(Following up on STEP 3: Communicate your brand from the inside out)
Step 4: Communicate your brand to the outside world
With all the grounding in place in steps 1-3, it’s time to communicate your brand to the outside world by launching with a bang.
You will ultimately have a goal(s) of some kind for what you want to achieve in the brand launch and will need clearly defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to determine the success. Such goals could be the likes of:
- Increase in sales
- Increase in brand recognition
- Increase in enquiries
- Re-education of the company message
- Increase in unique website visits
- Maximising booking for an event
There are a lot of different methods for launching a brand, and the multi-channel approach is the most effective in making sure that you have several points of contact with your target audience. These would need to be both offline and online as they create different responses and levels of engagement. Launching with a bang could incorporate:
- A launch event
- A direct mail announcement
- A PR campaign to gather media coverage
- A social media countdown
In order to launch successfully, you need ample preparation. To ensure the marketing collateral is ready. These will need to be written, designed and logistically planned out.
These include, but are not limited, to:
- Sales Materials (e.g. Point-of-Sale Displays, brochures)
- Stationery (e.g. Business Cards)
- Promotional Items
- Social Media Imagery
- Your Website
Beyond the collateral required, it is then about communicating your brand to the outside world through a blend of online and offline marketing tools.
You have to start by targeting your audience through the channels which suit them, and this comes from understanding where they communicate. For instance, are there particular events they attend, magazines they read, search terms they use, networking groups they attend?
The types of marketing channels to consider offline are:
- Networking events and public speaking
- Your own hosted events
- PR stories
- Direct marketing
- Newsletters to your database
Some of these offline tools will be about targeted marketing, others will have the objective of building brand awareness and recognition, such as PR.
The types of marketing channels to consider online are:
- Social media
- Blogging
- Pay per click
- Email campaigns
Once you understand the landscape of online marketing in your marketplace, and where your audience go, it will be simple to plan out your approach.
When the communications are in place, you can start to structure out how you will manage your brand: STEP 5: Manage your Brand.
See our next blog “STEP 5: Manage Your Brand."
