Click here to get this post in PDF
With the COVID19 pandemic finally coming to an end, the business world has been able to evaluate everything that happened in the last year or so regarding losses, gains, forced office closures, remote work, ecommerce, and more. One of the most noticeable (yet unexpected by most) takeaways was the proof that a majority of employees posses the ability to perform at the same, or even higher levels when working primarily from their homes. Also, many Americans took the time stuck inside to create their own businesses, and a boom of startup companies occurred during the height of the pandemic. Necessity is one of life’s great motivators, and for many families across the globe, money became very tight.
Given these two trends that were catalyzed by COVID, there was also a subsequent technology boom that led to great advancements in web-based business and commerce programs, as well as services to help those at-home startups flourish, and one of the most important steps in starting your business is branding. Here are 5 ways to kick off your brand or small business remotely, with some help from COVID-era advancements in technology.
Understand the Brand
As defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, branding is “the act of giving a company a particular design or symbol in order to advertise its products.” In other words, it’s the part of your company that you want to stick in consumer’s heads so when they think “basketball shoes” they think about the Nike Swoosh (as an example). It is one of, if not the most important part of marketing, and ensuring your brand remains congruent across all of your advertising mediums is also a key part of the branding practice.
Social Media
When it comes to marketing in 2021, ignoring social media would be a death sentence in virtually any sales field. Facebook is still the largest social network as far as American users, but Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok all have more than 60 million daily users making any of them prime targets for your branding efforts. Be sure that whatever branding you choose is the same across these mediums, or it defeats the purpose.
Brand Ambassadors
This is often in tune with social media, and most have heard the term “social media influencer” before, though the definition is a bit murky. When it comes to brand ambassadors, people who have a lot of followers and clout on social media are great choices, as some individuals have literal hundreds of millions of followers they can reach with the push of a button. These hyper-popular stars come with a giant price tag, but even small businesses can find a lot of marketing success by working with a local or niche influencer who is willing to push your brand on their followers.
Blogs
Content comes in all shapes and sizes, and though videos and flashy graphics may reel in the most attention on social media, many target consumers want to know a little bit about the “who” behind the product or service they are considering, and a blog is a great (and free!) way to do that. Blogs can be successful both as just personal reflection, or as informative articles about the field your company is in. A nice mix of both is fine, too! And as a bonus, regularly adding new content to your website is a good way to increase web traffic. Be sure to create a few talking points relative to your branding, so you can repeat them in your blogs.
Email Subscriptions
We have all probably been offered an email subscription in the last week, and though many are declined, consumers who are really interested in a product or the work a company may be doing beyond just providing a good or service, and thus would be interested in an email subscription, which can act like a newsletter for fans of your business. Like the blog, it serves as a good way to get a bit more personal when building your brand.
The More the Merrier
When it comes to building your brand, there are really no “bad” ideas, and innovation and creativity in how to brand is just as important as innovation and creativity in the brand itself. This list is not exhaustive, and if you have an idea, you think will help build your brand, weigh the costs and don’t be afraid to take some risks!
You may also like: How To Start an Effective E-Commerce Brand
Image source: Unsplash.com
