Building a successful brand requires a phenomenal amount of work. It needs research, attention to detail, time, money, and a whole bunch of effort. Plus, the route to success demands buy-in from a company’s leadership top to bottom.
A company’s brand defines who it is, what it does, and what its values are. It should be carefully crafted with the goal that audiences will see the brand as it wants to be perceived. In the end, it’s the brand that people will connect with and, if done well, be loyal to.
Commerce, content, and community are three powerful tools that should be used to build a stellar brand. Here’s why you should embrace all three.
Commerce Media Makes Buying Easy
It stands to reason that commerce plays a vital role in brand building. By definition, it’s the buying and selling of products and services, and you can’t build a brand without it.
However, commerce has come a long way in the digital age. That’s particularly accurate after pandemic shutdowns robbed consumers of the in-person shopping experience. To replicate that experience virtually, brands had to up their game, and that’s when commerce media really began to shine.
Commerce media uses first-party data to create relevant and interactive experiences with individual consumers. Forget pop-up ads or QR codes that just take a browser to a brand’s website. Those merely force consumers to search for whatever product, deal, or offer they thought they were accessing.
With commerce media, ads are focused on the target, not the brand. They’re native rather than annoying. They appeal to browsers based on data gathered with permission from first-party data, eliminating privacy concerns that come with some advertising practices. And when consumers click on an ad, they can complete the purchase right then and there.
Customers won’t forget brands that make it possible to purchase products they’re interested in so quickly and seamlessly. Of course, the brand still has to deliver on all the promises it makes. But once it does, consumers will likely click again when something strikes their fancy.
Content Makes Brands Relevant
Everyone knows what it’s like to be the recipient of irrelevant information. Telemarketers try to sell car insurance to people who don’t own one. Medicare Advantage plans send glossy brochures to millennial households.
Content plays many roles in marketing. It’s a brand’s opportunity to tell its story in ways that resonate with specific readers. It can be used to communicate the brand’s values and commitment to issues like diversity and sustainability. Content can establish a brand’s expertise in its industry.
Content created to be relevant to target audiences and customers will let them know that a brand understands them. They will see that the brand wants to solve their problems, address pain points, fill a need, or give them joy. As a result, prospects will become customers and customers will become loyal.
Moreover, content is crucial to moving brands to the top of search engine results. Keyword-stuffing is not only passe but also risks SEO retribution. Search algorithms look for qualities like long-tail keywords, varied media formats, and search intent. Brands crumble if they can’t rise above the competition, and SEO is the propulsion they need to get there.
It has been said that in building a brand, content is king. But that’s only true if content is relevant to those it’s dangled in front of. When constructed properly, it’s brand-building magic.
Community Builds Engagement
Two people dating enjoy each other’s company from time to time. But they aren’t necessarily loyal to one another because that requires reciprocal commitment. In turn, that calls for taking their bond to a whole different level.
The same can be said for the depth of a relationship between brands and their customers. The deeper the relationship, the more committed they’ll be to each other. And that calls for engaging those customers all the time, not just when the brand wants to make a sale.
Naturally, one customer does not build a brand. To do that, a brand must create a community of customers connected by common values, interests, problems, wants, and needs. Brands need to listen and respond appropriately to input members of the community which, in turn, instill trust in the brand.
Connection is what brands need to sell here, and what type will depend on the brand. A prime example of a brand-building community is the Harley Owners Group which sells a lifestyle, not just a product. Consumers will loyally invest in brands that put them front and center.
Community builds brands by connecting emotionally and by giving space to customers to voice opinions, ratings, reviews, and likes. Moreover, brands can reduce marketing costs, generate ideas for growth, and find validation within their industry. It takes a village to raise a brand.
The CCC’s of Brand Building
Commerce, content, and community are three crucial building blocks for brand success. They attract the attention of prospects and keep customers engaged at every level of the sales funnel. That’s because they make buying relevant, native, easy to access, and emotionally connected to consumers’ lives.
It’s true that brand building never ends. Failures are examined and successes replicated. But with these three blocks in the foundation, brands have something solid to build upon, no matter how high they go.
