Branding is what defines a business and makes them stand out from their competitors. However, in this age of digital distraction, a punchy business name and compelling logo is no longer enough to catch the attention of consumers. So, how can you create a brand identity that captures the attention of your target market? Well, first of all, it’s important to fully understand what branding means and get to grips with all the latest branding trends. But, to help you, we have created this article to highlight the most important branding trends that you need to apply to your business this year.
Social Media Branding
The accessibility of the web has paved way for the current social media culture. This has meant that sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter have become prime spots for building a brand identity. This is exactly the reason why all businesses now leverage social media to build brand awareness. However, you must pay attention to how you promote your products and/or services on these platforms. This is because these platforms focus on different types of content. For example, Instagram relies on photos and video, while Twitter relies more on written content.
Branded Hashtags
Staying on the topic of social media, official hashtags have become essential over the past few years and will continue to rise in popularity. One of the biggest reasons for this is because hashtags can increase engagement by over 50%, together with reinforcing brand awareness. And, by asking your customers and followers to post about their recent experience with your business using your branded hashtags can help extend your reach in further.
Partnerships With Influencers
Influencers play a huge part in contemporary brand marketing campaigns. If you can partner up with the right influencers that fit your brand, you won’t need to worry about reaching new audiences that might be interested in you. Influencers will have already established themselves as an authority and have armies of followers who are ready to engage with their content.
Minimalist Branding
Minimalism has taken the world of branding by storm over the past few years. Everyone wants to remove the clutter from their lives which has seen many businesses strip their branding right down to its simplest form. The only downside to this branding trend is that there is a real chance that you will simplify your branding to the point where consumers find it boring.
Sustainable Branding Tactics
Greta Thunberg is one of the most well-known environmental activists in the world today. But, the strike that she started at a school in 2018 isn’t the first time that the public called for the government to do more to create a healthier planet. Nowadays, consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about the products they purchase. This is why it’s so important for businesses to take a lead in addressing environmental issues and climate change by providing more sustainable products.
Customer-Driven Branding
Being customer-driven is no longer about finding out exactly what your target market wants. Nowadays, it’s more about getting customers involved in the development of products and services. By doing so can help make your business more authentic and trustworthy.
Branded Visual Assets
We, as humans, consume and retain images more than any other form of content. However, this doesn’t mean that all types of visual content can spark the same response from consumers. Before you leverage a visual strategy, make sure you create assets that reflect the overall aesthetic of your brand and the products and/or services that you offer your target market.
Time to Step Up Your Game
Gaining the trust of consumers is becoming harder and harder as we continue to embrace the internet. So, building a branding now takes more effort than it ever has done before. Brand managers have to go above and before to make sure they gain the attention of their target market and then retain it. To round up this article, we hope that it was able to highlight some of the emerging trends across all industries. With this, you will now be able to create more effective brand tactics throughout 2020.
