Brands are focusing on creating a consistent customer experience across all touchpoints to exceed their standards and their customer’s expectations writes Shenoy Muralidhara, Commercial & Country Director, Huntsman Advanced Materials.

Today brands are confronting a smart and aggressive market and are discovering that it is progressively hard to make a differential favourable position on behalf of the brand. In a sharp contrast with the past, with the advancement in technology, innovation and strategy; a marketer’s occupation has turned out to be more troublesome.

Significance of Branding

While the business world continues to evolve year after year, there is a growing need for brands to regularly alter the ways they advertise themselves to be most effective in today’s competitive marketplace. This is common knowledge for areas of marketing like digital publishing and social media, where there are significant shifts in the landscape, every few months with the launch of new platforms and changing algorithms.

On the other hand, there is an aspect of marketing that changes less frequently, and as a result, is often overlooked when it comes to finding innovations and new strategies. That aspect is branding. It is critical for marketers to stay updated on how to develop your company’s brand image to reflect the evolving needs and expectations of consumers.

Marketing a business and building a brand's image may seem like a simple process of creating content, running paid campaigns, and engaging with the audience; but is it really enough to get sales and revenue? If not, how can a marketer build a strong brand image to connect with the target audience and trigger a buying decision?

Triggering a buying decision is not easy when there is so much being offered to the customers in the market. Brands these days are following powerful marketing and image building strategies while they are focused on brand personality that creates resonance among potential buyers. Here are a few focus points brands follow:

1. Superior Customer Experience

Marketers usually confuse superior customer experience with the affordability of the product. However, pricing might not be something your brand needs to participate in at all – especially if you target millennials, as younger customers are mostly willing to pay more. According to a PwC report, 42% of consumers admitted paying more for friendly, welcoming customer experience and 52% would pay more for efficient and quick customer experience.

Today, brands are focusing on creating a consistent customer experience across all touchpoints to exceed their standards and their customer’s expectations. With so many options available to them, consumers do not hesitate to shell out extra cash if it gives them a superior experience.

2. Building Personal Brands

Brands, today, are reaching consumers with advertisements at nearly every touchpoint humanly possible - while scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, while listening and watching their favourite series/podcasts, when watching TV and so on. During each of these interactions, brands tell consumers over and over again how important or life-changing their products or services are. The excessive exposure to these brands has made the consumers lose any interest in a brand with a faceless logo on a billboard.

Marketers believe that it is much easier to trust a human being than a logo. With the proliferation of social media and other digital platforms, the approach has become popular among entrepreneurs as a method for generating brand awareness. Publishing shareable and valuable content, either in the form of blog posts, Instagram Stories, YouTube videos, LinkedIn posts etc. is helping brands create unmatched reach and awareness.

3. Giving Back is Important

Modern-day customers indeed care and support mission-driven brands. Often, it is not enough for a brand to solely provide top-grade products or services. Then, what else can they do? At times, they may need to care about causes larger than their offerings. Giving back can be anything like donating a portion to charity, allocating a percentage of your profits to related non-profits, or allowing your employees to volunteer a certain number of hours.

Summing It All Up

Potential customers convert into regular customers when they start experiencing an emotional bond with a brand. It takes a strategic approach to build a trustworthy brand that stands out amidst the clutter. Like any other aspect of your business, your brand's marketing and image building strategy should evolve to reflect changing market trends, collective ideals and consumer expectations.