Branding For Dummies
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Whether you communicate your brand message primarily in person, via social media, through publicity, or using online or traditional media ads, the following points are key to your success:

  • Develop an integrated marketing communication program by projecting one look, voice, core message, and brand promise across all communication channels. People gain confidence in brands that present themselves consistently online and offline, in person and in advertising, and before, during and after the sale.

  • Define the core message to be conveyed in every brand communication. Your core message is the promise of your brand. It describes the meaningful value customers can count on your brand to deliver and the claim you’ll make and prove — directly or indirectly — in all communications and brand experiences, whether presented through personal presentations, web pages, social media, promotions, advertising, direct mail, or public-relations efforts.

  • Reach those in your target audience with enough frequency to change their minds and inspire their response. One and done rarely works in marketing and never works in branding. Plan communications to reach your carefully targeted audience on a frequent basis. Remember this saying: Reach builds awareness. Frequency changes minds.

  • Seize interest in the first few seconds. In person, in ads, on your website, and in social media, the people you want to influence decide in the first few seconds whether or not they’ll stay tuned to hear more. Grab their attention by making a single, interesting point, fast. Keep online posts short. Make copy brief, bulleted, and scannable. Be sure your website loads at lightning speed.

    Eliminate slow loads or introductions in video presentations and always, in all communications, use the first ten seconds to captivate and convince your audience that what follows is relevant to their interests and worth sticking around to see, hear, or read.

  • Make it actionable. Always know what you want your audience to do after encountering your message. Do you want them to feel differently? To schedule an appointment? To click to a webpage? To attend an event? To subscribe? To make a purchase? Set your objective and make the action clear and easy to take.

  • Make it sharable. You’re communicating your brand message in an era when people listen to and trust the word of friends even more than the word of marketers. Make each communication easy to share, interesting, and useful enough to make those you reach want to pass it along to others.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Bill Chiaravalle served as Creative Director with world-renowned brand strategy and design firm Landor Associates before founding Brand Navigation, which has been honored with numerous branding, design, and industry awards. Barbara Findlay Schenck is a nationally recognized marketing specialist and the author of several books, including Small Business Marketing Kit For Dummies.

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