Is your brand ready with the New Year Branding strategy? Here are a few to start Branding 2015

The module of branding has been upended since the advent of the Internet and social media. Now, information, brand campaigns, viral ads flow in millions of different directions at once—to, from, and by people all over the globe. The social landscape is undergoing constant change and that’s influencing the brand’s strategy as well. The web or the digital world is even expected to go strong from 2015 and is predicted to reach a level that’s never been experienced before.

However, some of the well-established rules (formed in the past few years) of branding still apply in 2015 as well but as 2014 closes, marketers are preparing for the upcoming year by applying ways to leverage opportunities and overcome challenges. We have penned down our lookout and we wish that helps you in your branding strategy for the year 2015.

Build your brand on one quality – Trust

Effective branding strategy is all about a consistent connection between a company, its products, and its promise to customers. And it’s not only the trend of 2015 but for as many years to come. No matter what physical product or service you sell, your true product is trust. If your service, product or customer management is good, you can win half the battle then and there. Internet does play an important role when it comes to brand visibility and establishment but it’s not the only thing. The hands-on experience will spread the word, so earn their trust—then work on it to keep it.

Tip: Internet can come with contents full of scams, half-truths, and outright lies but once you gain the trust, those can’t affect your brand. All you need to manage are the interactions and reviews.

Your consumer wants to reach you – Get in touch ASAP

When your brand makes an entry in the social media platforms, you are watched and enquired 24X7. You need to be present there to respond to your customer’s inquiries on Facebook, LinkedIn, Blog etc. In this competitive landscape where everyday hundreds of social media pages are created, slow responses and non-responses simply won’t work for your audience. In the past, social media reach out may have been seen as a bonus but now it’s a necessity. In fact from 2015, marketers and brand owners will take customer’s feedback, suggestions, and complaints seriously and you should too. What and How you say things, react to things and act to things is going to matter a lot, whether it is service brand, a personal brand, an online shopping portal or you name it! All of it is a part of a sharp & targeted branding strategies.

Tip: Don’t be afraid of criticism. Some percentage may not like your service/line of product. Be bold to accept it and give positive responses in such cases. Your brand may have not impressed them but your polite gesture may always open the door for someone else.

Video is gaining audience – Craft one today!

Be it videos for entertainment like “Gangnam Style” or videos for a social cause like “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge”, brands alike are gravitating more toward video content. And users are not only restricting themselves to like and share them but they are going ahead to participate in any such engaging activity. The trend will continue and grow even more in the year 2015. A research revealed millions of unique videos are uploaded every month to the social media site – garnering millions of mentions and conversations around different brand campaigns. With numbers like that, brand builders should now go with the trend and make something even more unique.

Tip: Not every brand/product can be extended like Ice Bucket Challenge. So identify your audience and associate them with your brand message to make your video campaign worth sharing.

Produce content worth sharing – The trend is catching up

Now-a-days content creators have been producing content that is not only share able, but content that holds meaning – the two works best for the consumer. In the year 2015, it’s expected to grow even more. It’s not anymore about “likes”; brands are seeing more engagement when thought is put into the storytelling element of the content. In this scenario, brand builders or marketers will have to focus on developing and executing higher-quality content strategy, which will in turn lift the number of shares.

Tip: Pay close attention and evaluate the type of content being posted on a daily basis. This will save you from creating content that already exist. Content Marketing is the way to branding strategies whether it is for big business houses or the start-ups, this is gaining popularity.

Brand your product on the Go – Give importance to Mobile Web Browsing!

Internet usage is no longer limited to desktop or laptop, it is now done from mobile devices (smartphones/tablets), and there’s no reason to expect that trend to end anytime soon. Your web offerings need to be accessible from any device, any time. Ideally, this means new web development projects should be built with responsive design in mind. A mobile-friendly development project attracts massive traffic than a non-friendly one. So, 2015 is the time to cut on the budgets of just the print friendly creative agencies, share those with the customer engagement & interface friendly agencies.

Tip: Avoid contents having flash and other heavyweight mobile component. A “Click for more” call to action is always a good idea.

The above are the few tips we could share at the start of year. Keep visiting the space for more updates on Branding Startegies – throughout the year. For now, get on to Branding 2015 – for your Business & Brand.  For help, write to us on ask@30thfeb.com

Better your Brand this year.  Have a Happy New Year.