If You Brand It, They Will Come

A common marketing practice today is investing in brand awareness. According to recent research conducted for eMarketer by InsightExpress, a majority (56%) of surveyed marketing professionals plan to increase their spending on brand awareness over the next year. Respondents suggest that brand awareness is now a higher priority than demand generation and global business expansion efforts.

Why is brand building important? Put simply, people don’t connect with products; they connect with brands. They even build relationships with them. Brands outlive products, which have comparatively distinct and transitory life cycles, and expand on them. For that reason, brands can carry tremendous value.

But it can be a challenge to create and maintain a brand of credibility, vibrance, and integrity. Here are some tips:

• Understand your audience — You have a head start here: You’ve been gradually building your audience for a long time. But now, you need to really understand what it is about your brand and products that your audience loves. Determine the niche you fill and dig deeply into customer data. Your brand should closely align with your audience’s needs, interests, and lifestyles.
• Build your story — Your brand has a story; you just need to root it out. What’s compelling about your vision? What inspired you to build the business, and what need were you trying to fulfill? In what positive ways does your brand and product line help solve problems? By asking these questions, you’ll unearth a unique story that distinguishes your brand from the rest. And once you have your story, share it enthusiastically with your entire team and your audience.
• Choose associations wisely — Where are you selling your products? It’s a vital consideration because it affects perception of your brand. Whether you sell your products at Wal-Mart or Saks Fifth Avenue, the vendor will change customer’s perception of your products. Ideally, you will understand how your brand’s story aligns with the places where your products are sold.
• Create brand evangelists — If you play your cards right, your customers will become evangelists who spread your story and champion your products. They’ll write reviews full of praise and talk up your brand on social media. You can even take a proactive approach and contact influential bloggers who are active in the market with the intent of making them brand ambassadors.

All of these tactics are aimed at creating an emotional connection with your audience that fosters loyalty. So as you plan promotions and events, remember that celebrities and sports figures can bring attention and build tremendous support for your brand!

Well-known personalities do exactly what you need to do for your brand: They create that strong emotional connection for fans. That positive association marries with your brand to create loyalty very quickly.

As you consider a celebrity or sports hero to appear at an event, be sure select one who will create the right connection. Pro Sports MVP has relationships with hundreds of celebrities who can bring a truly positive impact to your brand.