Utpala Biswas

What is brand loyalty? A name that intentionally/unintentionally or spontaneously comes to your mind when you think of a specific product or service. For example, what comes to your mind when you think of ‘Colgate’? Zap comes the reply without wasting even a nano second.

In 2003, Hutchison, a multinational telecommunications company, reflected on various strategies to make its mark in the crowded telecom market. It had to communicate to its customer about its brand proposition and make a promise. And this is what they did…

Whether you are a Fortune 500 company or a small bakery shop in a hill station, you are a brand. When Indian Coffee House came into being way back in 1936, the term branding was not there. Nevertheless, the concept of branding was there. By the end of 1940, there were 50 odd outlets of Indian Coffee House all over the country. All the outlets were uniformly done up, starting from the décor to the clothes that the waiters wore to the crockery used and last but not the least the aroma of the steamy cuppa coffee. This is what the essence of branding is.

You have a product and you want to sell it. So you should have the answer to some of the vital questions. What is your product? How will you sell it? Who you want to sell it to? Why you want to sell it? Where you want to sell it? The answer to all these questions lies in effective branding.

Small or start up entrepreneurs usually have a perception that branding activities are carried out by investors with deep pockets. When they think of branding, the first thing that comes to their mind is their limited resource. The common thought is that it is wiser to just keep doing the mundane as long as the resources increase. And this is how branding takes a back seat eventually affecting the business as a whole.

Technology has completely changed the way businesses were operated in the past. Now, marketers can make their products available to the customers at their finger tips at any place and time. About two decades ago, nobody could ever imagine that buying and selling would be carried out in such a seamless manner sans the brick and mortar retail outlets. All this has been possible only because of technological advancements. Technology is progressing in leaps and bounds, opening newer avenues for success.

Emailer is an effective tool for content marketing. A compelling copy can help in sales conversions. The quality of the content, the way the brand is positioned and the customer is engaged are some of the factors that can make or break the deal.

It is true that money can’t buy everything. Had it not been so, so many small investors would have become sales giants in such a short span of time. However, implementing innovative content marketing strategies can lead to accelerated growth, turning businesses to trusted brands.

Keywords are crucial to content marketing as address is for a house. If you don’t have a proper address indicating the house number, lane, city, district and pin code, your guests will never be able to make it to your house. Similarly, if you don’t use the right keywords in your content, your target customers will never be able to make it to your web page.