Month: December 2020

As a small or new business, creating a positive brand image and achieving brand recognition can seem like an impossible task. After all, there are so many different companies that are all competing for the same space and consumers — how can you possibly set yourself apart when it seems like you’re starting from scratch? 

We understand that this might seem like a daunting task — but it doesn’t have to be. You’ve done the work and created products and a brand that you’re proud of. Now it’s time to show that off to the world by focusing on building a strong brand image and gaining recognition. 

What is Brand Recognition?

Before we really dive into how to create dominant brand recognition, we need to first cover what this term really means. Brand recognition refers to consumers recognizing and remembering your business. 

When consumers recognize your brand, logo, messaging, products, etc. it bodes well for your business. Basically, you’re trying to create brand recognition and a solid customer base. 

Why Do You Need Dominant Brand Recognition?

Why is dominant brand recognition so important? Well, for starters, consumers are unlikely to buy products from companies that they have never heard of before and know nothing about. 

Instead, by increasing your brand recognition and brand awareness, consumers are able to learn more about you and your products to make them feel more confident about making a purchase. With so much competition out there, this is one area where you can really set yourself apart by showing consumers what you’re all about before they make a purchase. 

Of course, brand recognition isn’t something that can happen overnight and it can be difficult to measure and achieve if you’re not following a tailored brand strategy. 

The good news is that establishing dominant brand recognition is very possible with the right market research, strategy, and effort, and Channel Factory is here to help. We are advertising experts and are able to help build a strong brand image by helping you place the right content in the right places with the right viewers. From there, you can rest assured that your brand awareness is on the rise and will eventually help you convert more sales as a result. 

In addition to working with us here at Channel Factory, here are four tips that you can use to create dominant brand recognition:

1. Build Partnerships

The first thing that you need to do in order to create dominant brand recognition is to build partnerships. If you’re a new company or brand looking to get your name out there, then you can easily partner with more established brands to do that. These brands are already established, trusted, and have a solid customer base. 

It’s possible to tap into that base by partnering with them — so long as the partnership is mutually beneficial, of course. Also, make sure that your brand values align as well so that it’s truly an ideal partnership rather than one that could potentially cause you problems down the road. 

While you may think that there’s no way for a newer or smaller brand to partner with the big guys, that’s not always true. That being said, partnering with smaller companies can also be beneficial and help you tap into a customer base that you otherwise wouldn’t have. As a general rule of thumb, you should never turn down a partnership based on the size or type of company. 

So long as your basic values align in terms of brand suitability, you never know what you could gain as a result of a seemingly “simple” partnership. 

2. Prioritize SEO

The second thing that you need to do in order to create dominant brand recognition is to prioritize search engine optimization, or SEO. 

When your brand appears at the top of the list on search engines alongside other credible and trustworthy companies, consumers will then see your brand as credible and trustworthy as well. 

Plus, most people don’t even look beyond the first page of search results, so if you’re not on that first page, odds are that they won’t even know you exist no matter how amazing your products and services are. Clearly, SEO is something worth investing in — but how? The SEO world can be really daunting if you don’t know what you’re doing. 

By researching and establishing specific target keywords, you can begin the journey toward the first page of search results. Obviously, this won’t happen overnight as you then have to build your own content to correspond with these keywords. Make sure to include the keywords in the headline, body, and image titles within your content posts so that the search engine can pick up all those hits, rank that post higher in search results, and make it easier for consumers to view within their search results. 

Once they see your brand pop up on the first page a few times, they will come to recognize and trust your brand dominance. 

3. Embrace Social Media

The third thing that you need to do in order to create dominant brand recognition is to embrace social media. If you’re not on the “big three” (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), then you’re definitely missing out. 

Create brand accounts and begin posting interesting content that encourages people to engage with the post and think more favorably about your brand. After all, social media isn’t really valuable if people aren’t engaging with you. But how can you create engaging content?

One of the best ways to do this is by hosting contests and giveaways. Don’t think of it as giving away free stuff. Instead, think of it as exchanging your products for increased brand recognition and reach on social media and YouTube. 

Once people enter your contest or otherwise engage with your brand on social media, they are more likely to remember your brand or think positively about it when it comes time for them to make a purchase — even if they don’t end up winning. At the end of the day, giving away a free product is a small price to pay for thousands of potential new customers. 

4. Reconsider Your Product Packaging

Finally, the last thing that you need to do in order to create dominant brand recognition is to reconsider your product packaging. 

If you currently have plain and boring product packaging, this isn’t really helping your brand recognition. Instead, you need to have quality branded packaging that will make a positive impression on consumers who see it. You really need to stand apart from the competition and one of the best ways to do this right off the bat is through product packaging. 

Instead of using plain colors, texts, and fonts that have nothing to do with your brand, start to use the same logos, fonts, and colors to create a strong, uniform brand image that consumers will instantly recognize. 

When you have an eye-catching design and brand, you’re giving yourself a better chance that consumers will choose your products over the competition. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune on product packaging — just make sure that it’s branded and goes along with your brand values, mission, and other products. 

Final Thoughts on Brand Recognition

As you can see, brand recognition is definitely something that you need to prioritize and focus on if you’re a new business looking to make a good impression on consumers. This is something that needs to happen in order to grow your business and convert more sales. 

Thankfully, with the right partnerships alongside a little help from Channel Factory, you can increase your brand recognition within the right groups of consumers and start to enjoy the results in no time.

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Sources:

1. How to Build a Client Base
2. 6 Innovative Ways to Increase Brand Awareness
3. Council Post: Why SEO Still Matters In 2020

YouTube content creators are more valuable now than ever as YouTube watch time has recently jumped 80% in the U.S. compared to last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Obviously, this global quarantine has created unprecedented challenges for many brands. On the other hand, there are still ways that you can adjust and change along with the world. One of the ways you can do this is by working with YouTube content creators. 

What Are YouTube Content Creators?

If you’re totally new to the YouTube game, you’re probably wondering what YouTube content creators even are. Maybe you have an outdated view of YouTube as simply a video content site that regular people randomly upload funny videos onto. Or maybe you only use it to watch music videos made by your favorite artist. 

While these conceptions still apply, YouTube has become such a massive and valuable platform that there are people whose sole job is to create content for it. We know what you’re thinking — how are people able to make money simply by making videos? Well, it all comes down to advertising. 

Brands have keyed into the reach of YouTube and have realized that YouTube advertising can be extremely effective. Content creators have realized this too and have been able to monetize their content by selling ads on their channel to various brands. This, in turn, creates a mutually beneficial relationship whereas content creators have the name and the viewers that brands want to utilize and reach. 

When done right, advertising alongside YouTube content creators can be an extremely beneficial strategy and investment for any brand looking to reach their target customers or potentially break into new markets. 

How Does Content Creation Work?

You must be thinking that there has to be a catch… content creators just make videos and get paid for it? This sounds pretty easy. However, there’s so much more to it than that. After all, not everyone who has ever uploaded a video onto YouTube can be termed a “content creator” and make money as a result. So, how does content creation really work and how does it become profitable? 

The first thing content creators need to do is to find their niche. They tend to go with something that they’re passionate about in order to share that passion with others through their content. 

For example, some popular topics include fitness, cooking, beauty, etc. From there, they can start creating engaging content that viewers will enjoy watching. But they don’t stop there. 

Obviously, there are tons of different channels and endless amounts of content on YouTube, so content creators will also need to find a way to set themselves apart from everyone else by developing their own personal brand. 

After the groundwork has been laid, content creators can really start planning out their content. One popular thing to do is to post consistently or only on certain days of the week. Content creators have had a lot of success with promoting and sharing their release schedule so that viewers know when to expect new videos and can really look forward to them. 

As content creators begin to publish more and more content to grow their channels, they should also be engaging with their viewers not just to gain devoted followers, but also to benefit from YouTube’s search algorithm as well. 

Who Are the Top YouTube Content Creators?

If you’re still not convinced of the whole YouTube content creating sphere, we have tons of examples of successful content creators who have amassed huge followings and have been able to monetize their content by partnering with brands and essentially giving them exclusive access to their followers. 

For the year 2020, here are the top five YouTube content creators:

1. Ryan Kaji: This nine-year-old tops the list with $29.5 million in earnings along with 12.2 billion views and 41.7 million subscribers. 
2. Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson): Known for his crazy stunts and entertaining humor, this YouTuber earned $24 million thanks to 3 billion views and 47.8 million subscribers. 
3. Dude Perfect: Consists of five guys who do funny stunts and competitions that earned them $23 million last year with 2.77 billion views and 57.5 million subscribers. 
4. Rhett and Link: These quasi-talk show hosts have a huge following with 41.8 million subscribers that they have amassed since starting all the way back in 2012. They have 1.9 million views and have earned $20 million.
5. Markiplier (Mark Fischbach): This video game expert has amassed 27.8 million subscribers, 3.1 billion views, and $19.5 million in revenue.

Why You Should Advertise on YouTube

The benefits of advertising on YouTube are quite impressive. If you still aren’t convinced by some of the points that we’ve already covered, here are some numbers that are bound to make you a YouTube believer:

• YouTube has a massive reach with 2 billion total users and almost 5 billion video views every single day. 
• YouTube is the second most visited site on the web, coming only after Google. 
• Advertising on YouTube is easily trackable and offers insightful metrics that can help you see the effectiveness and reach of your ad. 
• Advertising on YouTube can be cost-effective, especially compared to traditional ad space on television, for example, that will cost you a pretty penny.  

How To Work With Content Creators

Clearly, you should be advertising on YouTube and working with content creators if you aren’t already. But how can you actually go about doing this? 

The first step involves thinking about what you would like to accomplish by partnering with content creators. Setting goals and targets ahead of time will help keep you on track throughout the process. It will also help you determine your target audience and budget. 

Once you have that information, you can start looking for the right content creators. The key word here is “right.” Many brands will automatically go with the most popular creators, only to find that they aren’t really the best fit for what they are trying to achieve. 

You can avoid this problem by doing your due diligence on the front end and only working with content creators who align with your brand values and brand image. Be sure to study their content, their reputation, and their viewers intensively before reaching out to ensure proper brand suitability. 

From there, you can start to build a relationship with your desired content creator. In order to really get them on board, the relationship also has to be beneficial for them — so you may need to offer them something upfront to make it worth their while. After all, odds are that you aren’t the only brand that has reached out to partner with them, so you want to set yourself apart from the competition and make them want to partner with you specifically. 

Throughout this process, just be sure to be upfront about your expectations as well as provide information that you want them to include in their content — all while still giving them some creative space to make it seem genuine. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, working with YouTube content creators can be beneficial for everyone involved. In 2020 and beyond, this is definitely something that brands need to be investing in as YouTube continues to gain viewers and popularity in the age of quarantine. 

With the right strategy and research from the experts here at Channel Factory, you can efficiently advertise your brand with the help of YouTube content creators. 

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Sources:

1. The Highest-Paid YouTube Stars Of 2020 
2. How to Determine a Target Audience in Marketing

Advertising can be a confusing field to break into. It seems like industry terms are just thrown around without any explanation, leaving you feeling totally lost. Thankfully, we are here to help you learn more about this field and some of its most important concepts — take inclusion lists, for example. 

Perhaps you’ve heard of exclusion lists before, but haven’t heard much about inclusion lists. As it turns out, inclusion lists are just as important as exclusion lists.

So, read on for the beginner’s guide to inclusion lists and learn everything you need to know about this concept so that you can take your company’s advertising strategy to the next level.  

What is an Inclusion List?

Starting with the basics, what is an inclusion list? 

An inclusion list consists of channels, publishers, content owners, influencers, and creators whose content aligns well with your own. 

In these cases, you would want to place your content in these idealized and optimized locations. These sources and locations have been well-vetted and have been proven safe and effective for your brand. That way, your content will actually be what viewers want to see based on the location and the existing content surrounding yours. 

This makes your brand’s content more likely to appeal to them and hopefully earn you a new customer as a result of your smart advertising practices. 

Why Are Inclusion Lists Important?

Now that you know what an inclusion list is, you’re probably wondering what makes this information worth knowing. After all, you’re a business owner with a ton of different things on your plate that you’re trying to juggle all at the same time. Your time is valuable, and we aren’t here to waste it. In fact, quite the opposite. Inclusion lists are an important and worthwhile concept for any company that’s looking to optimize its advertising and reach the right people with the right content.

Here are just a few reasons why inclusion lists are so important for your business:

• Inclusion lists allow your company to be seen alongside channels and publishers that share similar beliefs and values. That way, you can still appear alongside content that may have otherwise been filtered out by one size fits all exclusion lists, so long as the content creator promotes your same beliefs and values that your brand holds dear. 
• Inclusion lists allow your content to be seen by people who can be described as your target audience. By placing your content in strategic places, you can better reach your target audience who may be viewing those channels or platforms. When they see your content, it will be more likely to appeal to them than to random viewers who may not relate to your brand or products. For example, if you have a beauty brand, you can include trusted beauty influencers on your inclusion list. From there, you can reach viewers who are clearly interested in beauty products and are more likely to respond to your beauty-related content as a result. 
• Inclusion lists allow you to actually tailor down your exclusion lists so that you can appear next to more positive content rather than focusing on avoiding negative content. Tons of things can be unintentionally blocked as a result of the intricacies of our language, as many words can have multiple meanings, slang meanings, or even change meanings over time. By focusing on the positive rather than the negative, you can get your content in the right places in front of the right people instead of just focusing on keeping it away from the wrong places. 

How Do You Create an Inclusion List?

So inclusion lists are clearly important, but how do you go about creating them? After all, we have stated that the one size fits all approach really doesn’t work here. That’s why the best approach to creating an inclusion list is to really reflect on your brand’s values and beliefs in order to seek out corresponding channels and producers.

Here are some steps that you can take to create an effective inclusion list for your brand:

• Develop brand guidelines as a starting point for your inclusion list. Think about what types of things you’d like to include based on your industry. Then think about what types of things you’d like to include based on your unique brand persona and values. Finally, think about your target customer and what their values may be. 
• From there, you can build your inclusion list by vetting different sources of content and coming up with a list of sources that you can trust based on their values. 
• After setting your initial inclusion list, you need to continuously review and adjust this list to keep up with the times. 
• Remember to consider different languages and cultural contexts when creating your inclusion lists if you’re looking to advertise in different international markets. What may work in one country may not work in another. 
• Finally, combine the power of technology with the experience of industry experts  to help you with this in-depth and easily overwhelming task. Technology can help you find potential safe options from all the sources out there whereas humans can vet them and confirm that they are safe and 100% align with your brand. 

What About Block Lists?

On the other hand, there are block lists or exclusion lists. A block list consists of channels, keywords, and locations with content that doesn’t align well with your own. 

Oftentimes, this is the area that many brands choose to solely focus on while totally overlooking inclusion lists. In these cases, it all comes down to brand safety. Avoiding dangerous or negative content is certainly one way to protect your brand, but does it really allow you to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to your marketing budget? 

We argue that exclusion lists need to be used in concert with inclusion lists. It’s not enough to simply avoid negative content, you also need to seek out positive content that will actually help to boost your brand. Obviously, this is easier said than done. 

The good news is that there are ways that you can effectively establish both exclusion and inclusion lists that work together to place your content in the best possible locations. 

One way to do this is to consult with the experts here at Channel Factory. We know all the ins and outs of brand safety and brand suitability. We are able to help you develop exclusion and inclusion lists based on what types of content you wish to avoid versus embrace. 

But the buck doesn’t stop there. In fact, Channel Factory can also help you continuously fine-tune these lists to keep up with our constantly changing world. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes that many brands make is to just set a universal exclusion list once and never think about it again. As events happen, times change, and even your brand changes, you need to continuously check and adjust these lists to make sure that they are still on-point for your brand as well as the current climate. 

Conclusion

And there you have it: the beginner’s guide to inclusion lists. Hopefully by now you’re no longer a beginner. 

However, if you find yourself still lacking in brand safety and suitability expertise, be sure to reach out to us here at Channel Factory —  we can help your brand be the best it can be as we head into the new year. With our help, 2021 can be the year you make some big progress towards your business goals. 

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Sources:

1. It’s time to value inclusion over exclusion in marketing | New Digital Age 
2. The Beginners Guide To Brand Values (+ Examples of Core Values)
3. Forbes – How to Maximize Your Marketing Budget 

Many people assume that products and services are the most important components when it comes to operating and growing a business. While these aspects are definitely important, it’s also beneficial to think about the brand image itself, especially when it comes to overall consumer perception and connotation.

With so much competition out there, branding has become an essential component of a successful business — and a lot of this has to do with positive image advertising.

So, before you start throwing money at advertising without a real strategy in place, consider taking a more targeted approach so that you can build strong brand advertising that is going to be more effective and beneficial in the long run.

What is Brand Image in Advertising?

If you’re just getting into building your brand, you may be unsure about brand image really means and what it’s all about.

Essentially, brand image is the perception that a consumer has about a brand. Brand image consists of the beliefs, ideas, and impressions that someone holds about a brand based on their interactions and experience with the brand. This can be a tricky concept to nail down since everyone thinks differently and people may have a variety of different opinions about your brand.

The good news is that you can try to create a strong brand image based on targeted strategies so that despite different experiences and thought processes, a vast majority of consumers will view your brand in a positive light.

Why is a Strong Brand Image Important?

If brand image isn’t something you’ve thought about before, you definitely need to start thinking about it now. Every company needs a strong brand image in order to grow the business and achieve their goals. After all, not many people are going to want to buy from a brand that they know nothing about or have negative perceptions of.

For example, think about companies that have to undergo “rebranding” because of an incident that occurred with their original brand. They know that they will continue to struggle based on a negative brand perception, so to them, it’s worth the cost and hassle to undergo rebranding so that they can essentially start over.

Obviously, the goal is to avoid a negative brand image in the first place so that consumers have trust and confidence in your brand. This makes it more likely that they will buy from you rather than another company that they may not be as attracted to simply based on the brand perception.

In summary, strong brand image advertising not only prevents negative consequences, it can also bring about positive effects in terms of reach and growth.

How To Create Strong Brand Image Advertising

As previously mentioned, brand image advertising can be a tricky concept to nail down since you don’t have total control over how consumers perceive your business. That being said, there are some steps that you can take to create a strong brand image through advertising.

You will need a well-thought-out and strategic approach in order to achieve a strong brand image, which can be achieved by following these seven tips:

1. Define Brand Values

If you’re a new company and you haven’t defined your brand values and personality yet, this is the first step you need to take to create a strong brand image. Ask yourself the question, why are you doing this? From there, you can define what you want to represent as a brand and work towards promoting these values with your advertising.

2. Define Your Target Customer

Once you know who you are, you need to think about who your target customer is. What kind of brand would they want to buy from? What matters to them? From there, you can continue to build your brand values and work on creating a strong brand image that will resonate with your target group.

3. Create a Brand Positioning Statement

A brand positioning statement will help you clearly set yourself apart from your competitors. This is something that consumers look for when comparing between several different products that may all look the same at first glance. You need to give consumers a strong reason to buy from you specifically, and you can do this with a strong brand positioning statement.

4. Build Strong Partnerships

Another way that you can create strong brand image advertising is to create partnerships with other companies. However, don’t just partner with any company that approaches you. Instead, make sure to prioritize brand suitability in your vetting process and ensure that any partners also share the same values that you defined in step one. From there, you can be confident in your partnership and be rest assured that it will only help strengthen your brand image as a result.

5. Build Trust With Consumers

Consumers need to be able to trust your brand in order to have a positive perception of it and eventually buy from it. You can make your brand more trustworthy by displaying social proof and showing off positive customer reviews and experiences. You can also do this by providing top-notch customer service so that you can get referrals and hopefully repeat business.

6. Be Consistent

Brand image is something that takes a long time to build but can be destroyed in an instant. That’s why you need to be consistent in your actions and prioritize brand safety to preserve your brand image at all costs.

7. Consult the Experts

Brand image advertising can be a confusing and overwhelming issue to tackle on your own. So if you’re really looking to create strong brand image advertising, it’s a good idea to consult with experts to help you achieve this.

Our experts here at Channel Factory know the ins and outs of advertising and can help you establish and build your brand image through strategic content placement. Showing the right content to the right people in the right location can go a long way towards creating a positive brand image through your advertising.

How to Measure Brand Image Effectiveness

Many people are hesitant to invest in their brand image since it can be such a hard concept to measure if you don’t know how to do so. After all, you want to see results from your efforts and investment.

The good news is that there are ways that you can actually measure your brand image and gauge the effectiveness of your efforts and advertising.

One of the best ways to measure brand image effectiveness is to conduct consumer surveys. Specifically, there are brand perception surveys that you can use to see how different consumers respond to your brand and your content.

If they have a positive reaction, you know you’re on the right track. If they are concerned about certain things, you know what areas you have to address moving forward.

Overall, feedback is key when it comes to brand image and is vital to monitor and track as you build your brand.

Don’t Wait to Build Your Brand Image Advertising

As you can see, creating a strong brand image is essential for companies that are looking to set themselves apart from everyone else and gain new customers in the process. This is a long-term strategy that’s impossible to achieve overnight, but will be well worth the time and investment when a majority of consumers have a positive perception of your brand as a result of your efforts.

If you are looking for a professional partnership to help take your brand and your business to new heights, Channel Factory has the experience and expertise to help you define and reach your target audience. Get in touch with us today!

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Sources:

1. Council Post: Why Brand Image Matters More Than You Think
2. The First Thing You Should Do When Building Your Brand (Hint: It Isn’t Pick Out a Logo)