Welcome to the second edition of our three-part branding series.
In this release, we will share a few powerful branding principles that all marketers and entrepreneurs must understand and consider in modern times.
By the way, if you haven’t read the first part of this series yet, check it out here before diving into this article, as it sets the foundation.
Also, in the next and final edition of this series, we share an advanced advertising strategy and some trendy tactics that align with our business branding principles. Make sure to check it out after this article (link below).
Minimalism, Balance, and Simplicity
Ever heard the saying, “Less is more?” T-shirts without prints are classier, and homes without visible clutter look neater. In marketing and branding, “less is more” is one of the most impactful yet overlooked principles.
Complexity creates cognitive stress in your target audience’s minds, whereas simplicity creates cognitive ease.
If you want your brand’s name, image, and message to be easily remembered and held in high regard by your target audience, make it a priority to eliminate cognitive stress and put people’s minds at ease.
This principle is becoming increasingly important as consumers are more stressed out than ever by endless aggressive promotions, political unrest, religious disputes, natural disasters, world events, etc.
So, how can you ensure your brand puts your audience’s minds at ease on a subconscious level? Here are some tips for your consideration:
- Stress-Free Layout: Review your website and landing pages. Every part of your website and its content that you want web visitors to notice must be effortless to view and/or interact with.
Request feedback on your website’s layout from unbiased third parties. For inspiration, review Apple’s website, the Google Store, and other modern sites. - Simplicity: A clean and uncluttered design looks appealing to the eye. Consider removing excess elements, text, and images. Focus on the essentials. Reduce content to relay your message and values effectively.
Make your website, social media pages, posts, ads, etc., “easy on the eyes” for your audience. - Reliable Look and Feel: Designs that implement and resonate with geometric shapes and open spaces can help create a sense of clarity, order, and reliability. This will help establish trust with your audience.
People are significantly more likely to do business with a brand that looks and feels trustworthy and reliable rather than chaotic and unstable. - Clear Promo Content: You must put your prospects’ minds at ease so that they are more prone to listening, understanding, and accepting your brand’s messages. Deliver your messages clearly and concisely. Keep your images, videos, headlines, and descriptions simple and to the point.
- Frictionless Sales Process: When presenting your offer and delivering your sales pitch, ensure your leads know exactly what you are offering, how to buy it, and how to access the product upon purchase.
If necessary, walk your leads through the entire purchase process, eliminate all friction points, and ensure a smooth onboarding process. Remember: A confused mind does not take action. - Functionality: Just like every piece of content your brand puts out to the market, every element on your website should be intentional and serve a specific purpose. Emphasizing usability and practicality without unnecessary decorations will add more value and credibility to your brand.
Life can be chaotic. However, once you put everything where it belongs – whether it’s your clothes or thoughts – it becomes easier to handle.
And suddenly, chaos turns into manageable challenges that can be tackled and overcome one at a time.
Riding the Trending Causes Waves
In sales and marketing, emotions are good for conversions (arguably, better than logic).
As an agency serving other businesses, we are quite familiar with business-to-business (B2B) marketing – we sell high-ticket packages and services to our clients using numbers and logic, and it works like a charm.
However, most of our clients serve a broader audience, and we help them implement business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing to attract and convert large numbers of people into leads and buyers.
B2C marketing is where understanding how to command your target audience’s emotions is crucial for optimal performance.
One of the most effective ways to tap into people’s emotions and leave a positive impression on your target audience today is to ride the waves of trending causes with which people deeply resonate.
You see it happening across the board – from “talking heads” in the mainstream media and politicians giving scripted speeches, to celebrity endorsements and Super Bowl commercials – Cause Marketing is boiling hot right now!
As newer generations enter the market, it is important to understand how their minds work and what motivates them to actively participate in our economy.
A big part of decision-making for the younger crowds (and for a growing number of older folks, too) is the trending causes that actively circulate in the space of worldwide media.
These causes can be social, political, and environmental. Some examples include (but are not limited to) climate change and green energy, mental health awareness, economic inequality, human rights, and data privacy and security.
Now, we are not advising you to pretend to care about trending causes to attract more leads and customers – we do not condone such unauthentic and unethical marketing practices.
On the contrary, we only recommend you consider incorporating trending causes into your brand’s messages if you genuinely resonate with those causes.
Leading with trending causes allows you to build a deep emotional bond with your target audience. People tend to lean towards brands that closely align with their own values and beliefs.
The end result? A loyal and engaged customer base.
So, how do you know what causes are trending?
You can use free tools like Google Trends and AnswerThePublic to discover what people care about nowadays.
You can also get a pretty good idea of what’s trending simply by paying attention to what people are talking about on social media and YouTube.
Also, consider paying attention to influencers, celebrities, and media personalities, as they are oftentimes the first to jump on the newest and hottest trends (or start new trends).
Of course, remember to tune in to Vavoza Insider daily for the latest social media trend updates.
The “Confusing Expert” Technique
If causes and emotions are not your thing, no problem. We have something more on the logical side for you in this section.
The “Confusing Expert” is a marketing and communication technique we coined at Vavoza that you may want to consider if you are a specialist in your craft.
We know this technique works well because our team has implemented it in our agency since the very beginning to boost credibility and authority when dealing with new clients, especially in the early stages of building relationships.
The idea is to confuse your clients a little bit by explaining complex processes quickly and effortlessly in a way that makes perfect sense to you but is slightly difficult to follow for them.
The primary intention is to show your new clients (who may still be skeptical of you) that you are the expert at whatever they hired you to do.
They will instantly feel that you know much more than they do about the subject matter, leaving them with the next natural and best option- trusting your expertise.
How exactly does this technique relate to branding?
Well, if your brand specializes in a certain area, you might as well make it known to the market.
Being a specialist demands respect, and leading with your expertise in your promotional content can instantly boost your brand’s credibility and authority.
Closing Remarks
There you have it – part two of our three-part branding series.
In this edition, we continued covering our top branding principles. The ideas we shared in parts one and two are essential for all marketers and entrepreneurs to understand – these things matter today more than ever.
Is it too late to rebrand or give your brand a lift? Never. We encourage you to use the first two parts of our branding series as a guideline for crafting or polishing your brand this year.
In the next edition, we put a big red bow on this branding series by sharing a few highly effective advertising tactics to help your brand reach the right audiences and make an impact more quickly and efficiently.
