A positive brand association with longevity to match is not something you can build overnight. For many businesses, building this type of brand recognition takes months, if not years, of consistent effort.
Not only this, but building great brand association is also a delicate procedure. It boils down to smart, well-planned marketing campaigns. As well as semantics, well-placed prepositions, and a keen eye for detail.
Remember that there’s nothing more difficult than trying to undo the damage of an offensive marking campaign. This could spell disaster for your brand association. So, here are the details to focus on.
What Exactly Is Brand Association?
When it comes to the world of brand association, there’s no room for copycat culture. In this case, the saying that ”imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” does not apply. You have to think for yourself and create a brand that’s truly original in order to stay in the game in today’s day and age.
But what exactly are brand associations?
In short, they’re neural connections that your average consumer makes between a brand, an idea, image, place, person, emotion, or attribute. All of these connections form associations. They then come together in the mind of your customer to create meaning and perception of your brand.
All the collections of brand associations your customers make eventually defines your reputation within your business niche. So, you could say that brand association is kind of a big deal.
Brand association includes all of the different ways a customer thinks about your brand. And these associations could be positive or negative. Typically, most brand associations form through the following channels:
- The opinion and testimonials of others
- Brand advertising
- Your business’s PR activities, i.e. its PR outreach (you can learn more about that here: https://blog.justreachout.io/pr-outreach/)
- The publicity of your brand and how you market it
You should strive to create a positive brand association in every interaction your customer has with your brand. This includes personalized communication, initiatives, authenticity, and more.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can build brilliant brand association over time:
1. Get to Know Your Customers Well
Marketing without knowledge of who your ideal target customer is does not work. It’s like playing pool in the dark or aiming at a target you just can’t see. In other words, you’re wasting all of your marketing efforts if you don’t know who your audience really is.
At the end of the day, you’re creating a business product for specific people. These are the people that also determine your brand association and reputation over time.
You need to do thorough research on your target demographic and make sure every brand encounter they have is a positive one. If you get to know your target audience as well as your family and you can begin to build positive brand associations that build brand authority.
2. Be Consistent With Visual Representation
There’s no denying that the world we live in today is extremely visual. So, this is how your ideal customer interacts with your brand the most — through visual means. This why is the visual representation of your brand is probably one of the most important parts of brand association.
Your customers will get to know your brand through visual cues that you feed them. This includes the colors you use, filters, fonts, graphic elements, your logo, and branding templates. All of the above must remain consistent throughout all of your marketing efforts.
This is one of the best ways to build a positive and trustworthy brand association. Your customers will begin to recognize and identify with these elements to understand your brand.
3. It’s All About the Semantics
Second to visual cues is the words you use during all of your marketing campaigns. No matter what you’re promoting, you have to keep semantics at the top of your priority list in order to create the right brand associations.
All of the marketing copy that you create needs to line up with your brand. It should clearly communicate your brand message. And also include positive connotations and sensitivity to all demographics (not only those within your audience).
Today, semantics in marketing is a hot topic. There’s a very fine line between offending certain people but also inspiring them. Think carefully about word combinations. Not to mention catchy titles and slogans that your audience can associate with your brand.
4. Remain Authentic in Everything You Do
There’s no amount of money in the world that can buy or create authenticity. This is something that your business has to build and nurture over time. With authenticity on your side, your brand associations will have a trustworthy edge.
A great way to remain authentic is to be sure that you’re offering your customers a service that truly solves their problems. It’s about creating a positive influence in their lives that you can substantiate and follow through on.
It’s a good idea to ask for customer feedback on a regular basis. Find out what you can improve on and actively work on it. Show that you care about their feedback and take it to heart. This way, your audience feels valued and associates your brand with authenticity.
5. Prioritize Cause-Related Marketing
So, what is cause-related marketing anyway? Well, it’s a marketing initiative that focuses on supporting a good cause. It’s a marketing campaign that creates a positive brand association. And it shows your customers that you care about a cause, other than growing your business.
You want to show your target audience that you advocate for certain causes because they mean something to you. Not because it’s a means to an end for your business. Your customers will be able to sniff out inauthentic cause-related marketing, anyway!
So, do your best to create marketing campaigns around specific causes. Not only should they strive to make the world a better place but build your brand association along with it.
Learn to Become a Master of Marketing
Brand association is something you have to put real effort into as a business. It takes consistency, authenticity, and constant learning about what your audience wants to see. It’s an ongoing process too. Brand association is something you have to think about as your business grows and evolves in order to maintain your reputation.
If you’re looking to learn more about business marketing in order to navigate your brand association effort, you’re in the right place. Be sure to explore the rest of this site for topics on technology, the digital world, industry and trade, and more!
