Open Door Branding

Sharing knowledge is a prerequisite for the success of branding. «Leaving the door ajar» may be the smartest move you make this year.

Written by: Lene Bergmann, CEO of the Communication agency Mannheimer AS

Those who are known, or rather make themselves known for the right things, execute their branding properly. In 2019, an important part of branding is sharing knowledge and showcasing the expertise your business possesses. If you are generous in sharing, you inspire trust – inside as well as outside the industry.

It is a common belief within many technology-heavy, R&D-focused industries that you need the best, most advanced and sophisticated technology solutions to succeed. To many people, branding may then seem as a waste of time and resources.

Join our event about branding in Bergen 10 December.

Tell the Good Stories

How should you share the knowledge and showcase the competence you possess? The best and most effective solution is to tell the good stories through your own channels. This will help you reach, engage and retain your customers – as well as attracting new ones.

Good content can be anything from blogposts, videos, podcasts, photos and questionnaires to surveys and reports. You can also publish content through multiple channels – on your own websites, in newsletters and on social media.

Targeted Message

Simultaneously, it is important to keep in mind there is no need for promoting your products and services directly every time you talk to customers. The main objective is for communication to become a natural part of the customer relationship and business strategy. In this way, you create long-term relationships with measurable value. This is the essence of branding.

Also, it is counterproductive to ladle out information in the hope of reaching everyone; it rather means there is a great risk you will push people away. The different target groups you address will not necessarily have the same needs. Consequently, the first thing to do is mapping what the individual target groups are most interested in. Then you have to refine the message – so that the recipient does not have to plough through irrelevant information.

Brand Builds Pride

A nice bonus of building a credible brand is the internal value. As a company is not worth much without human resources, all managers should be better at highlighting their internal competence. Any company will benefit from building a sound organisational culture and working strategically with employer branding.

It is in fact increasingly important to make the workplace attractive to the future workforce. If you spend some time on presenting the people behind the projects on the company's social channels, it will contribute to you being seen and heard by potential new colleagues. Reputation management through external presentation and representation is a long-term investment. Clever minds will want to work in a company they have become familiar with and be good ambassadors for a brand they can relate to and are proud of.

Be Who You Are

Once you have decided to open the door to stakeholders, interested parties, potential customers and employees make sure you do not pretend to be something you are not. Information sharing should help you in building your reputation, which makes it important to speak the truth. Use credible sources and don't get carried away by what everyone else is doing. Determine what makes you unique and plan how to best convey this internally and externally. Make a plan or market wheel for outward activities that can help strengthening your market position.

Small Changes Yield Great Advantages

We want to round off with a challenge: Take a look at your present day brand and examine any changes you have undergone. What applies now that did not apply three years ago? Feel free to involve your employees in a creative process where you go through the customer journey. This can help you look at your own brand with fresh eyes. Branding is a continuous process without any defined beginning or end. Often, it is the small changes you make over time that produce the greatest returns.

How:

Insight: Who are your customers and what do they need? Engage in a dialogue with your customers concerning their needs.
Plan and strategy: A good plan for communication is a good plan for branding.
Channels: Most companies have a website. But which other digital channels should you be present at? Where are your customers?
Content: What are your customers concerned with? Spend time developing good content that is tailored to them.

Contact Information

Lene Bergmann
CEO and Senior Advisor
Mannheimer