Cost effective strategies to promote brand name

[McMohan]

Assumption - The brand name searches in Google is an important ranking factor for that website's overall rankings. Lets say the business in question is in B2C market. What would be some cost-effective digital marketing strategies for a new brand to communicate the brand name and get its target audience interested in it?

Let me get some obvious strategies out of the way -
1. Offline (Electronic, Print, Outdoor, Trade Shows) - Mostly relevant for companies with deep pockets.
2. Great looking website, with intuitive and functional design and user experience.
3. Running PPC/CPM ads on search and display network - Again relevant mostly for relatively larger companies, particularly as a branding activity.
4. Social media marketing. Too diverse to apply one size fits all approach. Perhaps works great in some niches and not so in others.

Please share ideas that allow one to be innovative and get larger returns against investment?

[Robert Charlton]

McMohan, I've recently been watching a brand that's been doing some very creative retargeting, apparently with PPC/AdSense ads.

Most retargeted ads end up boring me because they show the same product over and over. What this company's been doing is to feature the brand in the retargeted ads, emphasizing the brand, not simply the product, and they show a range of offerings and topics, in such a way that I stay interested whether I've bought a particular product or not.

The company also has an active blog, and it's appearing that they use retargeting to publicize new blog articles. For this, retargeting might work as well for them as an email newsletter.

Email newsletters are another channel, which in some cases works wonderfully... but, IMO, email done wrong can really backfire. Be careful not to get greedy and try to hook subscribers into too many emails... either too frequent or too many different topics. Biggest offenders I see are multi-faceted publishers.

[McMohan]

Interesting Robert. The brand is in central focus and products change around it. Yup that is a great reinforcer of brand recall, provided the remarketing list is large enough. Agree with newsletter marketing. Again you need to have a fairly large number of subscribers to get the best out of it. Getting there for a new brand with limited budget may be challenging.

[keyplyr]

What would be some cost-effective digital marketing strategies for a new brand to communicate the brand name and get its target audience interested in it?

Social Media is the most robust vehicle for brand recognition. It can be done without cost. All it takes is time & effort... but a lot if it. Consistency is the key.

Join all related FB groups and create relationships. Post related photos on Pinterest, validating your site so you can link. Continue with the other SM platforms in the same manner.

Create images for all your web pages and for all your products. Size them for display on FB and Twitter. Use OG tags in your page code so these images will display when your post. They work for most all SM posting and are sometimes used in Google SERP making your site stand out.

Personable participation, done well, can lead to others doing the promoting for you.

[McMohan]

Thank you keyplyr!
Can we deviate a little bit from general approaches to little more specific?

1. Giveaways - Sometime back I was involved in creating and promoting a giveaway (sweepstakes) contest. It had applications from about 3000+ individuals and for a brief while I saw instances of people searching for the site using the brand name. It didn't cost much. An upcoming ecommerce store might be short of funds, but will have inventory that can be used for promotion. Or a resort can spare a night or two to giveaway for promotion if that helps branding.
2. Scholarship - Running a scholarship campaign too created a buzz around the brand name resulting many students searching "Brand Name + Scholarship"
3. Press release - I haven't had much success with Press Release, perhaps that depends on the news that you are trying to push through the press, but I am sure many of you would have had success with Press to generate searches on Google for your brand name.

[keyplyr]

Thank you keyplyr!
Can we deviate a little bit from general approaches to little more specific?

The specifics are on your end. You take a general approach and tailor it to your specific needs and goals.

All the things you mentioned can be propagated to wide audiences through the steps I listed above, but not knowing exactly what you know, I can only speak broadly.

Good luck.

[Robert Charlton]

McMohan... a PS to my post above, that a good many of the retargeted blog posts appeared on social media, but they are not necessarily confined to it. Facebook News feed and Twitter are where I've encountered many of them.

Regarding social media promotions, giveaways, scholarships, contest, and the like, note that both state and federal laws generally apply in the US... and probably analogous regulations apply in administrative regions elsewhere.

Giveaways are much less regulated than contests if the product is small enough. Giving away free samples of the product as part of the trade show bling can directly push the virtues of the product and be highly effective. You can spend a lot of money preparing and printing one-sheets or brochures, or you can be disciplined about the variety of brochures, while keeping the quality high.

I've seen some moderately-sized, budget-restricted companies do trade shows, generally because those were the traditional forms of marketing that they'd been doing before they moved to the web, so it wasn't suddenly a new expense. At the more expensive end of trade shows, there's nothing like a compelling video that's done really well and is designed to play in a noisy trade show environment.

Press releases are less expensive... might precede something like a trade-show rollout. The success of press releases, IMO, depends completely on the marketing person's connections and the depth of his/her phone book.

The most important releases are usually discussed over lunch or on the phone, and my presence as an SEO at these meetings, with a publisher or agency or expert in the field, is generally involved both in discussing strategies and... most important... keeping the companies from overdoing it and spamming.

Important also for search is that the publisher of the press-release substantially rewrite it before publication, bringing in an original take and not merely paraphrasing the original. Helps with dupe content problems. They do have to be newsworthy... excellent for new product announcements. The finished articles don't necessarily need to be dedicated exclusiviey to your product, and a good mix is sometimes helpful.

[McMohan]

All the things you mentioned can be propagated to wide audiences through the steps I listed above, but not knowing exactly what you know, I can only speak broadly.

Absolutely. There is no divergence there. I only wanted to pool in ideas as bullet points, that can have a stated objective in near-term such as the ones I mentioned (giveaways, press releases et al). Each of these can be put through social media channels for amplification and reach a larger audience. Perhaps my writing didn't come through for what I wanted to convey. My apologies.

a good many of the retargeted blog posts appeared on social media, but they are not necessarily confined to it. Facebook News feed and Twitter are where I've encountered many of them

I share that experience too. I think the tools that retargeting/remarketing providers provide to segment the products matches very well with unique demographic targeting ability of social media channels.

Thank you for sharing your experience with other strategies I outlined. Perhaps a small start-up might not have the reach and clout to engage with journalists/newsmakers and may have to take services of online press release syndication services. That may make press release look like boiler-plate content pasted across many news sites. Thus the lukewarm experience I have had with press releases.

[iamlost]

Note: everyone in this thread so far is experienced but I'm going to expand my answer so that those who are less so might better understand the whys behind the hows.

All the above can work, have and will continue to. How well they do depends on how well they stick, such that they (and the brand) get mentioned further and are recognised when seen again. The rule of thumb is that it typically takes 5-7 recurrences in a fairly short time period for something to truly become 'stuck' in mind. Which is why 'one offs' however fabulous or viral may not succeed longterm. So you need not only to get out there but also get in front of the same people numerous times with the same fundamental brand memory.

With enterprise this is not a problem, with SME it most definitely is. Probably the easiest - but also the least effective - is third party display ad networks. Probably the most effective is to hire one or more dedicated SM 'face' to represent the brand. Connections and skill and personality are equally critical. And don't put artificial micromanagement constraints on them unless niche regulations require it. Let them be social with guidelines. Yes, you need to promulgate guidelines to maintain a brand persona that resonates well with target audiences.

Most sites, including most eCom B2C sites as per OP example, are not supplying unique items. Therefor one is not simply selling the products/services, rather one is selling why prospective customers should buy those products/services from 'you'. Emphasise the value added (or if you like a race to the bottom the lesser price) and a story that encompasses the customer. Drama, humour, if used must be appropriate and consistent.

The most critical point about 'brand' is that the brand doesn't actually do 'branding'; the business/site presents the brand and the story of the brand and that is pretty much all. It is the customers and their responses, it is that summation that is branding. Branding is the customers response to a brand. All you can do is provide value such that their branding of your brand is a net positive rather than a net negative.

All which is a huge sidestep from the original question. :)
Back on topic:

What I've used or seen used, to great effect, not previously mentioned are:
* join with product/service manufacturer
Note: some/many have co-op ad policies that can cover 20-80% of costs of ads and/or other promotions including trade shows.
---follow on from manufacturers ads with your own more specific ones (leverage their spend).
---coordinate and cross reference comments between your and manufacturers' SM presences (leverage again).

* in shipped orders include coupons for future purchase discounts or up/cross sells or 'freebees'.

* give niche and/or general web/eCom talks to local Chambers of Commerce/Boards of Trade, service clubs, etc. and publish their thank you letters (request one if necessary) as testimonials. Give free evening classes to the general public on care and maintenance of products sold - and tape them for web use. Etc.

* determine some small number (1-3) of critical value added differences between you and your competition. Preferably ones that they will have difficulty matching. And build stories of content around those differences first on your site and then use/highlight them in every ad and SM outreach. Beat the drum slowly but steadily.

* identify SM influencers (not the ones with a zillion followers, the ones with a few hundred to a few thousand whose voice and connections are solid and likely to benefit from your product/service). Connect in quiet and useful and non-sales ways. Become one of the community and let the community pick up the brand ball if they want. A series of water drops rather than a stream.

* provide the best possible customer service.
----put video camera(s) on packaging table/line and make it part of marketing to highlight that each item is whole and properly packaged and you have video evidence; this illustrates quality control plus reduces returns.
---respond quickly (within posted time) and as completely as possible. Never ever lie or coverup. Whenever possible make whole, even though the customer often really is wrong.

* webdevs, even those in eCom, tend to go to webdev trade shows. Instead spend the money on trade shows in your product niche, on trade shows for advertising/marketing agencies. Make connections. Find better deals, more opportunities.
Note: it is little known to the general public but there are significant different discounts available to retailers; not everyone is operating on 10% or 30% or whatever is standard in your niche for a product. Investigate and find out what sales numbers are what discount thresholds - and whether they are retroactive within the year.

However well known you might be at PubCon it isn't as business critical as how well you are known (and appreciated or deprecated) within your niche among suppliers and advertisers. You may be leaving significant competitive advantage on the table that would make supporting their brands and so yours that much easier, cheaper, with greater reach and participation. Leverage is not always obvious.

[McMohan]

iamlost, succinctly written! It can be printed on a booklet and distributed in business schools! Thank you. I don't have much to add, except

in shipped orders include coupons for future purchase discounts or up/cross sells or 'freebees'.

This has been on my mind. Collaborative or cooperative marketing. That is, have your coupons sent through the shipped order of another seller who sells products that complements yours and you send coupons of others'. I have seen it but mostly from well-known brands. If there is a platform to facilitate that will be much useful. If there's none, there is a great scope for one

[tangor]

OP asked for digital strategies, the above nicely covers that avenue. However, real world and word of mouth still make a huge difference. Define the market audience and seek radio time, usually talk shows, and budget that in. Local markets the advertising cost is less. Regional a bit more. National can get pricey, International.... well deep pockets is required.

I've found one week, one show, 14 spot campaigns to be very effective in local and regional markets. Rinse and repeat when necessary. Helps get the "brand" and the domain (and a phone number if applicable) out in short order.