"A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another."
—Seth Godin
Have you ever heard of the term "brand activation?"
It refers to the process of building significant emotional connections between a brand and its audience, with events, experiences and interactions that create lasting impressions.
Brand activation is critical to resonating with your customers on a personal level.
Most brands will end up utilizing some of the tactics we're about to discuss incidentally, but let's talk about specific branding goals and what different types of brand activations might align strategically with your objective(s.)
Goal 1: Improving Engagement
If you want to improve engagement, you need to amplify your customers' interest in you and outcompete the competition. A few ways you can do that are:
Influencer Marketing
Behind the scenes content
Social Media Contests
Goal 2: Increased Awareness
To increase awareness of your brand, try to capture the attention of the public and give them a reason to talk about their experience, by:
Hosting promotional events
Showing off your products' new features
Partnering with non-competing brands
Goal 3: Catalyzing Action
Potential customers will procrastinate as long as you let them. Make it harder, with:
Free samples
Enticing discounts and limited-time offers
Allowing customers to interface with products
Goal 4: User Sign-Ups
Let's be honest. Your customers are so sick of signing up for things that you really need to make it worth it for them to have a shot at this. You can do that, by:
Using experiential marketing (deeply engaging and immersive marketing)
Attending industry events and trade shows
Running noteworthy digital marketing campaigns