Brand

Brand licensing is key in helping businesses to generate revenue and increase their commercial value. Licensing allows brand owners to retain control over their intellectual property, such as trade marks, whilst creating a revenue stream and opening up the possibility of entry to new markets and raising consumer awareness and exposure.

Brand awareness has become a crucial component of any business marketing strategy. Some people might think that freelancing doesn’t require as much strategy or organisation, but those with experience in that area would beg to differ.

The dramatic rise in hybrid working in the UK bought about by the impact of Covid-19 has seen individuals and teams working either partly or fully remotely in line with the ebbs and flows of government restrictions.

Honest question… As a business owner or entrepreneur, how often do look at your to-do list and think ‘there’s not enough hours in the day or days in the week’? How often do you say ‘I wish I had more help around here?’ or find yourself doing tasks that you know could be done by someone else?

Many startups think PR is out of reach for them – they think that they need big budgets for a PR agency, or a little black book of contacts, a huge amount of time or they need to wait until their business is bigger. But in my experience, this isn’t the case – there are ways that start-up businesses can bootstrap their PR whilst achieving great results that help to build their brand, drive sales, help their SEO, create trust triggers and get them talked about by the right people in front of their target audience.

Let’s face it, the internet is a crowded place. When you’re just setting up your new business, one of the first hurdles that entrepreneurs have to overcome is to simply get noticed. Entrepreneurship has risen by 30% in the last couple of years (Financial Times) and 98 new businesses formed every hour during Q1 of 2021 (Business Leader). So, how can you stand out in a saturated marketplace?

Whether you’re a startup founder, marketer, or future entrepreneur I want to tell you that 90 percent of startups and young businesses simply don’t survive long-term. Now, where did I come up with that stat? It’s not just something I make up. I’m going to talk a lot in this article about being data-driven in the ‘moves’ we make as marketers, so know that anytime I throw a number out, it’s researched backed, just like you should be with your marketing.

Gone are the days when good marketing involved only a recognisable logo, a catchy slogan and a TV, radio or print campaign. There’s no doubt the digital world has created huge marketing opportunities – it has never been easier for brands to engage directly with their customer base, and target ads to the people who want to see them.

During the pandemic, as well as baking lots of bread, we socialised online more than ever before. Craving connection, people turned to their favourite platforms to fill the void of IRL interaction, and we witnessed social media return to its original purpose – to connect and build communities. Brands have jumped at the opportunity to use the power of social to get closer to their customers and with one in four saying their favourite brands have strived to build relationships with them in the past six months, it’s clearly paying off. But getting your customers to engage with you, or even notice you, on social media in today’s pay-to-play landscape requires more than just pressing ‘post’.

Brand identity is the core of a company. It englobes the business’s values, image, and personality, similar to how people have values, beliefs, and individual traits.

One thing is certain as we head into 2022 – the war for great talent is going to become hotter than ever. There is, however, plenty that you can do to win over great candidates.

Consumer data overwhelmingly points towards the importance of social media to grow an eCommerce business. If you look at the studies, over four billion people on Earth are ‘active’ social media users.

Connecting the dots between your marketing activities and the rest of your business can change your perception about marketing. Understanding that marketing influences all areas of your business is the key to planning effective marketing activities. 

When speaking to businesses we often hear the phrase, ‘we just use word of mouth’ when people describe how they promote their company. This is amazing! But is it more than just ‘word of mouth’?

Businesses look to constantly tweak their hiring strategies and recruitment processes to have prolific talents on board. Needless to say, an organisation is as good as the overall competence of its employees. Hence, businesses also go about spending exorbitant amounts of money to market their job vacancies among a larger talent pool. However, be it job seekers or potential customers, they always view businesses in terms of brand value.

With over 3.7bn social media users worldwide, neglecting the online presence of your business is simply not an option. As we start the new year, brands are looking at ways they can effectively engage their audiences well into 2022.

It’s an exciting time for start-up businesses. During the past 18 months, many – through choice or lack thereof – have grabbed at the opportunity of launching their own business. With so many new businesses emerging, consideration for a strong, meaningful, and lasting brand is crucial.