Dos and Don’ts of Branding

Branding is a very important aspect of any and all companies, big or small. The success of your branding can have a direct impact on your revenues so it is very important that companies get it right. 

After all, branding is the face of your company. It helps potential customers understand what your company is about in more ways than one. It can give your company a more personal touch to those customers.

Aspects like logos, mission statements, colour schemes and so in are all contributing factors on how people can perceive you. They are contributing factors on how you, as a company, can stand out from the rest of the competition in your field.

That being said here are things that you should do and shouldn’t do when it comes to brand strategy.

Things You Should Do.

#1. Craft Quality Content on a blog.

It is recommended that every business site needs to have a blog section. Even if you’re merely just a store selling baby clothes online Malaysia, a blog would be extremely beneficial. There you can perhaps write about topics related to what your company does. From articles regarding your products to blog posts showing what life is like at the company.

A good quality blog can also help in ranking your site for search engines, along with showing future and potential customers that your company is knowledgeable in the field you are in, which may boost the confidence customers may have for your business. But, along with having a blog, your company must understand the importance of establishing social media channels as well.

#2. Establishing Social Media Channels

Not only must you have a social media presence, but your company must also be consistent in it’s postings. Customers who stumble upon your Facebook page to only see that your last post was 8 months ago might not give the best impressions, after social media is everything these days, especially for branding. By not being consistent on social media, your company will have the impression that it is not very engaging.

Top 9 Benefits of Social Media for Your Business - Dos and Don'ts of Branding

This is especially the case for the youth. It is safe to say that nearly all millennials and the Gen Z group have some form of social media, so to slack off on your social media would mean that you may lose a good portion of potential customers.

There are different strategies in which different companies can take when it comes to their social media. Let’s say you are a company that is very art centric, so you would probably use platforms such as Pinterest, Tumblr or Instagram. If your company is more corporate, then platforms such as LinkedIn may be best suited for you. Tech companies may find Facebook, and Twitter to their liking, but any company can have a Facebook or Twitter account. 

But no matter the platform, it is important to remain consistent. Be consistent and posting updates, answering questions from comments, promoting promotions, posting polls etc. By doing all of that, it shows that your company is active and cares. 

By being active in that way, it can also help with your company’s customer service points as well.

#3. Create a Strong Identity and Voice

Who do you want to be? Who are you? Are you the professional type? Or the humorous one? These are questions you ask yourself when you want to establish a brand identity. A voice could be persuasive, clear or consistent. But like social media, that voice needs to be consistent. 

brand identity system featured 1 - Dos and Don'ts of Branding

You can take the examples of various other companies on how they project their voice. A small tech company for examples would have a more relaxed tone, a more casual one, but they will still strive to use language that sells. 

You must determine your audience before you decide your voice however, this is a very crucial step. You wouldn’t want to use slang or Gen Z terms if your audience consists of older people who are professional. So keep your audience in mind. 

#4. Seek and Identify your Audience

And finally the most important thing to do is to, of course, identify who you are branding to.

Thorough identification of your audience is extremely important and detrimental to your company’s image. It can mean the success of your brand when done right. 

You need to understand how your audience behaves, what their needs are and what goals they have in mind individually. By understanding all of that it could create a very strong and successful branding campaign as well as marketing campaigns.

To do that, companies need to employ the use of information they can get from competitors,  analyse behaviors via social media or to look at market sectors. 

By understanding your audience you will know how to brand successfully. 

What you should NOT do.

#1. Don’t be typical

Don’t have your branding strategy strictly from the book, otherwise you will just come out as being boring and predictable. Ensure that your branding is a reflection of your brand’s personality. Be flexible, be different and be you. Because without the personality, people won’t pay attention. 

Going overboard with the branding is also an issue as well, if you were to constantly push so hard for branding, you may just come off as annoying and you may also lose quality. 

So yes, be yourself but do it moderately.

#2. Don’t put too much value in Quantity.

Do not pay too much attention to the number of followers on your social platforms. A large following does not necessarily mean that the same amount are customers. 

As the saying goes, quality over quantity, so for those of those followers who have used your products, ensure that you engage with them when they mention you. 

And as always you should focus on your targeted group rather than focus on getting everyone.

#3. Don’t get too Personal

Social media has given companies the benefit of engaging well with their customers. However, adhering to human nature, comment sections can be filled with all sorts of rabble, from political debates to trolling. Just take a look at YouTube comments, and you will see a bunch of people with nothing better to do than to cause discourse. 

So as a company, you should deliver messages in a way that will not instigate or cause any hostilities. If people begin to argue in the comment sections, it is best to ignore them for the sake of your company’s image.

You should also ensure that the person in charge of handling the social media accounts do not put in their own political beliefs whatever they may be. 

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given some insight into what to do and what not to do when it comes to branding for your company. It is important that you are aware of the situation around us so that you do not come off as insensitive or oblivious. Your face, your reputation and image of a company all comes down to your branding.

If you still need help, may firms can provide the right assistance to keep you on track for your branding, firms like: https://www.sterrific.com.my/branding/

So be sure to check them out when you are in need of a solid branding strategy.

Where to position your signboards

We see advertising signboards everywhere! On the highway, in the LRT, even in the elevators! It will be rather hard to go throughout your day without seeing at least one form of advertising.

The act of advertising is art really, it takes into consideration the psychological aspects of the mind when they are built and put out. Overall, advertising campaigns are more complex than what we believe.

When it comes to the positioning of signboards for advertising, companies have to be very tactical when deciding where to place the signboards.

Their position needs to ensure full effectiveness when it is placed, it needs to be in areas where people will definitely see them and catch a glimpse of them.

That being said, here are some tips on how you can properly position your signboards.

In Areas of High-Traffic

59e6e9dfb9e454000156f2a6 Kuala Lumpur traffic - Where to position your signboards

It would be a great advantage if you could place a signboard in a place where there is a lot of people. But it’s not just the amount of people, it also what they may be doing at the time, for instance, are they waiting for a train? A bus? Are they just walking to a shopping mall? These are factors in which you must consider when designing an advert. 

If you are placing it in a place where people are in transit, like buses or trains, you could perhaps place some on the wall. If most people are going down a hallway in one general direction, then be sure to place the ad in a way that they can see it. 

Height

white blank billboard advertising light box red wall subway train station advertisement commercial marketing advertising concept 33829 217 - Where to position your signboards

If you were to place an ad to high up, it will only be a disadvantage for you as no one will be able to see it. When placing ads in public, you must ensure that it is at a proper height so that people will be able to glance at it without having to look up or down. A person with good vision can see and ad clearly from six to seven meters away. 

The average shopper will take around five to seven seconds going that distance, so you have a five to seven-second window to get your message across for them! If the ad is positioned above the eye-level however, that window is reduced. 

So remember to place at the ad at eye-level, making most of the time window you have to appeal to people who can see it. Although different people have different heights, you can estimate the average height of the general public and build on that estimate. Be sure to also follow set guidelines by governing bodies as well.

You must also take into account the angle of displays too if you need to use a display on the ceiling of buildings or transportation, ensure that you angle it downwards to people can easily see it. 

42 - Where to position your signboards

Observe your surroundings

Your surroundings and its features also have an impact on the effectiveness of your ad. Make sure your ad is visible. Tactics like positioning it above other ads or away from clutter can help with this. People can be overwhelmed when there is a lot going on, so be sure that your add is placed in a clean space. 

Adapt to your surroundings

Sometimes, our surroundings can work in or favour. So we must always look for the best way to take advantage of them. You can avoid making your ad an eyesore by integrating it into the surroundings, while still standing out. 

Architectural features like walls and pillars can all be of advantage when it comes to signing placement. 

Creativity is Key

Creative Advertising Ideas For A Creative Approach To Marketing 4 - Where to position your signboards

Creativity is always appreciated, by getting creative, people can interact with your ad more, and it does wonders for marketing. Rather than stick to the simple ad poster, you can perhaps construct a unique installation.  The picture above is a good example by Leica

Those were some tips on sign placement for your signs and ads, so be sure to implement them the best you can when deciding an ad. But if you ever need help hen making a sign for your ad, you can always get in contact with a signage maker who can assist you in creating and placing ads.

Why People Get Stressed Out After Work

Everyone goes to work on a daily basis and it is impossible to avoid stress while doing work. The thing is, some people get so into it until they forget to make time for themselves as they are always busy. They don’t even have time to be anxious, to feel sad, as their minds are all filled up with work-related things. Then, when it is time for them to go home from their jobs in Kuala Lumpur, they still can’t seem to get their mind off it. They might even sometimes break down on their way to commute home, or maybe on the family dining table at 8pm. And then comes your family asking the reason you are sobbing while eating that cheap spaghetti from Tesco, also a good way for them to provide you with an actual meal.

Work stress is real and safe to say, I think everybody will experience it at some point in their career. It is impossible to always feel good and happy while getting your work done. There is nothing fun in trying to finish your work that keeps piling within the deadline. It can get super tiring even if you are working in the company you have been dreaming about in your sleep before. Some people just learn to cope with it themselves and some aren’t able to. Stress can hit you like bricks and it can come out of nowhere without warning.

When you get stressed out after work, without meaning to, you have somehow brought work home along with you. The deadlines are lying next to you, it is staring at you while you’re trying to get some sleep. You felt as if you can never get any peaceful time for yourself anymore. People who get stressed out after work are said to have poorer mental health and it can get worse if they are just taking it lightly. But here, I want to mention several factors that lead to this, and of course, you need to pay attention to them if you don’t want it to get any worse.

 

#1 No balance between life and work

work life balance - Why People Get Stressed Out After Work

Scales weighing work and life on blue background. Balance, career, time management and stress concept. Flat design. Vector illustration. EPS 8, no transparency

People tend to get burned out after work mostly because they failed to create a balance between work and life. Most workers, especially the ones that work full-time devote a majority of their time doing work, and this can definitely take a toll on their mental health if they do not know how to manage themselves well. Without a doubt, of course, there are many people who can do tons of work, but at the same time, they are very minimally stressed in doing so.

It really depends on how much a person can tolerate their stress and this is why stress management is important but many people still seem to not be focusing on it today. Unfortunately, we do not have control on how many hours we work every day, but we do have control over feeling balanced with our work-life environment. At the end of the day, after work, people should be feeling positive and reverberated, instead of feeling negative and down all the time. This can actually become a way to lower their stress levels after a long day at work and to be energized again when they go to work the next day.

Try to create a healthy lifestyle outside work. You need to be working hard to get all that you want in life, but remember that it’s not the only thing you want to be focusing on. Work out, do exercises, and take a few deep breaths now and then, just to add space and separate a part of your life from work.

 

#2 Too many doubts and “what if’s”

3 Signs That Self Doubt is Getting in Your Way  - Why People Get Stressed Out After Work

Question mark speech bubble isolated on red background.

Stress after work could also happen because a person has too many negative doubts with themselves. They keep wondering and stressing about their career path such as what if they are not doing the right thing? What if it is not the right job or profession for them? What if I am not working my full potential here? Or what am I even doing here? Sometimes, they’re not even in the office and they could still be thinking about these things. Without intending to, this can contribute to stress and they might have no time to feel relaxed anymore as their minds are so occupied with unnecessary thoughts.

I mean it is not wrong to feel and ask these questions once in a while. If you find out that most of your stress usually come up when you’re doing your work, you are probably doing the right thing in giving your job a second thought. Perhaps it’s the field of work you’re doing that doesn’t entice you in, or perhaps it’s the boss that you just don’t seem to ever jive with. If you are always waiting around the clock wondering when you can finally go back, if you are dreading going to your workplace every single day, you should probably look for other options.

All careers are difficult one way or another, it’s not all fun and easy. We all go through tough moments but if you seem to have been facing it for the longest time ever, you might be in the wrong position. It is best to opt for other job options than carrying an immense amount of stress behind your back all your life.

 

#3 Lack of after-work outlets

Bored Teenager 670x335 - Why People Get Stressed Out After Work

If you barely want to do anything outside of work, but prefers to watch a lot of television and binge watch four seasons of Gossip Girls on Netflix, that might be one of the reasons why you feel anxious and more stressed out after work. These are actually common coping mechanisms among people who are stressed out when they ended up only wanting to hole up in their rooms and binge eating foods. Consider getting some flowers from any florist in Petaling Jaya! Flowers are known to improve one’s mental health and reduce stress. 

For some people who are lucky enough might see their jobs as an outlet to express creativity and socialize. They have enough necessity and their needs are satisfied at work, it could probably be their way of handling stress too. Some people have no trouble trying to find an outlet that can decrease their stress levels. They might go to a karaoke place nearby, sing their hearts out and go to work the next day with barely any voice to spare. However, there are many who aren’t able to do that and might need an outlet outside of work to meet their needs. One might need an adequate amount of sleep, others might need social interaction or even love life. Try to find ways and outlets that can facilitate your needs after work so that you would not be as stressed.

 

In short, you need to be able to handle your stress a lot better and in order to do that, of course, you need to try several different methods that would suit you best. You need to make sure that you know the factors that lead to it. Try to decrease and get rid of things that contribute to it in the first place. Stress can make your life a living dumpster. It makes you angrier, sicker and overall, a mad person. If it’s not managed properly, things might get even worse and you probably wouldn’t even know where to start fixing it if you don’t pay attention to it now. 

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