Brand Building: There’s 1 Thing You Can Do To Become An Overnight Success
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May,2022

Brand Building: There’s 1 Thing You Can Do To Become An Overnight Success

Odds are, if you’ve been in business a few years, you’ve probably heard of popular brand-building techniques like niche offerings, product positioning, performance, social awareness, etc. While these are great tactics, they aren’t the only tricks executive leaders can use to brand organizations. There is one specific, underutilized tactic CEOs and marketing leaders use to build their brand.

The brand-building secret that could take you, your business, or your career to the next level comes down to two words. But, before we dive into this secret, it’s essential to ask: What is brand-building and its importance? Whether you have a business brand or a personal brand, it’s crucial to build a credible brand identity to create and maintain a successful brand.

So, what is brand building? In this article, we ask what are the four steps of brand building and answer with examples you can use for your brand. We also discuss strategies and processes to set yourself up for brand-building success.

What Is Brand Building and Why Is It Important?

According to Merriam-Webster, brand-building is “The activities associated with establishing and promoting a brand.” Whether these activities come through a thought-out marketing strategy, marketing campaign, mission statement, or researching your target market, your brand depends on the tools you use to build it. The stronger you can articulate your brand story, and the more you use your brand voice, the stronger your brand-building process.

Because there are so many brand-building strategies out there, you need to determine how your brand differentiates itself from a saturated market. Looking to established brands with a deep understanding of their target markets is a great place to start.

Brand Building Example

One of the core facets of brand-building is simply brand awareness. For example, Barkbox is a pet company with high brand awareness. They focus on user-generated content and even offer their customers a closed Facebook for feedback and testing of new products.
Barkbox brand building example
Due to their time spent on the Facebook group, BarkBox knows their brand. They use this awareness to attract new customers on social media, such as TikTok. Barkbox uses TikTok to help meet two main objectives: Attract frequent visitors and showcase their products through user-generated content. Barkbox pays its customers for their TikToks and other videos that display or discuss Barkbox products, their pets using the products, and even personal testimonials for their products. As a result, they know their brand and use this awareness to connect with customers.

How a TEDx Talk Is the #1 Kept Brand Building Secret To-Date.

Since most companies look solely to social media and other digital avenues to build their brand, they forfeit the opportunity to position their brand uniquely. It’s time to take a new angle. TED talks and TEDx talks are some of the most underutilized brand-building tools company leaders, and marketing executives have yet to tap into. The first thing to do is to figure out how to land a Tedx talk.

TEDx talks like Kevin Breel’s and Cynthia Thurlow’s have millions of views. Imagine if companies utilized their CEOs, executives, and leaders to land TEDx talks? Landing a TEDx talk offers exposure and builds credible branding for organizations. These talks allow you to verbalize your brand’s positioning statement and share it with thousands, if not millions, of potential customers. Most people can achieve that with the right Tedx coach.

TEDx Brand Building Example:

CEO of Outsource Access, Brad Stevens, understood this concept when he gave a TEDx talk that gained over 170,000 views. His company utilizes Brad’s talk as an educational piece in their email marketing funnel and pairs it with other campaigns to build their brand. As a result, Brad reaches 130 to 150 new entrepreneurs and business owners each month. Since giving his talk, Brad now has gained dozens of leads for his outsourcing organization.

Using TED Talks In Your Brand Building Process.

TED and TEDx talks are hidden gems because CEOs and marketing leaders can use them across the four brand-building phases. To write and land a winning TED talk, it’s helpful to:

1. Define your target audience

2. Uniquely position your product/services

3. Articulate your tone of voice

4. Create a brand book that underscores your brand

A TED talk allows you to build your brand in four crucial ways and becomes a conduit for reaching your target audience. A well-defined message presented through a TED or TEDx talk is an aid to help you connect with your audience at an emotional level.

It’s challenging to communicate nonverbally through graphics or text, but nonverbal communication can be tapped into via video format. According to an article by Forbes, videos capture attention quickly and hold attention 5x more than stills. Meanwhile, the tone of voice, inflection, posture, and even speed of verbal delivery all work together to communicate your brand to your target audience.

1. Define Your Target Audience:

Defining your target audience is the most critical step in building a brand. If you don’t know who you’re trying to help, how can you help them? The better you articulate your audience, the more equipped you are to reach them. If you’re not sure how to do this, Hootsuite offers a free buyer persona template you can use to start defining your audience.

TED is an excellent example of a company that defines its audience and knows where to find it. With YouTube possessing about 2.3 billion active users, TED and TEDx recognize this as a gold mine for potential prospects. TED posts their talks on Youtube, and with over 2 billion users, odds are your target audience is somewhere on the platform too.

Positioning your Product or Services:

How you position your product or service in the marketplace directly influences your company’s brand. Once you create a product or service, the brand must differentiate itself from its competitors. For example, when Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007, Steve Jobs uniquely positioned his product by combining the aspects of an iPod with a smartphone that could surf the Web. These features were ahead of their time and set the iPhone apart from its competitors.

Your brand may not be as strong as Apple’s, but you can still position yourself as an authority figure. For example, giving a TEDx talk is an under-tapped market. The talk itself makes your company, product, and service stand out. By stepping on the TEDx stage, you make yourself unique to your market and bring something other brands do not—a personal connection, strong voice, and public branding that can reach millions.

2. Establish Your Tone of Voice:

Formulating a TED talk can also help you generate your tone of voice. If you already have a specific tone established, TED talks help solidify your organization’s voice publicly. Audiences gravitate to solid brands. HubSpot states that according to Sprout Social’s 2020 Index of consumers:

40% listed memorable content as a factor that helps brands stand out

33% voted for distinct personality

32% said compelling storytelling

The factor tying each aspect together is brand voice. TED talks allow you to articulate your voice across large audiences, solidify your brand, and reach audiences social media marketing never could.

3. Create A Brand Book:

A brand book helps create brand consistency. Refer to your brand book as you articulate your logo, color scheme, tone of voice, style, etc., to employees. For example, including a TEDx talk in your brand book gives employees both a visual and an auditory example of the voice your company uses, the nonverbal way you communicate, and how you interact with potential customers.

For more ways to increase brand awareness, check out our other article: 5 Ways To Increase Brand Awareness.

TEDx Talk Brand Building Strategies:

82% of investors want the companies they invest in to have a strong brand. But what makes up a strong brand, and how do organizations compete with an ever-changing landscape? Position yourself uniquely via the strategies you build:

82% of investors want the companies they invest in to have a strong brand.

brand building positioning example

Position your TED talk within the framework of your strategy to build your brand successfully.

brand building positioning example

Repurpose your TED talk content.

Let’s look at some specific examples.

Layer A TEDx Talk In Your Email Marketing Funnel:

We discussed earlier how TEDx speaker Brad Stevens utilizes his talk at the top of his marketing funnel. His email marketing enables potential prospects to understand the primary facets of his business from their first interaction. In less than fifteen minutes, audiences know Brad’s business is legit, credible, and what he stands for, all because of one TEDx talk.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth many more. While landing a TEDx talk can take more work at the front end, with the proper guidance, it’s possible and can take your brand to levels you never dreamed of.

Share TEDx Talk Clips Across Your Organic Social Channels:

TEDx talks aren’t restricted to YouTube or the TED talk website. Instead, choose clips from your talk and use them across social media.

  • Create a viral Instagram reel or TikTok by tying a key point from the talk to trending audio and layering the keypoint/tips as text on the video.
  • Choose critical phrases and layer them over graphics for Twitter and Pinterest.
  • Splice together a mashup of your main talking points and reshare on all social channels

Repurposing content establishes credibility and keeps your brand top of mind for audiences.

Why TEDx Talks Are The Key To Future Brand-Building

Video is arguably the most powerful connecting medium between a brand and its audience. The power of video, paired with brand voice, points to a transforming solution: TED and TEDx talks, the stage for brand-building.

The more someone can recognize and connect with your brand, the easier it is for them to do business with you. For example, as mentioned, Barkbox uses TikTok to attract visitors and showcase its products. Likewise, Steve Jobs positioned the iPhone by combining critical aspects of his brand. In his commencement speech for Standard University, he referenced Apple. His talk went viral and is featured on TED as a Best of The Web pick.

The above are just a few examples of how giving a TEDx talk allows you the opportunity to attract visitors, showcase your product, service, and brand, and uniquely position yourself in the marketplace. But additionally, this underutilized resource enables you to:

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Exemplify your brand tone

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Repurpose TEDx content across social channels

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Layer credible video content into your marketing funnel

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Engage with up to 2 billion YouTube users

TEDx talks are the link between sharing your brand voice and reaching your audience. Defining your target audience is the most critical step in building your brand. Brand awareness enables you to connect with your audience in a transformative way. Audience connection coincides with credible marketing trends, highlighting the power of brand voice and personal connection through video. TEDx talks join these powerful steps into one powerful branding technique. Your audience is out there. It’s time to speak to them.

Author

Sarah Rexford
Content Writer

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