Create customer loyalty and more through brand advertising.
Here, you’ll find:
- Why brand advertising is important
- Tips for successful brand advertising
- How to make your company stand out from the competition
- Real-life examples of brands who do it right
Picture it: You’re the owner of a new bakery. You make everything from scratch, and your customers love your goods. But you’ve got competition: from a grocery store down the street to other shops offering similar treats.
How do you do it? Through brand advertising.
Brand awareness helps companies can create life-long customers who are loyal to your business. Here, we’ll show you how branding factors into marketing, and ways to create an impeccable advertising strategy that enhances your reputation. Grab a croissant and let’s dig in.
What is brand advertising?
I recently came across a LinkedIn post from Matt Kerbel, the VP of Marketing at real estate company Homie, that resonated. He wrote, “Branding is the place brands occupy in our psyches because they’ve consistently shown up and lived up to their promise and values.”
If marketing is what gets you in the door, he added, then brand is what keeps you there.
Brand marketing is a form of advertising that puts your brand front and center along with your products or services. The aim is to build a customer relationship that’s directly tied to your brand. The brand is the hook that makes customers loyal to a certain product. Your brand, after all, is the face of your company.
Some ways you can make your particular brand unique include:
- Custom fonts or designs
- Eye-catching logos
- A brand mascot
- A custom song, jingle or sound (think: the NBC chimes)
Regardless of the ad style, one of the main goals of brand advertising is to make your company stand out from competitors and their ads.
How to target your audience through brand advertising
It’s crucial to portray a clear and direct message to the consumer, while tying that message back to your company. The message should work to resonate with your target audience on an intellectual or emotional level as well.
- Example: If you’re marketing cereal to children, you can create a talking animal as your mascot. When those children become adults, they’ll likely remember your mascot fondly and may continue buying the cereal for their children. We’re guessing you can remember at least one mascot from your childhood — Toucan Sam, anyone?
Creating that connection with your consumer helps foster a sense of emotional attraction to a brand. Instilling brand loyalty also requires a degree of influence over consumers. Your ad can teach them about something or entertain them through humor.
Create an alternative strategy that’s more unique and interesting than rival brands. (Image via Unsplash)
How brand advertising can influence customers
If there was a sure-fire way to get your prospects to take a desired action, all businesses would be doing it!
But although there’s not “one weird trick” that works across the board, there are steps you can take to better position your ads to influence customers.
These steps include:
- A well-designed website that’s visually appealing and easy to navigate
- Consistent ad, landing page, and site copy that speaks to your audience in their tone of voice and language
- Clear, eye-catching calls-to-action (CTAs)
To further influence customers, you can use the “foot in the door” technique. It’s a tactic that asks the customers to submit to a small request before asking them to commit to a larger one.
- Example: Ask customers for their email addresses to sign up for a newsletter. From there, you can send them info highlighting the benefits of your product as well as educational or informative content. (Of course, don’t just spam them with offers and brag about yourself).
The “foot in the door” strategy can be a highly effective marketing method. People who submit to small commitments are more likely to make bigger commitments, according to psychology experts.
How to differentiate your brand advertising from competitors
You can distinguish your brand by thinking outside the box. OK sure, but what exactly does that mean?
For starters, look at your competitors. How can you do things differently, or reach your target audience in a fresh, new way? It can be scary to try to reinvent the wheel, but look at this as a great opportunity to get creative.
If a competitor isn’t on social media, you can create a compelling campaign that attracts online visitors. You can also hold a fun contest on social media where you can give prizes to winning participants, or partner with a popular industry influencer.
If you’re still stumped, take a cue from your current customers. For example, makeup brands like CoverGirl began tapping male-identifying beauty influencers for their campaigns after noticing their growing popularity on social media.
Retail company Dick’s Sporting Goods announced a women’s initiative to help support more women in sports and appeal more to that demographic.
Customer awareness attracts more people that will stick with your brand for years to come. (Image via Unsplash)
How to create a brand campaign
Before you start mocking up a marketing campaign, make sure you’ve got a firm grasp on your personas. Create a full profile of your customers to understand their wants and needs. When creating a profile, try to answer these questions:
- What is the age of my target demographic?
- Where do they live?
- What are their general interests?
- What is their income level?
- Are they in a particular industry or profession?
- What are their concerns or problems?
- How can my product or service solve their problems?
From there, you can craft an appropriate marketing strategy that’s tailored to a specific audience. It’s a better (and more cost-effective) alternative to reaching out to a general audience across the country who may or may not be in the market for your product.
Plus, catering to a targeted audience allows you to mention specific problems that are common with a certain group.
How to establish credibility through brand advertising
A marketing campaign will not be as successful as it can be unless it establishes trust and credibility.
- Example: DeWalt is a company that makes quality power tools that are durable and long-lasting. As a result, many consumers will buy DeWalt tools alone and no other brand.
Brand exposure also requires a stellar first impression that makes an impact on the consumer. Turn your brand campaign into something that sticks with potential customers.
- Example: Disney has a unique font style that’s widely recognized. The Disney lettering would likely not evoke the same feeling with a different font in place.
This is where consistency comes into play. An ad campaign with the same designs and fonts distinguishes your campaign from others. Not only that, but it may also cause consumers to recognize your company more easily.
The takeaway
The most important factor in brand advertising is understanding your audience and what’s likely to resonate with them. By knowing your customers, you can create a precise campaign that targets a demographic of your choosing in a way that feels personalized to them.
Regardless of your demographic, creating a compelling campaign with appealing visuals and unique designs will attract eyeballs. From there, your campaign must also include a consistent theme in every ad to establish credibility and build the brand awareness you seek.
Interested in taking the next step in your brand advertising endeavors? Learn how to create a marketing campaign that builds brand trust.
This post has been updated and was originally published in February 2020.
