Branding Resolutions for 2020 (Part‑2)

Hey, we are still not far along from the new year’s. We hope you stood your ground in front of the instant gratification monkey and have not let go of your new year’s resolutions. If you have, It’s not too late. If you have refrained from making resolutions this year, we have some that you might want to consider. If you have not read part one of this piece, here is a link for you.

Or, let’s have a quick recap before you extend your hand for further resolutions.

Recap:

1. I will be more clear about my branding strategic decisions. It will help me define clear goals whether I want to engage my customers, generate leads, pitch for sales or simply create a recall value.

2. Depending upon what I’m selling, I will nail down one or two unique selling propositions. And then thrive upon it.

3. By providing systematic and valuable information to buyers, I will make a customer and not simply a sale.

So now that you are very clear about the above three points, let’s go ahead and see other resolutions that will go into your New Year’s branding plan.

4. I will understand that Digital Marketing is more than just posting.

(Photo by Pete Pedroza on Unsplash)

When you tie-up with an agency, you ask them to create posts for you. But have you realized that social media marketing is more than just posting? Besides, your posts should be quirky, relevant, fun, informative, carrying a message, and have a purpose.

Now let’s take a look at your digital properties. Sure, you have a website, an active blog and accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. But, this isn’t going to be enough. As a brand, you need to have a well-established digital footprint. You might want to go a notch higher and think of other options that will go into your digital marketing plan.

And all its different elements complement one another to create a strong strategy for your business. Depending upon your product line, you can have a strategy custom to the platform but in this case, you need to ensure that your brand elements are aligned everywhere, at all times.

Your precious customers make use of different platforms. To get them to listen online, you need to reach out to them where they are and what they use the most. Also, most people respond differently to different platforms. So by spreading yourself across multiple channels, you are good to go.
Engage them.

5. I’m going to breathe consumer-centric content.

Brands are everywhere. You go on Spotify and you hear an ad. Go to Instagram and whoa, tons of ads. Brands are constantly communicating with the audience. To rise above the clutter, you need to add a dash of personalization to it. To portray that you are an emphatic brand, engrain the concept of personalization in your overall branding strategy.

The great way to craft consumer-centric content is by focusing on the quality of content zoomed on a particular demographic of the audience.

Here are a few pro tips that should help you adopt a more customer-centric content strategy:

· Identify customer challenges

· Create content to resolve them

· Attach metrics to your content

· Promote content on relevant platforms

· Since digital ads are mostly dynamic, audit your content

· Fill the gaps

· Be agile towards your content marketing strategy

6. I’m not going to have too many cooks and spoil the broth.

Branding is not a one-person job. It takes your personnel, customers, and everyone associated with your company to build it. There is a unified vision. And parallel to that, there is this most important asset of your company — your employees. If there is something that will help you win the game in 2020, it’s the teamwork of like-minded individuals striving towards the same goal.

Hiring candidates is easy. But retaining them and instilling a sense of company goals and ethics is sadly difficult. Poor recruitment decisions can affect the way you want to take your brand ahead. Needless to say a sheer waste of resources.

Why do you think big organizations spend so much time and amount behind team building and employee engagement activities? Certainly, they have resolved to create a team of members who can contribute to their branding efforts in a positive way. Start recruiting talent whose values are aligned with your own. Make use of data-driven tools to help you find top-most industry talent.

Hiring talent with a singular focus will make a stronger and unified team. It will also make sure that these heads fit into the company culture properly.

7. I’m going to befriend the elephant in the room

(Art by Savan Prajapati)

Most (read: good) entrepreneurs see the elephant in the room. But they do not want to acknowledge it. Running away from challenges won’t help. You will only get to reach the finish line if you overcome the hurdles.

When you have everyone focusing on strategies, goals, visions, and personnel, you can focus on something even more important, especially when you are in the leading position. Try and identify the challenges your company is facing. List down those problems that are putting you down. What could that be? Is it the brand alignment issue or a problem that you haven’t been able to give enough time to? Do you think you are unable to beat the ultra-market competition because of a strapped budget or a poor marketing strategy? Whatever that is, needs to be found. Or maybe you already know and are being ignorant about it. Wouldn’t it be much better to find solutions before resolutions? Think about that one.

With the New Year settling in quickly, you need to focus your take on your own brand. Maybe you are in a hatchling phase or maybe you have already taken some baby steps, you need to enter the New Year with a bang. So how to build yourself a 21st Century branding strategy? You can take these resolutions right away. Or if you think that they are simply going to turn into New Year’s syndrome, you can get in touch with us. At Slangbusters, we have the right strategic approach for every business need.

— by Tasneem Baldiwala, Freelance Content Writer, Slangbusters Studio