5 Techniques for Online Brand Building

In my opinion, there's two ways to construct a well-known, enduring brand:

1. Spend dozens of money on advertisement and praseodymium political campaigns

2. Let your clients make the selling for you

With the rise cost of most traditional word forms of marketing, who wouldn't
prefer the 2nd option? Unfortunately, very few clients ever go true
fans. After all, many concerns focusing entirely too much on client acquisition
and disregard client retention.

But in order for clients to go fans, not even traditional keeping
schemes will suffice. Companies must travel out of their manner and transform their
clients into friends, advisors, and partners. Below I've listed some thoughts
I've either used or seen used to carry through this purpose.

1. Street Teams, Trade Name Reps or Trade Name Ambassadors:

Street Team

marketing is a absorbing conception that developed from the belowground music
industry. It focuses on around a grass root scheme where your fans make the
selling for you. Using this strategy, an online retail merchant might give clients
entree to branded wallpapers, screensavers, or avatars. Customers are encouraged
to copy and paste streamers advertisements into their personal Myspace profiles, blogs, or
electronic mail signatures. Customers can easily email friends through easy to utilize
tell-a-friend forms. Some online Street Teams, such as as C28 or Threadless,
compound these tactics with a client referral program, allowing users to gain
shop recognition for gross sales referred to the site. Street Team selling will not work
for everyone, but it can be powerful if this style of selling suits your mark
audience and brand.

2. Make a Community:

Whether its done forums, Myspace, Facebook,
or your ain bomber community site, let your clients to interact with others of
similar interests. Circuit City recently launched a societal networking land site
complete with forums, blogs, photograph galleries, and user profiles. Hot Subject have a
robust Myspace profile with over 35,000 members. Only clip will state if societal
networking goes on to grow, but for now it's inexpensive and effectual trade name
exposure.

3. Rewards Programs:

Rewards programmes are nil new, but they work
well for creating trade name loyalty. Maybe your online shop doesn't offer the
cheapest prices, but if you allow clients gain points redeemable for
merchandise, they just might overlook that.

4. Acknowledge your Trade Name Warriors:

Be certain to acknowledge top Spenders by
displaying their stats for all to see. Recognizing your top clients will only
promote them to pass more. One company I worked for decided to direct
hand-written give thanks you observes to their top clients along with a gift card.

5. Share and Listen:

How well makes your concern interact with your
audience? Corporate blogs, forums, client generated merchandise reappraisals and
studies can be great two manner communicating channels. Run your concern like a
democracy. Let your clients ballot with their sentiments and preferences. Policies
and processes should from the underside up, not the other manner around.