Almost every brand has a story to tell, but not every brand is sharing content that people actually enjoy. Many brands are creating content that is unoriginal and unengaging, which results in having the wrong customer base, and thus not getting the right customers. How can you fix this?
What is a Brand?
Branding is the use of an identifiable image to represent a company or product. The image usually includes a logo, colors, graphic design features, slogans, etc. A brand typically comes to mind when people think about what they are buying because it distinguishes their product from others in the marketplace. Brands are often used by companies to create connections with customers by associating their goods with certain lifestyles or values.
Top Reasons Brands Fail to Excite Audiences
Exciting audiences are vital for any brand to be successful, even if it’s selling teddy bears or coffee mugs. But why are some brands able to capture our attention while others fall flat? Let’s take a look at the six reasons brands fail to excite audiences.
- No brand story.
- Brands that are not bold.
- They don’t know what their audience wants.
- Brands that aren’t live and relevant.
- Brands that don’t talk about their own product or service.
- Their content lacks personality.
7 Solutions to Fix Your Brand
Sometimes a brand can seem dated or outdated. This is a common mistake that many brands make, and the best way to fix it is to start fresh with a branding makeover. When going through a branding makeover, it’s important to make sure that the new brand is in line with all of your other marketing efforts and that you invest in your new logo design. Here are 7 solutions to fix your brand:
1. Stand out from Competitors
Marketing strategies are crucial for any company. Branding and differentiation play a major role in the success of a campaign and should not be overlooked. The best way to stand out from competitors is to come up with an engaging, consistent, and creative strategy.
Brand strategy is the process of choosing who your target customers are and what values you want them to associate with your brand. This helps you create messages consistent with your branding that are believable, memorable, persuasive, meaningful, relevant, simple, strong & unique.
Differentiate your brand by creating messages that are unique or different from competitors in the same industry or niche. It is important that these messages resonate with your target customer so they can connect to what you have to say on social media channels.
2. Defining Who You Want to Reach with Your Message
A company should know who they want to message before they start any marketing campaign. In order to do so, a company needs to have a clear understanding of who its audience is and what is the best way for them to reach them.
There are many ways a company can reach out and communicate with its target audience depending on what they are trying to promote. For example, if a company wants to advertise their newsletter they would need to use different channels than if the product was something like an electric car.
A customer persona is one of the most effective tools companies can use when defining who they want their target audience. If you want your message (i.e., a message about your newsletter) seen by more people, you need to find out more about your target persona and what would resonate with them.
3. Don’t be Afraid of Change
Every company needs to keep up with the changes in the market, no matter how small. Customers are changing their preferences and competitors are making strides, so it is important for companies to make sure that they are always ahead of the game.
Companies need to be aware of what is happening in the market and what their customers want before they start any major changes.
Sometimes, in an attempt to grow their brand, businesses end up hurting themselves. This is because when you change something that people already identify with or like about your brand, it can hurt your customer base by losing their trust in you. To avoid this happening, businesses should ask themselves how will this change help us. Only then will the modification be tangible and forward-thinking enough to gain customer trust.
4. Don’t be Afraid of Bold Colors & Fonts in Your Design Work
Your logo is the central idea around which your brand will be built — it’s the element that ties everything together. Almost every element of your business’s design will be derived from your logo: your product packaging, website, social media posts, and so on. So when you’re designing a logo, it’s crucial to consider the colors and fonts that you’ll use — ensuring that they’re easy to read and stand out on any background color or texture.
5. Define & Identify your Target Audience
It is often a challenge to pinpoint a target market for a business. We have to take into account the demographics of the business and the demographics of the target market.
A market can be defined as a group of consumers who have similar needs or wants. In this way, marketers can identify who their target audience is by selecting a segment that they believe will buy their product. We should not think about our audience in terms of age, gender, or race but in terms of their needs – what they want from our product and how they want it delivered to them.
The key to defining a target audience is knowing who you are trying to reach with your message and what motivates them- both on an emotional level and through practical means. Understanding your customer’s pain points allows you to cater your message towards
6. Create a Unique Persona
The goal of creating a persona is to make people feel like there is a real person on the other side of the screen. The personas are often created for chatbots, social media profiles, and customer service.
Personas are not just some wax figure pretending to be human on the other side of the screen. They are made with input from real people who have been surveyed or interviewed so that they have an accurate representation of what kind of person your audience might be.
7. Develop a Compelling Value Proposition
A value proposition statement is a type of marketing statement that identifies what the product or service will do for a customer. It is a sentence in a company’s business plan that defines what it provides to its customers in terms of benefits, and how these benefits are superior to those of any other competitor.
A compelling value proposition needs to be able to answer three questions:
1. What will you provide? (unique features)
2. Why should the customer care about this? (unique benefits)
3. Why should they choose your brand over competitors? (competitive differentiation)
Conclusion: Why Your Brand is Boring and How You Can Fix It
If you do not feel like you and/or your brand and business have the kind of personality and voice that captures attention, you need to look at how you can change that. You don’t have to be boring — you can make your brand fun and engaging, like the brands above. Don’t underestimate the effect of a well-written press release — positive news coverage can influence potential consumers and encourage them to take action.