You’ve got a business logo and you’ve got an amazing company name that you’re trying to gain recognition for. You may already be promoting your business in various ways, including print ads, business cards or store signage, however, there are a number of other fun and easy ways that you can build up your brand following.
Marketing your brand online doesn’t have to involve spending lots of money and putting aside lots of time. There are a number of simple ways that you can get your brand higher in the search rankings, and you can do all of this behind the scenes. But, before you start doing this, you’ll need to make sure you have good analytics software like Chatmeter, so you can monitor the success of the below campaigns.
Boosting your online presence
It’s important that you have somewhere on the Internet to promote your brand, regardless of whether you’re selling online or not. A lot of people will be doing their research online, so you need to be accessible to these types of customers. And, you don’t need to have a website to do this. Instead, you can take advantage of the platforms that social media channels offer, using a custom web address to direct customers to this site. Then, if you want to establish a website in the future, you already have a web address to do this from, and one that your customers will know.
Sending out branded emails
If you’re going to be sending emails to your customers, it’s important that you have a branded one, as this gives you a professional edge. If you start sending emails from free accounts like @gmail.com, your customers may question whether you are in fact a real company. What’s more, by having a professional email address, it helps to promote your company name even further.
Create videos
Video is becoming an increasingly popular form of content, so it’s important that you’re producing these for your online site (or social media networks). If you’ve got a mobile phone, you can produce a video easily – it doesn’t have to be shot by a professional, it just needs to be professional in the content it uses. For example, if you’ve just got a new clothing line in your shop, pick out some favorites and show them to your customers.
Be creative with your content
Content is king when it comes to generating traffic to your online website and if you can find a niche within your industry, you’ll be able to gather a following of people who are interested in the topics you talk about and the products / services you offer. Have a look around at what your competitors do to see what niches are already proving popular, and then take a different spin on it with your content.
By generating this type of content you’ll be showing your customers that you’re a professional in this field, which adds to the reputability and trust of your company. Think of unique ways you can talk about what you do, even taking a funny twist on it. This will help to gain your customers’ attention, and may even help to make your content go viral.
Marketing through email
Develop a list of customers who want to be contacted by email. You can have this included as a form on your website, or you could ask your checkout staff to gather email addresses when customers pay for their items. It’s a great way to create a constant stream of communication with your customers and will allow you to promote any upcoming ranges, events or discounts that you may have online or in store.
When sending emails, you’ll need to make sure they look and sound professional, and it’s also important that you don’t send them too frequently, or you will get a lot of unsubscribes!
Understanding your customer and your marketing efforts
Before you embark on these marketing campaigns, it’s important that you’ve asked yourself several questions. What’s your target audience? What makes them tick and how old are they? This will help you to tailor your promotional activities to suit their requirements, making sure your marketing appeals to them.
You should also consider your budget and what areas of your marketing campaign you want to prioritize. If you don’t establish this from the offset, you may find that you’re spending too much money on a certain area that isn’t driving enough sales for you. And finally, as mentioned previously, make sure you’re measuring the success of all of your marketing activities.
About the author
Collin Holmes, founded Chatmeter, Inc in 2009 and serves as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Holmes is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside and graduated with an MBA from San Diego State University. Prior to Chatmeter, Mr. Holmes served as Vice President of Product Management and Director of Product Marketing for xAD, Inc. (LocalAdXchange) (also known as V-enable). Mr. Holmes comes with a couple decades of overseeing and developing product roadmaps, business development and managing the process of driving applications to market.
