By Calvin Smith
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a public relations and marketing panelist discussion in San Francisco. The topic of discussion was centered around improving your pitches by being more creative. While there was thorough discussion focused on pitch creativity, there was one topic that blossomed from this discussion that I think is of particular importance: building your brand.
Does your brand resonate with your intended audience?
This blog will focus on some key aspects that can help build—or evolve—your corporate brand as part of your digital marketing strategy.
Have a Purpose
Now more than ever, we live in a start-up environment. Everyone seemingly has a new product to display or a new idea to divulge. Innovation is not in short supply. Yet, so often, companies lose sight of why they established their presence in the first place. Their vision is lost, the passion that once burned is gone, and their sense of purpose diminishes.
Purpose is what propels a brand. Purpose is also what separates a creative pitch from one that is simply mundane. When a company is constructing a press release, they need to keep in mind a few questions: What is the purpose of my company? Why am I releasing this product? Why am I promoting this product? Why is now the right time?
Create a Personality
Companies often neglect establishing or creating a personality. Your audience needs to become familiar with the personality of your brand—your personality is what ties your customer to your brand. Great companies know who they are at their very core and how they want the public to perceive them. When companies understand what their personality is, they can start to formulate the emotional appeal with potential customers and establish a stronger rapport with current customers.
Emotional Appeal Through Marketing Strategy
Brands need to promote constant awareness. One of the cost-efficient ways is establishing a presence on social media. However, liking and following is simply not enough for a presence on social media. You must engage with commenting, retweeting, and sharing. Keep in mind that the first interaction will not necessarily lead to a sale. In fact, in most cases, the first interaction does not lead to a sale. It is the constant reminder, constant interaction, and constant awareness that leads to successful sales over time.
But constant awareness is not the be-all, end-all; awareness must be informed by appealing to your audience’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Brands who have successful marketing campaigns are those who have incorporated emotional appeal in their delivery. Whether it invokes laughter, sadness, empathy, or sympathy, emotional appeal is what sticks with your potential client or current customer.
Bottom Line
There are several ways in which to build a brand. In this blog, I have highlighted three key fundamental aspects that can help you begin formulate—or finesse—your brand strategy. A salient aspect to keep in mind is that your brand must understand your audience. It’s imperative that your brand keeps your audience’s needs, wants, and desires top of mind so that your messaging and campaigns resonate.