Your brand may change as your business grows or shifts its direction.
Companies need to ensure stability for brand to catch up with the ever-evolving consumer trends.
It does not matter what types of business industry you are in, every business requires branding.
As an entrepreneur trying to outstand millions of online businesses, the task may seem terrifying.
Below, we have compiled 6 methods to increase your brand name on a tight budget.
Method 1: Word of mouth
To increase brand’s name via word-of-mouth, it requires a continuous effort for a brand. Entrepreneurs should start with the thing they can control internally instead of externally.
For example, you can control the quality of your product or service. A customer that liked your product or services will eventually become a fan of your brand over time.
By identifying loyal customers, make sure to reward them. For example, you could reward your loyal customers with a “referral prize”.
When your customers invite other people to use your services on the website or apps, both new and existing customer will get a “RM5” discount code during checkout.
Or, if you are in fashion apparel industry, you could reward your loyal customers for early access to your website during sales period.
In our case, partners could join our reseller program who introduce our services to others and in return, they will be rewarded.
Method 2: Piggyback marketing
Another marketing technique that has been practiced by companies for years is piggyback marketing.
What is piggyback marketing? Piggyback marketing, also known as piggybacking, is a strategic marketing approach wherein one brand leverages the existing success and audience of another to enhance its visibility and reach.
This collaborative technique involves forming partnerships or alliances between two non-competing brands, allowing them to share resources, cross-promote, and tap into each other’s customer bases.
By hitching a ride on the established credibility and customer trust of a partner brand, the piggybacking brand can benefit from increased exposure and a potential boost in credibility.
This symbiotic relationship is particularly effective in reaching new audiences, fostering mutual growth, and creating a win-win situation for both brands involved.
Piggyback marketing can manifest in various forms, including co-branded products, joint marketing campaigns, or shared events, fostering a synergy that goes beyond individual brand capabilities.
If the technique is executed correctly, you will end up with fantastic results. If you are not one of the big players in the industry you are in, you should check out your main competitors.
Often, the established and larger companies have already done tons of homework that you could learn from.
Some of these methods might be too costly to execute if you are on a tight budget.
However, if you studied your competitors well, you can modify some of their methods and apply them to your business.
Piggyback marketing example
Example of piggyback marketing you could use:
- Tap yourself into the conversations that are relevant in your industry. For example, if you are in the e-commerce industry, consider joining famous e-commerce groups on Facebook or WhatsApp. You might see your competitors in the group, as well.
- Bid on the same (or similar) keywords in the ad campaigns on Google AdWords. Research carefully and select the keywords that you plan to bid on, as this method is pricier compared to the rest.
- Pick a similar brand awareness tactic. For example, if you are posting similar content as your competitors on Facebook or Instagram, you could use the same #hashtag. So that, when people click on that hashtag, it will show your content, as well.
Method 3: Get active within social communities
It doesn’t matter what type of business or industry you are in, there are plenty of related social communities out there that you can check out.
Commonly, you could find those social communities in a forum or social media groups, where these type of communities could provide you a vast amount of opportunities to promote your business.
However, this method only works if you deliver a genuine conversation and connection.
For example, when you are interacting with other users in Facebook groups, it is important that you provide useful information to answer their queries and not try to promote your business heavily.
You could keep the conversation simple just by posting a link that connects to your website that answers their queries.
This could be a win-win situation, where you could promote your business and, at the same time, solve other people’s problems.
You could potentially establish yourself as a local expert in the field you are in.
Once other people in the same group regularly see your name and recognise you as an expert, who knows maybe they will give your company a try or introduce other people to you?
Stay tuned for the remaining three strategies.
