A few months ago I wrote in this same space about brand image and all elements that visually define the values of a company.
Today, I want you to follow me along this post to dive into another closely related concept; brand recognition.
You should be aware that both concepts are responsible for creating brand identity, through our messages and different marketing actions, so the term “recognition” is much easier to understand.
In this article, I promise to set aside the technical aspects of branding and the abstract definitions that surround the world of design and digital marketing.
We will talk openly about everything you can do to make your business more recognized than ever on the Internet and especially how email marketing can help you in this process. Are you ready?
The digital world is growing daily, and companies that don’t have an online presence are doomed to failure. Without having a recognized brand, you won’t be able to compete in such a crowded market, so you will have to work hard to create a memorable brand.
Users are overexposed to advertising messages, which causes them to pay less and less attention to them. And that, by itself, will directly affect any digital marketing strategy you create for building brand recognition.
So I want to give you some practical advice about the importance of creating a recognizable brand in the online world.
We will see this step by step in the following points:
- What are the reasons why you should boost brand recognition on the Internet.
- What elements, actions, and channels are at your disposal for creating a successful online business.
- Email marketing strategies that will take your brand to the next level.
Why should you ensure users can recognize your brand?
I don’t want to get too involved with preambles about the importance of branding or brand image (this topic alone would be enough for another post.)
So let’s focus on practical aspects instead of defining what is brand recognition (something that the word alone tells us) as we have some tips to give you.
I’d like to list some of the most damaging disadvantages in not creating a strategy to improve brand recognition:
- Problems for engaging with people in new or unexpected situations.
- Impossibility to access highly competitive markets
- Lack of reference as a serious and reliable professional.
- No external motivation.
- Less volume of user interactions for marketing actions.
- The potential loss of ranking and visibility in search engines
Ignoring all online communication options is more than madness. This simply would destroy your chances of creating a successful brand.
What are the elements that make your brand recognizable and what can you do to improve the image people have of it on the Internet?
A basic concept related to the corporate image, and about which I write extensively in many of my articles, is consistency. That concept is critical for maintaining the essence of a recognizable brand.
So that we can speak the same language:
All marketing actions, designs, business messages, etc., transmitted through any of the channels we use (like for example, email or social networks), should follow the same pattern and be always synchronized.
It is no longer enough to have a logo, design and solid corporate image to achieve brand recognition, we have to do more than that and understand how to correctly use all the tools and strategies we have at our disposal.
Let’s see them?
► Corporate elements that identify a brand
In the introduction to this post, I promised you not to enter the abstract world of branding and corporate image, but here I must mention only the elements that make up this concept, because they are the ones that will identify a brand and therefore make it recognizable.
Remember that all actions taken in marketing should follow a consistent pattern, and to do that you will have to:
- Define a uniform communication tone.
- Create a professional name and logo.
- Use slogans.
- Use a recognizable typography
- Play with your corporate colors and create a beautiful design
For example, not all trademarks use the same expressions or quotations in their messages, nor the same font in their texts, as well as the same tone or color in their communications.
Also, not all companies apply the same actions to achieve similar results, and this, dear reader, is what makes us unique and recognized in the market.
► Marketing actions for increasing brand recognition
Although here it is difficult to generalize because as I said, every company, professional or entrepreneur will perform totally different actions for increasing visibility on the Internet, some strategies are directly related to brand recognition:
- Apply timeless concepts: whether in graphic or contextual terms, move away from trends and fashions, you should apply an unique style, as this will help you to create a brand that will be easily recognized by your followers.
- Avoid self-promotion: share the positive aspects of your business, glorifying your brand only in specific moments, as this is also a way of distinguishing and showing your brand as unique.
- Write headlines with essence: whether in social media posts, in your blog or email marketing strategy, applying a message with a very personal tone of communication will make your brand easily recognizable.
- Set a consistent communication tone: for example, if you talk to your users more informally on social networks, your brand should be consistent and you should apply the same tone to the other channels.
- Use calls to action: The use of direct messages that encourage your users to act will also give a different touch to your brand. You can apply any of the above ideas (for example, a timeless design and a more informal style.)
Now that I have given some general advice, we can define the different options we have to convey the values of our brand.
► Online channels where you can promote your brand values
At this point in the post, you will be wondering the strategies for brand recognition that I will share with you in the next few paragraphs.
But give me a second! I don’t want you to ignore many other options that you have to apply to any powerful strategy you have created to add value to your business (surely you already have some ideas for boosting your brand on your head!).
Let’s briefly review the most popular channels.
- Social networks.
- Your site and your blog.
- Landing pages.
- Press Releases
- Opinion forums.
- Freelance work platforms.
- Ebooks and other editorial content.
- Email.
Can you think of more recommendations that you consider indispensable? It would be great if you leave a comment at the end of this post.
Oh! And by the way, the order I followed on this list is totally random, because it is about the last, precisely, that we are going to talk in more depth below (yes, I’m sure you already know that I love to send newsletters, and if it’s with Mailrelay, that’s better!)
Email marketing practices for building brand recognition
Why I consider email an excellent channel to strengthen brand image? And why working with email marketing with Mailrelay can help us achieve this goal?
It’s not because I’m the one who’s saying it, but email is a traditional online channel for contacting subscribers and customers promptly (not in real-time, like on social networks.)
Not only that.
Email is the ideal way to generate relationships based on loyalty, create an expectation, send personalized messages and offer exclusive content in different formats, if you targeted your email list correctly.
With this brief summary of the reasons I just gave you, you will certainly agree with me that it is critical to work to create a clear message, that users will identify as coming from you.
To do that, and to finalize the content of this post as it deserves, I will give you 4 fundamental tips that you should put into practice for building brand recognition using email marketing:
1) Send presentation emails and thank your subscribers for trusting you
It may seem obvious, but not all brands have the habit of receiving new users with a welcome message, thanking new subscribers for their participation and trust.
Most people usually subscribe to newsletters on various topics. So it is very likely that if the new lead doesn’t receive any messages from you in a long period of time after subscribing, he will end up forgetting the reason why he is registered in your email list.
Did you know that forgetfulness or lack of recognition is usually one of the main factors why users mark as spam the emails they receive? Be very careful about that and do your best to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you.
2) Create autoresponders and reminders
Another way to get noticed is to schedule a few messages that will be sent automatically on certain dates, such as birthdays, holidays, or promotional periods.
That way, you will always be in touch with your subscribers, something especially important when you have a database of users who were already your customers or who were already interested in your products or services.
Also, if you don’t have time to send an occasional message, you always will have some scheduled newsletters, as this will help you to improve brand recognition.
3) Prepare custom messages and unique content
Something I love about email marketing is that it allows us to create a link with our customers through direct and personal contact.
In addition, an email marketing software like Mailrelay offers many targeting and automation features.
Whether for a new follower or a loyal customer, offering exclusive content, such as e-books or downloadable templates, in addition to using the communication tone for which your brand is recognized, will help you create a successful digital marketing strategy.
4) Run A/B testing, product research, and surveys
Finally, I recommend you test. Never get tired of testing.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been working with email marketing for a week or 3 years, you should always try to improve your results.
For example, you can create A/B tests to find out what subject will bring you better results. However, you can also invite them to see your latest release, sending them a message asking for their opinion, or giving them a free sample of your product.
Conclusions
In this article, we have tried to reflect on the importance of creating a recognizable brand on the Internet, as well as the options we currently have, such as social networking and content marketing in general.
There are very few sectors where we don’t find competition at a digital level. So, if you don’t have a consistent presence, you will give reasons for users to choose your competitors.
Don’t forget; you will need to pre-define your strategy to advertise your brand. In this article, we just tried to do a quick review and talk about the different channels that you can use, as well as techniques for creating a recognizable brand, using powerful tools like email marketing.
What do you think of these tips? Would you have any other suggestions for building a recognizable brand on the Internet?