Branding Techniques That You Can Use Today

Although a marketing company can help promote your brand and create effective branding campaigns, hiring a marketing company is not always possible for a small or beginning business.  Even though branding is considered an expert marketing strategy – and even though you will often get very advanced and professional branding results from marketing company- there are several lower-cost branding techniques that you can use for your company:

Step One:  Placement at local events and charities

Local functions give you a great chance to promote your business and place your product- often at a low cost.  For example, if you are producing bottled water, providing bottled water to athletes at a local marathon can help you with branding.  If you produce mattresses, providing mattresses to a shelter can help you create a specific brand image that may well inspire customer loyalty.

Step Two:  Placement on the Radio

Your local radio station’s marketing manager will be able to tell you the station’s placement policy.  In many cases, placement spots are more expensive than small radio ads, but the payoff can be quite good, especially when you consider that many listeners may switch stations or simply stop listening during commercial breaks.  Radio spots make more sense because they put your product mention during the on-air shows, when listeners are paying attention.

Step Three: Local television, theatre, and film making

You can easily create placements for your products in local film, theatre, and television productions.  In many cases, local arts are in need of services and products as well as funding.  In many cases, you can help out local performers and productions by offering your products or services in exchange for some free placement.  In larger cities, you will have to pay for placement.  However, even in this case, placements tend to work and make a good investment because they send such a strong visual message to viewers.

Step Four:  Placement at local colleges and universities

If your product is appropriate for college-age customers, you can often do very well by offering coupons, brand merchandise, and samples at local colleges and universities.  College students enjoy getting free things and will often consider new brands and services based on price.  Colleges and universities also tend to be very busy and well-trafficked areas, so that you can be sure to attract many potential customers.

Step Five:  Online Placement

Online placement is very inexpensive (in some cases, free) but can be quite effective.  The idea is to make sure that your product or business is reviewed on web sites and in ezines and forums in the text rather than in banner and text ads (which tend to be ignored by many Internet users).  You can easily accomplish these placements by offering your service or business for review or by participating in forums, offering advice but also offering information about your company.