BUILD DEEP, LONG TERM, EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS
Why Brand Awareness is so important
When your lips need balm, you search for a ChapStick. When you need a tissue, you ask for a Kleenex. When you’re ordering a cola, you mean a Coke. Zippers, Velcro, Jet ski, Bubble wrap and Escalators, were once just brand names. Now, they are used to describe a whole product category!
Nowadays, branding is more about engaging people to an emotional experience and building lasting relationships. Companies are competing on affective strategies by creating brands that trigger consumer’s emotion. Good branding should use a relatable language and make people feel good when they are buying the product. A strong brand should support them on an inner level, meaning to feel that emotional security of your expertise and that you appeal to their greater needs; that you care and delight them. Ladies and gentlemen, this is called emotional branding.
Emotional branding is the engagement of people in deeper and more intimate ways. It might take decades for the target to be reached. The formation of a trust-based relationship and the development of emotional experiences, is not easy. The brand should be the bridge between the company and the customers. Companies ought to concentrate on building bonds and generating feelings. Their offerings should be able to enrich people's lives, to become part of their memories and social networks. It is not so much about the specifications anymore. It is about how you feel when you hold the product.
That being said, it is clear that SMS, a channel as intimate as communication can be, can help in achieving emotion.
SMS helps brands to build emotion
• SMS is personal and it will be opened. Promotional emails most of the time are getting rejected and ignored. Opposed to email, SMS does not have a subject line. The message will be opened before it's deleted.
• It is fast and secure. The perfect way to send sensitive and delicate information.
• SMS has been for decades the most popular mobile application. It is native to each and every mobile device.
• If you wonder “why SMS”, just remember that SMS advertising is very powerful for the creation of brand awareness and consumer bonds.
• SMS is easy to use and low cost.
SMS is not enough; advanced features are required
Although SMS marketing can assist businesses in building sentiment and emotion, a certain level of intelligence will be needed in order to create strong bonds between your company and your contacts. You cannot build relationships with “shoot and forget” tactics.
SMS Surveys, collecting opinions and evaluating them, can help companies understand the level of satisfaction of their audience and dynamically categorize the most and least valuable customers.
Automation is also helpful. By choosing the correct provider, companies with minimum effort should be able to filter their lists based on sentiment, set up campaigns to follow behavior, send the right content at the right time, convert casual visitors and engage regular customers.
Customer value equals emotionally connected customer?
According to Harvard Business Review, the most effective way to maximize customer value is to move beyond satisfaction and connect at an emotional level. That is why so many companies are trying to tap into the social unconscious. Products should fulfill deep emotional needs. Emotionally connected customers are considered of higher value that a satisfied one. These people buy more of your products and services, visit you more often, exhibit less price sensitivity, pay more attention to your communications, follow your advice and recommend you to their peers. This is why big lines are formed out of popular shops when their new product is out. This is why waiting lists exist.
Using SMS, marketers are capable of effectively building brand recognition. Sending text messages instead of IM and emails ensures that high level of consumer exposure to the brand. Text messages will reach the target every single time.
You should feel confident in using SMS messaging to achieve your marketing goals and build brand awareness. There are many services that go the extra mile to provide you with tons of awesome services and functionalities. Just choose your partner wisely.
