Strategy Archives | Page 5 of 15 | Bristol Creative Industries

Social media can have a direct impact on your website’s visibility on traditional search engines like Google or Bing.

While it doesn’t have the same effect on SEO as with content marketing, social signals such as gaining more followers, likes, shares and retweets can increase your visibility to potential customers by increasing traffic to your site and helping you to rank higher.

In other words, while social media efforts don’t influence SEO directly, they do influence SEO indirectly.

What do we mean by social signals?

Social media signals are activities that contribute to your page or website’s search engine rankings. Some examples of social signals include likes, shares, retweets and pinning.

Do social signals affect ranking?

Google has never explicitly stated that social signals affect rankings. But there’s no denying that the more traffic you receive through social media networks, the more your material will be shared. This may significantly affect how you rank in Google search results.

The best social media networks for social SEO

The social media platform you choose should be directly related to the type of business you run and your marketing objectives. It should also be determined by where your target audience prefers to spend their time. However, in terms of SEO functionality, the following social media and digital marketing networks offer several advantages:

Four ways to improve your social SEO boost your social media SEO efforts

We’ve established how social media impacts SEO. Now, we can look at ways to boost SEO through social media marketing. Here are four social media algorithms and SEO tips to help boost SEO on social media.

Social Profiles… optimised to the max

Did you know that social media profiles are frequently shown among the top search results?

Up 75% of customers use social media to evaluate brands before making a purchase. They look for reviews, genuine recommendations, inspiration, high-quality images and brand information. As a result, social media profiles should be optimised as part of your SEO strategy.

Optimised social media profiles can drive your target audience to your account and convert them into customers. Your goal is to make all your content accessible. Here are some easy ways of optimising your social profiles to get results:

Good social media profiles increase trust by giving your brand authenticity. They should be able to teach your target audience everything they need to know about your company in a matter of seconds. Your profile should sound natural, honest and carefully written, and it should showcase your own personality.

Create High-Quality Content

It can enhance organic web traffic back to your website, improve search visibility and assist you in obtaining quality backlinks.

By distributing long-form content such as a high-quality blog post, written with specific keywords via your social platforms, you can encourage your social media followers to share your content further. This will boost your content marketing strategy and strengthen your social signals by amplifying reach through social SEO.

Be wary though, using too many keywords, otherwise known as keyword stuffing, can be frowned upon by traditional search engines and may have a negative impact on your online visibility.

Traditional SEO stands you in good stead when you aim to create valuable content based on a customer’s needs, so be sure to stick to the most relevant and important keyword clusters.

Search engines and shareable content go together like bread and butter. The more people that engage with and share your content, the wider reach you’ll have on keyword search pages and the better your social media visibility. You’ll also generate more backlinks, or inbound links, and enhance brand recognition.

When you publish content that your audience will want to share, it can help Google with the indexation of relevant searches for your posts. This can lead to more organic search traffic and better Google rankings.

Don’t forget to optimise your images

Did you know that the images you upload to your social media accounts can actually make a difference to your social SEO? The act of making the images you publish with your social media posts as SEO-friendly as possible is referred to as image optimisation.

Optimising the images across your social media platforms can improve user experience. Search algorithms also tend to prioritise the images that follow best practices, meaning you could appear higher up in search results, improve website traffic and reach more potential customers.

Image optimisation across all your social networks is a simple technique that may make a major difference in your social media marketing efforts.

A high-quality image will also boost your overall social media performance. It can improve the appearance of your brand by making it more appealing, intelligible, relatable, and memorable.

Listen to your audience

One strong tactic for improving your social SEO and social media strategy is to use social listening. This is the process of monitoring online conversations on major social platforms and media networks to learn what your audience is saying about you. It’s also a great way to keep track of your competitors.

Social listening can help you find opportunities for link-building. You may discover that your brand has been referenced on blogs, forums, Facebook pages or news sites. You can find these mentions using a social media monitoring tool and contact the writers to ask them to include a link to your site.

Social listening is an effective method for conducting audience research and learning what people are talking about in your sector. This will help you in discovering new ways to contact your target audience and increase your social media presence.

Social media helps SEO in several different ways. The best method is always the successful combination of social media and search engine optimization efforts.

Global leaders in procurement and supply chain management, Efficio are the largest independent consultancy in the world. With this sole focus for more than 20 years, their specialist consultants are equipped with the expertise and technology to dig deeper, innovate faster, and deliver greater efficiencies for clients.

Talisman Sparro has played a critical role in Efficio Consulting’s repositioning and rebrand programme, delivering an impact that has helped the company stand out as the only remaining independent, specialist consultancy in the procurement and supply chain consultancy marketplace. With Efficio’s unique approach to delivering sustained client success at the core, Talisman Sparro has helped to shape a comprehensive strategy that has driven internal engagement and reflected Efficio’s ambitious growth plans.

The “Partners in Progress” brand platform developed has resonated with both clients and employees, driving engagement and building a strong internal culture. The rebranding programme delivered has overhauled Efficio’s branding, messaging, and positioning to be more contemporary, modern, and appealing to a broader audience.

At JMP, are delighted to welcome Matt Joy to our growing team, joining as Managing Partner.

Matt has a wealth of industry experience, having spent more than 10 years in the sports industry, and most recently four years at a strategic brand agency.

His previous roles have included five years as Marketing Manager at Stoke City during their Premier League golden years, before moving south and helping create the Marketing team at Bristol Sport during the rebuild of Ashton Gate. Following that, he spent four years at Mr B & Friends in Bristol.

In regards to his responsibility at JMP, Matt will be a crucial cog in our ability to excel as an agency, offering additional strategic insights and creative campaigns to our clients.

“It’s a significant role, the biggest addition we’ve ever made to the business,” he said.

“It’s something that I feel we’ve both wanted to happen for a long time. Everything just needed to align. Matt is in a position to elevate the offerings of JMP and I’m really excited to work with him to take JMP to the next level ”

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ve known Joe since I initially moved to Bristol and how he has grown the agency in that time has been great to see. It’s an exciting time to now get involved and add to the recent successes.

“My role is going to be quite broad but ultimately I will have a real focus on the growth of the agency. First of all to define who we are, our offerings and identify where we can add real value to our clients, both current and new.”

Matt joins our newly-formed Senior Leadership Team, alongside MD Joe and Operations Director Vicki Theobald.

And we’re guilty for doing the same in the marketing bubble: often, we prioritise growing eCRM databases before we engage the contacts that are already in reach. But when acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing one, there’s a compelling case for making the most of what we already have in front of us (Invesp, 2018).

Why reactivation works

It’s easy to forget that existing customers are the ones positioned deeper in the sales funnel. These are the contacts who have already experienced your brand in some capacity; they know the role that you can play in their life. Which begs the question: why have my contacts lapsed? Often, customer apathy is the primary reason for inactivity.

An overworked cliché, but a true one nonetheless, is that your database is a flowerbed, and you’re holding the garden hose. So, for dramatic purposes, let’s imagine we’re in the second week of drought. Your flowers are wilted, and the soil? Bone dry. In your absence, your contacts have become idle and unenthused. Any avid gardener knows that chucking buckets of water on a flowerbed in this state will cause the soil to repel it, instead you should sprinkle the surface lightly to encourage gradual absorption. The same applies for your marketing, if you relentlessly continue to push hard sales-led messaging upon your lapsed eCRM contacts, they will only reject it.

Take a more considered approach. Whether it’s a virtual gift card, an email to a live event, or a simple message to say we haven’t heard from you in a while, a softer approach is the most likely to warm inactive customers to your brand, ahead of overt promotion.

Create your own data

If you’re in a position where you have a chunky list of email addresses, and not a lot else, then it’s time to start building. Whether it’s a poll or survey with a gift or promo code for their next order, this is a great opportunity for you to understand how users are interacting with your brand. But first, you need to be sure of your objectives. Do you want to understand how satisfied customers are with your product? Are you trying to establish the customer pain points to optimise your service offering? Knowing the purpose of your research is fundamental and will help you to structure your questions and analytics accordingly.

Once you have constructed and sent your re-engagement email, the next step is analysing the results. Pay attention to any clear patterns and use them to tag specific customers with common themes. In case you’re not convinced, MailChimp research shows that segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.31% higher than unsegmented campaigns.

Behavioural targeting

Using historic data, it becomes possible for brands to track browsing behaviour, purchase history, and previous engagement to tailor communications from specific customer actions. And doing so holds impact. Over 59% of customers claim that personalised content impacts purchase decisions. In the long run, this can help brands to grow stronger relationships with their customers, increase loyalty, and ultimately drive revenue growth. By identifying and segmenting different groups within your database, it becomes possible for brands to fine tune the content within email sends to resonate more clearly with the audience at hand.

Take Nike, for example, a global conglomerate operating in more than 30 major markets: from sports to lifestyle. A track runner from Osaka and a fashion enthusiast from New Mexico will engage with the same brand in two very different ways. While the runner will be most invested in the performance-related benefits of the garments, the influencer will likely be drawn in by aesthetics, limited edition colourways, and exclusive brand collaborations. This can be reflected in granular segment-specific sends, with tweaked products, ranges, visuals, and tone.

It’s not one or the other…

This isn’t to say that marketers should forget about scaling mailing lists. Growing your current book of eCRM contacts and delivering content to your existing audience should happen in tandem, in fact, it’s beneficial. When you are making efforts to re-engage existing contacts, and growing a database simultaneously, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re doing everything in your power to increase acquisition and retention.

When it comes to customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, we’re experts in the field. Drop us a line today to see how we can leverage email to maximise the value from your contacts, no strings attached.

Discover more industry insights and opinions at saintnicks.uk.com/insights

Have you ever presented something to a group of people, upon where you finish your carefully rehearsed, insightful patter, open up the floor for questions and then notice, with a bit of a sinking feeling, a sea of slightly blank faces?

We’ve all been there. From pitches and presentations to your awkward festive game of charades, what feels completely obvious to you is received with a few blinks and the polite-awkward shuffle of non-comprehension.

What you’re experiencing is a common phenomenon that individuals and businesses often face when they communicate internally or externally; the ‘curse of knowledge’.

The research
The phrase was coined in a 1989 paper by Camerer, Loewenstein and Weber. It describes the cognitive bias that leads those who know ‘something’ not being able to put themselves in the mindset of those who don’t.

This was tested and highlighted in the 1990 doctoral thesis by Stanford graduate Elizabeth Newton. One group of participants was asked to tap the tune of well-known songs to another group that was asked to listen. Newton’s write up makes a fascinating read, but in a nutshell, the ‘tappers’ were asked to guess how many of the tunes would be correctly guessed. 50% was their estimate.

In fact, only 3 of the 120 songs were correctly identified; a success rate of 2.5%.

Such a low rate of comprehension was down to the fact that to those listening, all they heard was a seemingly random series of taps, delivered without any kind of context.

This study illustrates how we, as humans, dramatically overestimate our ability to communicate to others. In this case, those doing the tapping can’t un-know the song in their head, hence being ‘cursed’ by the knowledge and overestimating the ease of sharing it.

The curse at work
This difference in understanding inevitably leads to miscommunication, which is something that we come across often at Luna 9. Whether it’s with individual innovators, scaling companies or trailblazing organisations, it’s something we’re all susceptible to, and it can be so damaging.

Our first step is to immerse ourselves in the thing you’re trying to explain. Some research, plenty of questions and a healthy dose of external perspective gets our team up to speed.

But for your audience, that’s not good enough – no one has a few hours spare to dedicate to imparting or absorbing knowledge. This is the curse at work. But don’t worry. This is where Luna 9 comes in.

How we beat the curse
It’s all about taking it back to basics. At Luna 9, our first step is to help you consider how your audience will interpret what you’re saying, looking at what you’re sharing from the outside in.

Without this perspective, you run a pretty high risk of losing engagement and creating a disconnect between your audience and your content.

We know from plenty of experience that half the battle is understanding the theory behind how we communicate and digest information, and using that as the springboard that can inform how best to share your messaging.

Avoiding this trap is all about getting in the right frame of mind from the outset, and that’s why we start almost every project with a curse-of-knowledge-beating Strategy Sprint.

It’s amazing how just being aware of this phenomenon makes you much better equipped to avoid it. The irony that it takes this knowledge to deal with the curse of knowledge is not lost on us, but small changes to the way you articulate your message can make a huge difference to whether your listeners really understand what it is that you’re tapping.

If you think you could be falling foul of the curse of knowledge, we’d love to help. Drop us a line at [email protected].

To guarantee that your website performs to its best ability, and to stay relevant among your site visitors, it’s crucial to view your website as an ongoing project. It’s not simply a question of UX/CX updates; reviewing CRO, your goal completion, tackling outdated content, dead backlinks, and poor SEO are all contributing factors to a poor online experience for customers, which can be detrimental to your sales drive and to your brand. The good news is that these are all easily avoidable consequences, assuming you tend to your site with care. To keep your website ticking over nicely, we’ve compiled our top 6 areas of focus for web optimisation…

Keep the user journey front of mind

You should always maintain clear strategic direction with your interface, mapping out the best possible user journeys. Without directing visitors to the right areas on your website, you’ll encourage high exit rates, U-turns, or rage clicks (Hotjar, 2022). Not only does this risk conversions or other goal completions, but it can devalue the brand that you’ve worked so hard to build. Put yourself in your users’ shoes and try to experience your website with a fresh pair of eyes. Is it hard to find key information about your brand? Does the site make checkouts, downloads and forms as easy as possible? Could you improve legibility?

Analyse and improve based on the data

Websites don’t just end at launch; they need to be maintained, optimised and tested. Having the correct analytics tools to visualise quantitative and qualitative data is important, but only when you are tracking the metrics relevant to your business. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to quantitative analytics platforms, but the key metrics that marketers should be tracking are:

Return on ad spend (ROAS)
Organic search and paid search traffic
Social media engagement
Website engagement
Email open rates and click rates

While quantitative research is useful in identifying data patterns and numerical trends, it’s important for marketers to understand users’ attitudes, beliefs, and motivations. This is where qualitative data can help fill in the gaps to make more informed decisions with your quantitative data. Popular qualitative research methods include:

Heatmapping and screen recording to understand users’ interaction with your website interface
Customer review platforms
Digital experience analytics and behaviour technology
User testing workshops, which can be as in-depth or simple as you require across various functions of your marketing activity
Simple customer feedback surveys
Website usability tools

By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, it becomes much easier to understand your customer experience. Ultimately, this helps to highlight pain points and identify the content that resonates most with your brand’s audience.

A/B testing

A great way to ensure you’re optimising your website is by running A/B testing (sometimes called split testing) across variants. Before implementing significant updates, you might want to consider running an A/B test to justify your decision making. Netflix leads by example in this area. Unique to every user, they pool together data to produce a final homepage outcome based on behaviour and preferences. Todd Yellin, Vice President of Product at Netflix, confirms that the brand runs 250 A/B tests each year to test the different versions of the design. These tests also consider the ways in which users search for films and programs on the app (Wired, 2018). With a highly detailed level of tracking and various testing in place, Netflix’s success is entirely reliant upon data. Regularly implementing the variations from the results optimises the user experience.

Refresh your content regularly

It’s not uncommon for users to arrive at a website only to be deterred by complex language, over-stimulating features, or a lack of useful information. These websites tend to garner large drop off rates, with marketers left trying to figure out where they slipped up. This nearly always occurs when a website is built without a defined content strategy in place. Markets are ever-changing, and branded websites should reflect this. To stay top of mind, content needs to be relevant, useful, and findable. Marketers need to audit and refresh existing content on an ongoing basis, factoring in current trends and wider business objectives.

Prioritise SEO activity

SEO is often an afterthought when it comes to website builds. This is usually down to the fact that organic search rankings can take time to bear fruit in contrast to paid activity. But with 53.3% of all website traffic acquired through organic search, SEO should be a core consideration during, and after, a website build.Regular SEO activity can elevate your brand and take you to the top of search engines, surpassing your competition. The key to successful performance and conversion of your website is a content strategy that considers a user-friendly experience, with digestible information for both the user as well as search engines. (Search Engine Journal, 2022).

Whilst they are undoubtedly two separate entities, marketers should make sure their SEO and PPC strategies are aligned, and both have high prominence on their marketing agenda and budgets. On average, 5-10% of your revenue should be spent on SEO activity. (Search Engine Land, 2022).

Monitor technical performance

Top performing websites don’t just need to look good, they need to be functional too. Ongoing website maintenance is required to keep your website running. This can be achieved by making sure your website is safe and secure, and that links and tools aren’t broken. It may seem simple but often brands focus on the launch of a new website and forget to check in on performance once it’s live. Some CMS updates can be relatively straight forward, but you’ll benefit from an experienced digital team to manage, monitor and prevent or react to any technical issues your website may encounter.

As a fully integrated agency, we build sites that talk the talk and walk the walk – from design to optimisation. If you’re looking to take your website to the next level, drop us a line today – we’d love to have a chat.

Luckily, the “d” word isn’t something we hear a lot. But if it’s something you’re feeling after a PR push, whether it’s one you’ve done in house or worked on with a PR consultancy, it’s really important to look at why it missed the mark. If you’re disappointed in your PR results, and campaigns are leaving you underwhelmed, here’s why that might be, and how it can be avoided in future.

You shouldn’t ever be eagerly anticipating coverage in The Economist if your story was only ever destined for a local news portal. That’s not to be disparaging – both publications have their place and both are important in reaching certain audiences. The point is, you should be given an indication of where coverage is possible (and where it isn’t) before the pitch. This conversation can even start when you first start discussing the PR campaign.

No one has a crystal ball, and you could get very lucky or less so. But a good PR agency should have targets in mind when they’re crafting content, and they should be able to share and agree those with you.

Building on the point above, PR is an art, not a science. We’ve had BBC filming lined up only for the news to throw us completely off track and for a crew to abandon a shoot to cover a breaking story. Likewise, we’ve had small stories being picked up nationally because they happened to hit the spot and be just what an editor was looking for at that moment.

This is the world of PR! Ensure any PR team you’re working with keeps you abreast of what’s happening at each stage. They can’t control some of it, but they can and should give you as much information as they know at each stage.

We work with a range of clients who have never done PR before, or have had limited experience. That’s fine, and we can take most of it off their hands. But we do explain what we’re doing at each stage, what’s needed and how long things are likely to take.

If you were expecting something to land that didn’t – did you get given the full picture? Did you understand what was happening, and when? You don’t need to be a PR expert but some knowledge of the process helps to put things in context, in our experience.

We’ve talked about why we never guaranteed coverage in a dedicated piece, but in essence, no one can truly guarantee coverage in a publication, unless that’s a paid-for spot, such as an advertorial.

If you’ve been guaranteed coverage that doesn’t appear, it’s definitely worth asking more about it, and how (and why) it was guaranteed in the first place.

This mindset shift is a helpful step away from feeling disappointed in your PR results, and big a step towards getting it right next time.

If coverage appeared but didn’t hit the right audience – are you sure it was designed to target them in the first place? Some publications are great to appear in from a profile point of view. But some are more likely to hit your objectives than others. Ensure you’re always clear who’s being targeted and why that’s the right target audience for your objectives. Start with the end – what do you want those people reading the coverage to do? And then work back from that.

For us, it’s paramount that everyone understands what’s achievable, what could make the news (and where) and that no one is underwhelmed. We do put a lot of groundwork into explaining what we’re doing, we are responsive, honest and transparent and we partner with clients. That’s what gets the best results for everyone.

Almost all UK agency owners worry about their business, with 14% feeling anxious every day.

It found that 99% of all agency owners worry about their business, with 60% of those running agencies with £1m+ turnover and 70% under £1m feeling worried or anxious at least once a month. For both groups, 14% get anxious every day.

The top concerns that keep founders awake at night were team, new business and clients for £1m+ businesses and new business, cash flow and clients for firms turning over under £1m.

When it comes to work/life balance, 7% of owners of agencies under £1m and 5% of those £1m+ said they do not have one at all.

The report said you’re 50% less likely to worry about your business if you have a healthy work/life balance, so it urged founders to work on getting one.

How agency owners maintain a healthy work/life balance:

Confidence levels fall

In another finding from the reports, confidence among UK agency owners at the start of this year dropped close to levels seen during the height of the COVID-19 restrictions.

Since 2012, the study has tracked how confident agency owners feel about the year ahead by giving a rating out of 100. Above 50, owners feel confident and below 50, they expect this year to be worse than last year.

In January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the score was 71 and in July 2020 it was 60.

As well as the issues around wellbeing described above, BenchPress said the fall in confidence is also driven by:

Growth: 71% of agencies under £1m and 79% of £1m+ grew in 2022, but growth wasn’t as strong as in previous years. Those that grew fee income by 26%+ dropped from 39% (under £1m) and 43% (£1m+) in 2021 to 26% (under £1m) and 27% (£1m+) in 2022.

Remuneration: Those earning over £50,000 per year dropped from 58% to 52%, while those earning more than £100,000 fell from 53% to 46%.

Profit: For agencies with under £1m turnover, average gross profit reduced to 36%, an 8% fall from the previous year. For agencies with £1m+ revenue, average gross profit has reduced to 40%, a 4% fall from 2021.

Purpose remains important

Despite the UK’s economic challenges, the report showed that having a purpose continues to be important for agencies.

It found that 24% of owners of agencies under £1m and 28% of £1m+ firms said building a business that has a positive impact on the world was their top priority.

[Read advice on business as a force for good and how to become a B Corp here]

Armadillo Press Release published 28/03/23

CRM specialist Armadillo welcomes two data heavyweights into its team in the form of Lucy Darbon, Data Strategy Director, and Andrew Sargent, Head of Insight and Analytics. The new hires will help the DMA Award-winning agency drive its data and insight offering further for global clients including McDonald’s, Disney and Carnival UK. Armadillo has doubled in revenue and headcount in the last 3 years.

New data strategy director, Darbon, joins from Zone, where she was data strategy lead, driving acquisition, analysis and leveraging of clients’ data to achieve business objectives. Before that she led a team at BT as senior digital marketing effectiveness manager, having worked at the multinational telco for six years.

At Armadillo, Darbon will bring her skills and experience to bear, helping clients use data to drive businesses forward. Working as a bridge between strategy and data teams, she will use tools such as data visualization and analysis to democratize data, activating first-party data and driving ROI.

Meanwhile, Sargent joins from 12 years at Wood For Trees, the charity and non-profit data insights agency, where he was director of analysis. Fresh from working with major charities such as British Red Cross, Marie Curie and British Heart Foundation, at Armadillo he will focus on getting strong insight through data from its global clients.

Heading up a team of six, Sargent will provide in depth analysis across the agency and will work closely with the creative teams to enable data to inform creative strategy.

CEO James Ray comments, “Intelligent use of data is at the heart of everything we do at Armadillo, and Lucy and Andrew joining will give us a fantastic opportunity to further upweight our capabilities.

“As we continue to leverage first-party data for brands, the appointments will help move creative and data even closer together, allowing insights to inform creative strategy and output, and driving ROI across all our campaigns.”

Darbon adds: “Since my very first role at BT I’ve been inspired to work with data, and this position feels like it fits my capabilities perfectly. I could see immediately that Armadillo had very impressive technical expertise and data science skillsets, as well as the appetite to push things further.”

Sargent said: “I’m joining at such an exciting time for data and analysis – there’s never been more scope, with tech enabling even more access to insights. I also loved the culture of Armadillo from my first interview – it’s agile with a can-do, punchy mindset.”

Nowadays, customers have a multitude of options for products and services. Therefore, if your marketing strategy fails to deliver, potential customers are likely to seek out alternatives. Although it’s disheartening, it’s the reality we face. But fear not! There’s one element that can establish a connection with customers, differentiate you from the competition, and foster loyalty. A brand story.

However, creating a brand story that effectively conveys your company’s values, mission, and purpose requires more than just recounting the history of your business. It demands careful consideration of your narrative as a whole. While it may seem daunting, we’re here to guide you through the challenges you may face while crafting your brand story and how to overcome them to build customer loyalty.

Challenge 1: Finding the Right Narrative

Your first and greatest challenge is finding the initial narrative for your brand story that resonates with customers. This is no easy task, and it’s not as simple as just creating a marketing message or sales pitch. Your brand story needs to strike a balance between being compelling and authentic, and it must speak to your target audience’s specific needs and wants.

Solution: Research and Listen to Customers

To find the correct narrative for a brand story, it’s essential to research and listen to customers. For example, conducting surveys or focus groups to gather feedback and insights on what customers value about your brand, what they’re looking for in your product or service, and how they perceive the brand’s identity and mission.

By getting down to the nitty-gritty and gathering detailed information from your audience, you can create a powerful and emotionally resonant brand narrative that fosters customer loyalty.

Challenge 2: Differentiating from Competitors

One of the biggest hurdles in creating a brand story is making it stand out from the sea of competitors out there. It’s important to find a unique angle that distinguishes you from similar products or services.

Solution: Focus on a Unique Value Proposition

To stand out from competitors, you need to establish a unique value proposition. This is a statement that clearly communicates your products or services’ benefits and what sets you apart from competitors.

Is there something about your product or service that sets it apart in the market? Does your business have a particular company culture or value that will resonate with your customers? These are just some of the factors to keep in mind as you work to identify and highlight your business’s unique qualities.

Challenge 3: Maintaining Authenticity

Authenticity is a critical component of a successful brand story, and so is maintaining it. Customers are increasingly savvy and can easily spot a contrived or inauthentic brand story, which could damage your brand’s credibility and erode trust with customers. While it’s easy to become enthusiastic about your business and brand, you shouldn’t exaggerate or over-promise your brand story to stand out from competitors.

Solution: Stay True to Company Values

A way to avoid this is to start with a clear understanding of your business’s values, mission and purpose. Your brand story should be a natural extension of these.

In addition, using real, relatable examples in your brand story will help maintain authenticity. By telling real stories of how your business has helped customers or made a positive impact, you’ll build trust with your customers and demonstrate authenticity, ultimately building customer loyalty.

In conclusion…

Overall, successfully overcoming these challenges is crucial to creating a brand story that emotionally connects with customers. To read the full version, head over to our blog here.

If you’re still needing a hand, our team of experts is here to help. Get in touch to learn more about our customer-focused solutions and how we can help you achieve your business goals!