As an inbound marketing and tech branding agency in London, our expertise in branding a company is as important to our growth as it is for our clients. We are proud of the work we have done for businesses and the results that our activities achieve.
Strong branding is as important as service and results
Branding a technology business is just as important as ensuring its products and services are superb – though the two elements are of course strongly related. In fact, it is arguable a tech company's brand identity will improve its average customer lifetime value. Branding has certainly helped our inbound marketing agency in London.
Whether we are talking about a FinTech company or SaaS provider, their clients will be persuaded by the quality of the products. How ahead-of-the-curve those products are and what solutions they bring to the table will all add to the likelihood that they will sell. Indeed, sometimes technology brands simply expect the products to sell themselves.
However, there is so much more that goes into purchasing decisions. The client makes a buying decision based on expectations about the tech brand they are buying from.
Branding a technology business and especially tech startup branding is all about ensuring that people have a higher expectation of that company's abilities than its competitors – even before they have used its services. An inbound marketing agency will ensure that this expectation is met in all of its activities
What do we mean by branding a technology business? What is branding?
Brand identity is the overall impression that people have of your technology business, the expectations they have and their perception of its “personality”. It is more than the characteristics, products, and services of your firm. It captures your company's ideals, standards, and values.
How your brand voice will be perceived and received will come down to user experience, however and wherever people engage with it.
What is a Brand Strategy?
There are many definitions of what brand identify is, but it is the distinct set of values and characteristics that creates the "personality" of a company. The idea of a brand strategy is to create an image or perception of your business that will resonate with your customers.
It’s about connecting with your audience so that they want to be loyal to you. Brand campaigns allow companies to increase their visibility and make their brand identifiable in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Step 1 - Branding a Technology Business: Defining the Brand
Does your technology company have a personality?
When we think of technology brands, we think of technology business leaders and their expertise.
However, what also needs to be taken into consideration is the importance of customer service, the ability to communicate key information, and of course the “human factor”. This all builds towards creating a “personality” for your branded technology service, and, at the end of the day, that's what people buy into.
What do people think of your technology business?
When people think of Apple, they think of quality and innovation. When they think of PayPal, they think of convenience. Google owns the spirit of discovery and Facebook is known for connecting people globally.
Notably, if you ask somebody about Apple, they will be aware of its reputation for quality and innovation in the tech space, whether they have used the products or not.
Our London based, inbound marketing and technology branding agency, will always look to understand the firm's personality as a key step in its branding. We will want to establish your brand values/identity, your beliefs, why you think you are different, and what drives the development of your products and services.
The job of the inbound marketing company is to build inbound marketing strategies that are at one with, and play to the strengths of, your company's brand strategy.
(Image source: hubspot.com)
When we look at the process of inbound marketing, it is easy to see how branding technology business is going to come into play. From the point of attraction onwards, how the company engages with people, builds an emotional connection with them has everything to do with branding.
Step 2 - Branding a Technology Business: Knowing Your Prospects
Inbound marketing starts with building a meaningful connection with your prospects. That means a connection between your audience and your brand identity. Having defined the brand, it makes it easier to then really understand the people that your brand values will appeal to.
You are running a technology business so surely you already know who you are serving and what problems you are solving even before you consider branding. Yes... and no.
Examining your values, your company's raison d'etre, and your products and services should give you a much clearer picture of who you are and the different types of people your brand appeals to.
Step 3 - Branding a Technology Business: Appropriate Content
An inbound marketing agency will understand what kind of content should be used to attract the right prospects for a technology business. Below is a quick 101 on Tech brand guidelines.
- What type of content? The type of content that you use will determine how you reach out to your audience. Are you going to use infographics, white papers, reports or video perhaps?
- What will be your voice? What level of formality will be used? Will you be addressing the user directly or be more subtle? What tone of voice will you use? Will you use contractions or will every word be spelled out?
- What channels will you use? Will your audience really expect to see you on Facebook? Are you giving content away? Are you going to be sending out a newsletter? Are you building a community on LinkedIn?
- What is the purpose of the content? To be a thought leader, to persuade, to sell something, to gather contact data? Your content will reinforce your brand.
Defining the user journey is not an exact science. Neither is attracting the right people. Some tactics will work immediately. Others will have to be binned early on. The most important thing is that you know why you do what you do.
Branding a technology business starts with ideals, standards and values. You need to understand who you are aiming your products and services towards and how they relate to your brand.
Remember what we said about expectation. What is your ideal prospect's expectation from your brand? Your brand's values and standards, your prospect's expectations and your prospect's needs all need to match up.
Step 4: Branding a Tech Business: Do they want to buy or be sold to?
When prospects visit your site, what is their primary purpose? Did they come because they clicked on a link for free content, or because they believe you can offer a solution to a problem they are having?
Again, it all boils down to understanding who you are and understanding your user. You need to understand their expectations and, if it can't be met head on, it needs to be managed. This is where engagement can be lost and people that have come to the site may leave, never to return.
An inbound marketing agency will ensure that you engage your prospects from the moment they see your content on social media channel to when they make their first purchase and beyond.
Inbound marketing can achieve many objectives but, when it is done properly, it will always be showing your brand identity in a positive light.
What your prospects should be met with when they get to your site:
- A clear landing page that meets their objectives
- Easy navigation
- Options that are useful to them
- Copy and content that engages them and connects them to your brand
- Makes them feel like they are in the right place
Step 5: Branding a Tech Firm: To conversion and beyond
Inbound marketing is not about a quick hit. What you really want to do is to start a long-term relationship with a prospect. Better to create meaningful engagement, a meeting of needs, minds and services that leads to maximum customer lifetime value.
Create a win-win
Following on from step 4, you are looking for a win-win. Visitors to your site need to be able to spot what they need quickly (user experience) and then when they get to the appropriate page, you want to make sure everybody gets what they want.
You get their contact details and permission to mail them. They get the asset they were looking for. They take up an offer and become clients. What next?
Long term engagement
Branding does not stop there. Everything you do AND everything you don't do affects the perception of your brand identity. How you follow-up on people who have visited the site – with remarketing, emails, etc. – all need to be incorporated into a strategy. Don't wing it.
Being tactical in maintaining an emotional connection between your clients and your brand, is how you maximise customer lifetime value and strengthen your brand. There lies word-of-mouth referrals, testimonials, upsells, increased profits and brand advocates.
Remember...
We follow the principles that we apply to our clients' inbound marketing activities. That has strengthened our brand. For many of our prospects, when they think of inbound marketing agencies in London, they will think of us and that means we have done something right.
Define your brand, know your audience, choose the right content strategy, give a warm welcome and keep that relationship warm – all the while staying true to your brand values. These are the principles of branding a technology business and an inbound marketing agency can help you do that well.
