The year 2021 posed several challenges to the world but an industry that thrived in spite of all that has happened in digital marketing. As December comes along, brands scramble to ensure that the brand is remembered as shopping lists are drawn up & vacation plans are made. “As the year comes towards an end, it is important to put your brand front and centre as it will ensure that you are embedded in your consumers’ mind when they make any purchasing decision, without a second thought. Once your brand comes to the knowledge of consumers, they will end up forgetting it unless you actively promote it. And this is most important as the calendar year comes to a close & we see consumers shopping to their heart’s content,” says Mr Pravin Chandan who is actively working on helping young & aspiring marketers own their skills. The degree to which a brand is recognised by potential customers and accurately linked with its specific product or service is extremely important because it results in consumers coming to know what the brand stands for & what it offers. Consistent communication on the right channels, using the right copy & content, ensures that brands stay fresh in the minds of potential customers as they celebrate the holiday season.
Additionally, investing in marketing activities & taking them up a notch would build trust in the minds of consumers, as the more familiarity they have, the more they gravitate towards the brand. This allows brands to obtain loyal customers, build a good reputation and introduce new products and services with ease. Consumers eventually start to identify brands from merely a quick glance at the logo or part of a jingle. It paves the way to achieve goals as a brand. “As a marketer, there is no better way to wrap the year up with success, than going all out with marketing & focusing your energies on promotions & campaigns. We ourselves offer marketing tips & tricks on our social channels & websites. But to speed up the process of learning & therefore execution.”, says Mr Chandan. When asked what channels & modes a brand ought to use to shine apart this holiday season, Mr Pravin Chandan provided the following methods as a solution:
• Referral programs: Word-of-mouth is the best way to spread knowledge about brands and the best way to encourage consumers to do this, is by offering perks when they do so. Customers happily talk about brands to their friends and family. This could increase the number of sign-ups without having to do the work.
• Choosing a logo that represents the brand: People around the world can see a check mark logo from a distance and immediately associate it with Nike and the same goes for the ‘M’ of McDonald’s or Apple’s bitten apple. Working with a good graphic designer to create a logo that will be used everywhere from marketing to advertising to the print on products & all other campaigns, is imperative. It must be ensured that the logo is not just aesthetic but is also representative of the brand.
• Infographics: Infographics are a fun and creative method to present valuable marketing facts and data. These are frequently shared, making them an excellent tool for brand growth and thought leadership.
• Freemium: Freemium is a business strategy in which a base product is provided for free, with premium or enterprise-level products being charged for. It’s a well-known pricing method. Customers can have a taste of the brand and goods before making a purchase. It is a “try-before-you-buy” option that has proved to be quite effective. Usually, for the free products or services, the brand’s watermark will be shown on it. Therefore, even if the consumer chooses not to opt for the paid services, knowledge about the brand will still be spreading while the consumer receives it for free which is favourable for both.
• Social media contests: Running social media contests is bound to make the audience engage with the brand. It will pull in more and more people who are excited to participate in the contest even if they are initially unaware of the brand. They will also share the content extensively as a result.
• Sponsor events: Festivals, concerts, fairs and exhibitions can be the perfect places to draw attention to brands. These events generally require brand sponsorships, which allow brands to carry out advertising through t-shirts, backpacks and what not. Sponsoring events is a proven method to get brands in front of hundreds, thousands, or millions of individuals that fit the target demographic. If a brand chooses to sponsor an event, their logo will appear on everything from banners to fliers to water bottles. Sponsoring an event also helps identify brands with an event that matches their ideals, allowing customers to associate the brand with the aesthetic and character of that event.
• Social focus: “You have to be social in order to build brand recognition.” says Mr Pravin Chandan. There are numerous social networks and the number is constantly increasing. Engaging in social media marketing on all of them may not be feasible and therefore, if the brand is best suited to a specific network, efforts must be focused more on those sites. The brand must know where the target audience spends time and concentrate efforts there. A good starting point would be looking at stats to identify where the traffic originates. Asking questions, leaving comments on posts, and retweeting or sharing information to interact with the audience. Most brand recognition is shown to come from online sociability.
• PPC advertising: PPC is a smart way to get the business visible on Google as SEO becomes more competitive every day. The brand might be at the top of Google for relevant queries if one conducts a targeted keyword research. Even if consumers don’t click on PPC ads, having the name appear at the top of the search results leaves a lasting impression and is great for increasing brand awareness.
• Remarketing campaigns: Remarketing is the practise of presenting advertising to users who have visited the site but did not convert. Remarketing adverts are displayed on websites that clients visit. They’ll soon notice the company on their favourite sites, while purchasing online, and so on. This generates the appearance that the company is bigger and has a higher advertising budget than it actually seems.
• Paid social advertising and Influencer marketing: ?Organic social media marketing is getting increasingly challenging, prompting more companies to turn to paid social media advertising. Facebook and Twitter advertisements are both inexpensive and effective at getting the brand noticed on social media. Whether or not consumers convert right away, every additional piece of familiarity counts when they’re ready to buy. Finding industry influencers whose businesses that the brand may potentially complement with step one to making use of the social media frenzy. Influencers have become the best way to get brands to be seen by people far and wide.