Wednesday 23 November 2016

How to Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Newsletters, Blogs, Articles, Press Reports, YouTube to create Brand Image?

“I have a confession to make”

One of the trainees said in a hurried voice, a young entrepreneur in early 20s who wanted to build a brand towards her product selling. It was during a coffee break in one of my brand building workshop. She was looking here and there as if she were to spill a bean which will explode into an atom bomb.

“I spend hours together on the internet without even knowing what’s happening around me. This includes all of possible social media like facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, articles etc.,” she continued saying, “I can sense many of you are like me!” and looked at my face for some re-assurance.

I smiled at her and told that I would cover how to effectively utilise social media in my workshop. Social Media is indeed A Gateway to Branding.

Few ‘Gyaan’ here from my workshop for my beloved readers on the key impact social media do to build a business brand!

Social Media and Branding

A recent research conducted by E-consultancy services proved that nearly 71% of brands prefer to invest in social media advertising to promote their brands. The main aim of this research was to find out ways to attract new followers to build brand reputation.

SLN Brand Studio - Various types of Social Media Portals



Social media helps majorly in achieving Brand Equity, Brand Value and Brand Image.

How to Use Social Media to achieve Brand Equity?

Sales Force, a company that provides Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions uses Facebook page which is connected with real-time clients. They also ask thought provoking questions and share various blogs to keep their customers engaged.

An Interior Designer keeps posting the pictures/images of her work on Instagram that keeps popping up every now and build brand equity in both B2B or B2C segments.

SLN Brand Studio Facebook page is extensively used for brand promotion majorly through knowledge sharing.

SLN Brand Studio - Connection between Social Media and Branding

How to Use Social Media to Build Brand Image?

Brand image for any market segment can be improved by effectively using social media.

Hubspot, a company that provides marketing software solutions amazes its audience by having a balanced tweeting schedule in twitter. The customers are engaged and kept alive by posting numerous discussions on various products. Such practice increases the value of knowledge the company shares and in-turn boosts its brand image.

Starbucks was an early adopter of social media. The coffee chain giant made their presence Omni present by including special features such as offers, store locators, menu, job posting on the Facebook page.

LinkedIn company profile creates huge impact on building Brand Image. Learn how to design your LinkedIn company profile here.

How to Use Social Media to Improve Brand Value?

Do you have a website but struggling to build traffic? Social media can be your best friend to boost up the traffic. Millions of users from the networking sites can become your followers building up the brand value.

Blogs about your brand that provides reviews and positive statements can add up to the value. This might speed up chances of press reports about a particular product.

Cisco Systems, the IT networking giant share videos on YouTube to engage, educate and inform customers on networking solutions without directly selling their product. This increases the value users hold for the product by multiple times.

Have you heard of Paw Patrol? Ask a 5 year old, they will give you a complete record of what they are. That is the reach the gaming company has created using social media portals. The series of this game pops up during YouTube video or in all kids’ blogs which makes it inquisitive for the children to explore more about them.

So, do you feel your product should sway the hearts or be at the top of ‘the most talked about product’? Then why wait to become a tech savvy?  Bang on with social media. Facebook posts, tweets, Instagram pictures, blogs, articles, pins are the fastest vehicles to take your brand on tour thereby increasing its presence in the hearts and minds of the users.


Tuesday 22 November 2016

How to Build Brand using Various Marketing Materials? Part 2 - Understanding USP of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Newsletters, Blogs, Articles, Press Reports, YouTube

Can SLN Brand Studio help manage our Social Media Marketing?

This is one of the frequently asked questions we encounter as we stress on using social media in brand building. Before committing ourselves, we ask our clients to understand various social media portals commonly used in building business.

Here's some briefing for you, our beloved online readers.

Newsletter – A bulletin or written report usually a 1 page document often circulated amongst a particular group of people with specific interest that covers information on a particular subject. A newsletter may follow various writing styles such as chat or serious discussion or light hearted note depending on the targeted audience. It may also contain graphs, charts, photographs that are generally considered to be more informative than being attractive.

SLN Brand Studio Newsletter Sample
Some clients prefer more image and less content in their newsletter communication. 

SLN Brand Studio - Sample Newsletter

Press Reports – A written or recorded communication officially declared by authorities of an organisation in the news media or the purpose of announcing something worthy.

Facebook – Popular social networking sites that allow users to create a profile and expand their network for free. It is used both for professional and personal purposes. SLN Brand Studio uses its Facebook page extensively for knowledge sharing.

Twitter – Like Facebook,twitter is a social networking site where the registered users can post short messages with maximum 140 characters. The latest topics are discussed here amongst the twitter users and are accessible from any web interface.

Instagram – Instagram slightly varies from the above two social networking sites. It is mainly a photo or video sharing platform. Photos of branding documents are shared here to promote products to a vast crowd.

Blogs - Online personal journals that share information on various topics and updated regularly. The casual and conversational tone is used to attract followers. Images make a great difference as well here.

Read our blog posts written in various styles, you can choose your preferred style, we will write for you.

Articles – A piece of writing composed on a particular topic usually published in newspapers, magazines or online media. The articles considered for marketing purposes usually follow tabloid style of writing with bold & attractive headings. 

LinkedIn – A social networking site where a group of registered business professionals’ team up to build a network and also benefit from the subject knowledge shared in the forums and discussions. Businesses can have a company LinkedIn profile page to attract more followers.

Follow SLN Brand Studio to understand how it works. 

Pinterest – This networking platform works like a pin board where we pin up all the important pages or notes. The Web Pages, articles, photos, images, infographics are pinned to boards created by users. This allows easy reference in future. The images are picked while searching and lead to respective web sites.

Mail advertisement – A marketing tactic that uses mail or email (in case of online marketing) to circulate their branding documents such as brochures, pamphlets, flyers etc. to create awareness about their product/service.

YouTube – YouTube is one best place to share you marketing videos, branding PPTs, profile information, sample services (like training programs,) among millions of viewers.


The best part with social media is one need not be techsavy to use these for their personal and business growth. The user friendly make it more attractive and but, make sure you are managing your time well.

Reach us to understand more on this. 

Want to understand how each of these social media portals help in building a brand. Check out.


Monday 14 November 2016

How to Build Brand using Various Marketing Materials? Part 1 - Understanding USP and the difference between Brochure, Flyers, Catalogue, Leaflets, Pamphlets & Prospectus

I need a Break!!!!

Yes every weekend, it s a break from our regular cooking and I get to order food just at the comfort of our living room. What do we do by default? Immediately, we tend to pull up the draw; find the piece of paper containing the menu and number of favorite restaurants and order your favorite food. Isn't the scene in almost all the households?

Life has become that simple. Be the offers or launches or the upgrades, the information about the products/services is available to us right at the doorstep or in fact at every place we go.

The credit to such easy access goes to the power of advertisement. Advertisement or Brand promotion is done using various forms of media like television, radio, and websites and also printed on newspapers. Brand development also includes sharing these marketing materials such as Brochure, Pamphlet, Prospectus, Leaflets, Fliers, and Catelogue from door to door. 

Have u ever wondered why there are so many types of branding documents? Did you know each document/material come with unique features and its own style? Read on.


What is a Branding Document?


A 'branding document' is nothing but establishing a particular brand through the print media and other social media portals. It is to ensure that the marketing or promotion of that particular brand reaches every potential client so that it increases the awareness for the particular product. The print media specifically aids in reaching the users who do not access to online information.

However, in this “Gen Y” era , with internet in everybody’s pocket, these marketing materials are also shared in their “e” versions to gain easy access to information.

Types of Advertising/ Branding Documents


A few types of print media apart from newspaper and magazines would be:

                 
Difference between Brochure, Pamphlets, Leaflets, Catalogues, Fliers, Print Media, Posters - SLN Brand Studio

                          


1. Brochure - A set of pages pinned or bound or folded together to illustrate what the product is all about. It often includes images and graph along with crisp content.

2. Pamphlet - A small booklet describing the product and having a paper cover that is generally not bound

3. Prospectus – A document or booklet containing a formal summary of both technical and non technical features of a product, business or service

4. Leaflets – A single sheet of paper containing very brief information about the product, usually distributed for free.

5. Flyers – A small bill designed in an eye catching manner irrespective of the design structure to reach out to a large customer base.

6. Catalogue – A booklet or a record that usually lists all the items or features usually in alphabetical or symmetrical order.

7. Poster – A large printed piece of paper usually attached to any vertical surface that has both textual and graphical information.


How different are these Advertisement and Branding documents?


These advertising and marketing documents are usually misunderstood and used interchangeably. The table below charts the differences between Brochure, Flyers, Catalogue, Leaflets, Pamphlets & Prospectus; also helps to understand the USP of each document.


Difference between Brochure, Pamphlet, Prospectus, Leaflets, Flyers, Catalogue, Poster - SLN Brand Studio

Branding and Advertising Document


Media plays an important role in bringing the brand into our lives and increasing the brand value, brand image and brand equity of the product/service or business.





Achieve Brand Equity by using Brochure, Flyers, Catalogue, Leaflets, Pamphlets & Prospectus


Brand equity is nothing but the value of possessing a particular brand. It indicates that higher brand equity can attribute to additional revenue generation just by the name of the brand. 

·        Any branding document such as brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, catalogue etc add to the sensory experience of information being reached out.

When brands appeal to more than three senses, advertising effectiveness will increase with 70 per cent.” - Martin Lindstrom, writer of Brand Sense


The branding documents offer reliability and trust about the brand while the customer can involve themselves with the content printed on the paper as they take their time to read through them.


·         The e-versions shared on the internet statistically increases the turnaround by 48%.

Create Brand Image using Brochure, Flyers, Catalogue, Leaflets, Pamphlets & Prospectus


Brand image is nothing but the summation of all the information and expectations of a customer from a particular brand. The branding documents list down all possible features of the brand and a well designed document makes it more attractive and thereby increases the brand image.

The ease of access to information and the static message offered by such docs multiplies the exposure of the product amongst the readers eventually amplifying the brand image.

Increase the Brand Value using Brochure, Flyers, Catalogue, Leaflets, Pamphlets & Prospectus


Brand value is defined as worth given to a particular brand. With increasing brand equity and image, the brand value automatically increases. The Print media also geographically increases the customer base and thereby the turnaround for the brand awareness. 

McDonalds building Brand Equity through Marketing Materials


For Ex: a pamphlet from McDonald definitely carries more value than any other burger joint because of its huge customer base. 

Apart from the above branding additions, these documents are very cost effective, help earn ROI in multiple times due to its reach to a huge clientele and new & emerging markets.

Do you want your brand to stand out from the crowd? Establish your business/service/product through the branding documents.




Tuesday 2 August 2016

The Most Important Benefits of Effectively Using LinkedIn Business Page and Enhancing B2B Sales

“From an audience standpoint, LinkedIn is the 13th most-visited digital property in the United States (according to ComScore), making it larger than Time, Hearst, Conde Nast, BuzzFeed, ESPN, and The New York Times”, says Joe Pullizi, founder, content marketing Institute. 

Microsoft acquisition of LinkedIn, has put Microsoft ahead of FB & Google, in the comScore Top 50 Multi-Platform Properties. Imagine the impact it can create on B2B branding and Sales.

Based on survey conducted by LinkedIn, a single update helps reaching 20% of those follow the company page, 60% with one or more updates. A minimum 20 updates are suggested per month.

Microsoft Acquiring LinkedIn
Source: Comscore Media Metrix Multi-Platform


Marketing: use LinkedIn company page for promotions & discounts, new product launch, direct and real time interaction with the potential clients. LinkedIn is considered the best tool to analyse what your competitors are doing and how you can create brand that stands unique among your competitors. Market, Competitive analysis becomes easy with LinkedIn.

Competitive Advantage: A summary or description and the way it is written to make the business to stand unique helps in achieving competitive advantage. The best way to use your user stories, viral videos and images and reach out to maximum number of serious clients is possible only with LinkedIn profile page. Content marketing institute states that 94% of B2B marketing professionals utilize LinkedIn to distribute content and consider the better medium than their business websites and blogs.

Lead Generation: Unlike any other social media tools, LinkedIn is the only tool that provides a platform to connect with the right leads without wasting our precious time on non-serious clients. One can effectively manage lead cohort ideas, lead capturing and lead demand by using LinkedIn business page.

Benefits of LinkedIn Company Page - SLN BRAND STUDIO

Sales:The benefits described in Marketing, Lead Generation and Competitive Advantage automatically lead to improving your sales through LinkedIn company page. Developing a strong sales team is extremely important for a company to grow and generate revenue. Is there any other social media portal give companies the world best candidates? LinkedIn profile gives 360 degrees view about a candidate and choosing the best one through LinkedIn is the best solution available.

Jill and Ardath Albee co-authored a book named ‘Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code’. As per the research conducted in 2013, they concluded that 84% of Business Owners use LinkedIn as a powerful tool to acquire business opportunities, generate leads and close business. The power of using LinkedIn company page to improve business, enhance operational efficiency and generate revenue has gone multi-levels high in three years.


Contact us NOW to create your LinkedIn Company page.

Sunday 3 July 2016

Capability Document in Digital Era: “You know Your Capabilities……But do your potential customers?”

“Ready for life”

“Confidence”

“Beauty at its best”

Do these terms sound familiar? 

Yep, the slogans or, to say in business terms, ‘capability statements’ associated with Surf Excel, Close Up and Lakme, all popular products many of us use in our day to day life.

Over 90% of the Indian population use at least one product from Unilever. Unilever believes in building confidence and connecting with customers in real time through their business capabilities. They make a difference with their logo as well, signifies 25 products in just one single ‘U’.

Unilever uses capability statements to reach out to their consumers and capability documents to potential retailers and investors. Anyone can see their financial position, management style, mission and focus, skills and technology, branded products through the documents published in the company website. 

Especially in this digital era, the businesses must follow such practices to provide authenticated information to the prospective customers. 

What is a Capability Document?

A Capability document is a business document comprising of a company’s core competencies, specific products/services, achievements, skills, experience and corporate data. 

The purpose of a capability document is to effectively communicate the expertise, brand value and complete product/service information to the potential business partners, customers and even internal employees.

What are the objectives of a Capability Document?

Objectives of a Capability Document - SLN BRAND STUDIO

  1. Opening the door for Marketing actives, related to sales and brand promotion
  2. Showcasing the skills and expertise to the prospective customers, shareholders and purchasers
  3. Using gap analysis to identify gaps in the market which involves in determining, documenting and comparing the difference between current capability and market requirement
  4. Mitigating the gaps through facts which helps their clients to identify potential impact and provide them to insure their needs
  5. Developing a Mission and objectives to achieve Vision
  6. Listing down and highlighting major brand categories, services and products
  7. Aiding as an internal reference tool for the employers and managers at various levels to answer customers with critical data and information
  8. Few companies include past and current financial performance and cash flow status to help investors to make informed decisions
Key Functional Areas the Capabilities Documents Highly Benefit the Businesses:

     Marketing: Nike is an example that remains in the market attracting the new YO generation with superstars as brand ambassadors and innovative advertising methodologies. The company has invested more on digital and technology arena for marketing their products. They have created Capability document through digital transformation for enabling their marketing through designers, and technology to reach the customers. Capability documents help a great deal in marketing specific products, services or the overall business of start-ups, SMEs and global corporate.


   Sales: The capability Document aids to KNOW your customer, understanding their specific requirements which in turn helps in selling the products. The customer data analysis in capability document in form of gap analysis plays a major role in organizational sales to evaluate newest sales and marketing tools making the process easier for sales executives.

Ref: http://news.nike.com/news/nike-inc-introduces-2015-global-growth-strategy

Benefits of Capability Document


Brand Building: When a particular brand has reached the positive sentiments in the market place it is considered acquiring brand recognition. When someone uses the names, Modern Bread, Kissan Jam, Pepsodent, etc., the brand is recognized by associating with the products. A product which is widely known in the market place acquires Brand Recognition. Capability documents will pave a path to create such close connection with the products & consumers and in turn build a brand identity.

Market Research: In a capability document, the companies provide business market research data that indicates customer satisfaction index. Business market research helps marketing and sales executives to analyse the competitor behavior, the current market trends and spending traits of the customers. Capability documents play a major role in conducting in depth market researches.

Industry trend analysis: Industry trend analysis, when documented helps to analyze and determine the performance of specific products, services from competitors. Such competitive analysis helps to understand the industry trend, based on which capability document projects the special features of the brand.  Capability documents aids in conducting industry trend analysis, in turn product customization and business growth.

Competitive advantage: A company’s capability statement, when documented with critical competitive data, helps the company to stand out from the rest. The competitive advantage is also determined through following elements: 

  •       Competitive Uniqueness 
  •       Competitive advantage
  •       Parity and Disadvantages
By articulating the above elements, capability documents create a strong first impression on customer's mind that stays as the best impression forever.

An effective capability document puts forwards the business capability, services and skills, products along with graphic presentation with well drafted content.

So a Capability statement should make you stand ‘Unique’ among competition while the content acts as your brand ambassador!

SLN Brand studio offers the effective Capability document comprising of systematic processes to ensure your business is sold and make you stand unique among ‘herd’.


Tuesday 31 May 2016

How to Build "Resume Websites" and What are the Key Benefits?

RESUME WEBSITES – A VISUAL CONNECT

Samantha, a budding writer and Timothy, a budding graphic designer who always shared their knowledge and expertise for each other’s growth, graduated masters in creative writing and graphic designing from the same university in UK. SEO is one area they had common interest, they were doing courses together. Since their educational background complement each other, they shared whenever there is an opportunity outside to get a job. Samantha is always the one to be called for an interview, somehow Timothy seemed not to attract the way Samantha was able to.

Is it because there was more demand for writer than a designer? Nope, they applied together after looking at an opportunity announced for both the jobs. After analysing, they found out the key difference Samantha was able to create on Employer’s mind but Timothy missed.

Yes, a Resume Website!

Resume Website - Make a Diffrence - SLN Brand Studio 

We all like to have visual treats before we select our choices. Even when we shop online we would like to go through a number of websites and narrow down on the product best presented in the website. Yes, when petty things are given this importance then shouldn’t it more for the resumes that decide our career. A Resume website does the same.



Samantha used resume website over a traditional resume which showcased her creativity and made unique among herd.

Difference between Traditional Resume Vs Resume Website:

You may be wondering when there are successes with traditional resume why should I create an online profile for myself? What edge does it provide? Here you go to make things more clear.

Not a Two Pager Anymore
Resume website is an interactive showpiece that can possibly list out all the potential you have and all achievements you have made with respect to the job description that can take you a notch above without curtailing yourself to two pages.

Include any Number of Testimonials
It is great to express our strengths but greater when someone affirms it. Unlike traditional resume, online portal allows us to have any number of testimonials thus reinforcing the chances of getting selected for a position more than any other.

Consistency
It is more than important to have your responsibilities aligned with the job description in order to be spotted. Say, you are office manager and u have done some accounting roles, online profile highlights the accounting capabilities if preferred in the job description you are applying for.

Getting Linked
When presenting a resume, it is important to pull off all our relevance presence to show our versatility. Resume website offers a way higher notch in this respect than the traditional counterpart. Link all of your related existence at one place. LinkedIn, professional website, blogs written by u, articles you have been published in, online recognition etc.

Resume websites – a Passport to your Dream Destination:

Showing rather just Telling
Though resume and cover letter are great to tell hiring managers about your abilities, a website offers a much more dynamic sense with a site full of links, photos and blogs to show what you have to offer. It provides an ease of access for the hiring managers to comprehend your skills.

Make your Mark
The fact is that in today’s job market the competition is stiff. There might be hundreds of resumes piled up in an organisation. A website resume will make yours pop out apart from other job seekers.

Resume Website
Difference between Traditional Resume and Resume Website
Manage your Brand
A potential website not only focuses on what you are but also what you want to be. It props up your personality and shows the diversity in your character which makes it more interesting for hiring managers.

Get Spotted
Filling up a URL space for your efforts and capabilities gets you found easily when searched. A simple internet search will make the recruits find you rather than you finding each recruiter.

Build your Network
Resume websites has much more to offer than placing you in a job. When a newbie builds a resume website with links to her blogs and social media she attracts the like minded people to connect with her blogs and thereby create opportunities to build a vast network of friends.

If you are looking towards:
  • Increasing visibility
  • Adding value to your job application
  • Reflecting your skills and professional growth
  • Augmenting credibility

 Contact us now to build your resume website.









Thursday 26 May 2016

What is Personal Branding – Just a Buzz Word?

Amazed looking at a small child in a gadget store recently. The mother was happily browsing through the brochures.  The girl urged her mother to look where she was looking.
“Mama, Look there, Apple ipad”
What makes a five-year-old spot a particular product from thousands? It could be her parents talking about it with a pride or simple logo that catches the eyes or could be anything. 

But there is 'one thing' that made strong impression on her mind and we advice professionals and companies to create such strong image in other's minds.
Let's focus on Apple Image.
The apple brand stands inimitable not only due to its simple logo but also because of the man behind it, yes, STEVE JOBS.  Being a CEO, he uniquely represented himself in a jean and a black polo neck conveying the message that he was interested in simple and effective approaches. Not only his looks, even if you look at the designs of Apple products, the interface is so simple yet effective.
This is a brand every individual must focus on building. You need not build an empire to have a personal branding.
What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is defined as the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. It is the process of developing a “mark” that is created around your personal name or your career. You use this “mark” to express and communicate your skills, personality and values.


Personal Branding - SLN Brand Studio


Identify: The Key to a successful personal branding is to know who we are. Identify your strengths and weakness, passion and goals. Be realistic. Analyse what your friends/Colleagues would miss if u leave the job. 

Target - Know your audience: Define to whom you want to send your message. This will not only help you polish your message; it will help you deliver it to the right places.

Showcase: Show your unique features and talents to people wherever possible.

Relationship: Building relationship is very vital to promote your brand. The more it connects with people the more coverage and response the brand gets.

Promote: Go online. Facebook, twitter and other social media helps you connect easily. Have a website and a blog for easy references to your brand. Emails also help to reach quite a number of audiences at the same time. Getting offline by giving lectures and seminars also strengthens the subject knowledge.

Deliver: Get deep into analysing facts and be sure to deliver what was promised and within stipulated time.


Stand Out From the Herd: A personal Brand sticks you out from a bigger lot. A classic example is of Jamie Oliver. His website name says it all “Jamie’s food revolution”. His personal brand extends beyond books and television shows to events, cooking school, kitchen and lifestyle making it a standout page for all the kitchen explorations. 

Understanding Self: We sometimes lack to know our reach. It is through this personal brand we identify our potential and worthiness of the skill set we possess.

Leave a Mark: Have u ever watched lady gaga perform? Her shows are full of energy and are viral which leaves the audience astounded even after the event. Such is the mark she brands for herself. It is also her costumes that speak to mark her personality. A personal brand repetitively turns up the target audience towards us.

Financial Upscale: Personal branding can really get you from starting out online to making over 100,000 dollars monthly within a little over one year in business. A classic example is of John Lee Dumas who definitely is inspiring to follow his success with a strong personal brand Entrepreneur On Fire.

Achieve Competition Advantage: Uniqueness is the tag to eliminate competition and a personal brand showcases one. Have u ever dreamt about holding a tab like product 10 years before? Today, they’re ubiquitous — and the iPad is the well-recognized of them all. Jobs was never afraid to try and be unique with his innovations which have made Apple stand to its own self.

Larger Domain: Personal brand envisage a larger audience. It helps you expands to various horizons like that of Paris Hilton who takes her brand from perfumes to cosmetics covering the entire beauty industry.

This success due to personal branding does not stop with them. Come and join the bandwagon?

EVERY HUMAN BEING IS THE CEO OF HIS/HER OWN LIFE!
Why Personal Branding is Important?

When you’re building your personal brand, be mindful of aesthetic, and ask yourself how you can create images that people will remember — and instantly associate with you. You know what, the corporate brand is thus inextricably linked to the personal brand.

Similarly, we would have come across many such people who have something unique in them. For example, a person might have unique bold voice or they may be an excel guru or they may have extraordinary oratorical skills. Be it an organisation or an entrepreneurial venture, everyone wants to prove their abilities and potential that are unique and niche.

This brings various questions hovering in our minds.

How do we stand out from the rest?
How do we represent ourselves?
How do we showcase our talent?

"THE ONLY SOLUTION IS 'PERSONAL BRANDING"

SLN Brand Studio offers personal branding sessions comprising of systematic processes that help in career and business growth through personal branding solutions.