Five Unique Strategies to Improve Your Brand Standings

We live in the consumerism era and many times we have bought products that we don’t need but that have good marketing behind them. The advertising surreptitiously makes people want to purchase something and there are different strategies the marketing experts use to achieve that. Those strategies are frequently psychological since there are different ways to influence people without them knowing it. Having some psychological knowledge can help any brand owner to use the psychological triggers to have better business outcomes. There is a name for that and it is called branding psychology. The brand and the targeted group must speak the same language or otherwise, the targeted audience won’t be receptive enough to build a loyal relationship between the brand and themselves. Let’s talk about some of the most important and efficient strategies to improve your brand standings and reputation.

Learn about the brand personalities

There are five basic brand personalities. You should learn them and see which one is the best for your brand, especially if you have more than one target group, and thus knowing more than one brand personality can be helpful for your business.

1. Sincerity is the first one and it means that your brand needs to be trustworthy, family-oriented, and thoughtful.

2. The exciting type speaks for itself. It implies youthfulness and a carefree feeling.

3. Robustness or ruggedness brings a sense of athleticism, toughness, and resilience.

4. Competence puts leadership as the primary trait through serious-looking advertisements with geometric logos.

5. Sophisticated brands put the prestige and the sense of being luxurious in the first place.

Bear in mind that there can be combinations of these brand personalities, but it is good to know the basics first.

Reciprocity

There is something in human nature that motivates us to return the favor if we have received one. This is called reciprocity and it’s one of the important psychological traits. It is also a very human way to maintain a relationship between the brand and its clients. Whether it is a coffee shop that offers future refills for free or it is a snack bar that offers a discount on every three meals, the principle is the same. There is a future benefit that is offered to a client if the client is regular and if there is some sort of loyalty.  People will not only be interested in becoming the clients of the brands like this but also once they have become clients they will probably stick around more times since they will count on the future benefits. Perhaps they will even spend more money than it was planned at first because they might develop a slight addiction to your brand.

Grounded cognition

Empathy is one of the most powerful and important human traits. This is why we tend to experience a story we have read or a movie we have seen as a personal experience. Being sad if our favorite character is killed off is a good example of that. There is something that is called Grounded Cognition theory that claims that people are prone to forgetting dry facts and numbers, but they tend to remember things associated with emotions. You have probably seen commercials with some story involved, like a happy family having breakfast that served as a commercial for milk or butter. Stories like this reach people because they can connect with these stories. Use this to make a stronger bond with your customers. Your brand will be considered friendlier or more familiar than brands that don’t use this strategy. Of course, you must investigate your target group and know what would make them feel connected. If you miss this, all of the efforts might go to waste. Including your own story might be a very good option, telling how long it has taken for you to achieve success and the obstacles you have had to go through. Doing a commercial like this would require a professional touch to make it perfect so you might consider hiring a branding agency for this matter.

Loss aversion

People tend to be scared of loss. They are scared of loss so bad that they even miss possibilities of gaining some benefits if there are risks that could put in jeopardy what they already have. This loss aversion means that all those negative emotions connected with the loss are stronger than the positive ones connected with the gain. The investigation of your target group must include this part as well. You have to know the concerns of your clients and make an advertisement that will emphasize the gain that they could win and at the same time reassure them there is no fear of losing anything.

Social proof

Humans are gregarious and they tend to connect with each other. This is known as social influence or in other words social proof. We all know the influence of social media and people who are called influencers. When we admire someone we are prone to adopt their way of thinking or their conduct. Your marketing strategies should include user-generated content (UGC) and feedback, collaboration with influencers, sharing buttons, and social plugins. We all look for other people’s reviews when we are thinking of buying a product so when potential customers see that other people approve of your brand, they will want to try it out too. This is usually done by displaying star ratings on your website, comments of the clients on the products they bought, and also through platforms like Google reviews and TrustPilot.

If you want to achieve good sales ratings and empower your brand reputation, there are strategies that you must apply. First of all, learn about the brand personalities and stay with the one that goes well with your brand. Know your target group, its concerns, and fears. Also, prioritize the benefits they can achieve by purchasing your products and give them a small reward from time to time to appreciate their loyalty. Whenever it is possible, make your story personal and your clients will be able to connect emotionally with your brand. Don’t forget about a good marketing campaign that will give a good reputation to your brand and make it look influential.

Author Bio:

Mike is an Australian business consulting specialist. He’s working with companies that outsource their IT maintenance. He often writes about technology, business and marketing and is a regular contributor on several websites.