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Introduction
Your marketing strategies have covered everything you think it needs… social media marketing, search engine optimisation, video marketing, but somehow nothing seems to be working…
Why is that so? Is there something deeper? Or...have you ever wondered why brands fail and why the money spent on marketing leads to extremely low Return on Investments (ROIs)?
This is simply because the brand isn't attractive. If prospects find it hard to trust the brand, they are not going to buy into it, regardless of how extensive or appealing your marketing is. That’s all.
On the flip side, consider the brand Red Bull. How does this image make you feel?
Image from https://pixabay.com/users/Alexas_Fotos/
Red Bull has such a strong market presence due to their strong branding coupled with effective marketing. How? They stayed true to their branding and values, “giving wings to people and ideas” and utilised unconventional marketing strategies like physically bringing free samples to their customers. This allowed them to put their customers first and dominate the market.
What happens when you have weak branding?
Some examples of branding fails include terrible logo designs. Think of Microsoft Bing… or if you can’t because it simply does not register in your mind, here’s a refresher.
Image from https://www.logodesignlove.com/bing-logo
The stretched out words and overly unappealing logo is what makes this brand simply unmemorable and unsustainable.
Branding is supposed to deliver a promise that marketing sells, to create a lasting perception. When you have weak branding, there is a lack of customer recognition. There is no emotional connection that builds loyalty from customers.
Why is that important? So you can not only have a constant stream of demand but also referrals to new customers that is essentially free marketing through word of mouth!
A weak brand lacks credibility, consumers will not have confidence and trust in your products. No trust, no sales. Furthermore, this makes it harder to introduce new products under the same brand and your business comes to a dead end.
What about poor marketing?
Do you remember Carrefour? While the rest of its competitors expanded their marketing to more relevant platforms such as digital advertising, Carrefour stuck to what they were comfortable with on traditional platforms and this led to it essentially being forgotten by the world.
If there is a lack of effective marketing, there will be no initial attraction! There will be no communication about what you want the audience to know about your product.
For example, your product has a unique selling point that gives it an edge over competitors, you want consumers to know of this. With poor marketing strategies, this will not be achieved.
This in turn leads to a lack of engagement with consumers and people will just ignore your product. It should come as no surprise that people feel more drawn when they have information and knowledge about your product.
Furthermore, with poor marketing techniques, your products may have no relevance in today’s society. For example, some consumers use social media following as an indication of product strength and a lack of a high social media following will stifle growth.
So… what then?
Marketing and branding, they go hand in hand!
Marketing attracts and propels the message forward, branding keeps customers by differentiating.
How to develop a strong brand?
Check out our other article on the difference between Branding and Marketing, along with tips on developing a strong brand here!
How to develop an effective marketing strategy?
Traditional marketing, also known as outbound marketing where there is no target audience, is no longer effective these days and the way to go is inbound. How?
It has to be customer-centric and adds value for them. Think big. Consider emotional appeal based on your target audience. You want them to feel something, to feel good.
Your marketing should be multi-platformed, so as to have an all-around effect that lets its presence dominate.
It should also be dynamic and able to evolve. This is so that your brand is able to cater to the ever-changing needs of the audience through constant tweaking and revamping.
You can check out the top Facebook Marketing Companies, and consider having them add value to your company through powerful marketing campaigns.
How do they work together?
Effective marketing helps communicate your brand. Utilise your marketing strategies to highlight and emphasize the vision of your brand.
Your brand becomes more valuable through marketing, but marketing is more effective when the brand is able to provide the value that was promised. Your brand is the core, ensure that the core of your business is strong.
Your brand and marketing strategy should coincide so that they can supplement each other well and build up the product from both angles.
Hence, effective branding and effective marketing serve different purposes but they are both very important in their own unique way. Only upon developing a strong brand that resonates well with your target audience coupled with a powerful marketing strategy, can your business take flight and reach greater heights.