Marketing your brand is not easy and it takes business planning, strategizing, and execution to build your brand. Consumer trends are ever-changing and businesses have to keep up in order to be successful in the industry. With the boom of social media, businesses have a new way to strengthen their brand by interacting with consumers. This is also a way to narrow the gap between business and consumer, allowing businesses to get easier access to consumer ideas.
What are businesses doing these days to please consumers and how are they doing it? Consumers are fast to adopt technology and because of this, businesses have to regularly adjust marketing plans in order to keep attracting consumers the right way. Some businesses are doing it right while others become another side of the lesson. Who's doing it right and how are they doing it?
Social media presence – brands like AmEx, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks are known to have great social media presence. They are able to make use of their platform effectively and efficiently and customers are positively responding to their efforts. What makes great social media presence is when a brand is participating in discussions, answering customer queries, even extending customer service through their sites. Consumers like this because they no longer have to wait on the phone hotline. Customers make use of social media sites to share ideas and they want to be heard. Brands that are doing it right are those who listen and follow through. When you listen and pay attention, you get ideas for your brand, and at the same time you can share content that will interest your customers and keep them engaged. Social media platforms are a way to make your customers feel that you value them.
Who did it wrong? This year, Chapstick had a marketing campaign that got negative responses from customers, and they posted their thoughts on Chapstick's Facebook page. Instead of answering their customers' concerns, the Facebook moderator deleted negative posts. This move irritated a lot of their customers.
Branding changes – there will come a time when a brand has to make a big decision, just like when Motorola decided to split their company into two separate companies. Motorola is now Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Mobility is said to cater to the consumer side (cell phones and cable set-up boxes) while Solutions will cater to government and professional business needs (barcode scanner and police radios). The split may lead to brand dilution and post confusion to consumers. As of now, Motorola is not aggressive with their marketing campaign establishing a culture and identity to the two different companies.
Unilever has different brands under them and they did a great job in distinguishing each from the other. Each brand can stand alone, and consumers are not confused. Not everyone adjusts to changes quickly but if brands are quick and aggressive in distinguishing and making a stand as to why they made such a change, consumers are more likely to accept it.
Image and control - businesses need a good reputation to gain consumer trust. They have to establish that they are what people need. To do this, a brand has to establish who they are and know their customers, not just throw something out there and hope that consumers will like their products and services. Brands need to study their market, what they want and how your business can provide this need. Social media sites are a good place to gather information, and so are other means of doing market research. There is always the need for proper strategizing and setting a right time to execute your plans. When it comes to b2b, companies have to focus on their end users rather than their buyer. If consumers don’t trust your product, then other businesses will doubt your brand. If you know your company and you can provide a trusted commodity, then it’s easier for other brands to take your brand in.
Businesses constantly make decisions on how to improve their brand, get more customers, and anything that is needed to reach business goals. When you are getting positive responses from your customers, take that and consistently deliver that to your customers. If you make a mistake, apologize and face the consequences, Learn from the mistake then strategize your comeback.
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