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đ Brands refuse to make their mark
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đđ Brands refuse to make their mark
Top of the morning⌠Hope something good happens to you and your people today. If not, weâll try again tomorrow.
Our Feature Story is a simple one today. Or it should be simple, anyway. But some businesses refuse to do this simple thing. I understand why for some products but content marketing should always have more branding ingredients.
After I drop that story on ya, dig on into the following sections:
The Knowledge Base (Top U.S. magazines & growth)
Self Help
Facts & Stats (what to put in emails)
Get Hacking (be unsexy)
Now, letâs pop the top on the Feature Story.
Make Your Mark (or be unknown)
Somehow, I got roped into collecting pottery. Mostly coffee mugs, but Iâm sure the boss will expand her â I mean our collection to other items.
These pieces of pottery are cool, in all honesty.
I have no idea how the artists make them out of what looks like mud to me. Clay or something, maybe kryptonite for all I know.
As beautiful and artistic as these pieces are, most are missing something â the makerâs mark, aka branding.
Except for one brand that does it the best, which Iâll show you in a minute.
Subtle Branding Ainât Enough
Iâd say 40% of the mugs I look at in stores and art booths donât have any branding at all on the pottery.
Another 50% of them have a subtle mark on the bottom. But the mark usually tells me nothing!
I see subtle things like:
Initials
Basic symbol
First name
Unreadable scribbling
If I want to order another one from the artist or pottery business, I donât have a way to find them.
Maybe thatâs why so many starving artists are buying bread with EBT cards. Kidding. They use EBT for Mountain Dews and Swishers at shady gas stations đ.
Branding Isnât a Dirty Word
I get that artists donât want to âsell out.â
But it would be nice to sell more of their art, right? Same goes for content marketing, which Iâll get to in a second, but first, look at the photo below to see how to make your mark.
Everyone in the top half of Georgia has heard of Mark of the Potter (1,900 Google searches monthly). Most of us North Georgians have been to the shop too, Iâd bet.
Part of the reason is word of mouth and the quality of their work. But also, they put their mark on the face of the pottery!
Theyâre not âashamedâ of their brand
Theyâre not fearful of âselling outâ
Theyâve no mental blocks keeping them from tooting their own horn (aka selling)
Plus, this company has the perfect location that makes the visit worthwhile even if you donât buy anything.
Letâs jump to content branding now.
Branding Your Content
Hopefully the mini-report below will give you more insights on branding your content. I just wanna point out how most content is not branded very well, if at all.
I could do better at it myself. Iâm as rushed as anyone whoâs creating content.
Yet, making time for content branding is worth it (create a system for it before starting a new project).
A good example of how and why you should add branded elements to your content?
YouTube videos.
Watermarks mayâve âgone out of styleâ but Iâd stick a watermark in every video I made if I were a YouTuber to let new viewers know this is MY brand.
Especially since other Tubers are taking snippets of videos and re-using them without permission on their channel. A watermark wonât solve that problem, but at least gives your brand a chance to get noticed.
Doesnât have to be a watermark. Could be a unique, consistent background if you record in a studio. Could be you wearing the same cap or hat or hairdo in every single video.
To show how powerful branding is in videos, just notice the hundreds of YouTube Ads that mimic Joe Roganâs studio lookâwith the burgundy curtain in background.
Similar but you get the idea
That look is KNOWN. And these ads are using that branded look to give their ad authority and make it look like organic content.
The Bottom Line on Branding
Everything your business produces gives you the chance to burn your brand into peopleâs minds.
Donât hesitate to take advantage of these opportunities.
Even if you feel as an artist, youâre above that. Even if you feel like small branding efforts inside videos or IG photos wonât make a huge difference.
Every branding effort matters. Now, soak up the following mini-report on brandingâŚ
Branding Notes
Strong branding increases business value by:
Providing more industry leverage
Creating stronger investment opportunities
Adding monetary value to the company
Pricing Power
High brand recognition lets businesses use value-based pricing, allowing them to command premium prices. This frees a business from some limitations of basic supply and demand principles.
Customer Relationships
Branding creates meaningful connections with customers by:
Emphasizing specific feelings and experiences
Delivering consistent emotional responses
Building long-term customer loyalty
Customer Loyalty
When customers have positive experiences with a brand, theyâre more likely to:
Become repeat customers
Become brand advocates
Recommend the brand to others
Simplifies Marketing
Strong brand recognition allows focused marketing efforts by:
Reducing need to explain company identity
Enabling more efficient product marketing
Allowing targeted messaging to specific audience segments
Branding Recommendations
Ensure consistent branding across all touchpoints
Create memorable brand elements that resonate with target audiences
Maintain brand quality standards across all products and services
Regularly measure brand recognition and impact (tools to help you)
For Those Who Seek Unbiased News.
Be informed with 1440! Join 3.5 million readers who enjoy our daily, factual news updates. We compile insights from over 100 sources, offering a comprehensive look at politics, global events, business, and culture in just 5 minutes. Free from bias and political spin, get your news straight.
The Knowledge Base
đŽDid these content marketing predictions come true in 2024?
Being invisible on Facebook isnât a superpower - be seen w/ SEO
đ¤See who adults follow on TikTok (new Pew research)
Top U.S. magazines (by audience & growth)
đ¤2019-2024 chart: Money slung at influencers
What kinda Hulkamaniacs take their vitamins nowadays?
đŹLatest email deliverability news recap
Generous finance dudeâs advice on his way out
âď¸Expert shows how to sift out gems in marketing data
Are your clients confused? Sean D'Souza bets they are
âBrands fearing getting Tractor Supplyâd during holidays
Good gnome holiday video ad (A-Team mix)
đ¨Need subscribers whoâll be super-loyal readers of your newsletter? Book a TrafficGrid demo to scale your newsletter list growth. CPL is under $1 & these are newsletter junkies! You need 15k active subscribers to qualify.*
*In partnership with TrafficGrid.
Self-Help
Two job skills they wonât tell you to work on in school.
Be fun
Be loyal
Fella named John worked for my dad for like 25 years. John was a hot mess, did lots of stupid stuff on the job, and wasnât that great of a painter.
But he always had a steady job with my dad because John was fun to be around and as loyal as any person Iâve met.
BTW, those two skills will also help you fit in with families you marry into.
Facts & Stats
Extra⌠55% of readers want more interactive content in emails (Salesforce) | Be Seen⌠Video content increases brand awareness by 54% (Wyzowl 2024) | Friendly⌠73% of readers respond better to conversational tone in long-form sales letters (Contently 2024) |
Bonus: The optimal word count for long-form sales letters in 2024 is _______? Answer at end of email.
Get Hacking
A specific strategy to implement today
In Mondayâs Inbox Hacking, I showed off a ânon-buttoned-upâ direct mail ad that caught my attention and I kept it in my house because it was not buttoned-up. Physical mail pieces stay inside a prospectâs home for about 17 days on average (last study I saw).
Anyway, this direct mail piece was unattractive and kinda hard to read.
Itâs goal wasnât to be sexy. It was to make me pause to look at the ad. I did. And held onto it.
So thatâs todayâs hack. For the next 30 days, test ads, videos, and emails that are not 100% perfect.
The main reason to try this is because your message will stand out.
The other reason is to be authentic (aka, not perfect), which can help your brand overcome societyâs lack of trust in organizations, brands, government, etc., which is at an all-time high and getting worse.
Inbox Hacking is read by high-steppinâ marketers like yourself at Gartner & Red Wing Shoes. Please share this newsletter to spread the word.
Shane McLendon, Copy Kingpin
Bonus answer from Facts & Stats section: 2,000-2,500 words is the optimal length on long sales letters (Nielsen Norman Group 2024)