here, sales come easier since you don’t need to spend more time convincing prospects to take action. You also get committed and loyal customers coming back for repeat sales, i.e, provided you keep your promise to them.

Access to the Latest Technologies

Most package design companies invest a lot in modern technologies and packaging design trends to create stunning designs that capture consumers’ attention. Such designers know how to make your product fly off the shelves. That said, not all designers offer the same level of quality. When looking for a Packaging design in Chicago, conduct thorough research to ensure you get value for your money.

Get Started Today

Packaging is an essential aspect of marketing that can greatly impact the success of a product. Therefore, choosing a package design company that can create visually appealing and functional designs that resonate with your target audience is crucial.

Some factors you should consider when choosing a design company include their design quality, capacity, and reputation. Working with the right designer means you have faster access to experts and enjoy more profitability.

ingredient branding

What is Ingredient Branding & How Does It Work?

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There are many different marketing strategies to employ to increase the value and name recognition of your business. There are traditional marketing strategies, like commercials, billboards, and events. Then there are digital marketing strategies, like social media advertising, contests/giveaways, and community engagement.

Each of these methods can be a great strategy for getting your business name out there, generating new leads and customers, and growing your business. If you’ve been in business for awhile and already have an established business name, then you have some potential advantages for increasing your business’s value and brand recognition. One of these advantages is a strategy marketers call ingredient branding.

What is Ingredient Branding?

Ingredient branding is a marketing strategy where a component of the business is branded as a separate entity. This helps to add more value to the parent company and make their product/service seem superior to its competitors.

You’ve probably seen this strategy in use several times before without even realizing it. Here are a few examples of ingredient branding by large brands:

  • Dodge’s Hemi engines
  • Citgo’s TriCLEAN fuel
  • Dupont’s Teflon
  • Intel’s Intel Inside

Intel Inside is actually credited with the conception of ingredient branding back in the ’90s, and was the first success story of having an ingredient helping to promote their business.

How Does Ingredient Branding Work?

Each of these ingredients were developed and branded separately from the main business to make their product seem better. Dodge put together an entire campaign around “That thing got a Hemi?” to help promote the engines they use in their trucks. When Citgo started branding its TriCLEAN fuel, it was able to focus more on the quality of its fuel over its competition, rather than only competing with gas prices.

These two cases are specifically about an already well-known company branding an ingredient that it already uses to help increase value of its product.

But there are other ways that ingredient branding can work. Some products are already ingredients in and of themselves. Let’s think of a few:

  • Tide detergent
  • Arm & Hammer baking soda
  • Splenda sweetener
  • OnStar
  • Oreo

And so many more.

Let’s dive into these examples. Tide detergent is already a well-known brand. However, you’ll often see other cleaning supplies that contain Tide. Since these products know that consumers love Tide detergent, they’ve worked with the company to include Tide as an ingredient and help promote their product.

This works both ways, though. Including Tide as an ingredient in another company’s product, it receives even more promotion for their own brand. So essentially, the financial deal struck between the two companies is mutually beneficial.

Arm & Hammer is another popular ingredient brand. You’ll see products like cat litter, toothpaste, and more that contain Arm & Hammer baking soda. Splenda sweetener is another ingredient brand that consumers will commonly see promoted among other products.

Back to vehicles, customers see OnStar’s security service as an amenity when buying a car. This means that customers will pay more for a car with this feature installed, which can be pretty valuable for an automaker.

And finally, Oreo is a popular cookie that is sometimes used as an ingredient in other products, like cookies and cream ice cream, McDonald’s McFlurries, and coffee flavoring.

Learn more about 7 Steps To Launching a Packaging Brand

Can Ingredient Branding Help Your Business?

If your business isn’t prominent enough to be branded as an ingredient, perhaps your business is one that can benefit from including an ingredient in its product or service. By including a well-known ingredient in your business model, you’re able to promise a level of quality that is already well-known to consumers.

One example of an ingredient in the digital marketing world is social media scheduling tool Buffer. If possible, many new SaaS companies in the digital marketing will offer Buffer integration with their service because they know how popular Buffer is.

Offering a well-known ingredient in your product or service can be a great way to promote your product to consumers who already use that ingredient in other products.

Ingredient branding is a great way to provide more value and marketability to your business. What are some popular ingredient brands that you’ve heard of?

Want a complete guide of story branding?
brand development

4 Essential Brand Components

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There’s a common misconception that many people have that a “brand” is basically just the name of the company and the logo that they use. While these elements contribute to the overall brand of a business, the term “brand” is actually much more comprehensive than that. It involves many different components, which is why it takes a lot of thought in order to successfully develop your brand. The following are the four main brand components that you will need to address when building your brand and what kinds of strategies you can put into place to further develop those components.

1. Brand Identity

Your brand identity is how you want your brand to be perceived. It’s important that you know what your brand identity is and what you want it to be. If you don’t, how is anyone else supposed to know? You’re going to have a tough time generating brand awareness if you lack a strong brand identity. The following are a few steps that you should take to establish your brand identity:

  • Identify your mission

    What was the reason you established your company in the first place? What is your company’s goal? Consumers want to know what your mission is (and they don’t want to hear that it’s “to make a profit”) and it will reflect who you are as a company.

  • Establish your unique value proposition

    Your unique value proposition is what sets you apart from your competitors. It’s a statement of how your offer benefits your customers, how you will meet the needs of your customers, and what makes your offer unique. Every marketing campaign you run should align with your unique value proposition.

  • Create your brand’s visual identity

    The visual elements of your brand certainly factor into your brand identity. Just consider the logos and color palettes of some of the biggest companies out there, from Facebook’s simple logo and use of blue to McDonald’s golden arch and yellow and red palette. A strong logo that’s instantly recognizable is important, but so is choosing your colors. Different colors have different meanings and the colors you choose can have a psychological impact on your audience as well. For example, many fast-food restaurants use red and yellow because that combination of colors is thought to stimulate the appetite. Just keep in mind that consistency is key. If you decide to use shades of blue in your logo and on your website, then you should use those same colors for your social media pages, email newsletters, and physical location as well.

  • Increase brand recognition

    It’s going to take some time to get your vision of your brand identity out to the masses. You’ll want to generate awareness of your brand to do this through a variety of marketing efforts, such as building a website that emphasizes your mission and unique value proposition, creating content that’s optimized for SEO, using social media to engage with consumers and to post your content, and more. It’s also vital that you make sure your mission, unique value proposition, and visual identity are consistent across all platforms. If it’s not, it will end up hurting your brand identity.

Learn more about Brand Recognition

2. Brand Image

Your brand image is similar to your brand identity in that it deals with how your brand is perceived. However, whereas your brand identity is how you want your brand to be perceived, brand image is how your brand is actually perceived. Consider your brand image as the reputation you currently have with the general public. Take for example United Airlines. Not long ago, they updated their brand design in an attempt to strengthen their brand identity as a “thoughtful, modern, and innovative airline.” However, their brand identity and brand image are currently quite different from each other after numerous massive PR failures regarding their customer service. Keeping that in mind, the following are a few ways to build and maintain a positive brand image:

  • Spread your message via PR

    Use public relations to spread your key messages as well as relevant news concerning your company. You can do this through news outlets, trade publications, and even online blogs. Public relations will help you raise awareness of your brand and what you’re doing, thereby helping to improve your brand image.

  • Establish a social presence

    Social media is an incredibly effective way to build your brand image, whether it’s by sharing content with consumers, keeping consumers up to date on the latest news and product launches, spreading awareness of your message, and engaging with consumers on a personal level. In fact, you can even use social media to address negative comments. It’s a good way to repair potential damage done to your brand image as a result of a poor customer experience by showing that you care and trying to correct the situation.

  • Create high-quality content

    Content will help to increase brand awareness by bringing in more web traffic. However, it can also help to build your brand authority. By publishing content that is relevant to your company and to your audience (and that’s of high quality), you’ll become a trustworthy source of information, which — in turn — will help improve your reputation and increase brand trust.

3. Brand Culture

Brand culture refers to your company’s core values and how you set an example for those values. Businesses have always

emphasized certain values; however, those values were often things like “reliability” or “honesty.” Values that are more equivalent to basic ethics. While those are important values to hold onto, more and more businesses have begun taking moral stances as well as political stances in addition to generally accepted values. These types of values feed into your brand culture as well. Take Nike for example. They have taken strong social positions by running commercials backing Colin Kaepernick and recently touting the importance of the women’s U.S. soccer team’s World Cup win. These are branding efforts touting their championing of equality, which has become a part of their brand culture. The following are a few tips to help you establish your brand culture:brand recognition

  • Define your values

    Define exactly what your values are and how your company lives out those values. Don’t be afraid of taking a stance if there’s a particular stance that you want to take. Using the Nike example again, their backing of Kaepernick was considered controversial and plenty of consumers did not agree with their position. However, those that did agree with their position became even more strongly aligned with Nike’s brand. You can’t please everyone, but by sticking to your values, you’ll be more likely to strengthen your relationship with many of your customers.

  • Spread awareness of your values

    Let consumers know about your values by declaring them on your website or by encouraging discussion about your values on social media. Publishing content that backs your values is an effective method as well.

  • Ensure that your company reflects your values

    There’s nothing consumers hate more than a hypocrite. If you’re flaunting your support for equal pay across social media and in your marketing efforts, then you better be practicing what you preach. Your brand culture is incredibly dependent on your ability to embrace your own values within your company.

4. Brand Personality

Your brand personality refers to the human characteristics that your company has. Developing a brand personality is vital to connecting with your audience on an emotional level and for making your brand relatable. Because of this, make sure that you use the following tips to develop your brand personality:

  • Learn who your audience is

    Understanding your audience is something that you need to do from the very beginning. It’s an important step in building your brand identity as well. However, it’s particularly important when it comes to developing your brand personality. The way you present yourself and the way that you communicate should reflect not only who the audience is but what they expect. For example, if you have a younger audience, then a dry, formal tone may not resonate with them. However, if your audience is older, using younger slang and current pop culture references may go over their heads.

  • Engage with your audience

    While you can get your personality across in the content you write, it’s easier to do through engaging with people. It’s why using social media is so important. Your entire audience sees your interactions and it helps establish your personality a certain way. For example, Wendy’s has a reputation for having a playful personality because of their use of humor and the pretend feuds that they get into with other brands on Twitter.

  • Be consistent in tone

    If you’re going to be funny and informal on one platform, you need to make sure that personality carries over to all of the other platforms you use, both online and offline. If you’re inconsistent, it will hurt your ability to develop a cohesive brand personality, which will only confuse your audience.

These are the four main brand components that you will need to address when developing your brand strategy. A strong brand requires a strong brand identity, brand image, brand culture, and brand personality. Implementing a successful brand strategy that develops all four of these components increases brand trust, loyalty, and awareness.

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What is a Brand Story? Differentiating Yourself From The Competition

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With all the choices that consumers have in this day and age, just having a good product at a fair price point just isn’t going to cut it. Consumers don’t just care about the product (or service) they’re buying, they care who they’re buying it from, which is why your company’s brand identity is so important to your success. One of the important elements of your brand identity is your brand story. A lot of businesses mistakenly think that this is covered in their “about us” page on their website; however, your brand story is not the same thing as your company history but the goal of a brand story is to create a connection between the brand and the consumer, and to establish the brand’s identity in the minds of consumers. While your company history can be an important part of your brand story, your brand story involves the consumer as much as it involves your company and is absolutely essential in helping you to differentiate your company from your competition.

What Is A Brand Story?

A brand story is the narrative of your brand. It shouldn’t just provide information to the audience about who your company is, it should also tell consumers what your motivations are and should inspire an emotional reaction. For example, while the history of your company can play a role in your brand story, it’s arguably more important why you started the company than how you started it. This helps to get across your mission as well as your core values. Additionally, this allows you to address the consumer as a character in your story. The reason you started the company was to address a certain problem or need that your consumers have, after all.

Learn more about branding: Why Brand Development Matters and How it Works

There are dozens — if not hundreds — of companies that are similar to yours, whether they are competing directly with you or not. These companies may offer similar products that address similar needs to the same target audience. Simply saying that your products or services are better than theirs won’t get you far, even if you’re able to generate content that backs your statements. This is because consumers need to be able to connect with you on an emotional level. They want to relate to the brand that they choose. To do this, you need to differentiate yourself from your competition via your brand story.

A brand story makes it easier for consumers to connect with you due to the fact that storytelling has been an effective way to communicate messages and ideas throughout history. Using storytelling techniques in order to inform consumers about your company is going to make it much easier for them to stay engaged with you. There are several ways that you can do this. For example, you can position your company as the main protagonist whose goal it is to help the consumer or you can position the consumer as the main protagonist who must overcome an obstacle (a problem or need that the consumer has) with the help of your company (a solution in the form of your products or services).

When it comes down to it, creating a brand story helps differentiate your company from your competition while also making your brand more engaging for consumers, thereby making you more relatable on a personal level and more trustworthy as a result.

Creating Your Brand Story

Now that you understand what a brand story is and it’s importance, it’s time to develop your unique brand story:

  • Determine your company’s purpose

    What is your origin story? This doesn’t just refer to the date your company was founded, but why you decided to establish your business. What was your motivation? What is your mission? For example, maybe you realized that customer service within a certain industry was poor and you wanted to provide a better customer experience. Consumers want to know that there’s more to your company’s goals than just profit.

  • Understand who your audience is

    You can’t tell a story without an audience, and you need to know who you’re talking to in order to tell your story effectively. Your story should include your audience as a character, so you must know who your audience is. What are their main challenges, needs, and goals? Knowing this (along with more detailed demographic information) gives you a better understanding of how to tell an engaging story. It’s also why developing buyer personas is particularly helpful when it comes to your brand story.

  • Make sure your brand story remains consistent

    The products and services you sell need to align with your story. For example, if your main goal as a company is to provide an affordable alternative to a luxury product, then you can’t suddenly begin selling high-priced luxury items. Everything you do, from products and services to your marketing efforts, needs to align with your brand story. This means that you also need to maintain the same tone and messaging of your brand story across all platforms. A lack of consistency is going to hurt your brand identity and, in turn, hurt your trustworthiness.

  • Keep it simple

    Simple brand stories are easy for consumers to remember and make it easier for you to maintain consistency. If your story is too convoluted or long, you’ll lose the message and maintaining consistency across platforms becomes more difficult. It will also confuse your audience and help make your competitors’ brand stories appear more clear and well-defined.

  • Be authentic

    Make sure that your brand story actually represents who your brand is. Many companies try appealing to different audiences and adjust their story inauthentically to try making an emotional connection with them. This often happens if you don’t understand who your audience actually is. For example, if you run a clothing line that mostly middle-aged adults purchase but you want to break into the youth market, you might try to spice up your brand story to connect with a younger crowd by using younger slang and referring to pop culture or issues that you think they care about. However, consumers are smart — they can tell if a brand is being inauthentic and it won’t go over well.

  • Be personal

    Appeal to the emotions of your audience. You want them to feel something about your brand story. That’s why it’s important to be authentic about your motivations and your values. You should also make your audience part of your brand story so that it’s more relatable to them.

Your brand story is an important element of your brand identity and helps to emphasize what your brand’s message is. By creating a brand story and aligning your marketing efforts with that brand story, you’ll establish a foundation for who you are and what your company’s purpose is, thereby making it easier for consumers to relate and connect with your brand on a more personal level.

Effective Marketing Strategies: The Ultimate Guide To Building Brand Authority

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Establishing brand authority is invaluable when promoting your company, especially in the early stages. However, you need effective marketing strategies to pull this off.

The modern consumer relies on research, opinions, and reviews before purchasing a product. But when a customer trusts your brand, they become more receptive. This means they are open to repeat purchases with minimal marketing efforts –bridging the trust-loyalty gap.

Building brand authority requires resources, commitment, and planning. However, some strategies can prove more effective than others. Typically, marketers should focus on creating an image that resonates with their prospective customers. When consumers trust your brand, it’s easier to sell, cross-sell, and upsell your services or products. Here are some of the most effective marketing strategies to help you establish brand authority.

Launch a Responsive Website and Keep It Updated

website updates

Your website is a powerful and effective asset in your marketing tools arsenal, forming the foundation of your strategy. When people search for products and services, they start with online research. Therefore, a website creates the first impression of your brand.

It’s essential to set up a responsive website that ticks all the boxes to help your audience find the site. Once the search engines notice your website, potential customers can find your products and services. However, optimizing the website to ensure maximum user experience is prudent.

Simplify navigation and download for a seamless experience and ensure related products are easy to find. Similarly, the content must be authoritative and informative to ensure it covers all user queries. And since most people use mobile devices, compatibility is a critical consideration. But if you want to increase trust and recognition, include testimonials from past clients.

Video Marketing

Video is an in-dismissible marketing and sales strategy in the digital age. Video marketing uses motion pictures to promote your brand. Unlike written content, video educates the audience, boosts engagement, and helps your brand stand out from competitors.

You are missing a powerful marketing opportunity if your marketing strategies don’t include video. Studies show that 92% of businesses consider video a must-have strategy that ensures lasting results.

You can create virtual tours of your business or happy customers enjoying your products or services. Regardless of your choice, focus on quality and relevance to ensure maximum impact.

Strategic Digital Content Marketing

Content marketing is a vital and effective strategy for your business. However, creating high-quality content requires expertise, but it’s worth the effort. If you don’t have an in-house content team, you can outsource the service to third-party creators with a track record of delivering stellar results.

Besides helping search engines rank your site, quality content can convert prospects to loyal customers. Serious customers don’t need irritating popups or irrelevant information –they want to fulfill their search intent.

Most prospects on your website want relevant, high-quality, informative, and engaging content. Unless you ensure the content resonates with your target audience, visitors won’t spend much time on your website. Therefore, the content should grab visitors’ attention quickly and encourage them to interact with your site and learn more about your brand.

Ideally, the content should focus on the persona’s pain points and how your products can solve the problem. Similarly, avoid overemphasizing your brand and instead focus on the offer.

Leverage CRM Tools to Nurture Relationships

CRM software helps build and manage relationships with your customers. Businesses receive multiple leads from various sources, including phone calls, walk-ins, referrals, emails, social media, and websites. Building a great customer relationship ensures recurrent revenues from return customers.

Since every lead is a potential customer, it’s critical to group, monitor, and track the leads. Having a reliable system to nurture and manage leads throughout the funnel can improve efficiency.

Besides automating customer data and tracking the customer journey, CRM can provide insights and simplify follow-up management. Depending on your business needs, you can find appropriate CRM software to supercharge your marketing strategy.

Email Marketing

Email marketing offers a channel to communicate and engage with your customers. While inbound marketingis about building and nurturing relationships, email marketing establishes the relationships in your customer’s inbox.

But this doesn’t mean spamming your audience. You only send valuable emails to people who have granted you permission, and they can opt out of your email list.

While most email marketing tools are excellent, you need to plan and schedule your email broadcasts depending on the prospect’s position in the sales funnel.

email marketing

Since consistency is golden in email marketing and sales strategy, creating evergreen sequences is essential to engage customers at different stages in the sales cycle. You can start by offering freebies to establish and nurture relationships. Offering valuable information without asking for anything builds trust and makes your prospect receptive to future offers.

The emails should go out on a specific day of the week throughout your marketing strategy to ensure consistency. This helps demonstrate professionalism and discipline when delivering on your promise.

Establish Social Media Presence and Connect With Your Audience

Social media is more than a modern broadcast tool; at least 73% of businesses consider social media an effective marketing strategy. It’s an effective platform where you can interact with your prospects on a personal level and build lasting relationships.

Social media helps establish a bond with your followers and broadcast valuable content. Most importantly, you can interact with influencers in your industry. Collaborating with influencers can boost your content reach and brand visibility since you leverage a wider network.

Influencer social sharing can attract inbound links from other websites, which increases your domain authority. High-ranking domains get a higher feedback loop since you get more organic traffic.

Most social media platforms provide users with data about their followers. Similarly, social media analytics tools can offer deep insight into the best content for your audience based on their preferences and habits.

Bottom Line

Effective marketing strategies identify your target audience and prospective customers. Once you understand the buyer persona, you can create messages that resonate with their needs and demonstrate why your brand is better than the competition.

However, you’ll need patience and consistency before getting meaningful results. Regardless of your industry, you can implement proven strategies to boost brand recognition and authority and improve your bottom line.