Strong branding is at the center of every successful business. When you see the Apple logo, you know exactly who they are and what they do. That’s because they’ve built an iconic brand of simple, safe, and minimal design.

The knowledge you instantly have about the company when you read their name or see the logo shows just how effective branding can be at setting a company apart from the competition. That kind of instant recognition is what you need to strive for in your business, whether you’re building computers or the next skyscraper.

Achieving outstanding branding comes to a few basic steps, so let’s talk about how you can build a brand that sets you apart from the competition.

Start With A Story: Explain Why You Do What You Do So Customers Can Connect With You

One of the first steps involved in building a successful brand is finding the right way to tell your story. You must explain why you thought your business was needed, and how you feel you can offer valuable solutions to customers. This has to be done in a way that makes the customer’s needs the focus.

Let’s say you run a construction company that regularly builds schools in rural areas. When explaining why you started your company, you could cite noticing that there was a need for critical infrastructure in underdeveloped areas and feeling the need to do something about it.

This shows that you pay attention to the needs of communities and customers, not just what makes you money. That being said, you’ll also make money from the approach. 83% of companies that believe it’s important to keep customers happy experience financial growth.

To support you and promote your brand, customers have to know what your message is. Explaining what it is you value gives them the tools they need to define your brand in a positive way in their mind.

Inspire Feelings: Build A Connection With Your Customers By Appealing To Their Emotions

Think about commercials for a minute. How often do you see one that tells an emotional story, where the product is barely mentioned? They get you invested in the short story they’re telling you, and then casually drop their product or logo at the end.

This approach works, according to the Institute of Practitioners, who found that ads with emotional content lead to twice as many sales as more logic-based ads. Basically, people are more likely to use how they feel about you to make a buying decision than they are to use facts. This reinforces how important emotions are when it comes to defining a brand.

Someone who remembers you as “the company with the commercial about hiring homeless veterans to do construction” is more likely to buy from you. Activating that kind of emotion also increases the chance of an ad going viral, as people are more likely to share advertising content if it triggers good emotions.

Find a version of that approach that works for what you do, and use it to build a brand connection.

Create Community: Give Your Customers A Place To Turn For Advice And Answers

Humans like to feel supported by other humans. That’s why customer service is a 350 billion dollar industry, and companies annually spend 1% to 2% of their earnings on customer retention programs.

Despite all the money spent on this section of business, it’s often the simplest solutions that make the biggest changes.

Let’s use the example of a construction business again and get some more ideas on branding a construction business. If you build a Q&A or general advice section on your construction website, people will land there for answers even if they don’t know about your company.

They come to learn more about flooring or installing a sink, and they find helpful information and stick around to learn more. That gives you a chance to build a connection with that person. You can allow other customers to weigh in with advice, and even take the next step and gain more knowledge in the field yourself.

Making yourself more professional reflects well on your brand, so set aside some time today to improve yourself. If you’re in construction, you can take practice exams to get your contractor’s license. This is not only a segment of the Lean Business Model but it’ll open up more business opportunities, and it’s a move that gives you more knowledge about your industry to pass on to your customers.

The strength of the community you build will depend on the commitment you make to it. The goal is to create a space where you, and others, can come together to share a positive experience that’s beneficial to potential customers. They’ll remember that, and that’s how a brand reputation that sets you apart gets built.

The key to outstanding branding is to make moves that set you apart from your competitors. Take these steps to build a more personal relationship with your customers, and a better future for your business.

In advertising, past work is one of your company’s most valuable assets. It shows that the copy on your site isn’t just fluff — you’re really committed to the values you claim to stand for, like top-notch customer service or high-quality products and services.

Showing off past work, however, can be tricky. Not only do you have to sort through all the work your business has done, you’ll also have to figure out how to present it. For B2C businesses, this challenge can be even more daunting.

There are a wide variety of techniques out there that you can use to show off your business’s past work. These are four of the best options available.

1. Case Studies

For B2B and B2M businesses, one of the most popular ways to show off past work are through case studies — in-depth descriptions of past projects that use visuals, numbers and writing to break down the product or service you provided a client, and how you overcame challenges while trying to provide that service.

For example, see this case study from The Anstadt Company, which specializes in print marketing materials.

The page breaks down a particular job that the company had worked on in the past, including info on how the design team approached a problem their client was having and how the client felt about the finished products.

These case studies both show off the benefits of working with your company — like the new design and improvement in attendance — as well as the thought process behind your work.

This can make customers more confident in work. Case studies like these show off how you can solve problems as they emerge and work closely with a client to create a product or service that really meets their needs.

2. User-Generated Feedback

When shopping online, consumers often start with research. One of the most popular research methods is to search for user-generated feedback, typically in the form of online reviews.

You’ve probably done this yourself. You may have quickly checked the reviews on a big platform like Amazon or Google before committing to a particular product or business.

Consumers put a lot of faith into these reviews — according to one recent survey, 84% of people trust online reviews just as much as recommendations from friends.

Hosting online reviews on your site or storefront is a great way to show off positive feedback from your customers.

For example, an online candle-and-candle-accessory business like Yankee Candle may provide customers with the option to review products they’ve purchased, giving them form fields to highlight both the value and the quality of a product.

Users can also rate reviews, marking them as helpful or unhelpful, providing another layer of user-generated feedback for visitors.

These online reviews will provide prospective customers with feedback from real customers who have experience with your products. Even if these reviews aren’t fully positive, they can make a significant difference in encouraging a customer to try one of your products.

This tactic may be less effective for B2B businesses who have fewer clients, or for businesses that primarily offer customized products or services. However, for most businesses, these reviews can be a valuable tool in presenting feedback on your past work.

3. Design Galleries

You can also let your work speak entirely for itself. Design galleries and similar online portfolios allow you to show off dozens of images of work that you’ve done in the past.

The homepage for RoAndCo, a New York-based design studio, shows off how effective design galleries can be.

The entire front page is basically one big design gallery. Clicking on the left and right side of the screen allows users to scroll back or forth between the studio’s previous design work.

This strategy is ambitious — there’s no context for any of the images, meaning that visitors will miss out on any explanation for images that could have helped to explain how the studio approaches to design.

It is, however, a very visually exciting approach. A similar design gallery could be a great strategy for businesses or professionals that produce lots of visual content — like graphic designers or animators.

4. Customer Testimonials

You can also directly ask your clients for feedback to put on your site. Soliciting customer and client testimonials can give you a valuable, real-world example of the work you’ve done and how you’ve lived up to your brand values in the past.

These testimonials can be an extremely valuable marketing tool that you can use to make your brand seem much more trustworthy. This is especially true if consumers know the clients providing the testimonials.

This page from Booker, the development of online booking software, shows how you can use unique presentations of customer testimonials to highlight past work.

Clicking on the “Watch Testimonial” button opens an embedded YouTube video with a brief, two-minute-long testimonial from one of Booker’s clients. In the testimonial, the client describes the troubles they’ve had with booking in the past and how Booker’s services were able to help them keep their business running.

These testimonials can give customers someone to relate to in your marketing and help you show off the real-world problems that your products have solved in the past.

Showing Off Past Work on a Company Website

If you have company work that you’re proud of, there is a wide range of methods you can use to show it off on your site.

Case studies, testimonials, design galleries and even user reviews can help you show potential customers how you’ve succeeded in the past.

Author:

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.

Good marketing is a crucial element for every business’s survival and success. A well-planned marketing strategy can do wonders for your small business. Not only will it attract a considerable number of potential customers, but it will also give your business an immense opportunity for growth.

Online marketing is rapidly taking the lead among all other forms of marketing. While traditional marketing channels like TV commercials and billboard advertisements are still widely employed, their effect is no longer dominant in the digital era. With social media and e-commerce websites taking over the world by storm, marketers are making a paradigm shift towards digital marketing.

However, digital marketing is still an evolving concept. Hence, many businesses face issues when trying to market their product through an online platform. These marketing mistakes can create plenty of problems, and might even cost you your business. Therefore, identifying and avoiding them is essential. Below, we have pointed out a few online marketing mistakes small businesses often tend to make.

1. Not having a pre-planned strategy

Like any other business strategy, online marketing also needs a tremendous amount of planning. Without a well-thought-out marketing strategy, your marketing goals will lack structure and direction. You will be unable to reach your established objective, and your competitors might put you at a disadvantage.

To develop a marketing strategy, start by identifying your audience, and set a long-term vision and goals for your business. Most importantly, decide the online platform(s) you want to use for marketing purposes. You can implore the different techniques used for market research to devise a conclusive strategy for your business.

On the other hand, hiring a digital marketing agency can make your job easier. You can get assistance from qualified professionals and build an efficient and effective strategy for your business.

2. No social media presence

In this day and age, where social media is the “king” of marketing channels, not having a social media presence can put your business at a considerable disadvantage.

A social media page can help popularize your business and attract more potential customers. Social media is also an excellent avenue for you to interact with your customers and build long-lasting relationships. You can improve your services and quality by getting their feedback. You can also get an insight into consumers’ consumption patterns and develop a marketing plan tailored to specific groups.

Social media handles like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram also allow you to run advertisements for your business. While everything else is free-of-cost, these advertisements are not. However, these costs are scalable depending on your objectives. They are a great way to attract traffic to your page and increase your followers.

3. Entirely depending on paid advertisements

While paid advertisements can be immensely beneficial for your business, you should avoid solely relying on them. One reason for this is that these advertisements may not necessarily yield any long-term benefits. Also, back-to-back paid advertisements tend to have diminishing returns and can burn a hole in your business wallet.

Consider investing your time, money, and energy in other long-term and effective strategies like inbound marketing. Inbound marketing includes social media, SEO, and email. Inbound marketing promises long-term benefits and improves ROI.

4. Neglecting your social media account

It’s one thing not to have social media presence at all (we talked about that above), and entirely another to have one and neglect it. And believe it or not, small business owners are more likely to make the second mistake.

Some common mistakes marketing teams make are inconsistency with posting and replying late to queries. If you don’t post regularly, you might start losing followers, eventually dipping your engagement and traffic figures. Delayed responses to queries and an inactive social media account reflect poorly on the business’s ability to address customer concerns and create a bad reputation.

5. Not using videos

Studies report that 85% of the audience prefers watching videos over engaging with text and image-based content. Facebook and YouTube saw a massive increase in video content last year. Fun, humorous, and engaging videos attract a lot of customers. Video content is more memorable than text. It can drive immense traffic and is slowly becoming the preferred medium of many marketers.

6. Not marketing your website

If your business is new, then remember to market your website well. If you don’t invest in marketing your website, you will fail to attract even the smallest amount of traffic, leading to a tremendous loss in ROI. Think about it, many people don’t know about you, and you do not even market your website. Then, how do you expect visitors to your site? It’s a no-brainer!

It’s a very competitive digital world that we are talking about here. There are millions of websites up on the web. The chances of a person reaching your website are little to none if you don’t market it properly, which brings us to the next mistake.

7. Not investing in SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving your ratings on different search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. SEO makes it possible for customers to easily find your business and the products/services you offer while surfing the internet.

The problem here is that most business owners do not realize the full potential of SEO. They consider it to be useless and time-consuming. However, it is one of the most effective marketing tactics. If you can learn certain tricks of the trade like keyword research, keyword optimization, URL creation, you will realize the true potential that SEO carries. Yes, it is time-consuming, but the long-term results are worth the wait.

8. Spamming your customers

Being bombarded with an odd number of emails, texts, and messages is something none of us like. Customers hate spam! Spamming your customers can annoy them to the point that they might block you.  The last thing you want is to lose your customers for good!

Try and make your emails and messages relevant. Irrelevant and unnecessary spam emails can worsen the case. The best way to go about it is to communicate with your customers and only send them as few emails as they wish to receive.

9.      Marketing exclusively

Marketers often make the mistake of focusing on quantity over quality, i.e., they assume the higher the ad frequency, the higher the website’s traffic. However, it would be best to remember that your goal is to attract the right traffic and not all the traffic. Visitors who are genuinely interested in your business should be your primary focus. Others might waste your time and money, and will eventually leave. Define your target audience and focus on marketing to a niche rather than everyone.

Conclusion

Your marketing tactics will be of no use if you are not able to reach your goal. Small businesses often make the mistake of marketing their businesses without putting any thought into it first. Careful marketing is vital. It can make or break your business. Investing time, energy, and money in digital marketing is a valuable and valuable idea, but correctly investing those three resources is the key to success.

If you are a new business owner, make sure to surf through the above-given points to not make any marketing mistakes in the future.