In the traditional media era, brands operated in the direction of “know-buy-loyalty”, letting more people know, then letting them buy and become loyal users. The logic of brand marketing has changed significantly in this era. On social media, everyone can be a spokesperson, and brand communication is carried out in the reverse direction of “loyal consumers (core experience users)-spreading awareness-more consumers”.
1. Brand marketing content
When it comes to brand marketing content, many people think it is brand stories. In fact, brand marketing content is very broad. Almost all materials can become brand marketing content, such as brand stories, research reports, product appearance, performance, functions, services, activities, interactions, interviews, patents, production capabilities… The media types of brand marketing content are also very wide, including pictures, texts, audio and video, interactive applications, etc. When companies produce brand marketing content, they should pay attention to the following points.
(1) Brand marketing content should have a clear theme. In a period of time, marketing should be carried out around a theme. This is not easy. When starting brand marketing, companies often have many highlights that can be spread. How to find the best theme is a test.
(2) The theme of brand marketing content should be expressed in minimalist language. This is also a big challenge. An excellent brand slogan is crucial to brand communication.
(3) The content of brand marketing should be systematically planned. A series of content can be planned around the core content, but these contents should maintain brand consistency.
2. Audience of brand marketing
The content of brand marketing should be produced based on a full analysis of the audience and channel characteristics. On social media, most users do not come to see advertisements. Social media users generally like to display, interact and spread. Pay special attention to the characteristics of social media users who like to spread. A key indicator to measure the quality of social media brand marketing is the forwarding rate. The forwarding of brand marketing content is mainly implemented by loyal fans. The implementation of brand marketing from the audience level mainly considers the following points.
(1) Make a detailed portrait of the marketing audience, and pay special attention to fans who like to interact and spread.
(2) Efforts should be made to convert ordinary users into loyal fans and increase the number of disseminators of brand content.
(3) Consider setting up some incentive measures for forwarding actions.
(4) Pay full attention to loyal fans who help spread the message and give them special rewards.
(5) When appropriate, you can invite loyal fans to participate in the creation and dissemination of brand marketing content.
3. Channels for brand marketing
Channels have their own characteristics. Brand marketing is constrained by channel characteristics and mainly considers channel costs and efficiency.
The cost of brand marketing mainly comes from advertising (collected by marketing channels) and content creation (collected by marketing planning companies). Generally, the cost of advertising accounts for a large proportion, about 70% or more. If it is not achieved, you need to reflect on the content utilization rate. Brand advertising generally uses the CPM billing model, which is supported by social media such as Facebook. On Alibaba International Station, brand marketing ads are also billed according to the CPT billing model (charged by display time, just like highway signboard ads). This is not very popular in Internet marketing (there is a suspicion of blurring advertising effect data). Brand advertising costs are mainly controlled by budget.
The efficiency of brand marketing is mainly related to the number of users of the social media platform, the number of loyal fans, and the “driving force” of communication.
4. Brand marketing innovation
Brand marketing is costly and difficult, so it often pursues extreme innovation. For example, when Nongfu Spring was marketing its brand, it focused on the “water source” and shot a very good video, which was disseminated on CCTV and various social media, reinforcing the brand recognition of “we don’t produce water, we are just nature’s porters.”