As we look forward to Q3 and Q4 planning for 2020, you may be looking at your business in a new light with the country’s most recent changes. Branding pioneer Walter Landor said, “Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.” So how do you market your brand? What assets are needed to launch a new marketing strategy? Here are five critical assets you need and why they are essential for your marketing.
1. Brand Identity
Your brand identity serves as the umbrella for all of your corporate and marketing materials. The brand should be able to scale evenly and allow for usage on a wide array of mediums. Establishing a brand that is unique to your target market will help you stand out from your competitors and have a highly curated elevator pitch that is consistent across the company.
2. Website + Content
Your website highlights your brand story and provides current and prospective customers the opportunity to learn more about your brand and what you have to offer. The content on your website is a crucial feature as the verbal messaging and positioning highlights your company’s key differentiators. Michelle Mazur, Vice President of Operations, stated, “Most clients struggle with content and messaging. Rizco’s research team oversees a competitive landscape on a regular basis to build a strategic site map, develop key message points, and shape the storyline that the site needs to tell.” Both content and the user’s website experience should leave a lasting impression and create a call to action.
3. Sales Tools
It is important to know your target market and how they want you to communicate and engage with them. As a result, sales tools will vary from company to company. However, there are five categories of corporate basics most companies should develop and be ready to use when marketing their company or networking with a potential new customer. First is collateral, which includes your business cards, stationery, note cards, brochures, and flyers. Second, are your presentation files such as a PowerPoint or a highly designed Keynote presentation. Third, your digital assets should be built out including your email signature, social media assets, and email marketing templates for monthly communications to your customers. Fourth, a short brand video, preferably under a minute, helps to tell your story visually and verbally. Last, event items such as trade show booths, event banners, apparel, and giveaways should be ready for when in-person events resume.
4. Digital Footprint
Social media is a marketing tool that reinforces your brand by humanizing your company. It showcases your personality, is an educational tool, a platform to curate sales, and provides the opportunity to interact with your customers. Depending on your company, the main channels to set up and manage include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube. Over 97% of marketers are now using social media to engage with 3.2 billion social media users worldwide. If you choose not to participate, a competitor will most likely be there to grab your market share.
5. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
Through Google and social media advertising, there is an opportunity to increase brand awareness and visibility with a targeted ad campaign(s). The campaigns are delivered to a finite target market who are then directed to a dedicated landing page to speed up engagement and pull the customer through the sales funnel faster. Depending upon your audience, the advertising out-of-pocket spend will vary due to the size and reach of the target market and the popularity of the product/service that is being promoted. The benefit? It is cost-effective and measurable!
Do you need to update your brand assets? Contact Rizco. Didn’t realize that we did all of this? Learn more.
