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How Social Media Has Given A New Twist To Branding?

Do you know what makes a bottle of coca-cola different from any other soft drink? Or why is an iPhone or Apple product considered better than a generic smartphone phone? The reason is Branding! From online branding to Ad films,  these companies have generated a user-friendly image that sustains their marketing strategy.

A decade ago social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, gained popularity and became a hub for social media marketing. Initially, brands used cultural references and created ads that were broadcasted on mainstream media platforms. In the age of social media, the branding process has changed drastically, giving a rise to online branding and social media marketing.

Whether you have started a new business or want to master the current social media marketing and branding strategy, use this guide to learn the importance of social media marketing in online branding and how branding in the age of social media works!  

How Does Branding In The Age Of Social Media Work?

If you want to create a brand of your product, it is important that you focus on your audience, work on your USP and develop a creative perspective towards your products. However, using social media for business has its own pros and cons. For instance, online branding provides a massive audience willing to take everything you offer on social media, but the cancel culture has also been a big problem for established brands.

Here are some points helpful for building a successful brand online.

1- Build A Business Strategy

Whether you are working on online branding or using other methods for advertisements, make sure to build a business strategy that aligns with your goals. Social media marketing is the foremost step for lead generation, form your strategy around customer building and work accordingly.

2- Select A Social Media Platform

Before you waste your efforts on every social media platform, understand your product and connect to the audience from a platform that best suits your products. Suppose your products are ceiling fans and you start branding on Instagram and Pinterest, you would not receive a great response. You must use a social media platform that has your targeted audience, this way your branding would be more fruitful.  

3- Work On Visual Branding

Social media and branding are all about visuals. Posting simple texts would not affect the audience and you could fail in creating an impact. Create a stand out logo, deploy a good graphic designer and communicate with your audience through visuals like banners, videos, advertisements, etc. A good colour tone and visual representation would attract more audiences. Remember to work on quality over quantity and be consistent with your work.

4- Learn About The Social Media Algorithm

Unlike traditional media platforms, using social media for business can be a little more complex. Each social media platform works on its own algorithm. You have to understand the game and work on Ad centric posts. If required, you can take an expert’s advice and learn how the trends change on social media. You must focus on an appropriate platform that caters for your audience.

5- Stand Out From Rest

In social media marketing, you use different branding methods to make your brand surpass the algorithm and access a vast audience. For this, you have to focus on giving a unique message through your posts. Social media is filled with a crowd and you have to work on your advertisements and posts in a way that your product looks interesting and people want to know more about it. Develop criteria and a voice for your company that stands out. If your way of branding is unique, your customers would automatically recognise your posts and products, developing your product into a well-recognised brand.

Branding in the age of social media must stand out to make your product more attractive and appealing to the audience. The branding services of Aadharshila understand the importance of social media marketing in online branding. From basic graphic designing to advertising, Aadharshila takes care of every aspect required for online branding. Their holistic services focus on social media platforms and create a brand for your newly launched business.

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5 Indian Female Directors Who Are Revolutionizing The Indian Cinema

India is a land enriched with ethnic and cultural diversity. The diversity, ethnicity, and culture can all be significantly seen in Bollywood movies produced throughout the year. Indian cinema has gained a lot since its inception. The directors who have produced legendary and evergreen movies are still applauded for their tremendous and marvelous work. However, since female directors or filmmakers have come to this front, they have significantly redefined the Indian Cinema. Many female directors in the Bollywood industry have achieved a lot with their hard work and dedication.

In this article, you will get a glimpse of the top 5 female directors who have revolutionized Indian Cinema with their remarkable contributions to the industry. Without much ado, let’s get started.

5 Indian Female Film Directors who revolutionized the Indian Cinema

Though there are many prominent female directors in Bollywood, we will talk about the top 5 ones, who will inspire you for sure. Let’s go through the list given below, but make sure not to skip the list.

Gauri Shinde

English Vinglish- a movie that can hardly be missed! This critically acclaimed movie of Bollywood was a revolution in itself. Thanks to Gauri Shinde for giving us a beautiful story of a woman who enjoys making Indian sweets. However, due to frequent mocking from her family for her broken English, she gets herself enrolled in an English Academy in London. The film teaches us that your intelligence isn’t proven by the language you speak.

Zoya Akhtar

Who doesn’t know about the famous film director Zoya Akhtar? She is the daughter of prominent lyricist and scriptwriter, Javed Akhtar and the sister of well-known film actor, Farhan Akhtar. Zoya has made her name in the industry by directing top-class films. Her famous masterpieces include Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do and Gully Boy, to name a few. She has been the pride of her family and has become one of the best female directors in Bollywood.

Meghna Gulzar

Meghna Gulzar is a famous writer, director and producer, who is known for producing great films such as Talvar (2015), Raazi (2018), and Chhapaak (2020). The Talvar movie established her as a director, but Raazi is explicitly her most delicate work of all time. She is the daughter of the legendary writer, director and poet Gulzar and began her career as a freelance writer for the Times of India. Megha is a very good writer, which can be seen in her films.

Aparna Sen

A famous screenwriter, actor, and director, Aparna Sen is renowned for her work, especially in Bengali Cinema. She has won many awards for producing the best films, including Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Sati, The Japanese Wife, 15 Park Avenue, and many more. Her films speak of her work, and she is one of the highly-decorated female directors in Bollywood.

Deepa Mehta

Deepa Mehta is an Indo-Canadian screenwriter, director and producer, known for her courageous films. She boldly depicts topics of human rights and social injustice in her films. Deepa has consistently given breathtaking films, which is evident from the awards and accolades her films have received at numerous international platforms. She is famous for her masterpiece “Elements Trilogy”- Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005).

Stay connected with Aadharshila for such interesting blogs. Visit our website, Aadharshila for more such blogs and don’t forget to have a look at our services of Graphic Design, Film Production, Brand Solutions, and much more in detail.

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Impact Of COVID On Media Industry

COVID 19 has surely taken a huge toll on the media industry. If the data stands corrected, the media industry has particularly suffered losses of millions. The Indian economy was severely crippled during this phase and as we all know, humanity has suffered the worst, possible fate.

But as we all know, humans tend to adapt to conditions imposed upon them and always find a way out. The media industry was no exception. The steps may have been a baby, but it was always better than nothing.

With cinema halls that have faced total shutdowns, OTT platforms rose to prominence. Platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime had witnessed a large number of visitors, and the film producers had realized that OTT platforms are the new cinema halls. We got to watch many blockbuster movies of our favourite heroes while sitting at home, watching it from our tablets or laptops or even television via connecting with it.

Let’s learn about how our media industry shaped itself during this COVID era:

1. Television:

The COVID era resulted in a massive spike in television viewership and there had been significant negotiation in terms of revised costing between producers and the channel broadcasters.

2. Print media:

Unlike television, print media witnessed a near-halt in advertising expenditure. This scenario led to cost-cutting and many people had lost their jobs.

3. Movie halls:

Movie halls had witnessed a downward spiral as well since they were to remain shut amid the pandemic. The shutting of movie halls is directly proportional to the massive spurt in OTT platforms viewership.

4. Animation studios:

Animation studios had witnessed severe losses as well due to the fact that working from home won’t provide the creators with access to high-end technology that they use to create quality animations. Some studios had to shut down as well.

So, what will be the long term effects?

Well, we cannot be sure about the aftermath. However, we can safely assume that the following things might happen with respect to the following sectors:

Digital and OTT platforms will continue to dominate the media market due to the convenience as well as low cost than that of movie halls. People from rural areas are also witnessing digitalization, and the availability of the internet will surely mean more traffic to the OTT platforms.

Television viewership may fall back to how it was supposed to be, before COVID, and ad revenues will surely recover during 2022.

The newspaper sector will also regain its own share of the market, but that would be achieved only through making changes in cost structures and quality content.

Cinema halls will surely see an increase in revenue since people love to watch movies in cinema halls. However, some part of the traffic will be totally shifted to OTT platforms. The production houses, therefore, must invest wisely.

Animation houses will likely start over again. However, it might be difficult for small houses to start the race again due to the severe impact on their individual economies.

Conclusion:

COVID 19 has surely changed a lot in our market. However, advertising on online platforms has seen a huge spike. People started investing more in graphic design services for their visibility and retaining their market position. It can be easily deduced that digital platforms have now become an indispensable part of our lives, and it’s of paramount importance for all advertisers to invest, keeping in mind the same.

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Rebranding Saved the Cake

Marketing tops the list when it comes to promoting a brand. However, there are times when a brand or a product fails to get traction despite the best efforts. In that case, there are two options available to the company, either ditch the product and cover your losses or reinvent the strategy. Honestly, if the product was not good enough, the company wouldn’t have gone ahead and invested money in marketing and promoting the goods. So, the solution is to rebrand the product in a way that resonates more with what the brand and product signify. Understanding the basics is important if you wish to succeed. Read along to know what rebranding is and how it has changed the face (and fortunes) of various companies.

What is Rebranding?

Rebranding is a marketing strategy that helps change a company’s image. This can be done by changing the logo, symbol, name, design, etc. However, there is more to rebranding than the superficial stuff marketing companies show. While the features of let’s say an automobile keep changing for the better, the brand logo does not. Rebranding is concerned with changing the perception of the public regarding the company’s image in people’s minds, specifically as and when their lifestyle requirements change.

Changing the company’s identity also becomes important if you wish to avoid a bad image or alter people’s perceptions about your company. Rebranding offers to create a new brand image and let it be recognized in the consumer’s mind regarding your company or product. It also helps you gain new investors, widens your prospects, reduces competition, and attracts more consumers among other benefits. It’s quite essential to understand the concept of branding when it comes to re-branding.

When do You Need Rebranding?

Rebranding may be required when your priorities or your location change or in the case of mergers and acquisitions. While companies evolve and grow, there is a need to make fresh changes to the brand. The most common reasons for rebranding include:

a. The company’s philosophies have changed and the previous brand image (including, but not restricted to the logo) no longer conveys the same. Most companies grow and expand to include other areas which may not be similar to the original product. Rebranding becomes essential in this case unless you have opted for a generic, all-encompassing name.

b. You plan to expand your business and cater to a newer audience. In that case, your business name, logo, etc. might limit your scope. While expanding your brand to newer territories, a change in your brand name can be extremely profitable. When Pabst Blue Ribbon planned on expanding in the Chinese market, it rebranded itself as Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844. The rebranding helped it in sounding more dignified and thereby justifying the price.

c. The way you were marketing your brand has not been as successful as you would have expected and a change in branding strategy might turn the table. While during the initial years, the logo, color scheme, and brand name might have worked, with changing times, the same has dragged the business down. The failure to evolve might be a death knell for the company and therefore should be avoided. You need to rebrand to stay relevant to keep up with the changing times.

d. Your brand image has attracted negative publicity and that has restricted your business prospects. Rebranding can work wonders in that case.

e. When you wish to separate your brand from its competitors. This is usually the case with start-ups. Not realizing the potential of the company, most start-ups opt for a generic logo that is unable to build brand loyalty with customers. Even Google and Accenture started with names that would have been difficult to get iconic with.

f. When a merger of two companies happens, you need to rebrand the new joint venture with a brand-new logo. Similarly, acquisitions too might require you to rebrand. The Vodafone Idea merger led to a rebranding situation, with the Vi brand coming in to replace the outgoing individual brands.

g. A change in your market position or target audience can also require you to rebrand yourself. Even big brands like Calvin Klein rebranded themselves to target fresher and younger customers. They introduced a new line of products that are preferred by the youth and their marketing strategies included using the latest social media trends.

Steps to Take While Rebranding

If you have concluded that rebranding is the solution to increase your brand’s value, then here are the steps you need to take –

1. Before rebranding, you should be clear about the mission, vision, and values you wish to associate with your company. Once you have decided these, you can work on setting the tone and message for your company’s brand.

2. Starting with a clean slate is easier said than done. Most companies cannot afford to scrap their existing branding and often opt for partial rebranding. In that case, retain what is best for your brand and change only what is necessary. This is important to cash in on the existing brand value while introducing a new and revamped version of your product.

3. If you wish to rebrand, it is important to research the market to know your target audience. The rebranding strategy should be based on what the target audience desires, what is the existing trend in the market, and your competition.

4. Rebuild your brand by changing your logo, brand colors, font type, and style, etc. Ensure that you are in tune with your marketing team as a concentrated team effort is likely to get you better results.

Since the internet offers a huge selling market, you would also require a business website revamp. Apart from this, you would also require business cards, product packaging, and associated graphics.

Instances When Rebranding Saved the Day

Several companies which had excellent products were unable to succeed when they were launched. Some of them became stagnant in their growth, while others had to reinvent strategy after a demerger or merger. However, when they rebranded themselves, not only did they redeem themselves in the target audience’s eyes, but also changed their fortunes. Let us take a look at some of the successful rebranding stories.

1. Chobani

The Greek yogurt company’s fortunes changed when it rebranded itself to stand apart from its competitors. Instead of offering their Greek yogurt in similar plastic cups with tin foils and studio photos of fruits, they created a softer, gentler aesthetic design by opting for a watercolor painting of fruits with a friendly serif font. This made the brand more approachable thereby increasing its market share and profit margin.

2. Britannia Industries

With the distinct identity of their various products, increasing local competition, and unclear brand identity, Britannia was unable to garner a huge lead in the market. However, post-rebranding innovation led them to lead the Health & Nutrition segment. Convenience packs and affordable pricing also helped them segment their position.

3. Kodak

They went for a dramatic reboot after film printing became obsolete. Instead of becoming a dinosaur and going out, they rebranded and returned to sell directly to customers. While they retained their original color scheme, they reinvented the logo completely. This ensured that despite a change, the customers could relate to the brand.

4. Bajaj Ltd

Bajaj Ltd is one of the oldest scooter brands in India and has been a leader in the segment of two-wheelers. However, they rebranded themselves for a global approach by changing their name (from Bajaj to Bajaj Auto) and logo.

5. Google

The redesigning of the logo, though subtle was aimed towards increasing the longevity of the brand. The redesigned logo justified the company’s approach of being simple and accessible, like their homepage. Since they kept their initial logo and just opted for a font change, they ensured that brand loyalty was not compromised to be future-ready.

6. Hero Motocorp

In this case, a demerger from Honda (previously Hero Honda) required the company to opt for rebranding. While people associated and preferred Honda (the car manufacturer) to Hero (the bicycle manufacturer), a strong Indian feel led by their anthem song, positioned them strongly in the two-wheeler market.

7. Uber

With loads of negative reviews regarding its treatment of not just its drivers but also the safety of its passengers, Uber started losing customers to other ride partners. However, Uber reinvented itself and started getting its position back by distancing itself from the toxic work culture and rebranding itself to ensure it is an all-encompassing safe place.

8. Axis Bank

Previously known as UTI Bank, the rebranding was done to provide it with a more global and contemporary look. With a change in logo and an excellent integrated marketing program, it created a huge customer base.

9. Airbnb

A change of logo that set the tongues wagging and the internet in a tizzy with numerous parodies of the revamp made Airbnb a much talked about company. This rebranding strategy went on to reaffirm the saying that any publicity is good publicity. Despite criticism and mocking, Airbnb has continued to make profits.

10. Apple Inc.

Moving away from its rainbow-colored logo, Apple went it for a sleek and subtle grey logo. By thinking differently, it created an image that Apple products are elite and different from others available in the market. To date, this exclusivity has created a huge demand and contributed immensely to the brand’s success.

11. McDonald’s Corporation

Earlier known for its junk food, the brand got a lot of flak for creating an unhealthy eating culture that led to obesity. This led to a need for rebranding to ensure that the product is considered a health-conscious version of its previous self. While retaining the color and tweaking the logo a bit was essential to capture the brand essence, publishing nutritional facts and calorie count and introducing a range of healthy salads helped them retain their position in the market.

12. Aditya Birla Group

The rebranding was an effort to provide a more global approach to the company’s brand. The company retained the core concept and important points of the previous logo, including the color scheme, the modifications provided a new lease of life to the logo that aligned perfectly with their collaterals.

13. State Bank of India

The largest public sector bank of India went for a rebranding to connect with the youth by providing digital services. The need for rebranding was essential to keep up with the changing times. While retaining its vast legacy of trust, the new logo hinted at a touch of youthfulness. The company retained its brand colors to capture its original individuality while reflecting a new feel.

Conclusion

These successful rebranding stories indicate that when things are not going your way, you need to take a step back and think; is it time to reinvent and rebrand yourself?

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Digital Marketing Process in Today’s World

Marketing in today’s world is seeing a paradigm shift from traditional methods to digital marketing. Though traditional methods like print and TV are still going strong, digital marketing has gained a major share of their revenue. Consumers and organizations are shifting towards digital marketing as it offers significant benefits compared to traditional marketing methods. Digital marketing has equalized the field for small and big businesses alike and shrunk the world so that the global market is accessible to all boundaries notwithstanding.

What is the Digital Marketing Process?

Digital marketing is a marketing method to promote, sell, buy or advertise products, services and brands primarily through online channels like the internet and other digital platforms. The digital marketing process broadly covers the different methods and processes applied to achieve digital marketing goals and objectives.  

Different Types of Digital Marketing Processes

After understanding what a digital marketing process is, let us look into the different types used by marketers to promote, advertise and sell their products.

1. E-Mail Marketing

E-mail marketing is a digital marketing process that involves sending e-mails to potential prospects to promote your products or services. It may look simple but it is a laired and complex process.

The first step is to ensure that your e-mails are wanted and not relegated to Spam or the trash bin. For this to happen you have to make an opt-in list that does the following:

Individualize the content for the recipient, both in the body and the subject line of the e-mail.

State in clear words the kind of emails the subscriber will receive.

Integrate both promotional and transactional e-mails.

Haves a clearly visible option to unsubscribe.

The purpose of this is to ensure that your potential customers see the campaign as a service that is beneficial to them and not just as a promotional tool.

E-mail marketing is an effective and proven digital marketing process that is regarded as the most effective lead generator. The inclusion of marketing automation makes e-mail marketing more effective and easier for you as it lets you segment and schedule your e-mails as per the customer’s needs.

2. Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is a digital marketing process that uses software for campaigns to improve efficiency. It collects and analyzes customer information to design targeted campaigns. Through analyzing the information collected, it segments and schedules the marketing messages to the target audience.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing process that optimizes the search engines like Google, Bing, Yandex, etc. to rank their web pages higher in organic searches, related to their products and services. SEO has created a lot of job opportunities in the digital marketing sector and offers a promising career path. Some important pointers to consider for web page optimization include content quality, user engagement levels, mobile-optimized web pages, and quality of inbound links. Since Google is the biggest search engine worldwide, its constantly changing algorithms should be kept in mind for designing any SEO strategy. Other than that, closely monitor your web pages and make adjustments as required.

4. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a digital marketing process that attracts and generates leads by creating and providing quality content to consumers. The content can be written material like blogs and articles, audio content like podcasts, and video content like video blogs, that can be shown on online streaming channels and websites. The content should be original, entertaining, and engaging for the audience who may consume it and share it further.

5. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing is the digital marketing process that uses paid promotions and advertisements to rank higher on search engines. Marketers bid on the popular keywords related to their products and pay the search engines so the visibility of their products and services increases. Some important elements to consider in search engine marketing are the quality of advertisements, the relevance of keywords, the landing page quality, and the bid amount for the keywords and campaign.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a type of search engine marketing that pays the platform, where ads are placed whenever someone clicks on it. A PPC campaign has target actions defined that viewers may complete after clicking the ad. These target actions can be 1 or more and are known as conversions in the digital marketing parlance. Conversions may include purchases, an e-mail subscription, or a phone call among others. These conversions can be tracked from the platform to evaluate the campaign performance.  

6. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the type of digital marketing in which you can collaborate with an organization like e-commerce websites for directing traffic to their websites and/or making purchases. You can earn a nice commission for the traffic generated and for the purchases made. This can be done either by writing blogs or reviews for the products on your website or by creating search engine marketing campaigns that lead the consumers to the product landing pages.

7. Instant Message Marketing

Instant message marketing uses instant messaging apps to either promote the products or provide a good customer experience. Many organizations and businesses utilize it through their official messaging handles using automated technology and chatbots.  

8. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Social media marketing is the digital marketing process that uses social media to promote the marketing of products and services. Some popular social media marketing platforms include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media marketing engages and educates the customer abouton the products and services offered. It also employs popular social media influencers who promote the products related to the demographics that which mostly follows them. For e.g., an older celebrity may promote the anti-aging products while a younger influencer may endorse a trendy clothing brand.

9. Native Advertising

Native advertising disguises marketing by surrounding it with entertaining content. The goal is to underplay the ad aspect so that the viewer does not skip it and views the content. But it does not mean deceiving and further irritating the consumer. The ad should include the words like “sponsored” and “promoted”. The ads should be clearly labeled yet feature engaging content that is palatable to the audience and creates a favorable view of the product without being an overt advertisement.

Steps in

the Digital Marketing Process

After learning about different types of digital marketing processes, let us discuss the steps or stages of a digital marketing process.

Research Stage

The first step in the digital marketing process is the research stage. In this stage, the necessary information about the product & services, market, and target audience is collected. This information is used to create an informed marketing campaign. The detailed information to be collected includes the following;.

Information about the business, organization, or brand.

Information about the target audience and market.

Information about the product or service that is to be promoted.

Information about the competition, their strategies, and how to stand out and beat the competition.

Creative Stage

The second stage in the digital marketing process is the creative stage. Nowe, the information collected in the previous stage is studied, analyzed, and used to create a marketing strategy and campaign. The campaign is created keeping in mind the targets and objectives to be achieved. The campaign includes the branding and content strategy with the aim to maximize revenue or reach the highest number of customers or both.

Promotional Stage

This is the stage where the digital marketing teams start promoting the products or services. These will be promoted on different digital platforms like sSearch eEngines, display networks, through e-mails and affiliate marketing, through social media,  and through e-commerce websites and other marketing platforms.

Analyzing Stage

The final stage in the digital marketing process is the analyzing state. Here, the results of the marketing and promotional campaigns are collated and analyzed to generate ROI reports. The analysis helps in identifying the strong and the weak areas of the campaign to help the marketing team in creating a better campaign in the future. This is done through effective analysis tools like Google Analytics which as the name suggests is provided by Google.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is emerging as the most effective marketing channel that helps both consumers, marketers, and businesses to find each other and thus assist in easy sales and purchases. Digital marketing processes bring the customers and sellers & service providers closer by promoting communication and achieving results beneficial to both parties.

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Benefits and Importance of Advertising Agency

Any business today, whether selling toys, trains, slippers, or sunshades entails advertising to thrive. A good advertising strategy is of paramount importance to get your products’ right visibility and stay ahead or at par with the competition. A business that concentrates on its core competency could hire experts for other significant functions. Hence the need and purpose of an advertising agency come into play. An advertising agency has the expertise and skilled professionals who can effectively manage your advertising goals. Advantages of an advertising agency include building your brand, bringing your products or services offered to the relevant audience in a favourable light, and thus helping to achieve your business goals. Let us discuss in detail the importance and various benefits and advantages an advertising agency offers to your business needs.

What is an Advertising Agency?

The simplest answer is that an advertising agency is a service provider which is involved in the creative process of designing, planning, handling advertisements for other businesses and organizations. The main focus of an advertising agency is creating the best possible means of communication to achieve business goals promoting sales or awareness. An advertising agency works towards creating the need, awareness, demand of a product portfolio. Brand awareness, recruitment, inviting tender bids, calling for admissions, etc are also purposes of advertising.

The role of an advertising agency includes the following:

Collecting information about the product or services offered by the client and creating an advertising strategy and advertisements around it.

In-depth market research about the products and survey of potential and existing customers.

Creating a plan for product promotion through various media channels including print, mass, and social media.

Checking the response of advertisements aired from potential and existing customers and tailoring content or future line of action based on that.

Importance of Advertising Agency

Let us look into the importance of advertising agencies from a business perspective and the various advantages and benefits of an ad agency for business growth.

1. The Cost-effective Solution

Hiring an ad agency is a profitable solution as they will take a holistic approach to your marketing, advertising, and branding needs. You will reap more benefits than the amount you invested in availing of their services. You will get the services of skilled and experienced professionals including graphic designers, content creators, and mass media experts as a package deal.

2. Better Employee Management

Some businesses may be tempted to cut costs by passing on the advertising responsibilities to their existing employees. Advertising expertise may not be included in the skill set of the employees entrusted with the responsibility. This extra burden will surely decrease the efficiency of the employee concerned which may have a direct effect on the business performance. It is better to avail of the services of an advertising agency than burden your employees and jeopardize your business. In this way, you and your team will be solely engaged in your core competency and grow the business.

3. Cutting Edge Business Solutions

One of the biggest advantages of an advertising agency is that you get to avail the most effective solutions for your business. Since an advertising agency is an expert in the field, it keeps itself informed of the latest developments, consumer tastes, and trends in mind. The ad agency specialists are continuously exposed to the advertising environment and also get frequently updated through regular training and attending seminars. The agency will also make use of required software and tools and commission or get hold of market researches and detailed reports. This all translates into cutting-edge solutions best suited for your business needs.

4. Easily Scalable Advertising Needs

If you have hired an advertising agency, then you can easily scale up your advertising needs if required in the future. The advertising agency you hired beforehand already knows about the products and your customer base. They already have the relevant information and prior experience and will easily scale up their operations when required.  

5. An Objective View of Business Needs and Requirements

The importance of an advertising agency is that it brings a unique objective and outlook to your business needs and operations. Whether we accept it or not, our views and beliefs become somewhat distorted by our inherent biases. An ad firm will have a neutral yet unique perspective on your business needs, brand identity, and what the customer requires. As external observers with keen advertising insight, they will provide the right solutions for your business needs in that field.

6. Tailor Made Strategy as Per Your Needs

One of the advantages of an advertising agency is that they have the skillset and experience to plan an advertising strategy suited to your business needs. They may switch from print media to hoardings, or a more interactive social media and get your products relevant exposure on different platforms as per the business suitability. They will create, modify or change the advertising strategy as per the situation and suited to the targets decided upon.  

7. Accessing Creativity & In-House Expertise

Creating advertising strategies & campaigns, developing brand identity and logos requires a certain type of creativity. Advertising agencies are staffed with creative and skilled professionals. These professionals are specialists and experts in different advertising and marketing domains, mediums, and techniques. Hiring an advertising agency allows you to access this creativity and a whole palette of it. You will deal and work with professionals who will form the best advertising solutions for your business based on their vast experience. You will also learn a lot about your business domain, market trends and strategies, and technical know-how by collaborating with your advertising partners.

8. Proficient Financial Management

The importance of advertising agencies can also be gauged by the fact that they provide value for your money and excellent financial management for your advertising budget. Advertising agencies have preceding experience in working with different businesses having different budgets. Agencies will monitor and measure the amount spent on advertising and marketing your products on different platforms and mediums. They will prepare the budget and proposal based on your business type that will help deliver your message to the target audience.  

9. Achieving Targets and Business Expansion

A good advertising agency will collate the data, do the research and analysis, create reports and finalize the advertising strategy. They will implement the strategy while you dedicate your time to business growth. Thus, your market penetration will increase and business will expand in due course.

10. Dependability and Excellence

An advertising agency is a professional firm knowing the best ways and means of advertising. Hence hiring one enhances the dependability of a campaign and flourishes brand growth.

Conclusion

So, these are some of the benefits and advantages of hiring an advertising agency. It will help you focus on your business and growing it while the advertising and marketing needs are taken care of by the ad agency.  

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10 Benefits of Video Marketing? Why is Video Marketing important?

In this fast-paced world and era of instant gratification, it is critical to get the attention of potential customers quickly. To make your product or service stand out from others, you need to present it interestingly and appealingly. A good story, presented in the form of a video message, can do wonders for your marketing campaign. It can communicate about your brand and the product in a couple of minutes and make a favorable impression of the product. Video marketing helps to target your potential customer and in growing your business and brand. In this article, we will discuss why video marketing is important and what are the significant benefits of video marketing.

Why is Video Marketing Important?

Video marketing is important as it conveys a whole lot in seconds and minutes. It is said that a visual image is processed 60,000 times faster than text. And video marketing employs moving visuals along with audio and a storyline for a bigger impact. These are engaging, can be tailored towards different marketing needs, and are measurable. These are some of the reasons among several others that you can cite in support of the importance of video marketing. Let us elaborate on these in the section below.

Benefits of Video Marketing

Popularity over Other Mediums

Videos are consumed more than any other content in the world. Videos have even reached those audiences who have never read a newspaper or a book. More than 4 billion videos are watched every day on YouTube alone. There is a huge market to be tapped and advertisers can seize this opportunity. Video marketing can easily educate and inform the consumer about the product, and it does not even take much time. An impactful message can be conveyed within 2 or 3 minutes. Since the message is usually in the form of a good story, the audience is entertained and not bored. This can provide you with a competitive edge and has been known to increase business volume by nearly fifty percent. This is one of the major benefits of video advertising.

Lead Generation and Sales Conversion

Video marketing contributes in a big way towards lead generation and sales conversion. Video marketing nudges the customer to buy the product or visit a website for further exploration which increases the probability of lead generation. The video should be short with a catchy hook to instantly engross the customer and as per the goal either point towards a solution by using the product or generate curiosity regarding the product. One other advantage of video marketing is that if a video is added to the product description on websites, the product sales are known to increase by nearly forty percent. This is a significant increase and points to the effectiveness of a video ad.

Easily and Increasingly Shared

Videos are increasingly being shared. They are shared across groups and platforms. A Facebook video is shared on WhatsApp and a YouTube video on Facebook, Instagram and Tumbler. An interesting video advertisement for a brand can reach a wide range of audiences organically in this manner. It increases brand awareness and visibility and allows the consumer and the brand to interact through comments and messages. To reap these benefits of video advertising, create a tailor-made video for the targeted audience and get a dedicated team to interact with the consumers and answer their queries through comments.

Accessible on Multiple Devices

Video marketing as the name suggests is easily accessible through various mediums. These can be shared through motion pictures, televisions, computers, and mobiles. The popularity of mobiles as a viewing device has increased exponentially due to increased internet penetration and affordable data plans. Now, most of the e-commerce business and engagement are carried through mobile apps only. A short video of less than half a minute attracts the attention of a customer and leads to more sales than carrying out a full-blown advertisement in a newspaper which may not reach the targeted audience. Social media sites increasingly target the customers based on locations and prior sales history and stream the video ads suited to that. A call to action within this short frame leads to more sales conversion. This is one more point to be listed in the advantages of video marketing.

Video Advertising Engages Even the Laziest Consumers

Video content is easy to consume and does not take much effort. To get information about a product or how it works you do not need to read the lengthy descriptions or long-winded user manuals. A short video message demonstrates and informs quickly than the tediously written Do It Yourself manuals can. Video marketing reaches a wide range of audiences and even the so-called laid-back customers get the message and evolve into returning customers from just being a targeted audience.

Online Visibility and SEO Advantage

The importance of video marketing can be gauged by the fact that search engines favor video content over other forms. Their algorithms rank video content above others. You may have noticed if you search for a recipe or a troubleshooting or DIY query, the videos show first. Thus, good video content can rank higher in search engine results. This can be done by posting the video content on your blogs, websites, and through different social media handles. Ensure that the video ad is optimized for the target audience. This helps in connecting with the target customer and increases sales.

Analytics and Measurement

Video advertisements appearing on television can be measured through surveys. On the other hand, video marketing online can easily be measured on different parameters. Each of the social media sites has its analytical tools to sort the data and get relevant figures and information. Marketers use these tools to assess the popularity of a particular video through the likes, shares, or comments it receives. This feedback and interaction through the videos translate into valuable data and relevant information. This helps in building a high-impact marketing campaign and customize the message towards the right audience. This can be cited as one of the major benefits of video marketing.

Cost Friendly and High Return on Investment

Video marketing on online platforms is far-reaching and cheaper compared with traditional mediums like print and television mediums. A printed advertisement will be forgotten the next day and along with the medium may languish in the scrapyard later on. A television advertisement will cost every time it is displayed and banners and hoardings are costly as they are displayed in prime real estate locations. Online video ads can be customized towards your target audience which translates to less cost and better sales conversion and thus improved ROI. A study on the benefits of video marketing showed that it generated better ROI for 52 percent of customers than all the other mediums. This is a high and encouraging data to convert the customers towards video marketing than other mediums.

Unlimited Exposure

Video advertisements are not limited to a particular medium only. Unlike print media or hoardings these can be shared across multiple platforms. These can be shared through television, before starting, and during breaks in a movie theatre, computers, mobiles, and then through several apps. This helps in more exposure and recognition for the brand. One of the benefits of video advertising is that an interesting video ad can get viral and get international exposure through customers sharing it across apps that are not limited by geographical boundaries.

Flexibility and Impact

Video marketing on various platforms gives the option to customers to watch the ad in full or skip after a few seconds. Some ads play in full but only for a few seconds. For example, the Zomato ad currently circulating is just seconds in length, but gets its point across with an impact. Thus, targeted consumers are not irked as they get to watch their favorite series, songs, or content with just a few seconds delay and marketers get their message across at the same time. Thus, flexibility and impact in just a few seconds are also major advantages of video marketing.  

Conclusion

So, these are some benefits of video marketing over other mediums. These benefits are not limited to the above 10 only. Videos are hugely popular and marketing and branding can be embedded in between interesting videos too. Websites having informational or explainer videos for their products get more sales and traffic. Video marketing has an edge over other mediums and should be implemented by the brands trying to grow their business.

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10 Benefits & Advantages of Branding

A good branding strategy is necessary for any business to succeed. This is what differentiates you from the competitors and provides a unique opportunity to present your business favorably. Branding is a complete package for business, be it for a mission statement, marketing, or what you want to convey for making your business enterprise known to others. A good branding strategy enables your business and its products or services to be picked over others and result in customers and clients coming to your business. Let us explore below the 10 advantages of Branding.

Standing Above and Apart From The Competition

To stand apart from the competition or to appeal to clients and customers, you need to have a strong brand synonymous with your business. The Brand should be consistent with your business values and products. Clients prefer to choose you because they notice your Brand and find value in your products or services instead of your competitors. A good Brand will always make a good first impression.

Credibility and Reputation

What are the advantages of Branding? This might be a frequently asked question. A well-established and easily recognizable Brand lends you credibility. This credibility translates into clients and customers choosing your products and services over others. They believe that you have expertise in your field and your products are superior to others.

Getting High Value and Remuneration

Maybe at the start, you charged less for your products and services to get a foothold in the business. But once you have developed a strong brand, you will be able to charge accordingly, which will lead to an increase in business profitability. Having a strong Brand showcases the high value and top quality of your products and services, which results in clients paying more for the services offered by you. This is one of the advantages of Branding in marketing your products at the price you deserve.

Achieving Customer Loyalty

Branding leads to an increased Company recognition and customer loyalty. If customers identify your Brand, they will favor your business over others. Once they use your products or services and like them, they will form a connection and become loyal customers. Once your business value is apparent to them, their Brand loyalty will be for a lifetime. This is one of the advantages of Branding to customers as they know the value of your products and form a lifelong trust towards your business.

Increase in Business Due to Repeat Customers and Referrals

One of the advantages of Branding in marketing is that it makes a big impression on the customers if your products reflect the same values as your Brand image. If you deliver on this, you will get repeat customers who in turn will recommend your products to their friends, family, and acquaintances alike. It leads to amazing Brand recognition which surpasses even the best and costliest type of marketing.

Branding Leads to Clarity in Business Growth

Once you have set your Brand in place, continue to be guided by it. Look at the Brand to chart your Business strategy, growth, and for positioning the products and services. Your products and services should be in the league of your Brand and not different from it.

Branding Helps in Acquiring the ‘Right Set of Customers’

One of the important advantages of Branding to customers is that they identify Brands that share their beliefs. If your Brand accurately portrays your company, you will get the right set of customers and clients. For example, if you have a high-end Jewelry Business and want customers with higher purchasing power, the Branding needs to be consistent with that. You can offer annual maintenance, insurance, proper certifications of precious metals and stones like hallmark or Diamond grade certifications. Small nuances are crucial in business, as your targeted customers will remember and appreciate these gestures.

Branding Leads to ‘Higher Profits through Higher Savings’

Proper Branding is the most important requisite for a business to succeed. If you are not clear about your Branding goals, it may lead to variations and frequent changes in the Company logo, marketing strategy, message you want to portray, website, and almost everything. This may lead to wastage of time and money which could have been better utilized in growing the business. Client loyalty will also be affected as the clients will not be able to understand what the Brand or Company is all about. Thus, one of the advantages of Branding is that it saves money and increases profit.

Branding Instills Confidence in Your Company

A good and effective Branding leads to gaining a client’s confidence in your Business. This will not only make you proud but also motivate your team to maintain the efforts put in to achieve this Brand recognition. It leads to increased customer loyalty and business growth, which is one of the most important advantages of Branding.

Opportunity for Business Expansion by Launching New Products and Services

A dedicated consumer base and a strong Brand identity makes for an easy transition to other products and services. Since your customers have faith in your Brand, they will readily try your new products and services and even recommend them to others.

Conclusion

Thus, these are some advantages of Branding. A good branding strategy will lead to business recognition, growth, and long-lasting customer loyalty.