Category: B2B Marketing

Does Your Business Need a Brand Makeover?

Madison Andrews , Senior Copywriter

Does your brand need a fresh coat of paint? Before you select a shade, as it were, it's important to carefully consider your company's differentiators and goals.

Here’s how to execute a flawless
rebrand when it’s time for an upgrade.

We love a makeover show — Queer Eye, Love It or List It, Fixer Upper. Watching an overworked single dad get a head-to-toe glow-up, or a house with Addams Family vibes transformed into the most modern place on the block? What’s not to love?

What these shows do for people and buildings, we do for businesses. Branding is a lot like a makeover, but instead of Spanx and spackle, we use messaging and graphic design. And, like a good makeover, successful rebranding does not attempt to reimagine the business, but rather reveals what’s been underneath all along.

You might be wondering — when is the right time to rebrand? It depends on your business, industry, history and objectives. These are a few of the most common signs your brand needs a makeover.

Signs it’s time for a brand makeover.
Wondering if your business is due for a rebrand? These are a few of the signs it might be time to refresh your look1.

Questions to Ask Before a
Brand Makeover.

To effectively communicate who you are, it’s essential to understand your brand’s identity. Ask questions — the right questions2 — to identify what sets you apart from the competition. What makes your product or service different? What do you offer that others don’t? What do your customers love about you? Just as importantly — what do you like and dislike about your current brand identity?

The answers to these questions will guide you as you make creative decisions throughout the rebranding process.

Refine Your Brand’s Message.

With a clear understanding of your differentiators, you’re ready to get the message across with the right language. This is where the magic of copywriting comes into play, and great copy is about two things: what you say and how you say it.

The “what” is fairly simple. In fact, after answering the questions above, you probably emerged with a basic understanding of what you want to say. If customer service sets your company apart, for example, then your copy may focus on how well you communicate, adapt and address client pain points. Determining your brand voice, or how you convey your message, may take a little more thought and finesse.  

What Is Brand Voice?

Your brand’s voice is its personality. Just as personality traits affect how people communicate, your brand’s voice guides how you connect with consumers. If your B2B company offers advanced technological solutions, then your voice might be intellectual, crisp and professional. If you manufacture trendy clothing for twenty-something shoppers, your voice may be more conversational, colloquial and even irreverent. Remember that conversation is a two-way street. Understanding who you’re speaking to (your target audience) is just as important as knowing your own brand’s identity.

What Is Brand Tone?

While your brand voice will remain consistent across channels, your tone will vary. Brand tone is the style in which you communicate, including word choice, syntax and cadence. If your company serves a range of industries, your tone may change depending on the vertical you’re targeting. Likewise, a social media post can (and should) sound different than a formal sales presentation.

Refining brand messaging requires strategic planning, editing and testing. Make sure your copy is subjected to a thorough internal review process involving stakeholders who “get” your brand voice. Once you’ve released your copy into the wild, track how it performs on different channels and make adjustments as needed.

Establish a Consistent Visual Brand Identity.

No brand makeover is complete without a visual revamp. Remember those questions above? Your answers will determine which direction you take with your graphic design.

Revisit Your Color Palette

Sometimes (but not always) a rebrand includes an upgraded color palette. Consider who you are as a company, what differentiates you and how you want your target audience to feel. Does your current color palette uniquely represent your product or service, or does it conflict with what’s seen in your industry or the quality of your offerings? Exploring color theory, psychology and your competitors’ branding can help you make smart decisions about color.

Rethink Your Typography

The great thing about a rebrand is that you’re not starting from scratch; you have a whole history of visual materials you can evaluate and tweak to help you make the best decisions moving forward. Look back at previous marketing collateral to assess your current fonts. Are they easy to read in print and digital formats? Do they support your brand’s personality and voice? Are they out of date? If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” it may be a good idea to select new fonts.

Develop Brand Guidelines

Whatever changes you make to your brand’s color, typography and imagery, consistency is key. Set the new guidelines in stone and make sure they’re clearly delineated for anyone who has a hand in your company’s marketing. Establishing a recognizable brand identity helps customers remember, connect with and trust your business.

Reveal Your New Brand.

Once you’ve established your new look and feel, it’s time to shout it from the mountaintops! Announcing your rebrand, especially if it deviates significantly from previous materials, will generate excitement about your business and answer any questions customers have. Clients may wonder, for example, if the rhetorical and visual changes are the result of new ownership or offerings. Be sure to explain why you rebranded — usually, because it more accurately reflects your business’ personality, products and services — as well as any changes customers can expect going forward. Then start to roll out key marketing materials, like your website, brochures, emails and more with your refreshed brand.

Need a brand makeover? Not sure where to start? Contact us and we’ll get your business ready for its closeup.

Sources:

  1. Is Your Online Brand Ready for a Makeover? Here are 5 Ways to Tell | Inc.
  2. 16 Questions to Ask Before Beginning a Brand Redesign Project | HubSpot

How to Design a Winning Trade Show Booth

Madison Andrews , Senior Copywriter

Effective trade show booth design comes down to a few basic building blocks — consistent brand elements, eye-catching visuals and activities that encourage interaction and connection.

Follow These Tips to Wow Prospective Customers at Your Next Trade Show.

Picture this: You’re standing in the middle of a crowded trade show booth. Your signage and lighting positively sparkle as prospective customers eagerly engage with your interactive product displays. You’re fielding questions left and right, seamlessly gathering attendee data and swapping business cards like a networking ninja.

Sounds great, right? With clear objectives, thoughtful planning and savvy design, you can make this dream a reality. Here we’ll outline the fundamentals of effective trade show booth design, from setting achievable goals to crafting a compelling message for your target audience.

How to Plan Your Trade Show Booth.

Before you decide the “how” of your booth, it’s important to understand the “why.” Are you looking to generate leads among a well-known target audience? Or are you seeking to build brand awareness within a new market vertical? The following questions can help you determine your goals for the event.

Trade Show Attendee Statistics
These statistics about attendees suggest the impact a strong trade show presence can have.

Who is your target audience?

As with any marketing initiative, it’s important to define your audience. Will you be targeting prospective customers, industry peers or potential investors? Understanding your audience will help you refine your messaging and visual approach.

Who is your competition?

Information about your competitors’ previous approaches to trade shows can help you differentiate your booth and set achievable goals. What were their goals and objectives? What kind of messaging and visuals did they use? What do you like about their approach and, more importantly, how can you differentiate your own booth to ensure it stands out?

How will your booth align with your overall marketing strategy?

It’s important to set goals that support your business’ overall marketing strategy. Is your company focused on boosting awareness, generating leads or promoting a new product or service? Considering how the trade show fits into your overall marketing strategy can help you refine your objectives for the event.

What are your goals for the trade show?

Once you’ve identified your target audience, studied the competition and reviewed your company’s overall marketing strategy, it’s time to determine specific, measurable goals for your trade show booth. For example, you might want to gather contact information for a certain number of quality leads, or close a certain number of sales. However you define success, make sure your objectives are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

How to Design a Trade Show Booth That Stands Out.

Once you’ve defined your goals, you’re ready to make decisions about the look, feel and functionality of your booth. The following best practices will help you to create an on-brand experience that attracts your target audience and keeps them engaged.

Trade Show Booth Mockup
This mockup of a trade show booth demonstrates the importance of on-brand design elements that encourage interaction.

Stay True to Your Brand.

While your objectives may be unique to the trade show in question, your messaging and visuals should align with your branding guidelines. Make sure every aspect of the experience, from physical signage to virtual data-gathering interfaces, reinforces your brand identity while delivering a message that feels specific and relevant to the event at hand.

Keep the content simple.

A tradeshow booth is more often than not meant to be a backdrop for what’s happening inside your booth. With this in mind, it’s important to keep content minimal, embracing large catchy headlines and keeping your company’s logo is front and center. Highlighting a few key points or differentiators is also good if you want to give booth visitors a quick snapshot of what you offer. More than likely, chairs, tables and people will be standing in front of your booth graphics, so small wording or small details will get lost or not seen.

Highlight Key Visual Elements.

As with content, you’ll want to select images carefully and use them smartly. Make sure you’re drawing attention to the specific products and services that reiterate what your company offers. Strategically placed lighting or illumination can further help to guide visitors’ eyes, while also adding to the “vibe” of your booth. When selecting lighting, consider how you want guests to feel – relaxed, energized, solemn, powerful? Once you know how you want booth visitors to feel, you can select visuals and design a lighting scheme that achieves the effect.

Embrace the Power of Play.

It’s not enough to drive traffic to your booth. To achieve measurable results, you have to delight, engage and inspire attendees to take action, whether that means providing their email addresses or making a purchase. Interactive activities, such as live product demonstrations, touch screen displays, games and trivia, photo booths and even virtual reality simulators encourage guests to linger and explore — giving you the opportunity to make one-on-one connections.

Don’t Sleep on the Swag.

Who doesn’t love a free tote bag, t-shirt or travel mug? Treating your attendees to useful, high-quality branded items is well worth the investment. They not only drive traffic to your booth, but also increase the likelihood that visitors will remember your company fondly. Whatever you choose, make sure the items clearly reflect your brand and connect to your product or service. If you’re a fuel carrier with a fleet of delivery trucks, for example, you might offer branded keychains that remind prospects of your professional team of truck drivers.

Designing a trade show booth can be overwhelming, but by keeping these best practices in mind, you’ll be well on your way to a successful event. Better yet — let Design At Work do the heavy lifting! We can help you plan, design and execute a booth that attracts visitors and generates leads. Let’s talk about your next trade show.

Sources:

  1. 150+ Trade Show Stats That Reveal All, Trade Show Labs

Reach vs. Frequency: The Battle of the Marketing Strategies.

Madison Andrews , Senior Copywriter

Why Balancing Reach and Frequency
is Important in Traditional and Digital
Advertising Campaigns.

What’s more important — reach or frequency? Advertisers have been asking themselves this question for well over a century. The term “reach” refers to the amount of people exposed to an ad, whereas “frequency” denotes the number of times consumers see an ad. Determining which method to prioritize in your marketing strategy depends on your business, your consumers and the goals of your campaign.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the difference between reach and frequency — and explain how to balance the two in your marketing efforts.

What is Reach in Marketing?

Reach measures the number of consumers who have seen or been exposed to a particular message or advertisement. For example, let’s say you want to advertise your company’s services on a billboard. You could approximate the billboard’s potential reach by considering the average number of cars that pass the billboard each day. With traditional advertising, it’s impossible to measure reach (or any other metric) precisely, but estimates can give you a good idea of how effective your efforts will be.

Digital marketing, on the other hand, allows you to track campaigns with a lot more precision. You can see exactly how many unique users saw your social media post, opened your email or viewed your digital ad, allowing you to continually refine your strategy in response to user behavior.

When Should You Prioritize Reach?

There are times when it makes sense to cast a wide net with your marketing campaign. Let’s look at a few of these situations.

You’re A Household Name.

If your company already enjoys strong brand recognition and loyalty within its market, reach may be more important than frequency. Companies with limited competition and wide recognition can focus on getting as many eyes on their ads as possible, rather than repeatedly re-introducing themselves to educate and entice prospects.

You’re Introducing a New Product or Service.

Even if you’re a smaller company with a niche audience, reach is especially important when bringing a new product or service to market or entering an emerging market. Why? Because at this stage, you’re still learning about your target audience. The more users you reach, the more data you can compile to help you define and build relationships with your ideal customers.

You’re Building Brand Recognition.

Broadly speaking, reach matters more when your goal is to acquire new customers. When generating brand awareness or educating consumers on the value of your product or service, you want to reach as many people as possible.

What Is Frequency in Marketing?

Frequency refers to the amount of times consumers are exposed to the same advertisement or campaign. It takes time and, more importantly, repeated touchpoints to pique the interest of prospects — and convert them into loyal customers.

In 1885, London businessman Thomas Smith wrote Successful Advertising, in which he describes 20 potential points of connection required to convince one customer to make a purchase. “The first time people look at any given ad, they don’t even see it,” he writes. By the fifth time, “they actually read the ad,” and finally, after several stages of consideration and planning, they purchase the product1.

Consumer behavior remains remarkably similar today, though the products and channels through which we advertise have changed. Frequent exposures create a more positive perception of your company and increase the likelihood of closing sales. These digital marketing statistics lend compelling evidence to support what advertisers have known for years.

Thomas Smith described a typical buyer’s journey back in 1885, identifying 20 potential touchpoints.

When Should You Prioritize
Frequency?

Depending on the demographic breadth of your target audience, your level of brand recognition and the goals of your campaign, frequency may be more important than reach. Here are some examples of when it’s a good idea to focus on frequency.

You Have a Niche Audience.

If your products or services meet the needs of a limited group of consumers, it makes more sense to devote your budget to highly targeted marketing delivered repeatedly over a period of time. If you’re selling lactose-free ice cream, for example, market directly to lactose-intolerant consumers, rather than casting a wide net that will likely include some fans of dairy-based products. In other words, focus on nurturing relationships with consumers who already want what you’re selling.

You Have Limited Brand Recognition.

For companies in the process of establishing themselves in a market, repetition is key. Multiple touchpoints are required to introduce your brand, educate consumers on your product or service and establish a connection between the two. Think of it this way: You probably wouldn’t remember the name of someone you met briefly at a cocktail party. But if you happened to run into that person at the grocery store, and then again at your favorite restaurant, you’d be far more likely to remember them.

You Have Stiff Competition.

The more competition you’re up against, the more important it is to gain repeated exposure to your target audience — and stand out from the crowd when you do. Returning to the example of the cocktail party acquaintance, if your interactions with the person were unpleasant, then subsequent meetings would likely lower your esteem. If, on the other hand, you found them uniquely fun to talk to, then your opinion would be improved. The same is true for brands and customers. Your goal is to be the fun cocktail party guest who gets more interesting with each interaction.

These numbers underscore the impact frequent touches — across multiple advertising channels — can have on brand awareness and conversion.

With the right mix of reach and frequency — and a solid understanding of your company, target audience and goals — you can generate new leads, nurture customer relationships and increase revenue. Ready to develop a savvy approach to marketing your business? Let’s talk.

Sources:

  1. The Secret Sauce of the Customer Journey, Forbes
  2. B2B Content Marketing 2020: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — North America, Content Marketing Institute
  3. The Power of Retargeting: Computing and High Tech by the Numbers, Criteo
  4. Top Performance in Sales Prospecting, Rain Group