In many forums, there have been many discussions about Referral Programs and how it can bring good results for any business. But, as you all know, companies cannot run only by referrals.
Many facets of marketing and promotional strategies are involved in generating sales and profitable returns. Nowadays, businesses are doing every bit to draw the target audience’s attention and build a brand that can register in their mind for a long time.
A short and straightforward explanation of branding goes like this – “Your brand is how people perceive you wherever they interact with your business—both the impressions you can control and the ones you can’t.”
When customers connect with a brand with emotions – because they share similar values and beliefs – leads to higher sales and better brand differentiation.
Apart from implementing a referral program, many activities can be performed to help the brand grow. These are equally important alongside getting customer referrals. Following it from head to toe will undoubtedly yield better results in establishing the brand and also increase the return on investment.
Let’s find out 25 such ideas that will help your business.
1 – Product or Service:
The brand is always a reflection of the quality of products/services. Should your product/services’ quality be supreme, you are bound to get good results in terms of sale and profit-maximization.
Review the product/service that your business offers, conduct thorough research on the dynamic and rational needs and your customers’ concerns.
2 – Aim for a healthy relationship:
Always build strong bonding and relation with your customers. Be sure about what you offer. Don’t adorn your offerings and raise virtual expectations that result in broken promises.
Look forward to creating trust with honesty – be clear who your company is and be faithful to the values that drive it every day.
3 – Online Presence:
No one can ignore the enormous power of Digital and Online Media in today’s world. People are more prone to the internet and online sources.
Thus, it is essential to building an online presence where you can start with a business website, and then you can move on to build a social networking presence in the form of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
4 – Target Audience:
For any marketing activity, reaching out to the target audience is paramount to success. Know your customers with clarity as much as possible.
Try to understand their purchasing behavior, focus on the correct and feasible Demographics, and act according to it. It will help a great deal.
5 – Loyalty Scheme:
If you sell a high-volume item with a low-value (drinks, candy packs), give customers a card that will be stamped with every purchase. A membership card is a token of acknowledgment.
It is a kind of membership plan, with the help of which customers can enjoy certain privileges. Once they reach the target number, they will qualify for a free one. Many such loyalty schemes can be implemented.
6 – Staying in touch:
Always maintain regular and proper communication with the customers. Engage with them as much as you can.
A lot depends on calling customers, sending emails, informing, and asking them at a time when they are most likely to read your messages.
The best way to get your customers talking about you is to ask for feedback about their purchase experience and the product.
7 – Business Condition:
Your business needs to be in good shape. Only when you have checked and satisfied with your business’s readiness you can focus on marketing, promotional strategies, and create a buzz about your brand.
8 – Personalization:
For the sake of discussion, let’s consider two scenarios – If someone calls you saying – Hey You! OR someone addresses you by your name – Hey Adam! The latter carries much weight and emotion. Personalizing your approach and behavior matters a lot, and thus, you have to keep an eye regarding such activities.
9 – Marketing Channels:
You often market your product/service through various channels. Not necessarily every channel would work for your brand.
You need to test each channel and conclude the right one, yielding maximum and profitable responses. Based on your findings, you will further optimize and concentrate on the marketing strategy, specifically on those channels.
10 – Promotion:
Position yourself uniquely in front of your target demographic. Without a planned promotional strategy of your brand, it isn’t easy to reach out to the target audience.
Make sure to advertise through various media and also have banners displayed prominently. You can even promote your brand at key touchpoints such as right after your customers have made a purchase, conducting a survey, etc.
11 – Competitor Analysis:
You will always have to be well aware of your competitors. Should you find any of their strategy, which generates good results, you can test something alike for your brand with a touch of uniqueness. Or else, you can always draw inspiration and formulate a self-made marketing strategy.
12 – Innovative and Unique:
It is better to be innovative and unique at the time of promoting your brand. Try to come up with new ideas. Imitating your competitor would not suffice any purpose.
Though, you can draw inspiration from fellow players in the market. But a touch of uniqueness and creativity are always welcomed and helps the brands to stand out in the crowd.
13 – Participate in Social Media:
Social media is a perfect platform for promoting your brand. You can share articles, blog posts, and client-related achievements. Think about how you describe yourself and what you do.
Think about your brand when you post. You should also follow people in your industry and jump into relevant conversations by using trending hashtags or those most popular in your industry.
14 – Build Network:
To build and share your brand, you need to build your professional network. Take advantage of the opportunities in your city and your industry to meet new people. This might help you make new friends, meet new clients, and probably be a great business opportunity.
15 – Psychology:
Understanding customers’ psychology is one aspect that most of the brand misses out. To get into the core of it, you have to research various touchpoints.
Selecting the color of the brand, the rhetoric of communications that will be delivered through different channels, and understanding the buyer-persona are vital elements which can create an immense impact in the mind of your customers and target audience.
16 – Key Qualities and Benefits:
Always try to outline the essential qualities & benefits your brand offers. There will always be brands with bigger budgets and more resources to dominate in their industry. You have to delve down to the core and figure out what you offer no one else.
17 – Brand Identity:
To improve each aspect of brand identity is the key to deploying an impression in the audience’s mind. It helps in recognizing and remembering the brand for a long time.
Having a business name, logo, color theme, font style, tagline, slogan, etc., are bits and pieces of a successful brand identity that help the brand shine.
18 – Digital Marketing:
Digital Marketing is the key to helping your business grow. Building a website to uplift your online brand, promoting your product/services via online channels, and making your brand visible on online forums are potent ways of digital marketing strategies. It can help you connect with new customers, generate leads, and sell your products/services more efficiently.
19 – Affiliate Marketing:
There is immense scope in affiliate marketing, which you can try. In affiliate marketing, the brand generally partners with such organizations interested in promoting and selling your product/service.
For affiliate marketers, the primary condition for promoting your brand is monetary-motivation, which occurs at the B2B level. In simple terms, Affiliate marketing is more of a partnership than a relationship.
20 – Worthy Rewards and Incentives:
You must offer worthy rewards and incentives to your loyal customers. Always provide something which can be widely accepted by your customers. Reward size and type matter the most when you are thinking of offering something useful to your customers.
However, it is not always true that a more significant incentive would still drive more people to buy your product/service. Having a good quality product/service will lead to various achievements.
21 – Review and Ratings:
Especially in the eCommerce business, reviews and ratings hold great importance in the decision making process.
The nature of the studies has trust and generates confidence in the mind of the buyers. Good reviews generally act as catalysts and confidence-builder, which instigate the people to go for a purchase.
22 – Video Marketing:
Video marketing can be used for everything from building customer rapport to promoting your brand, services, and products.
Business organizations make videos about products/services and share lots of information related to those. It can be a discussion of the features, user guide, benefits, etc. It certainly helps a brand share the required information that your probable customers are looking for.
23 – Website:
In this internet world, more and more consumers use the internet to search for products/services. Your business will gain credibility by having a website. Without one, potential customers will go to your competitors that do have a website.
A website enables your customers well informed about the latest launches of product/services, announcements, events, etc. It also offers other benefits like – always accessible via the internet, helps in targeting a broader market, and even reaches out to the whole world, a valuable medium to showcase your work, and much more.
24 – Inform and Educate:
Sometimes, a communication gap exists between the customers and the business. To bridge the gap, it is essential to inform and educate your customers regarding your product/service, announcements, and company news. In this endeavor, a trained and worthy workforce of your company plays an important role.
25 – Offer timely Discounts:
You will discover an increase in your store’s footfall or an increase in purchase while offering discounts. According to human psychology, – they want more at fewer prices. Offering discounts and seasonal sales help a business to generate more business compared to standard times.
The scope to explore new strategies to expand your business is enormous. Marketing, advertising, branding, and promotional strategies are evolving every day.
Now and then, companies are coming up with new ideas that are making a significant impact on the audiences. You will find innovation and creativity, along with legacy and old school techniques. So, the options are galore. You have to choose the right one for the betterment of your business.
For a suitable and worthy loyalty reward solution, NextBee is the perfect option at your disposal. NextBee has developed an excellent methodology that aims to improve loyalty and reward solutions, known as PACE Methodology.
To get more insights about it, and other solutions to all your business needs, contact NextBee at 1-800-547-1618
