The digital marketing industry keeps evolving every year, and the branding techniques followed by the companies keep varying based on the current trend. It’s said that brands are fabricated on cultural DNA and will evolve with the time and changing customer desires. It is often good to observe what the market leaders are following and also analyse what they are doing right which led to their success. You should also understand what went wrong and learn from their failures. Faking comments and reviews of your products, likes or shares can lead to your social media page getting banned, and you will lose the trust of your customers. You must not post too much content with an excessive focus on keywords since the search engine algorithms are getting smarter every day and this will only land your website in trouble.
Mobile Communications are Crucial for Branding
As every customer has a smartphone in their pocket nowadays, many organizations are starting to leverage mobile-first communication for promoting their brands. Most customers expect businesses to provide a Mobile App for better engagement and support. People use Mobile Apps for day-to-day activities like booking tickets, ride-sharing services, ordering food, paying their bills etc. You should make your apps interesting and useful to entice your customers. Several brands like Airbnb and Starbucks have remained successful in their businesses by re-inventing their mobile apps which appeased their customers.
Mobile storytelling is also getting popular with brands using short videos, gaming elements and infographics to engage their Mobile customers. Brands are using Mobile Apps to improve their customer services and gain brand loyalty. Another powerful tool for branding is text message marketing through SMS notifications. Apps like Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook are used extensively by mobile users to know about the brands which should be leveraged by the marketing companies.
Video Plays a Vital Role in Storytelling and Brand Messaging
In 2017, Videos are getting extremely popular and even smaller brands are using short videos taken with a minimal budget to promote their brand. Creative videos are the best choice to engage your customers and provide meaningful insights about your brand. All the social media platforms like Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Twitter etc. support the sharing of marketing videos which has led to this trend of branding through marketing videos.
With the introduction of Facebook Live, the views have grown tenfold from 1 billion to 10 billion year-on-year. Videos help you to offer a rich and meaningful experience to your target audience, and they can effectively communicate your brand ideologies and motives. YouTube alone gets more than 6 billion views every month, and many small businesses prefer promoting their brand through YouTube videos since it’s the cost-effective way to reach a wider target audience. Live streaming of promotional events is also used by brands extensively to gain the attention of their potential customers.
Virtual Reality is the Next Big Thing:
Many brands are using virtual reality technology nowadays for creating immersive product commercials. Many VR products are available in the market nowadays like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung VR headset etc. Many big companies are investing a lot of money to experiment VR technology in the marketing front. StubHub is an online ticket marketing place which is testing the use of VR technology to help visitors get a realistic view of their seat locations before deciding to make a purchase. Another example is the use of VR tech by a digital marketing company to showcase the customers as to how weddings will feel and look like at several luxury venues. Virtual Reality is gaining increasing popularity in all the sectors like education, real estate, gaming, and healthcare etc. and brands are finding new ways to market their products with help of this growing technology.
Personalization
One of the important shifts in branding recently is the increasing popularity of personalized branding and marketing. The brands are using data to offer a personalized experience for their customers, and it’s becoming a popular trend. For example, you will get push notifications and pop-up ads about special offers as you walk near a Fashion store in a mall. Similarly, companies are sending personalized emails and newsletters to their customers for promoting their products. Re-targeting, “near me” moments and local marketing are extensively leveraged by small business to gain more customer interest. Re-targeting is currently a popular advertising technique in which personal ads are targeted to customers based on their previous internet actions. Technologies like Big data, Machine learning and various algorithms for data collection and analysis are helping business to deliver real-time personalized branding messages to their potential customers.
Social Media Engagement for Building Connections and Brand Loyalty
Till now, social media remains the vital branding medium to build connections and increase the customer base. You should also use social media to respond your customer queries and feedback instantly in order to gain their trust and build an emotional connection. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr etc. are used by customers to build connections and market their products. Visuals play a vital role in social media branding, and you should create attractive profiles and social media pages in order to engage your customers. Content marketing is also very important through social media, and you should create useful and relevant content with meaningful infographics which will engage your customers and gain their trust.
Increasing Use of AI and Big Data in Branding Industry
Artificial Intelligence and Big data are important technologies used by brands to improve their marketing. Companies are using Big data analytics to obtain behavioural information about their customers and to offer personalized experiences. Branding for businesses through AI-based platforms is now a hot trend in the marketing industry. Tools based on Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms are increasingly used by marketing companies for web design, logo design and rapid creation of other branding elements. AI-based tools are considered a cost-effective way for small business to create their marketing materials than hiring professional designers.
As more and more people access the internet through tablets and smartphones, it’s essential for your branding strategies to be mobile-centric. By adopting the latest branding techniques, you can engage your customers in a better way and build long-lasting relationships.