fbpx

Category: Branding

Categories
Branding Trends Marketing

The Miracle of Branding: Why Brand Your Business

why brand

According to entrepreneur.com, branding is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. A brand is what sets your business, company, product, or service apart from others. It is what you an individual. Branding is a promise to your customers. It is what tells them what to expect from your product or services. So, where do you even start with branding? Well, you could go onto our website and Buy-A-Brand or Build-A-Brand. You could also take inspiration from other brands. But what makes branding great? And why should you even brand something? In this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of what makes branding great, including why branding is essential and three examples of great branding. 

Branding Leads to Customer Loyalty 

Good branding can lead to customer loyalty and retention by elevating a business and building recognition. Think to yourself about your favorite brands. Did you have a clear image as to who they are? Did you feel certain emotions when thinking about them? Do you remember specific experiences with them? If yes, then that is excellent branding. It builds an emotional connection with your customers. Customers are attracted to brands with similar values to them, and once you attract your customers with the benefits that you have established with your branding and create an emotional connection with them through those values that loyalty can last a lifetime. 

Branding Helps you Stand Out.

Branding is what sets you apart from everyone else. There are a lot of small businesses out there that may sell the same products as you. What will set you apart is how you present yourself. A good brand has a clear purpose. It has meaning. Don’t just buy a brand logo because it looks cool. Buy a logo or create a logo that has meaning.

Establishing Your Brand Will Make it Easier to Introduce New Products and Services

It will be easier for you to introduce new products or services by establishing your brand and creating that secure emotional connection with your loyal customers. Your customers are already interested in your brand, and they will be listening to what you release, thus making it easier for you to have already a loyal customer base for your next product or service. 

3 Great Examples of Branding

  1. Apple – Minimalist, Innovating, Simplistic
    1. Apple is the first example in Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework. Apple’s brand shows you that they build beautiful computers that are cutting edge technology. They set themselves apart from other competitors by highlighting their innovative products. Their messaging then emphasizes that if you are an Apple customer, then you are also innovative and creative. 
  2. Nike – A Timeless Brand, A Consistent Brand.
    1. Nike’s branding and messaging strategy focus on empowerment. There is a unified message of empowerment and performance from their tagline “Just Do It” to their name, the Greek Goddess of Victory. Their models don’t smile. Instead, their photos are taken while doing physical activities. 
  3. Trader Joe’s – Groceries Meets New-Age Marketing
    1. Trader Joe’s is a national chain of grocery stores; however, based on their branding, you wouldn’t know it. It has branded itself as your neighborhood grocery store. They have a wide variety of high-quality food at a low price. They attempt to make customers feel at home in their causal, nautical-themed atmosphere. 

Why Brand? The Way We See It Your Business Isn’t A Business Without It.

Branding your company is extremely important. Branding is what makes your company unique. It sets you apart from other competitors and helps build customer loyalty. For more information on branding, reach out to those at Unmatte. Also, look at our Buy-A-Brand and Build-A Brand pages to see if we can offer any branding services your business may need. 

Categories
Social Media Branding Trends Marketing

Learn From These Mistakes Before You Try Social Media Marketing

social media

As of January 30 of this year, more than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, according to We Are Social. Of the 4.5 billion people who use the internet, 3.8 billion are on social media. That is nearly 60% of the population. If you are trying to market yourself or your brand, the most obvious way to show people who you are is to use social media. However, before you do that you need to know how to connect with your audience without losing their trust, in this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of the five social media marketing tactics that are dead. 

Misleading Social Media Game Ads—You’re not fooling anybody 

I can’t tell you how many games ads I’ve seen where the game is nothing like the advertisement. If your consumer downloads the games—and that’s a big if—they will soon see that the game is nothing like you advertised. What happens next? They delete it and don’t trust your brand again. 

Advertising in the Middle of Videos—They’ll keep scrolling 

If you’re going to place an ad, do it on the front end. I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped watching a video on Facebook because it was in the middle of the video. By placing your ad upfront, the audience knows what to expect, and they know they won’t be bothered once the video starts. By placing an ad in the middle of the video, you’re not only annoying your audience, but you are making them question if this is the only ad that will interrupt their video. What happens next? They keep scrolling. 

Social Media & Fake Accounts—Your audience knows it when they see it.

It’s pretty obvious to spot a fake account when you see one. They only have posted about certain products and have close to zero followers. According to Crunch Growth, 26.5% of Facebook Accounts, 17% of Twitter accounts, and 40% of Instagram accounts are fake. Once a consumer sees that you are using a cheap marketing tactic to increase your posts interactions, they’re going to lose their trust in your company and brand. 

Non-Native Paid Advertising—Most stick out like a sore thumb

A paid advertisement is easy to spot when you see one, especially if the content doesn’t look native. The easiest fix for this is to make your advertisement look like native content. This isn’t to say you should make a cheap post like “OMG I love my [insert product here]. You can buy it at [insert link here]. Instead, make your company seem human. Genuine content makes readers want to click on your profile and take a closer look.

Mass Following to Gain Followers—Are you trying to look desperate? 

Yes, the point of social media is to be—you guessed it—social, but mass following users so that you can get more followers is not the way to do it. Accounts that do this are easy to spot because they tend to have a crazy unequal follower ratio.  The ratio we view is when you are following more users than users following you. This makes your brand seem fake or of low value. Users will see this as your brand not being genuine and won’t want to interact with you. 

Although social media is a place of free expression, there is a wrong way to market on these platforms.

Remember to avoid the following:

  • Mass following
  • Non-native looking paid advertisements
  • Using fake accounts to boost your posts interaction
  • Placing ads in the middle of your videos
  • Using misleading game advertisements

If you have any questions about social media marketing tactics that are dead or would like a consultation, reach out to us.

Categories
Branding Marketing Target Marketing

Marketing Books That Have the Answers to Everything (6)

Marketing is an ever-changing topic making it is essential to keep up to date on the latest trends and developments. Any person related to this field needs to stay informed of how to market to your audience in the modern age properly. In this post, we’ll be converting the top 6 marketing books that have been published within the last year. 

Social Media Marketing 2020 by Stephan Anderson 

Social Media Marketing 2020 by Stephen Anderson will tell you how to build your brand, understanding the basics of influencer marketing, why you have to use Instagram and Youtube, how to monetize your influencer Instagram profile, tips for nailing your brand and more. This book provides an all-encompassing overview of how to market on social media in 2020. Buy it on Amazon starting at $12.99

 

Dynamic Digital Marketing by Dawn McGruer

Dynamic Digital Marketing teaches you how to increase online visibility and presence, attract your target audience, generate leads, and convert those leads to profitable customers. It offers step by step guidance on topics like: 

  • Gain invaluable insights on what works based on the McGruer’s 20 years’ experience in digital marketing
  • Avoid pitfalls and missteps by implementing the same proven success strategies used by key influencers
  • Harness the power of search engine optimization (SEO), social media, content marketing, online video, and more
  • Amplify your brand, cultivate customers, and increase profits
  • Incorporate e-mail marketing, customer analytics, strategic web design, and influencer partnerships in your overall digital marketing strategy

You can buy it on Amazon for print or on Kindle. 

Digital Marketing for Beginners by Oliver J. Rich

Digital Marketing for Beginners is an excellent handbook for starting in the digital media  world. It has digital tools and methods that will take your brand to the next level. You will specifically find: 

  1. Career profiles in digital marketing that you can take up and make a living
  2. Understand the role of a digital marketer and how that will boost your online business
  3. How to craft a marketing strategy that attracts sales and builds your brand faster
  4. Ways to analyze your competitors and apply their valuable business tricks
  5. Methods of targeting clients, acquiring them, and keeping them coming back
  6. The various social media tools for advertising. Above all you’ll take a look at the three most popular social media platforms for businesses
  7. How to re-brand and sell products and services. Branding is more than getting the right logo, however the right logo does enforce a better brand.
  8. Analyze eight types of digital marketing, but truly understand them.
  9. How to track your efforts using Google Analytics

You can get your copy on Amazon.

Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption by Steve Dennis

This is a brand new book that equips the physical retailer with eight essential strategies to deliver a great customer experience. Furthermore, these strategies include making your business: 

  1. Digitally Enabled
  2. Human-Centered
  3. Harmonized
  4. Mobile
  5. Personal
  6. Connected
  7. Memorable
  8. Radical. 

You can buy it on Amazon. 

Note from Staff: Heads up, even if you’re not selling a product or service – maybe you’re trying to spread awareness.  You are a retailer!  To clarify, the retention of customers account for more than 60% of your yearly sales, repetition.

How to Build a Personal Brand on LinkedIn by Dr. Keir Finlow-Bates

This is the perfect read for people short on time. Dr. Keir Finlow-Bates teaches you how to build a personal brand to help you receive more recognition at work, connect with your decision-makers, and generate high-quality inbound sales leads. However, the best part is that by using this book, you can fraud your LinkedIn image in as little as 10 minutes per day. Get it on Amazon.

Note from Staff: Building your personal brand can be easy if you’re confident in the audience you want to attract.  Furthermore, once that battle is over you’ll be able to communicate effectively via LinkedIn.

Marketing for Entrepreneurs and Small to Medium Businesses by Kelly A. Mahoney 

This book is targeted directly to smaller businesses. Being a business owner, you know you’ll wear a lot of different hats.  Certainly you can live without the stress.  In short, this book discusses how to: 

  1. Create winning approaches to the market
  2. Avoid common pitfalls, which will save you time and money
  3. Accelerate revenue and growth 

You can get it on Amazon for $11.50

Note from Staff: This was a great read when we started unmatte.com – it helped us keep our approach simple.  In other words, we can vouch firsthand that when you’re branding yourself, especially as a smaller business, this is one of your go-to manuals.

These books are all great resources to learn about new digital strategies.  Most importantly, Contact us if you have any questions about digital marketing strategies or would like a consultation. 

Categories
Branding Brand Manager

A Day In The Life – Being A Brand Manager

brand managers and what they do

Managers play a vital role in brands and businesses. They make sure everything is running smoothly and that any necessary materials are on hand. Managers are needed in all industries, and some companies opt for managers in each department. This also means there are several different kinds of brand managers. Knowing the importance of a manager allows you to see what you should be doing in your position, or what you should be seeing from the position holder. In this article, I will be covering what a brand manager is and does, go into detail of these requirements, and how to make sure you are the best brand manager for your company.

Why Have A Brand Manager?

The brand manager is the person in charge of overseeing the promotion of a product. They are there to make sure the development goes according to plan and, well, that it happens. Investopedia explains that brand management helps boost a product so prices can rise and bring the company more money as well as building customer loyalty.

Customer loyalty is a massive goal for brands. This means that your customers will come back. They will talk to their friends about your brand and, by word of mouth, bring you more customers. Wise Geek points out that being a brand manager means you hold a more significant amount of authority over employees of a lower level. In other words, this is the person who holds the success, or failure, of a brand in the palms of their hands. If they stay on top of their job and begin each day with determination, they will make your brand succeed. But, if they slack off or advertise your brand in a bad light even a little bit, it can lead to its failure.  

What Does A Brand Manager Do? 

They don’t just show up and instantly bring success as they need first to learn the ins and outs of the brand. They work to understand the goals, the products, and more importantly, the customer. Just like Investopedia implies, brand managing is one of the essential departments of marketing. They need to be innovative and stay innovative. This is what will cause your brand to be set apart from another company. 

Wise Geek goes into the different aspects of the brand manager position and explains what each requirement is. Part of it is market research. From finding the demographics for the product(s) to forming test markets, the brand manager digs themselves into the company. They treat it as their own, if it is not, and take as much pride in your product as you do.

It’s imperative they work closely with those in both marketing and advertising. Though they have different job descriptions, the brand manager needs to work alongside them to get the product out there and reach the proper people. Troubleshooting is another task that the brand manager has to deal with. You will face issues when growing your brand. That is inevitable. And it is the brand manager who needs to discover what went wrong and how to fix it, or where they need to try harder and do it. 

Consult With Someone Who Knows.

A brand manager will bring strength to your brand. The weight that sits on their shoulders is one of determination. And it isn’t always their own. Sometimes it’s theirs and yours. Being such a central role in branding, they soon feel like the brand is also created with their determination to see your company/brand succeed. The be-all of your brand very well could be some of your worst nightmares. 

Give your Brand Success.

Do you have your own brand? 

You put your own time and energy into your brand. It is a product of you and your determination. You want it to succeed. Can you handle that yourself? After reading this article, you know the importance of a brand manager. There is a need for brand managers, as they have a pretty hefty workload. They will bring you success. Hire a brand manager, and watch your brand grow. 

Categories
Branding Trends

Brand Requirements & The Do’s and Dont’s

Variious Brands Amongst Each Other, What Stands Out?

Being a good brand, requirements must be met. Although it seems like it, a brand doesn’t become successful overnight. It takes hard work, dedication, and consistency for it to happen. Not sure what makes a good brand? Ask yourself what you want from a brand you purchase from. There’s your answer. Everything has requirements, and the requirements to be a good brand come with do’s and don’t’s.

DO be reliable. DON’T cheapen your product to save money.

An unreliable brand will go downhill and quickly. Forget repeat customers; forget positive reviews. If you have a good product, customers will come back. They will give you the positive reviews that will help to grow your business. If you opt just to save some money, then the chances are that your product is going to reflect that, and that pushes your customers away. You no longer have that great product they love. Reliability is key.

Brand Requirements Should Be Consistent. DON’T be scattered.

You need to stick to a schedule and time frame. When someone orders your product, they want it fast. They don’t want to wait weeks before they even hear that it was shipped. They want answers to their questions. You need a consistent time frame between an order being placed and an order being shipped. Having orders shipped quickly shows a brand that is on top of their game. But, if one person waits a few days and another waits a few weeks, you are losing a customer. They will find another place to get the same or similar product at a much faster pace. It can be hard to answer customer questions, but responding within a few days shows that you are reliable. And, again, you need to be consistent with the time it takes to read and respond to inquiries.

Keeping up-to-date brand guidelines help you avoid lacks of consistency.  As a result of lacking brand requirements, your company could fall short in sales due to your clientele not being satisfied with the effort put into your brands outlook. Due to the gradual decrease in the human attention-span, your brand has to focus on providing your clients with quick, clean, and moreover effortless communication.

Brand Requirements Deserve Uniqueness. DON’T follow everyone else.

This one should be visible—unique means standing out amongst competition. It may be hard to come out with new products that don’t have something similar, even the slightest bit, out there somewhere. But you can adjust your product to be different than the rest. Don’t make a logo that sounds like you focused on catchy words and bold designs. You need a logo that stands for your company, because this is your brand’s label. It is important. You want your logo to represent your brand and have the ability to draw customers in.

These are just a few of the requirements for being a good brand.  Basically, you want to be unique, reliable, and consistent, because without the latter two, your brand is going to struggle. They go hand in hand with each other, and will only benefit your brand. Following the requirements of a good brand is a choice, and one that only you can make. You can opt-out, and have a failed brand, or you can go all in and set yourself up for success. Stand behind your brand and do what is best for its growth. As a result, your audience will value your brand the same way you do.

Categories
Branding Marketing

50 Marketing Jargon Terms You Should Know – PDF

Marketing Jargon can change the way you communicate drastically.  We’ve all been there; we get stuck reading files or documents with jargon we don’t know. Then we take longer to read through because we may not want to admit we don’t know what some things mean. So, instead of stopping every few words to look up definitions, this article is here to help.

Starting out in the business world can be tough. With all there is to learn, definitions just may be the most tedious. We all want to succeed in our fields of business and it can be made more complicated when some employers may not be the most willing to help aid their new hires. Without the proper help, learning new things may be even harder or they can get more confusing.

We all learn at different paces, so what may work for one person won’t necessarily work for another. Some can read the textbook definitions and be on their way, while others need a more broken down version. This article contains some of the most common marketing jargon used within the business and marketing world. They are simplified and to the point, in hopes of being the most helpful to those who need it.

 

 

Download our 50 Marketing Jargon Terms You Should Know for FREE Now.

marketing jargon

Maja Jaredic  explains more jargon terms you may need to know.

Please remember that we here at unmatte like to provide resources that we have found helpful in our careers.

Categories
Branding Marketing

Brand Guidelines: Where’s The Heart?

Why Do Brands Have Guidelines?

Being a brand is an achievement. Regardless of what your brand is for, clothing, shoes, sportswear, etc., brands still have specific rules they need to follow. Ruby Porter can co-sign, brands should be respectful of those interested, but most importantly, a brand needs to be honest.

A Promise Is A Promise, Dude.

Brands want to make sales, especially now, to try to keep their company going. The only problem is that they might be taking the best route to do this. Brands may post advertisements that they are having a promo, or that prices have dropped, or that sales will benefit those still working. As long as a company is fulfilling these claims, everything is okay. But, when they are promising things, they cannot keep is when there is an issue.
Brands should not take advantage of their customer’s being in a vulnerable state.

They should not use that to make sales or to manipulate their customers into buying during a time where they may not be able to afford it. This ruins that brand-customer relationship being people are not going to want to buy from you. They lose their credibility, and, more than anything, makes the customer feel used. It’s degrading to the individual, and the result is them no longer buying from the brand.

No one likes to be manipulated or lied to, and it seems like a brand doing this is worse than someone we thought we knew. ‘You can have this if you get that,’ and only getting that initially ordered item will make us made. We will reach out to the company about the issue, and if our complaint is ignored or we are told, the expected order cannot be completed. We then realize we were manipulated into ordering because of the promo, but nothing about it is different than a standard order.

Respect Is Given, When Respect Is Received.

A brand needs to respect their client, or they will lose their following. It can be hard to rebuild your reputation after self-sabotaging for the sole purpose of making a sale. Being hired and having more responsibilities can get to all of us, and in a time where money is tight, or we don’t know when our next paycheck from work will be, the last thing we need is to be humiliated by our favorite brand. Being humiliated by something, or someone, who is not a direct person we can communicate with, it may be a long wait before an apology. However, before that time even comes, more customers than not have already made the subconscious decision that they would no longer support the brand.

In The End

Brands do not have free range over how they act or what they choose to do to benefit themselves, and unfortunately, some brands may still think they do. But this hurts the customer; this serves the relationship and shortens the spread of mouth about a company. People can be vulnerable. And then they are taken advantage of by a company they thought to be loyal to their customers. The clients’ opinions/feelings about the company is a significant representation of how the company treats its clients. Growing the amount of negative opinions and feelings only decreases the respect that a company is receiving from the public.  Avoid doing that by being a genuine brand, that truly appreciates and respects their clients. Learn about unmatte.com and how we choose to provide our family of clients with the BEST service.

Categories
Branding

Your Brand Should be the Leading Character

[vc_row][vc_column column_width_percent=”80″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Figuring Out Brand Representation

When it comes figuring out how your brand should be represented, think of it as the leading character of a novel. It should be the one running the show, and at the forefront of it all. When I think of a character that has three of the top qualities that a brand should have, I think of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter & Brand Coincidences

Everyone knows Harry Potter. Whether they have or have not seen the movies or read the books, everyone knows something about Harry Potter. Throughout seven novels and eight movies, he continuously shows top qualities that include determination, reliability, and respect. Just like that, a brand should consistently show the same characteristics: both in and out of the public eye.

Harry lost his parents to Lord Voldemort, after being given to his mom’s sister and her husband, he spends eleven years living under a staircase as a regular human being whose family life wasn’t ideal. When he gets thrown into the wizarding world, he finds out the truth about his parents’ death, and it’s within this first novel that he is faced with Voldemort. Every year he faces Voldemort, and every year he is determined to do so and to win. If an eleven-year-old boy can begin his journey of fighting a man who killed thousands, then your brand should be able to have the determination to stick to your product.

To be successful, you can’t back down or take breaks. You need to go full force and with everything you have. If you show your employees and your customers that you have the determination to deliver a great product, chances are your employees will have that same determination, and your customers will be drawn to that.

 

You Can’t Go Wrong With Harry Potter, Don’t Go Wrong With Your Brand.

It is undeniable that Harry Potter is reliable, he never second-guesses his fight with Voldemort. When Dumbledore needed his help, he accepted without question. He wanted to help and knew it could bring him closer to Voldemort, and either the end of him or the man who killed his parents, and that didn’t stop him. Harry was determined and reliable to help get the job done.  Your brand should be the same.

  • Your customers should have a product of exceptional quality each and every time.
  • You can’t flake on your own company – Give your best 100% of the way.

This will ensure that they come back and continue to use your products.

Finally, Harry Potter shows respect to those who deserve it. Now, this doesn’t mean you can pick and choose who your brand is respectful too. But it does show how far respect can go. Harry respects his friends and, in turn, they respect him. They stand by and fight alongside him. He even shows respect towards his aunt, uncle, and cousin even though they don’t respect him. Your brand should always respect its employees, and it should respect its customers: whether they respect your brand or not. The level of respect that you and your brand give out speaks volumes about the brand as a whole.

So, What Does It Take?

It doesn’t take much to be a brand with good character. Determination comes when you start your brand, but now you need to put in the hard work and effort to become reliable. As for respect, that should come naturally and shouldn’t be an issue. Popular brands have many qualities, but these are just three of the most important ones. Let Unmatte provide you that brand character. We value great storytelling, and your audience do too.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]