Marketing is often equated with the promotion and sale of goods and services. But to really get people to fall in love with your company, it’s your brand that should be the focus of your marketing. A branding campaign is an all-in initiative for many businesses. Either your audience is going to feel more closely aligned with your company than ever before, or they may find themselves looking for another brand to support instead. Therefore, getting your branding campaign right the first time is of utmost importance.
We all know that modern marketing requires tracking of clicks, email subscriptions and revenue, among other things. These metrics, however, aren’t necessarily the best indicators of success in a branding campaign. Remember, you’re not selling a particular product – you’re selling your entire company.
More than that, you’re selling who you are – as a marketer, a business owner and person.
With that in mind, here are three factors to look at as you evaluate your branding campaign. Keep a close eye on these measurements to see how you’re doing.
- Hashtags and User-Generated Content. It’s no secret that social media “likes” are generally meaningless when it comes to driving sales. But in this case, social media is the place where you’re most likely to see the impact of your branding campaign. Most branding campaigns should have brand-specific hashtags; needless to say, if your hashtag catches on, you know you’re on the right track.
Along with hashtags often comes the call for user-generated content. A common example is encouraging consumers to post a selfie of themselves enjoying your product, usually incorporating your branding hashtag. Check out this content for a true real-time indicator of your branding success. And while it might seem a bit hokey for people to post such content, it never hurts to incentivize people by offering promo codes or giveaways to those who participate.
- Landing Pages. Landing pages have been a staple of content marketing for years, and with good reason. There’s no better indicator of what specific ad generates interest than tracking specific links that lead to your website. In this case, your destination URL might not be a landing page within your site that’s tied to a custom URL that exists outside of your usual website. This approach works because it’s not your same old website. It provides something new to consumers, and it helps to immerse visitors in your branding. After all, branding campaigns aren’t necessarily about making immediate sales. They’re about getting people excited about what makes your business special and unique.
- New Leads and New Customers. While you’re not actively trying to sell a specific product or service with your branding campaign, it’s certainly not a bad thing if you see some sales. A successful branding campaign ultimately gets new eyeballs on your products. And it stands to reason that you want some of those newcomers to stick around.
Consider the case of cable company Altice, which acquired much-maligned New York cable provider Cablevision. Like Comcast and Time Warner before them, Cablevision was forced to rebrand due to an extremely negative public opinion towards their services. The newly-christened Altice made its branding debut in grand fashion, with a Super Bowl ad that promoted its new Altice One service, which was only available to new customers at launch. Instead of trying to convert already unhappy Cablevision customers, Altice began trying to sway neutral observers to try their services as a new brand, resulting in both a successful brand campaign and product launch.
When done correctly, a branding campaign can turn a product into a truly powerful and influential company. And while you won’t see your sales figures skyrocket overnight, you don’t need a massive revenue boost to see success in your branding campaign. Focus on the metrics that matter and know that you’re well on your way to a bright future.
