As long as it’s positive, there is no such thing as too much attention for your brand. If you play your cards right, you can roll all of that great attention into dollars for your company. Here are some of the best and most creative ways to get people to notice you and your brand in 2013. As far as New Year's resolutions go, these are some good ones!
Attracting positive attention to your brand is easy, just lend a helping hand
1. You already know that video marketing is a fantastic way to promote your business. This year, instead of sticking to the free and public video sharing services, go with the pros. Vidicom puts your videos where people already are so they can’t help but see them (cabs, hotel rooms, etc.). The company places the videos where they think you will get the best response. Even better, you won’t be burdened with promoting the videos you make yourself, the way you would if you were to use a free video sharing site.
2. Talk up other brands. This might seem counterintuitive. You want people to pay attention to you! Why would you tell them about somebody else? Promoting others proves you want to be a productive member of a community, that you aren’t just out for yourself, and this will cause a ripple effect of goodwill back in your brand’s direction. Your own followers will appreciate the recommendation. Additionally, the person you are recommending and his or her audience will want to check you out because you obviously share their good taste.
3. Don’t wait for the media to notice you; tell them what you’re doing. Call up your local television affiliate stations, radio stations, and newspapers and tell them that you are available for interviews. Invite their reporters to come check out your business. Set your sights on your own town or county first—these are the outlets that are usually hunting around for things to cover on their nightly news broadcasts or in their “local news” pages.
4. Be charitable! Sponsor an event to raise money for a local organization that needs it. You can go in on this with other local businesses to ease your own financial burden, or you can run the event all through your own company. The events don’t have to be complicated—they can be as simple as setting up a station for collecting canned goods for the local food bank or toys for Toys for Tots. If you want to do something more extensive (like put on a show or a fair), that’s certainly a good idea as well!
5. Encourage your clients and customers to talk about the experience they had working with you. Point them to Yelp, Google Reviews, Amazon, etc. Have a comments section on your website where people can submit their thoughts and reactions to you and your business. Word of mouth is the most trusted form of advertising out there, so you want as many firsthand reactions to what you offer as possible. Obviously you want to make sure that you are always offering good service and going above and beyond for your clients and customers, or this will backfire.
These are just a few of the ways that you can be sure to increase the goodwill toward your brand in 2013. Do you have any favorites that we’ve missed?
Author: Erin Steiner is a full-time freelance writer from Portland, Oregon, who writes about a variety of topics.
