According to a Forbes article, digital marketing experts discovered that we see an average of 4,000-10,000 ads every day. Which means our brains cannot take in that much information and it automatically develops a “screening” process. Thank goodness for that coping mechanism, because I don’t want to remember the 6,000 ads I’ve seen on toilet paper when that room would be better used for remembering useless trivia and music lyrics.
Introspection is key to marketing yourself effectively. The better consumers know and understand your brand, chances are they’ll come back again and again. People aren’t drawn to products, they’re drawn to connections. Here are four ways to capitalize on building that connection.
Knowing Your Audience
Our audience is constantly consuming content. When waiting in line for their coffee, taking the bus, waiting for their spaghetti to cook or laying in bed before going to sleep it’s a constant scroll of information. They are always hungry and always moving on to the next thing. It’s time to take advantage of that, and get out in front of their faces. What is the competition doing? How are they engaging with their audience? Does it work? Is there a way it could be done better? To rise above the competition, the only way to succeed is to begin trying. The noise will always be there, regardless of whether or not you dip your toes in.Clarity
Sometimes when I’m scrolling on Instagram and I see an ad pop-up with a company’s logo, I’ll look at it for a bit and realize I have no idea what they’re trying to tell me. It can be easy for a company to see their logo and know what they’re about, however their logo isn’t FOR them, it’s for the world to know who they are and what they do. What I’ve noticed for myself is that if it takes me more than 3 seconds to figure out what’s going on in the ad, I move on to the next thing. Have your branding reviewed by other unbiased people. I’m sure your nosy neighbor could give you an honest opinion. I mean they probably already do.
Refreshing a brand to have clarity sounds like a daunting task, it is hard to determine which changes will be effective and which will not. Thankfully, I stumbled upon this amazing study done by Harvard Business review which is a great resource in this process. They studied 597 different logos and evaluated why they are the most effective. Check it out!Brand Awareness
Are you being intentional with social media? When people navigate to your page, do they immediately know what you’re about?Wendy’s does a fantastic job building brand awareness. (I mean their frosty’s are enough brand awareness for me, who could forget those?) Their Twitter presence has gained a lot of traffic with the younger crowd simply by interacting with people. I’m never on Twitter, but I have seen several screenshots of their engagement with customers all over the internet. Talk about brand awareness! That’s free publicity and crowds are advertising for them by screenshotting their tweets and sharing with others. A simple act of communicating with potential customers builds brand awareness.
Story
I leave this last, but that does not mean it’s least. Never underestimate the power of a good story. The human race has been telling stories for thousands of years and it won’t stop now. An easy way to rise above the noise is being vulnerable and sharing humble beginnings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “Well, Apple started out with a handful of people in a garage and look at where it is now.”Branding goes beyond just the physical logo and a cute flyer. It expresses the DNA of the company. People don’t want to just buy products, they want to invest in an idea, a lifestyle, a solution and a story. I don’t want to just buy yogurt because it’s yogurt, I want to buy yogurt from an Icelandic man named Siggi Hilmarsson who was homesick for his Mother’s skyr (high protein yogurt) and decided to start making it in his tiny New York City kitchen. When I’m in the grocery store staring at the 800 different kinds of yogurt, what stands out to me is this fantastic brand, Siggi’s because I know their story and I want to be a part of it.
If you’re looking for an inspirational mode of storytelling, check out Siggi’s about page on their website, it is stunning!
I hope this article leaves you feeling like you just had a spa day. That you close out of this window with the inspiration and motivation to rise above the 10,000 ads we see on a regular basis. Leave a comment and let me know some of your favorite brands that stick out in your mind!