WHAT IS BRANDING?

A person, product, service or company is a brand.

To illustrate the definition of a brand and the role it occupies in defining branding, we will use the example of water:

Water is a free resource that every human being needs to live and survive. Yet it became a product the day humans and companies started to commercialize it, for example by selling mineral water in a glass and plastic bottles.

But water always looks the same, isn’t it? It is liquid and transparent. So, how can different companies sell the same product but still convince people to purchase their bottled water instead of the one from the competition?

The answer is: by creating a brand.

Twenty years ago if you owned a business you would be paying hundreds to thousands on a yellow page add or other marketing material.

Look at what you can do now with your business. Facebook business page, Linkedin, Instagram, and a website.

All ways for your business to have exposure.

But the BIGGEST selling point for all of this platform is branding. I hear this all the time "I don't sell a product so why do I need a brand'?

Here the list pulled from INC. Who needs to build branding content and why.

Social CEOs will become the new norm.

One of the most prominent changes in the digital age is how we perceive a company's leaders. The stereotype of the enigmatic CEO working away in the corner office has (thankfully) lost a lot of its appeal. The public's trust in institutions has diminished enough as it is, and with all the resources you have at your disposal, a lack of online transparency with your audience is inexcusable.

In 2019, CEOs and other company leaders need to use social media to share their insights, connect with their community, and listen to their audience. They may be busy running a business, but part of doing business in 2019 is being active on social.

User-generated content will make brands' efforts more authentic.

Instead of spending hours crafting original social-media content in hopes that your audience will like it, you can rely on user-generated content from your actual audience members to do the heavy lifting -- and engage more authentically.

Start looking for the best content from your followers, and consider showcasing that content (and giving credit to the creator) on your own channels. It can help grow your base and give your audience a sense of connection. At a time when organic social reach is on the decline, sharing authentic content straight from your audience members themselves can help you connect with your followers and build a stronger relationship with them.

Social listening will give brands an edge

Engaging with your audience is Marketing 101. But too many marketers forget the importance of listening to those audience members in that engagement equation. Social listening involves analyzing specific conversations, phrases, and other details on your brand's and even competitors' social media pages, and it's a growing component of competitive social strategies.

Rather than just glancing at posts and making your best guesses, social listening tools allow you to identify patterns and collect meaningful interpretations of their data. Using these interpretations to your advantage can greatly benefit your marketing campaigns in the future and give you an edge over other brands that are using social to blast their message instead of engaging followers.

The Instagram Stories feature isn't slowing down.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, perhaps the most valuable content is short-lived. While only temporary, Instagram Stories have become a popular way for users to consistently update their profiles, keep followers engaged, and, in some cases, even increase followers.

What makes the Stories feature so valuable for brands of pretty much any kind -- aside from the fact that it's about twice as popular as Snapchat -- is that you don't need to invest a ton in the video to make the most of it. You can share pictures or behind-the-scenes videos that give your audience a glimpse of your values and culture without spending a lot. And you can do so as frequently as you want without overwhelming your followers with half a dozen posts in a day.

Regardless if your selling water, a home, tax services or a t-shirt... you need to be leveraging the social media platform with impactful and storytelling content!

We aim to exceed our client's expectations in every branding session by sharing our talent, the extensive research we do for every session and by only working with the best!