Everyone knows how hard it is to make your business stand out. With countless alternatives for people to consider, itâs essential for any business to have a unique brand identity in order to develop and maintain a loyal following. Using creativity to build a lasting, reliable, and positive perception of your brand is how the most successful organizations thrive.
Itâs important to capture the attention of consumers and ultimately build their trust. According to a Nielsen survey, 60% of consumers said they prefer to buy products from brands that are familiar to them. Basically if you can craft a unique brand identity that people will remember positively, more of them will buy what youâre selling.
In this guide, weâll dive deep into creative branding and explore how your business can use it to establish an authentic and original identity.
Establishing a unique brand identity is crucial for businesses in today’s crowded marketplace. With so many options available, making your company memorable and distinguished from competitors can be challenging. This is where creative branding tactics come into play.
Branding encapsulates the personality and image of your business that sets you apart. It’s not just about having a nice logo or website – it goes much deeper. Branding is about crafting a story that resonates with your target audience and makes them feel connected on an emotional level.
As we move into 2024 brands need to get more innovative than ever before if they want to grab attention. Tried and tested methods may not be enough anymore. You need to think outside the box!
Here are 13 creative branding tactics to help make your company stand out in 2024:
1. Launch a Podcast
Podcasting has exploded in popularity over the last few years. It allows brands to showcase expertise and build deeper relationships with audiences. Consider starting a branded podcast discussing industry topics, company insights or featuring inspiring guests.
We launched “The LiveAgent Podcast” in 2021 covering customer service and small business advice. It helped us connect with listeners worldwide and establish thought leadership. Podcasting lets you be part of the cultural conversation in a meaningful way.
2. Use Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing aims to forge emotional connections with consumers. It invites them to engage with your brand in an immersive, hands-on way.
Examples include pop-up shops, contests, live events, VR experiences and more. We’ve found this performs better than traditional ads at driving brand affinity and purchase intent.
Red Bull’s extreme sports sponsorships are a great example of experiential marketing. The beverage brand associates itself with exhilarating experiences like skydiving, Formula 1 and snowboarding.
3. Rethink Your Visual Branding
In our visually-driven world, aesthetics play a huge role in branding. Rethink your visual identity to stand out, instead of sticking to generic stock imagery and fonts.
Be more creative with photography and illustration. Use diverse, authentic images reflecting your brand values. Craft a vibrant, unique logo. Experiment with unusual color palettes and typography.
Visuals with character and personality tend to resonate more than generic, cookie-cutter designs today.
4. Leverage Branded Content
Branded content presents your messaging subtly through various entertainment and informational formats. This content marketing strategy helps engage audiences without overt product promotion.
Examples include blogs, videos, podcasts, eBooks, guides, quizzes, etc. Our Slack guides have performed well, organically driving 50k+ views monthly. Useful, relevant branded content earns consumer trust and establishes thought leadership.
5. Showcase CSR Initiatives
Today’s consumers care about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and want to support brands that give back. Make your CSR, philanthropy and sustainability efforts a bigger part of your branding.
Promote causes your brand champions and showcase related initiatives on your website and social media. We bolstered our branding by launching a nonprofit initiative supporting youth mental health.
CSR humanizes companies, driving emotional connections with consumers.
6. Cultivate Your Brand Voice
Your brand voice encompasses the unique tone and style you use in communications. Is your voice formal or casual? Serious or humorous? Technical or conversational?
Once you pinpoint your brand voice, ensure it’s consistently reflected across channels like social media, ads, website copy, etc.
An authentic, recognizable brand voice helps form an emotional bond with your audience. It also makes communications more engaging.
7. Partner With Influencers
Influencer marketing collaborations with bloggers, YouTubers and social media stars can increase brand visibility. Choose partners whose audience and values align with yours.
For example, we partnered with customer service influencer Dan Gingiss for a co-branded webinar and podcast episode. This expanded our reach to tens of thousands of new, relevant viewers.
8. Give Back to Support Local Communities
Supporting charities, schools and community initiatives demonstrates you care about more than profits. Consumers increasingly want to see this kind of authentic social responsibility.
For example, we’ve volunteered and donated to organizations supporting disadvantaged youth, education, healthcare access, sustainable living and more within our local Slovak community. Giving back earns goodwill.
9. Launch Products With a Bang
Make new product launches an exciting branding opportunity through promotions and events. This builds buzz and helps your latest offering stand out in a cluttered market.
For instance, when launching our VoIP phone system, we threw a huge virtual launch party with games, prizes, demos and perks for attendees. We also did an accompanying social media campaign and promotional giveaways.
10. Embrace User-Generated Content
User-generated content like reviews, social posts and feedback helps showcase your brand’s value from the customer’s perspective. Repurpose and highlight such UGC as social proof.
For example, we publicly respond to App Store and G2 reviews, showing we care about feedback. We also reshare great reviews on social media and our website. This builds trust and brand affinity.
11. Create Video Testimonials
Video testimonials from happy customers, partners and employees put a face to your brand. Seeing real people share their positive experiences forges an emotional, human connection quickly.
We ask customers to record short video reviews after completing projects. Featuring these on our site and social media has helped convey authenticity and trustworthiness.
12. Have a Strong Mission and Values
Clearly convey your brand’s mission, vision and core values. This gives your business purpose beyond profits. Illustrate how you aim to make a positive difference and impact people’s lives.
For example, our mission explains how we want to bring more happiness into customer service and help small businesses thrive. Our values like “Care Deeply” shape our culture.
13. Focus on Brand Storytelling
Storytelling gives your brand depth. Share your origin story, foundational milestones, challenges overcome and future goals. Humanize your company by spotlighting real employees, customers and partners.
We use storytelling across channels to explain our “why” and better connect with our audience. For example, our culture video series profiles team members and articulates our values through stories.
Key Takeaways
The most creative brands find fresh ways to convey their uniqueness and forge emotional bonds. As 2024 progresses, businesses should get more experimental with branding to grab attention.
Think beyond logos and ads. Try innovative tactics like podcasts, experiential marketing, branded content, influencer collaborations and impactful visuals. Focus on storytelling and social responsibility.
Leverage UGC and videos to humanize your brand. Give back to communities for goodwill. Cultivate a strong brand voice and mission. Make product launches engaging experiences.
With smart branding strategies, your company can stand out from competitors and win consumers’ hearts in 2024. Which of these creative tactics will you be implementing?
Form partnerships with other brands
Much like how itâs important to partner with ambassadors, itâs also worth considering a partnership with other brands. Similar to celebrity endorsements, this concept of co-branding isnât a new idea â but itâs never been easier to form those types of partnerships.
The companies you work with shouldnt be competitors. Instead, team up a like-minded brand that provides a unique service that complements what your organization does. A popular example would be the long partnership that has existed between Nike and Apple. One provides workout gear and the other provides technology that can enhance your workout experience, so itâs a natural collaboration.
If your brand provides a service that is connected to a different product another brand provides, team up and maximize your profits. Look around at your options, consider all possibilities, and aggressively pursue the creative co-branding partnerships that you think will be mutually beneficial.
Develop personalized content
Itâs no secret â everyone loves feeling special. People always like hearing that theyâre valued by their friends and family, so why not have your brand show them the same courtesy?
Creating personalized content helps you show your appreciation in an intimate way. A simple way to do this is by responding to your audience on social media and actively seeking out their engagement, which makes them feel valued as part of a larger community.
With the rise of technology, itâs never been easier to tailor specific recommendations to people based on their habits. If your company is able to learn what locations each of your customers are from and what products theyâre most interested in, you can send them personalized recommendations that will likely appeal to them.
Adidas launched a mobile app using Salesforce technology that not only customizes product suggestions, but also generates personalized articles and video content for each user based on their shopping habits. Making clients believe you understand and appreciate them on a personal level is an effective way to build a strong relationship with those who use your products, so try going the extra mile to make them feel special!
Brand Strategy & Creative Direction | Client Brand Design Process
What are branding tactics?
Branding tactics are long-term plans designed to build a positive brand image and grow a business. They encapsulate brand recognition, equity, and perception and are different from a logo, color scheme, or online presence.
What is the difference between branding and marketing tactics?
Branding tactics aim to develop the brand – a long term goal – marketing tactics aim to achieve the marketing goals – the brand underpins the marketing tactics. For instance, the Nike Whoosh, firmly associated with the Nike brand, is ubiquitous across the entire Nike range, is a branding tactic.
What is a branding strategy?
They encapsulate brand recognition, equity, and perception and are different from a logo, color scheme, or online presence. This article lists top branding tactics and their pros and cons, including public speaking, customer focus, testimonials, target audience definition, hiring talent, and more.
What makes a successful brand strategy?
Having the before-mentioned things settled for your business is just a part of establishing a brand. Unquantifiable components such as brand recognition, brand equity, and company perception are key to a successful branding tactic. Your brand tactics encapsulate the reasons why your company operates, other than to generate profits.
