Tag: branding

7 Time-Saving Tips for Managing your Branded Marketing Assets

Posted on by Ed Entecott

Any good brand or marketing manager will tell you how hard it is to effectively manage a brand’s marketing assets. When working with multiple files in multiple formats, it can all be very overwhelming trying to manage all these assets. This is particularly true of organisations that operate across multiple locations with large teams distributed across sites.

On average, a marketer will look for an asset up to 16 times a day and fails to find it 35% of the time. This is  a huge waste of time that could be better spent on business activities that actually make money. So how can you reclaim this time and enjoy more profitable collaborations with your colleagues? With the right brand asset management (BAM) platform, you can effectively and efficiently create, edit and distribute all of your marketing assets, giving you greater control.

#1 – Keep all assets in one, central place

Within large organisations, marketing and design teams can spend countless hours creating assets. From uploading branded assets, to incorporating new assets into the creative, a large proportion of the workday is spent handling them. When working with so many files, it can be difficult to manage all assets because the likeliness is they are stored on personal drives or desktops. This in turn makes it difficult for other people to access them when they are needed, especially when an employee leaves, is off sick or is simply away from their desk.

But if you were to store them in one, central repository – this wouldn’t be the case. You would have instant access to the files, without having to field requests from other people. Perfect for those looking to do their job quickly and effectively! By also having one repository, everyone knows exactly where to look when they need an asset.

#2 – Approve assets as they are uploaded

When you are working with hundreds, or even thousands of assets in various formats, checking and approving all assets can be a time-consuming task that slows down time to market. With a BAM, you can upload pre-approved templates with editable elements so that you can ensure all marketing assets produced are on brand. Everyone that has access to the BAM platform with access rights will be able to produce new assets using only the pre-approved templates; removing the need for a designer to artwork smaller jobs. Elements that shouldn’t be changed can be locked down while other elements can be edited with no design skills necessary.

With less time spent approving assets or waiting for assets to be artworked by a designer, marketers and brand managers can spend more time planning and working on the business activities that are actually going to make money.

#3 – Store files online

A recent study conducted found that 80% of organisations still relied on an email system to share brand assets internally. With marketers constantly looking to improve efficiency, storing files online for many has become an indispensable alternative.

By storing files online, brand managers and marketers can gain instant access to all of their latest assets. Assets can be accessed anytime, anywhere in the world using a single sign-on or through a company’s intranet. And because they’re stored off of your internal IT system, you can rest assured that they’re safe in the cloud. This also means that you can upload files from any location in the world, so important assets are available immediately.

#4 – Keep files clean

When handling very large volumes of assets in numerous formats, it can be very easy to fill up computer files with out-of-date assets. It can also be very easy to keep adding to the pile as new assets are created. This can very quickly result in a cluttered mess on your computer which becomes difficult to navigate.

By keeping files tidy and organising assets into clearly labelled files, you’ll always be able to find what you need. Archiving out-of-date assets is also a worthwhile task as they could be recycled or reused at a later date. Although organising existing files may seem like a laborious task, it will be worth it in the end.

#5 – Backup marketing assets

Misplacing or accidentally deleting assets and files is not only inconvenient, it is also costly to a business. One of the largest costs associated with producing assets is the use of a graphic designer’s time. So, the cost of having to reproduce assets from scratch every time they go missing can quickly add up. Backing up your files will ensure that this isn’t an issue. Saving them on a hard drive as well as on the cloud will have you covered from all angles. Your files will be online as well as stored online – meaning you have access at all times.

#6 – Control who can access what

If you have ever gone into a file to find someone has moved, or even worse deleted an asset, you know how irritating it is. With a brand asset management portal, you can limit who has access to what and restrictions can be set. By controlling who has access to your brand assets you can limit this kind of thing happening. If you can limit this kind of error from occurring, then you don’t need to worry about wasting time locating files that have been relocated, or perhaps even having to recreate the asset from scratch.

#7 – Make sure only the most up-to-date assets are available

When  producing assets, there is likely to be various drafts and versions. If various versions of an asset end up on a shared drive, there is a possibility that the wrong version of the asset is going to be used in marketing communications. Not only is this unprofessional, but it can be damaging to your brand. If you have spent the time to build up your brand, you want to protect it. By ensuring only the most up-to-date assets are available to departments, you can rest assured that no one is going to use the wrong version.

Brand Centurion

Would you like assistance when it comes to managing and controlling your assets?

Brand Centurion by Burst Digital can solve many of the issues surrounding asset management. By providing sales and marketing teams with instant access to the right version, of the right asset, every time, organisations are saving both time and money. A dynamic portal that enables organisations to maintain brand consistency, prevent costly mistakes and order branded print marketing materials

How Can a Marketing Portal Support a Successful Rebrand

Posted on by Ed Entecott

In the New Year, many organisations consider a rebrand or a brand refresh to help elevate their brand for the coming year. Rebranding for many organisations can be a daunting task to undertake but if executed correctly, it can be a rewarding process that delivers significant commercial benefits leading to new business, more revenue and a more motivated workforce.

Whether you are looking to change a significant element such as the logo or brand name, or if you are simply looking to alter your messaging to better communicate a more relevant brand promise, you’re going to need to plan your strategy for success. It takes a lot of time, energy and care to launch a rebrand, but careful planning and finding the right tools for the job can mean the difference between success and failure.

During a rebrand, two of the biggest challenges faced by large, multi-site organisations is updating the existing marketing assets with the new branding and ensuring each team member has access to these updated assets. This can be a very time consuming task but is vital as ultimately an inconsistent brand will struggle to distinguish itself in a competitive market. Whether you are still in the planning stages or if your rebranding is already underway, you’ll need to have a solid strategy to address these challenges.

So how can you be sure that a rebranding runs as smoothly as possible? Well that is where a marketing portal can help. While many marketing portals will offer a platform for you to store, design and distribute your own marketing materials in house, they also come with a wealth of other features that can support a rebrand from start to finish.

So how can a marketing portal support a rebrand?

Central Asset Repository

One of the most important the stages of a rebrand is distributing new marketing assets to the appropriate teams. This can slow down the rollout massively, especially if you have multiple teams in various locations, nationally or internationally. With a marketing portal though, you will have a central repository where you can store all of your latest assets. This enables teams instant access to the newest assets, meaning time to market is decreased and you can then concentrate on the more important business activities.

Keyword Tagging

On average, a marketer will spend up to an hour a day fielding requests for design files and marketing assets. With a marketing portal, finding branded assets has never been easier. This is because all you need to do is tag your assets with keywords so that your staff can find them as easily as possible. Gone are the hours spent trawling for assets- they are right at your fingertips whenever you need them.

Improved Brand Consistency

One of the hardest parts of a rebrand is ensuring that everything stays on brand. Consistency ultimately contributes to brand recognition which is vital in the early stages of a rebrand. Inconsistent branding can be very frustrating but can be very easily eradicated with the implementation of a marketing portal. With a marketing portal, brand managers can decide what assets can be made available to employees and which assets can be edited, which will prevent anyone from making unapproved changes or using the wrong version of an asset.

Online Accessibility

Many marketing portals are hosted online which means all updated assets can be uploaded to the cloud. This gives every team member instant access to the newest assets, wherever they are in the world. This means you don’t need to worry employees not being able to complete projects because they can’t access all the files they need. And because many marketing portals work away from your internal IT systems, you can rest assured that your files are safe in the cloud.

Reduced Errors

One of the biggest headaches related to branding is employees not sticking to brand guidelines. With a marketing portal, this headache can be alleviated as employees will only be able to work from pre-approved templates. Brand elements that shouldn’t be changed can be locked down while others can be edited with no design skills necessary. This means you can trust your employees to design marketing collateral and rest assured that it is on brand. This is further supported by the approval process, so nothing is printed or published without going through the processes you set in place first.

Streamlined Print Process

During a rebrand, the likeliness is you will have to reprint many of the existing print assets such as brochures, flyers and business cards. Starting prints runs however can be a notoriously laborious tasks, especially if you have to find a vendor, get quotes, send design files and await proofs. With a marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities, many of these steps are remove. You will have one vendor to handle all your printed materials, you will be able to get real-time quotes online and because you are using pre-approved templates, you don’t have to wait for them to be approved before starting a print run.

And because the portals are hosted online, print runs can be started at the click of a button. Assets can also be instantly converted into either a web-version or a print-ready PDF, meaning they are already in the right format to be sent to the printers.

CRM Integration

When rebranding, it is important to keep you existing customers in the know.  Most marketing portals will allow you to integrate with your existing CRM system or update existing databases. This will enable you to send out personalised, direct communications to keep them in know about the rebrand. This is especially important is you are changing critical elements such as your brand name or logo.

Brand Centurion

Whether you’re going through a rebrand or simply want some more support with your current brand, Brand Centurion can help.

The intuitive nature of Brand Centurion allows, anyone, anywhere the capability to submit customised print ready artwork whilst maintaining and adhering to strict brand guidelines. Brand Centurion also allows business with multiple locations a portal to access, create, monitor and print their latest marketing assets quickly and efficiently. This includes everything from posters to leaflets, business cards to digital assets.

5 Signs You Need Web-To-Print Software

Posted on by Ed Entecott

You may have considered adopting a web-to-print tool or marketing portal on a number of occasions but not quite got round to it. You can always find an excuse as to why now is not the right time – i.e. you don’t have the staff to implement the software, you don’t have the budget or maybe you already use Dropbox or other cloud storage tools so you don’t need a marketing portal.

Whilst many marketing portals will offer similar benefits to cloud storage, there are a number of portals that can deliver so much more. For large businesses with multiple business locations, marketing portals with web-to-print capabilities really are indispensable. This is especially true of organisations that produce large volumes of print marketing content on a regular basis.

If the above sounds all too familiar, then managing your assets digitally is likely to be the path you need. With increased productivity, better workflow and a more structured system of operating, the benefits are extensive.

Here are 5 signs that you need a marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities:

Time Wasted Searching for Files

On average, marketers spend an hour a day fielding requests and searching for the right version of an asset. Not only is this frustrating, but it also results in valuable time being wasted. This is time that could be spent on more important business activities. There may be more than one person producing these assets which results in assets being stored across shared departmental drives, individual desktops, and cloud storage which you might not have access to.

Keeping all files in a central repository that brings everything together in one place can alleviate this bugbear. You’ll be able to narrow things down even further by utilising powerful search capabilities to accurately pinpoint files. Not only will you save time and money, it’ll allow your teams spend more time doing what they do best.

Producing New Assets

One of the biggest costs relating to the production of marketing assets is the use of a graphic designer. From the original designs, to re-edits – the cost can quickly accumulate. Even the simple task of re-working of business cards can be a time consuming exercise. Spending time and resources re-creating misplaced or deleted files can easily be avoided by adopting a marketing portal.

Enabling you to search through previous work, a marketing portal will provide a central store of work that could either be reused or re-edited. New templates can also be uploaded with editing rights. Brand elements that shouldn’t be changed can be locked down, while other elements can be personalised. This saves time and money that would be spent on producing assets from scratch.

Campaigns and Branding are Lacking Consistency

Inconsistent branding tends to be a result of the wrong style of imagery used, the wrong font used or perhaps even an old logo being used that is now out of date. For multi-site organisations that are sending out a lot of messages, this can become a real headache. If you’ve spent the time to brand your business correctly, you need to ensure each department is representing the corporate image in the way it was intended. Using the wrong version of an asset can dilute the brand and make your communications incohesive. It’s important to monitor the assets that are available and how they are being used.

Implementing a marketing portal allows you to control individual access, and make sure your employees can only access the right version of an asset. This includes the latest logos, promotional material, and the right corporate documents. This ensures you maintain brand integrity across all touch points.

Miscommunication between Creative Teams

Within large organisation, the likeliness is there will be more than one person working on or producing creative marketing assets. Everyone has their own way of working, and processes can quickly become confused, especially if new people join the organisation. With different systems for saving and naming files, it can be difficult to find the latest version of an asset. Workflow redundancies can very quickly creep in that can slow down important business activity.

By creating a central repository within a marketing portal, all project members have instant access to the same shared resources. Even those working remotely can access the files produced, wherever they are in the world. As a result, miscommunication is minimised as everyone is working from the same assets, using the same system.

Excess Admin Procedures

Ordering printed marketing material can be a laborious task. Calling multiple vendors, requesting quotes, designing and sending files, waiting for proofs, making corrections, and waiting for your products to arrive all slow down the time to market. As a result, valuable time is taken up that could be spent on the more important tasks. Adopting a marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities can eliminate many of these tasks. It can also help avoid costly mistakes such as sending the wrong files or not proofing prior to printing.

Costs can often be negotiated ahead of time, approved templates are uploaded onto a web based dashboard so you have instant access, and only agreed elements can be edited. The order process can take a matter of minutes – instead of days. With less time spent on the admin involved in locating, editing and distributing files, your teams can devote their energies on building strategies and driving revenue.

Brand Centurion

If any of the above issues affect your ability to work to optimal levels of efficiency, it’s time to consider adopting a marketing portal. Brand Centurion from Burst Digital allows you to manage and track all of your branded print and digital marketing assets through one easy-to-use, powerful and cost-saving marketing portal with web-to-print capabilities.

Continue Reading: Making the Business Case for Web-To-Print

Unwrapped! Seasonal Branding and Marketing Tips for 2016

Posted on by Ed Entecott

You might think it is too early to start talking about Christmas, but when it comes to seasonal marketing, it is never too early. There are some brands that spend their whole year planning their Christmas marketing campaigns and rightly so! In 2015, the UK spent over £70bn between November and the end of December so for brands looking to cash in, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Although consumers are naturally spending more money, we’ve unwrapped our top tips to help you get a head-start on your seasonal branding.

Prepare your Content

Preparation really is key when it comes to running a successful Christmas marketing campaign and developing a clear and precise marketing schedule for the entire holiday season is vital. This is best done several months in advance and the sooner you start the better. You may be running several product offerings or sales throughout the months running up to Christmas so you need to ensure you have all your marketing assets prepared.

The likeliness is you will use a combination of assets to make up your campaign so allowing that extra time to prepare your assets will be crucial for your business. You need to have a clear idea of your messaging throughout the season so identify keep dates in the calendar.

Black Friday (November 25th) and Cyber Monday (November 28th) are “holidays” that have only just been introduced to the UK from America but already a lot of big brands such as John Lewis, Amazon and Currys are cashing in. Running sales on these days can be a great way to increase sales and raise brand awareness. Bear this in mind and make note of these important dates in your content calendar.

Calendarise your Content

We all know how tough it is to buy gifts for everyone on your list and for many; Christmas involves a last minute dash to buy those last few bits. Help alleviate this annual tradition by starting your campaign early and encouraging consumers to start their Christmas shopping with you. Promote your best sellers early on in the season and make your marketing message loud and clear.

Remember, customers will typically have five interactions with your brand before they make a final purchase decision. The earlier you start your campaign, the more likely your consumers are going to have those five interactions.  People might scoff when they see Christmas campaigns in late-October but starting the hype early will inevitably work in your favour. The key here is to market little and often to avoid annoying consumers. Depending on your area of business, you could also consider sharing extra seasonal inspiration.

For those people that are last minute panic buying though, why not offer some last minute gift ideas? Once again, promote some of your best sellers but also the ones that won’t break the bank. This is a perfect way to snatch up those last minute sales.

Manage your List and Target your Audience

One of the best ways to engage with you audience is with personalised content. Sending personalised message will increase the chances of them shopping with you over the festive season. Remember, consumers will be looking for the best possible deal but engaging with them on a personal level might just be the tipping point to help you win the sale.

If you have a CRM database, make the most of it with personalised mailers. If you also have data on your consumers buying habits, use this data to re-engage them by sending them offers on products you think they might like. Tracking customers online can also allow you to re-engage with them by sending emails to remind them about the products they might have left in their online basket.

Alternatively, why not reward your regular customers, it is Christmas after all! Send them a promotional voucher or maybe even a small gift. Not only will it bring you extra business, it will also remind your customers why they shop with you. It will also get your customers talking to their friends and family about you, potentially bringing you in even more sales.

Revisit your Branding for the Holiday Season

Whether you have a physical store or an online store, give your store, website and social media channels a slight rebrand. This will inevitably strengthen your brand’s overall position in the consumer’s mind. We’re not saying you need to overhaul your whole website or store as this isn’t cost effective, but there are a few small things you can do to add some festive cheer with the addition of web banners, in-store promotional materials or social-media posts.  After all, nothing gets people in the Christmas mood like the proper decorations and ambience.

Depending on the size of your brand, you may want to produce a new style guide to ensure your colours; fonts and other design elements are on point and this will help with the overall design of your marketing assets and ensure brand consistency across all consumer touch points. Having consistency across all touchpoints will help your consumers distinguish your marketing message from your competitors and consistency makes your recognisable!

So there you have it, a few things to consider help you win those all important holiday sales.

 Brand Centurion

Brand Centurion web-to-print and asset management tool really is the gift that just keeps giving. Store, create and distribute all your seasonal print and digital marketing assets with one, powerful, easy-to-use portal.

We also offer a wide range of print services and seasonal promotional materials to ensure your business is Christmas ready.

For a demo of Brand Centurion or to find out more about our print services, call today on 01293 660722.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital on 10/10/2016

The Changing Faces of Branding: Technology, Audience, Trends & Tastes

Posted on by Ed Entecott

Branding can be hard at the best of times, especially when there are so many different elements to consider. It can also become a little overwhelming when the market is constantly changinging. With new technologies entering the market and trends starting weekly, brands are having to adapt rapidly.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at some of those changing elements that have the biggest impact on brands.

Technology

Ten years ago, digital marketing was very different. For many brands just having a social presence was enough as the market was still developing. And when it came to choosing your social channels, only a handful of popular options were available. However, there are now over 2.4 billion active users of social media around the world and this has meant brands are now having to compete more fiercely for just a few seconds of an audience’s attention.

Today’s consumers now expect to be, and are, engaged with brands on many different digital channels and touchpoints. This has made the customer journey a more involved one and with wearable tech such as the Apple Watch and Google Glass becoming more mainstream, marketers once again have to grapple with new technology. Declared as the next big thing, wearable technology can help reduce the time between intention and action.

Given how quickly the wearables market is developing, marketers need to start preparing to target consumers through this new channel. Currently 1 in 7 people in the UK own wearable technology and the trend is set to continue. As a result, consideration needs to be taken into making marketing messages more glanceable so that messages can be delivered on smaller screens with enough relevant information to encourage someone to discover more by clicking through on their smart phone.

This is just an example of things to come but the point is, technology is constantly evolving so marketers need to be constantly aware of how they are going to reach consumers through these new channels.

Audiences

Every brand has an audience but as any good marketer will tell you, audiences evolve constantly. Everyday their needs and wants will change and people today don’t have the same concerns or needs as they did say  5-10 years ago. This can make it increasingly difficult for brands to target their consumers in the same way that might have appealed to them last month.

After major events such as the 2008 recession and more recently Brexit, people are becoming more savvy with their money. There have also been wider divisions in politics, culture and taste across generations more recently.  Therefore, brands need to consider the value of their products more than ever before. Not just in terms of money, but also in terms of what their brand represents.

In the past, consumers have been broken down into “lazy” segments such as ‘millennial’ or Gen Z’ but there are potentially 15 year age gaps within these segments. To get a better understanding of audiences, these segments need to broken down even further. Brands need a clearer understanding into the nuances that make each consumer an individual. By understanding their consumers beliefs, values and needs; they can effectively reach out to their audience in the most appropriate manner.

Tastes

As consumers, we are a very fickle bunch. Our likes and dislikes are constantly changing resulting in endless new products hitting our shelves to help feed our appetites.

When certain goods go out of fashion or people’s tastes and preferences no longer remain favourable to them, the demand for them decreases. The level at which a customer desires your product not only affects your demand curve, but essentially your overall success as a brand. One way to stay ahead of the curve is by altering the product or service. This ensures the demands of consumers are always met meaning they don’t have to look towards other brands to get what they want.

Apple is a brand that is very good at “reinventing” itself. They very quickly realised that to stay at the forefront of technology development, they needed to listen to their customers and adapt. With Apple bringing out a new iPhone more or less annually, they have been able to add/change/remove the elements that their customers like and dislike about their products. They have blown all competition out of the water and now you will struggle to find a household without an Apple product.

Trends

Trends come and go and it can sometimes be difficult to work out which ones are going to stick around. As we discussed in our previous blog post (5 Trends that Should be Shaping your 2017 Marketing Budget), live video is one trend that we think will be making waves in the next couple of months.

Another trend that has stuck around is documenting every waking moment of our days. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the bits in between documented on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. As they say, a picture paints a thousand words and brands should embrace this power.

People like to get to know the ins and outs of a brand – they’re not interested in just seeing the curated marketing content that has been planned for the past 6 months. By sharing moments as they happen, brands can start building a personality that their consumers can relate to. In turn, this turns consumers into advocates and they begin sharing your story. John Lewis is one brand that has nailed this and they are constantly producing share-worthy visual content – no wonder they are one of the UK’s leading brands.

Brand Centurion

With the elements of branding changing constantly, it can be difficult to manage your brand successfully. With Brand Centurion, you can create marketing and branded-materials in-house and distribute them in a timely manner, allowing you to react quickly to these changing elements. To find out more or to request a demo, call us on 01293 660722.

 

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital, 26/09/2016

5 Trends that Should Shape your 2017 Marketing Budget

Posted on by Ed Entecott

We’d all like a crystal ball to help us plan next year’s marketing budget so that we could spend more time engaging with our audience and less time planning. How nice would it be to know exactly which emerging technologies and trends are going to have the biggest impact on your bottom line? Or knowing exactly which digital channels your prospective customers will be using?

Unfortunately we can’t predict the future but that doesn’t mean we can’t draw upon some comprehensive research to help us make some informed predictions as to which way things are heading. The way in which the marketing industry drives forward is immense so here are our top five predicted digital marketing trends that should be shaping your 2017 marketing budget.

Video – Live Streaming

In the last year we have seen video skyrocket. Each social network now seems to offer its own video platform but live streaming is still relatively new. The first release of tools like Periscope and Meerkat only came about in early 2015. Facebook very quickly jumped on the bandwagon though and more recently, YouTube has introduced live streaming capabilities.

Live video streams can be used for marketing in various ways. They can build awareness, drive conversion and boost engagement. Very often this will be dependent on using the right social platform for your content though. By supplementing your current social strategy with live video, and hyping the build up to your content, you have a real opportunity to reach the masses. In fact, it is believe that in 2017, 74% of all internet traffic will be to video.

Despite the enormous growth of the apps there are still very few brands that have adopted video. Live content is now getting preference over all other content though. Its rate of user adoption and participation is driving the urgency to include this in marketing strategies. With live video being the best way to bring the full power of personal sales to social media, there is a real opportunity for ROI.

You can only do this though by adding value to your customers, so don’t just go straight in with a sales pitch. Give your customers an insight into the personality of your business. Stream company events, make live announcements, conduct interviews or even run a live video blog. Although it is safe to say that live video is here for the long haul, now is the time to determine how to best use it to build awareness and expand reach.

BoohooMAN recently worked with social media marketing agency Social Chain to deliver the most engaged live video ever. Customers were invited to engage with a live stunt on Facebook that saw air being pumped into a giant water balloon every time someone commented ‘pump’. The last person to comment pump when the balloon burst won a £250 gift voucher. This stunt received on 2 million impressions, 930,000 engagements and over 4,000 comments a minute! By creating content that they knew their target audience would react to, boohooMAN was the most talked about brand on Cyber Monday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Cross-Device Retargeting

Consumers are much harder to reach these days, especially as they switch back and forth between all their different devices. DMA’s Statistical Fact Book reports that the average consumer is now connected through five addressable devices. This in turn means five opportunities to get your brand in front of them. Today’s shopper uses a laptop, a tablet and a smartphone and consumers will bounce back-and-forth between device before making that final purchase decision.

As these consumers move across devices, marketers must engage with them in personalised, meaningful ways. By tagging consumers at their first touch point with your brand and tracking their behaviour across devices, marketers are able to target them with display advertising that is appropriate for the device. This unified view of a customer helps deliver a consistent and engaging message across devices ensuring your brand is always at the forefront of their mind. So rather than sending one message to what appears to be three different consumers, you can reach one consumer three times with a consistent, relevant message.

Google recently announced that advertisers will soon be able to reach users across devices with Google remarketing campaigns. This is a significant development as this isn’t something Google previously supported. This means marketers can now monitor how frequently users see their ads across devices enabling them to seamlessly to deliver a cross-device marketing campaign.

Personalised Content

There is so much content on the web that it can be very difficult for brands to break through the noise. This can also make it difficult for brands to differentiate from other brands, especially if they are offering the same product or service and targeting a wide audience. If you’re producing content to appeal to everyone, it’s not going to be as valuable as content that is targeted. Treating customers and prospects as one homogenous group fails to maximise the potential of your messaging.

Consumers now expect more from brands and as such, are looking for you to add value to their lives, not disrupt it. In exchange, brands get their custom, loyalty and brand advocacy. We can only achieve this though by providing content that our customers actually want to read. If brands have a better understanding of the person they are targeting, they will have a better understanding of the information their customer might be seeking.

It is also vital to consider how your prospects and customers are consuming your content. With mobile traffic now outstripping desktop traffic, the importance of delivering content on the right device, in the right format and at the right time is vital to its success. For example, first thing in the morning on the commute, content should be mobile friendly and easily digestible. However in the evening, when content is more likely to be read on a tablet, it can be longer-form and more in-depth.

For brands to add real value to consumers though, they need to shift their focus towards narrower niches, personalised content and more targeted channels. Although this will undoubtedly generate lower volume, the quality of engagement will be much higher and the content is more likely to resonate.

Optimise for Mobile First

Smartphones have now overtaken laptops as UK Internet user’s number one device. On average, we are spending almost two hours online on our smartphones every day. There has been an emphasis on optimising for mobile traffic for a few years and now it is clear that mobile first should be the mantra for the rest of the year and beyond.

Having a mobile-friendly website or app is just the beginning.  For the first time Google has started widening their first page search results to include mobile apps and they have recently released their “Mobilegeddon” algorithm. This will essentially phase out sites that have not been optimised for mobile access from showing in search results. This is very bad news for companies who have not yet optimised their website as their Google rankings will drop moving them further down the search page. Google has also introduced Mobile Accelerated Pages which delivers a lighter version of a web page that will load ultra-fast on mobile.

Desktop traffic is slowly beginning to fade away, and in order to increase the competitive edge of your company, mobile-focused online marketing is key. As it currently stands, one in seven Brits own wearable technology and the trend is set to continue.  This means marketers need to be prepared to produce content to fit the format, the channel, and the place.

Social Analytics

It may feel like social media has been around for a lifetime but it’s certainly still in its infancy. Although most companies have adopted one or two social media platforms, many of them are still not collecting data. Social media gives businesses an unprecedented opportunity for connecting with customers and prospects but 88% of marketers aren’t sure of the best way to engage their audience on social media which is potentially driving away consumers. With the move to mobile though and more brands relying on social platforms, analytics will offer the greatest opportunities.

The mass-target approach is out, and personalised data-driven marketing plans are in. Social media is competitive and it is crowded so it is essential to test and track results. By making greater use of social analytics, brands are able to drill down and gain valuable insight. There are certain nuggets of valuable data buried within the mountains of social media chatter. Organisations that are looking for a competitive edge can use social analytics to identify patterns in customer sentiment which in turn enables them to gauge their marketing effectiveness. This process goes beyond the usual monitoring of “likes” or retweets to develop an in-depth idea of who their social consumer is and this information is invaluable.

Using social analytics, brands are able to understand how their customers are making use of their services or products and what their views and opinions are about that particular company or product. There are countless blogs, tweets, comments and complaints regarding products and services and social media platforms are now the No.1 place for consumers to complain. This huge volume of information can be used to evaluate consumer’s experience which can then be used to help companies perform better.

Tracking data is also essential in helping brands get better results. If brands aren’t tracking their data, they are wasting their time on hit or miss type campaigns. Social media analytics is often the difference between success and failure for obtaining the results brands want.

So there you have it, five growing trends to watch out for this coming year and to consider adopting in your 2017 marketing strategy.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital, 12/09/2016

Building a Brand: The Building Blocks of Success

Posted on by Ed Entecott

Building a Brand – The Building Blocks of Success

We all know that there is no recipe for success when it comes to business, especially when there are so many internal and external factors that can either make or break a business. We cannot prepare ourselves for all eventualities but there are a number of steps that can be taken to minimise risks. When we think of large successful businesses, the key players that come to mind are Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Apple. But what have all of these companies got in common that have made them so successful? Strong branding!

Branding is bandied about a lot when it comes to talking about successful businesses. You brand represents everything about your business and it resonates with your customers and prospects. With this in mind, it is vital that you get the basic building blocks right. But what are the building blocks that have enabled these brands to triumph over others?

Building Block #1: Clear Strategy

Before launching any brand, you have to ensure that you have established your brand foundation. Your brand foundation can be identified by answering a number of questions:

What are our core values? What do we believe in? How do we want our customers to perceive us? What is our core messaging and visual identity? What do we want our company to represent?

After answering all of these questions, you will have a clearer understanding of what you foundation strategy should be. These foundation principles could be a list or statement, or a selection of carefully selected words. They essentially need to be referenced to by everyone who touches your brand internally, at every stage of any business decision making process.  Also, by understanding who your ideal customers are, you can ensure that you’re building a brand that aligns with their wants and needs.

Building Block #2: A Strong Logo

This is a given really but once you have established your foundation, you need to address your visual elements. Designing a logo is no easy task as there are so many components to consider. To put it as simply as possible though, make it unique, make it adaptable, make it timeless but most of all, make it memorable.

This is the first element that the public will probably come into contact with so it needs to be striking.  Remember though, your logo will set the standard for all your marketing collateral so it needs to be adaptable. Logos need to translate across different mediums but still evoke the same meaning.

Never underestimate the power of your logo either. Throughout a single company’s history, various logos serve as indicators of values, loyalty and togetherness. One of the most iconic brand logos of all time is the Nike “swoosh”. The logo was introduced in 1971 and since its introduction, it has only undergone four revisions but the Nike “Swoosh” has remained. It has now gone on to become the most iconic images in the world, so much so that in 1995 the company chose to remove the brand name of the original design, leaving the “Swoosh” as the sole symbol of the company.

Building Block #3: Guidelines

Once you’ve established your identity and you have a logo to match it, you need to ensure your other visual elements match the image and personality of your brand. This is essential as it helps develop a sense of familiarity for your customers. Fonts and colours which will be heavily influenced by your logo will have a big impact of your branded marketing materials. You need to consider how your fonts and colours portray your brand.

For example, if your brand is corporate, then your font should be slick, easy to read and professional. No Comic Sans please. However, if your brand is a bit more fun, then you can use a font that is energetic and slightly more elaborate.

Research has shown that colour also plays a vital role in the perception of brands. This is why it is so important in understanding your ideal customer. If your customers are looking for a brand that is exciting, you may choose to use red in your marketing collateral. Or if you want to convey sophistication, you may look to use purple. There are no clear cut guidelines when it comes to colour but when it comes to choosing colours, you must test. You cannot know how your audience will respond to your colours in your content and layout without testing to determine which colour combinations work best.

Your guidelines will also cover elements such as writing guidelines, web design and print design.  Once you have a set of brand guidelines, as long as they have been clearly established, it should help everyone from your team to your suppliers designing your marketing material make sure that everything is consistent and looking like it’s from the same company.

Building Block #4: Tone of Voice

Your tone of voice is not what you say, but how you say it. In relationship to branding, it embodies and expresses your personality and reflects the overarching foundation.  The words you use on your website and in your marketing collateral can define how people perceive your business.

When establishing your tone of voice, you need to think carefully about whom you are talking to. Do you want to appear casual and friendly or formal and sharp? Your tone of voice needs to be distinctive and recognisable. Carefully selected words can heavily influence customers and by picking a voice that fits your brand and culture can make you more memorable to customers.

One brand that hit the nail on the head in their very early days was Innocent drinks. Their branding is often held up as a shining example of how to get copywriting and marketing right. One of the most significant things about Innocent’s brand voice is that it is relatively informal and friendly. Instead of coming across as a company, it sounds more like a friend who has just made you are smoothie. If you have a look across any of their customer touch points though, you will see that this friendly, off-the-wall formula has been used across all of their content. By having this consistency, consumers are instantly able to recognise a marketing message from Innocent.

One of the most important lessons that can be learnt from Innocent is that success comes from building a unique brand voice. By developing this distinct tone that your customers are comfortable with, your customers are more likely to return to your website or connect with you digitally.

Building Block #5: Consistency 

Consistency is key for your business and does a multitude of things for your brand. It can contribute to generating trust, attracting more customers and also creating a professional feel across the business. Ultimately, consistency contributes to brand recognition, so you need to make sure all your marketing elements and messaging is cohesive. Not only does this help strengthen your brand, but it also drives positive sentiment and trust in consumers which ultimately leads to brand loyalty and lifelong customers.

New and returning customers are heavily influenced by the stability that is associated with a solid reputation, and this can only be perpetuated by consistent branding. By keeping a tight rein on brand consistency, marketers are able to drive customer perception for the onset of the engagement all the way through the buyer decision process.

We have seen the power of consistent branding in recent years with Apple. In the early stages, Apple was able to establish an identity that meets their needs, and they have stuck with it. Changing the look or approach of the Apple brand could easily undermine the consumers’ understanding of who Apple are as a company so Apple consistently places a lower case “i” on new digital products – the iPhone, iPad, iPod, iWatch. This ensures that consumers can easily identify a new product as coming from Apple, even if they haven’t heard from them. As a result, Apple is now the world’s most valuable technology brand, and has been the front-runner for the past six, consecutive years.

Apple’s global domination continues, and although their brand success would be hard to replicate, their strategy and tactics are easily transferable to any brand. Unfortunately it won’t come easily but the consequence of brand consistency is so crucial to a brand’s success, it’s worth investing the time.

Building Block #6: Brand Centurion

Consistency is the key theme that runs throughout all of the points above and any brand manager will tell you how vital it is for a brand to succeed. One of the biggest tasks faced by brand managers though is keeping their marketing consistent. With Brand Centurion, many of the daily struggles are alleviated by providing organisations with one, easy-to-use, powerful asset management tool. Brand Centurion automates all the demanding creation and distribution jobs and ensures that all marketing collateral is consistent every single time.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 30/08/2016

If you’re interested in developing your brand, call us today and up your marketing game!

Web-to-Print: The Must-Have for Multi-site Marketers

Posted on by Ed Entecott

You may have considered implementing an asset management tool on a number of occasions but not quite got round to it. You always seem find an excuse as to why now is not the right time – i.e. you don’t have the staff to implement the software, you don’t have the budget or maybe you already use Dropbox or other cloud storage tools so you don’t need an asset management tool. With their wealth of benefits though you are potentially missing out on an tool that for many successful marketing departments are indispensable.

There are basic asset management tools will essentially act as centralised repository in which business can efficiently store, organise, access and distribute a large number of marketing assets. Whilst they offer similar benefits to cloud storage, there are a number of asset management tools that can deliver so much more.

When producing large volumes of print marketing content on a regular basis and delivering it to different audiences across different stores,  adopting an asset management tool with web-to-print capabilities offers an array of added benefits.

Brand Uniformity

Your brand is your strongest asset as it represents your company identity and your corporate values so it is vital that this is maintained across all your business locations. Your brand needs to communicate the same message across all channels because a lack of uniformity can weaken your brand. Within large, multi-site organisations, there will be more than one person responsible for branding and if tight controls aren’t in place, branding mistakes will be made. A web-to-print solution improves consistency across all marketing as design elements can be locked down meaning they can’t be changed. This allows you to have tighter control over your marketing assets.

Increased Efficiency

Ordering printed marketing material can be a laborious task. If you have to call multiple vendors, request quotes, design and send files, wait for proofs, make corrections, and wait for your products to arrive all slow down the time to market. This is valuable time that could be spent on more important tasks. A web-to-print solution can eliminate many of these tasks and help avoid costly mistakes. Costs are negotiated ahead of time, approved templates are uploaded onto a web based dashboard so you have instant access, and only agreed elements can be edited prior to printing. The order process can take a matter of minutes – instead of days.

Centralised Purchasing

If you have numerous people ordering printed stationery from numerous vendors, costs can very quickly spiral out of control. It can also become difficult to track what you are spending. With an effective web-to-print solution, you can manage budgets by seeing exactly who is ordering what before approving the order. By using a single vendor, you have tighter controls over your budgets.

Personalised Marketing

A massive 79% of people will act on direct mail if they feel like it is personal to them. Unfortunately though, many marketers are missing opportunities by concentrating their personalised marketing efforts online. With some web-to-print solutions, you can integrate and manage your CRM data to enable personalised marketing.  This means artwork can be pre-populated with personalised information so your direct mail piece makes a greater impact.

Digital Repository

As well as storing print marketing assets, many web-to-print solutions can also be used as a store for digital assets including Facebook banners, email signatures, videos, PDF’s or photography. This makes it incredibly easy to share approved digital assets. This ensures that your teams are using the right version of the right asset ensuring overall brand consistency. And because web-to-print software works away from your internal IT software, you can rest assured that your files are safe.

Cost Saving

One of the biggest costs relating to the production of marketing assets is the use of a graphic designer. From the original designs, to re-edits – the cost can quickly accumulate. Even for the simple task of re-working of business cards can be a huge expense if you have to produce multiple versions for different people. With a web-to-print solution, you can upload pre-approved templates that allow you to customise only the agreed elements. This could include elements such as the name field, telephone number and email address of a business card. With simple drag-and-drop, this removes the need for a designer to artwork these jobs. This means your designers time can be better spent on the more important tasks.

Web Based

As mentioned, web-to-print software works away from your internal IT software. This means there is no software to download and it be accessed 24/7 on any device, anywhere in the world. This also removes the hassle of phone calls and emails to get a print run started – you can do it all from the portal.

Brand Centurion

If web-to-print sounds like something that your organisation could benefit from, Brand Centurion from Burst Digital could be the right solution for you. We can work with you to ensure your branded marketing assets are consistent, accessible and centrally stored so you can access them as soon as you need them.

If you’d like more information about Brand Centurion or a demo, simply call 01293 660722.

Continue Reading: 5 Signs you Need Web-To-Print Software

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 08/08/2016

Direct Marketing Facts & Statistics, CMO Council, 2015

https://www.cmocouncil.org/facts-stats-categories.php?view=all&category=direct-marketing

How to Utilise Your Strongest Asset: Brand Consistency

Posted on by Ed Entecott

Whether you like it or not, every business has a brand and it has the potential to be one of the strongest assets you own. Your brand represents everything your business does and is the impression people have about your brand. For that reason alone, it is vital to nurture your brand and make it a priority. Your brand should convey what you do, what you stand for and what makes you unique. This collection of interlinked attributes essentially give your business its identity.

Branding Blog

Now caring for a brand is often easier said than done. I’m afraid to say it but there is a lot to consider and a lot of work required. Putting your logo on all your marketing materials or using the right pantone is a step in the right direction but it simply doesn’t cover it – building a good brand takes time. Strong, consistent branding reinforces your identity and creates a positive sentiment. This can only be done though by aligning the look, feel and tone of voice throughout your brand messages.

But why is it so important?

Consumers trust brands that they recognise and can get to know of a more personal level. We all know that making a purchase is more of an emotional decision than it is a practical one. John Lewis is one of the UK’s favourite household brands and it is all down to their strong brand identity. The brand resonates and this has allowed customers to connect with the brand. As a result, this has implanted a real sense of loyalty and trust for the brand.

We buy the same brands because we know what to expect, feel at ease purchasing and know we like the product. This same concept can be carried across all our marketing channels to ensure there is a seamless look and feel on all our customer touchpoints. Consumers will feel more comfortable with your brand and are more inclined to become a lifelong customer.

‘Just Do It’ is one of the simplest, most recognisable slogans of all time and is a line that Nike has used for the past 15 years. Compare this with major competitor Reebok though who has changed their slogan 14 times since 1988. Nike’s strong branding has enabled differentiation against the competition as it has allowed people to identify Nike’s products and services at a glance. And it seems Nike’s consistency has paid off as it is now the global market leader in the sports shoe market. Consistency goes far beyond a slogan or a logo though.

Consistency Equals Dependency

Whilst a CMO may have the final say on what marketing content is released, it is at that point that they lose all control. With the array of social media platforms, review sites and blogging sites, customers can constantly talk to each other and share their opinions (both positive and negative) about your brand. People love telling others about the brands they like and this can very easily sway another person’s opinion. Strong brands create followers who are not shy about sharing their stories and these endorsements are extremely important in building a brand’s trust factor.

Coca-Cola is an outstanding example of how brand consistency increase company value,

Without brand consistency, you lose the ability to cut through all this noise and position your brand positively in the consumers’ minds. Consistency across all your marketing channels and customer touch points is essential as brand inconsistency immediately leads to poor brand experiences.

Consistent branding doesn’t mean that all your communications should look exactly the same, far from it in fact. But it does mean you should strive for cohesion by sticking to a set of visual standards that can be developed through your brand guidelines. Keeping your visual identity consistent will help effectively distinguish and give your brand recognition. As a result it creates the ‘desirability’ factor for existing and potential new customers, supporters and stakeholders.

Written by Liam Beauchamp for Burst Digital – 09/05/2016

Burst Digital

We can help control your brand consistency through a dynamic asset management portal. Brand Centurion allows business with multiple locations a portal to access, create, monitor and print their latest marketing assets quickly and efficiently. This includes everything from posters to leaflets, business cards to digital assets. Brand Centurion can maintain your brand consistency; prevent costly mistakes, save money in reduced design and artwork time and enable you to order your branded print marketing materials instantly.


Ready to up your marketing game? Talk to us today!