Audiences who are attracted to your brand are more likely to convert into your customers. In a programmatic world, online marketers need to understand why it is important to practice brand safety. Not only for the sake of protecting their brand, but to also support the AdTech industry in regulating a safe ad trading space for responsible advertising. Most importantly, online marketers who practice brand safety increase their audience’s trust and credibility as an authentic brand. More than a “buzz word,” online marketers are mindfully advertising to remain brand safe. Simultaneously, they are thinking of strategical ways to gain the respect and positive audience perception as well as appear appealing enough to garner leads, conversions, and ultimately a loyal customer based. Let’s explore 5 tips to consider on how to leverage your brand safety strategy for business outcome success.
1. Identify, commit to, and spread your company story
Who are you as a brand, and what is your company purpose? How do you as a brand identify, and how does your story positioning match to your product? Once you have defined this, think about how your captivating story and product solves the needs of your target customer. Then think about how it emotionally connects to your audience. Products are functional to your customer, however, your brand and how it makes your audience feel is what will help make or break your brand perception. An 8ways study states that it only takes about 0.05 seconds for people to form an opinion about your website. How your visually and textually deliver your story- let alone across the web- will generate your audience’s first impression of your brand.
2. Understand who your target customer is and “get to know them”
You may be pushing various online campaigns to reach your target audience at the right place. Before you launch, be sure to discover, learn, and understand your audience. Who is your buyer persona, and what does your target user want? Once you uncover these questions, you are one step further in improving your brand safety. A Harvard Business Review study shares that only 23% of consumers have a relationship with a brand. Meanwhile, 77% consumers do not since they merely seek brand interaction for discounts. With insights like this, you can plug into your audience pool and market differently to Group A, “Brand Relationship Users,” and Group B, “Great Brand with Discounts.” No matter what intention audiences interact with your brand is, understanding your target customer and marketing accordingly will boost your brand reputation, whether it be via your company story or your high service value.
3. Position your trusting brand story for the right marketing message
According to Circle Research, 77% B2B marketing leaders say branding is critical for growth. Improving your brand strategy will help grow your brand awareness and even help you close deals. Like a 2-step process, engage your target audience via a trusting story in order to convert them into paying customers. When building your marketing message, be sure to communicate brand authenticity. This is “the extent to which consumers perceive a brand to be faithful to its customers’ expectations for the brand to deliver on its promises (credibility), motivated by caring and responsibility towards the community (integrity), and reflecting values that consumers consider important (symbolism).” When supporting a brand they support, 86% of consumers say that brand authenticity is a key factor. Meanwhile, 81% of consumers stated that they need to be able to trust the brand to buy from them, according to Edelman research.
4. Use the right ad formats and content to push your campaigns on
Content Marketing Institute states that 89% of B2B marketers say brand awareness is the most important goal, followed by sales and lead generation. Once you have a loyal following of brand supporters, your audience may become your future customers as well as your brand promoters. Meanwhile, OnBrand shares that for over 70% of brand managers, building an audience is more valuable than direct sales. Carefully consider which ad formats fit your needs of ultimately fulfilling your audience’s needs. Pop Up formats, according to Google’s Coalition for Better Ads, are deemed as “annoying” for users and may end up being blocked due to the poor user experience. Instead, consider opting for Native Ad formats to provide your audience a pleasant online experience with your brand. In addition, when it comes to targeting, think about which content is appropriate for you to push your ads on to avoid brand risk.
5. Consider other tools to help you tailor your targeting to reach the right user on the right content
To top off your well-thought brand strategy, it’s time for your targeting. Despite having the perfect marketing message, brand story, product, and audience match, there’s still one thing left to consider- reaching your user at the right place. In a programmatic setting, you’re free to bid on virtually any supply to get to your message across. Thus, be sure to think about which publisher sites and content pages you’d like to place your ad to avoid misleading your audience on your brand image. If your audience stumbles upon your ad on inappropriate on offensive websites, your brand may easily be at risk. Some tools or tips you can consider to proactively avoid this would be to consider White-and Blacklisting to select the right content to place your ad on. Another tool is to use contextual targeting and to partner with a vendor that you can trust to support you.
We at plista offer you consultative and trustworthy services as well as online marketing solutions that turn your content into business outcomes. From Native Ads to contextual targeting, we are here for you. If you want to learn more about what else to consider to improve your brand strategy, reach out to our experts here.