Social Media Marketing 101: Why you should have a Brand

by admin | May 10, 2021 | SEO

I often see various people on social media groups who are new to marketing, people starting a freelance career, or people starting a business and all of them ask the same line of questions.

The who-what-when-where-why-how of marketing.

These are all valid questions, and I understand that people shifting into marketing are unfamiliar where to start. And I’m glad that there are people in these communities who help and guide these newbies with all their concerns.

However, I feel like there is a topic that is frequently overlooked. And in my opinion, this should be the foundation of all our marketing efforts. It’s called “Branding”. And believe it or not, having a branding strategy is vital for any business.

When you hear the names Apple, Coca Cola, Nike or McDonald’s what comes to mind? Did you think about the products or services they offer? Did you think about an experience you had with them? Did a person, commercial, piece of advertising or a specific color come to mind?

If you associated a combination of elements, a color, a product, an experience or an identity to any one of those businesses, you have an idea of what a brand is.

History of branding

The term Brand derives from the Old Norse word brandr or “to burn,” and refers to the practice of branding livestock, which dates back more than 4,000 years to the Indus Valley. 

Cattle owners would brand their mark or name into their cattle. This would help them tell one cattle from another.

Branding evolved and eventually this method of distinguishing the maker of a particular product became important when a craftsman or producer would want their goods to stick out on a store shelf. They would put their name, logo or signature on it.

As time passes, consumers would come to know and trust a producer’s product over another.

Branding today

Today, a brand is much more than a product with a name on it.

“A brand as the intangible, sum of a product’s attributes, its name, packaging and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it’s advertised”
– David Ogilvy, the father of advertising

And that’s exactly what brand is, a summation of attributes associated with the business that make up an experience about that business. A brand can consist of the products or services it offers, a brand is the feeling you get when you step into that business’s location or log on to their website, their logo and the colors or images they use, the words they use and the voice in which they communicate, the stories they tell about what they do, the principles or the values they stand by, the connection they make and how it makes the consumer feel in relationship to them.

Ultimately, creating a brand is creating a personality or identity for your business that differentiates you from your competitors in the marketplace.

 “Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”
-AMA, Keller (2013)

Why you should have a Brand

We as consumers may think to buy a product mainly on how it tastes, how it feels or what it does, but there’s a lot more association going on at a deeper, experiential level than we think. Let’s look at some of the reasons why you should have a brand, 

Builds trust

Brands build trust. Brands tend to have a history connected with them. And people who had positive experience with a product or service will probably trust the brand as well. 

You wouldn’t trust a condiment or a toothpaste, but you would trust Heinz or Del Monte, or Colgate because it’s quality consistency.

Builds connections

A brand connects through believes it communicates, and draws in customers who share the same beliefs. An example would be the global outdoor lifestyle brand – Timberland. 

Timberland announced in 2019 a new commitment to plant 50 million trees around the world by 2025 as part of its pursuit of a greener future. This bold goal builds on Timberland’s longstanding commitment to make products responsibly, strengthen communities, and protect and enhance the outdoors.

Those who want to purchase apparel but also want to connect to a bigger story will be drawn to Timberland.

Enables recognition

Brands are a signal to consumers about what they can expect from the product and who it belongs to. Disney is a great example. Disney is considered as one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Disney’s brand is so well known that if you see three interconnected black circles you probably think of Mickey Mouse.

But brand recognition does not only help big name companies. It can be as simple as knowing that a second location of your favorite restaurant will have the same quality, feel, products and services as the first. 

Ease of selection

Brands also create an ease of selection for a consumer who has had positive interactions with that brand before. You may always buy Del Monte ketchup because it is a trusted brand, or you may always buy coffee from a local cafe because you grew up buying coffee there.

Branding benefits both the business and the consumer, and it takes the guesswork out of choosing a product on the consumer side and solidifies a returning customer for the business. 

Signaling device

Consumers may want to be like the people that will typically use the brand because they want to signal that they have the values or lifestyle that a brand presents. 

People may want to purchase Under Armour basketball shoes because they want to be like Steph Curry and revere his Christian values with Steph’s bible verse mantra printed in his signature shoe.

Forsters loyalty

A brand nurtures loyalty that become sticky enough that your customers will follow you to new products and innovations. If your business decides to sell new products or offer new service, consumers will be more accepting of it’s release.

Reduces price sensitivity

Customers loyal to a brand may also have less pricing sensitivity as well. You see this with Starbucks. Even though their coffee costs 10 times more than a cup of Nescafe, loyal customers to the Starbucks brand will readily pay for their coffee.

A nutty twist to snacks

A very good example of a local business that happens to establish a strong brand is Nutty.SelectionsPH. Nutty Selections is a local seller of healthy snacks such as nuts, seeds, and dried berries. 

Since most healthy products in the Philippines are costly, Nutty Selections’ aim is to promote a healthier lifestyle and snacks to each and every household at a much affordable price. 

By sharing their customers nutty selection stories in their instagram account, the business fostered a connection with consumers wanting to live a healthy lifestyle. They also created loyal customers, that in turn, became brand ambassadors for their brand.

Every business is built on a foundation of values and meaning. Today, customers are seeking to engage with the brands they use, so it’s important to articulate what you stand for.

Start Marketing on Social Media

Considering there are billions of people on social media today, it’s easy to see why so many businesses and marketers use the channel to promote their products and engage with customers.

If your company’s social media course of action seems intimidating, Annelle Digital is here to help. We are a team of digital marketing professionals with extensive experience managing local, regional, and global campaigns. 

Let us know your business objectives and we’ll create a bespoke digital strategy to help you grow your business. 

What is E-A-T and How Does it Affect Your Content Strategy?

by admin | Sep 7, 2020 | SEO

In 2020, people are more reliant on the digital space. Businesses can use this opportunity to develop websites and improve traffic with digital marketing. Search engines and social media platforms are critical players in this digital age, and it’s essential to utilize them. If you want to increase your viewership and reach, you should deploy the necessary strategies and plans.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an excellent technique to gain organic and legitimate traffic into your website. Annelle Digital will give you an in-depth explanation of the Google EAT update and how this affects content marketing effects.

What is EAT?

EAT is the abbreviation for three words that determine high ranking content, and it’s a part of the Google Search Quality Rating Guidelines. The list has included processes and procedures to come out at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) and EAT is specifically listed as one of the most important factors when selecting an overall Page Quality Rating.

To summarize, EAT signifies:

• Expertise – defines the knowledgeability of the site owner on the specific subject matter discussed.
• Authoritativeness – speaks about the credentials of the site owner regarding the topic.
• Trustworthiness – talks about the character and credibility of the author and the website as a whole.

Before going into detail, let’s discuss the meaning of the EAT update and its contribution to search engine optimization practices. 

Here are the factors in a broader perspective: 

Expertise 

To establish expertise, you should identify the author of your Top Ranking Articles through bylines and biographies. Well-researched and high-quality outbound links gain a better reputation, primarily when the articles are written by someone specializing in the field.

In simple terms, Expertise refers to the author’s reputation and specialization.

Authoritativeness

Search engines value what other experts in the field say about a particular website. They encourage human rating and critiquing to know which sites are offering the most important and useful information. Recommendations, awards, and positive feedback can go a long way.

Reviews and comments can serve as support for a site’s prominence. In general terms, Authoritativeness refers to the organization’s reputation as a whole.

Trustworthiness

In essence, Trustworthiness doesn’t just refer to your website’s credibility but the integrity that it can be trusted with user sensitive information. You should utilize essential security tools and best practices, such as using HTTPS and SSL certificates.

Overall, the primary purpose is to ensure that users and raters know where they are getting their information. Search engines prioritize medical articles from hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, instead of those that originate from bloggers with no medical background.

EAT and Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) sites

The EAT quality standards primarily affect YMYL websites. YMYL means Your Money or Your Life, and these websites offer health or medical information to impact your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. These pages provide impactful advice on major life decisions such as home and vehicle purchases, parenting, etc.

YMYL are sites that solicit personal information (driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers, personal identification numbers, etc.) that may contribute to identity fraud. They are involved in monetary transactions and receive details like bank account numbers and debit or credit information.

Here is a rundown of YMYL topics Google gave in section 2.3:

Content Strategy that’s Ready for EAT 

Now that you have a good grip on what EAT means for search engine optimization, it’s time to build your website’s strategy. Annelle Digital can help jumpstart your website, but we have furnished a guide if you wanted to prepare things for your brand.

Here are some of the SEO steps to improve your content strategy:

1. Craft quality content based on expertise

Improve your content strategy by deploying high-quality articles and developing a niche. Plan your articles and website content carefully and methodically for better EAT compliance. You can create your content strategy according to the most searched subjects within a particular topic. 

If you’re not an expert in a particular field, you can hire freelance professionals who can write about them. 

2. Include contact information

Contact information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and office locations can enhance reputation. This will assure the search engine crawlers that you or your company is legitimate. Ensure that the address is also connected to a Google Business address to enhance your reach within the local community. 

3. Develop a reputation

You can develop a reputation by having other blogs and websites link to your content. If you own a medical website, gaining the support or recommendation from other medical websites will go a long way in securing your position in the digital medical industry.

Aside from that, it would help if you built your website’s About Us page to give users more information about who you are and why they should believe your expertise. Create a Google Business page to gain more traction and localized legitimacy within your area.

4. Consistently update the website

Websites that include financial, legal, medical, and other YMYL matters need up-to-date information. There could be updated medical terms or breakthroughs, so make sure to refresh your articles from time to time or add new articles to support or improve the older ones.

5. Identify the author for each article

You should include a byline that mentions the authors and their credentials to boost your website’s expertise. The users and raters should be able to identify the writers and their specialization. Create a summary or biography for your author so that the crawlers can get a glimpse of the expertise.

6. Link to and from other websites

One of the best ways to develop credibility is by reaching out to websites within the same niche or specialty. The more high-quality websites link to your site, the better your ranking will fair. This kind of practice develops your brand’s trustworthiness and reputation. 

Moving Forward

Content marketing is a must-have for a successful website. It’s essential to arm yourself with the right information to make strategic decisions. There are steps that only true professionals take. If you want to increase your organic reach, you can ask Annelle Digital for a bespoke content campaign to suit your needs and budget.