How to Develop a Brand Strategy that Supports Local Retailers

Reaching far beyond your own marketing assets, your brand goes everywhere your products go. When a consumer experiences one of your products in an ad, in a store, or at home after the purchase, their perception of your brand continues to evolve. It is important that any potential customer, in any retail market, experience your messaging in a way that’s meaningful to them — yet consistent across all channels

When you rely on a channel marketing strategy, in which individual local retailers must communicate your brand, there are risks and rewards. The primary risk is that retailers will inadvertently erode your brand consistency. The reward is that you will expand your reach to localized audiences while supporting your retailers and improving visibility for you both. When developing or refining your brand strategy, keep in mind how it supports local retailers.

Empowering retailers to communicate your brand

Retailers take on a great responsibility as ambassadors for your brand. They need the knowledge and the tools to communicate it effectively in everything from their social media feeds to their merchandising. Their role is complex in that they are positioning your products among competitor products, as well. Their ability to differentiate your brand — to describe your unique value proposition — will make or break how well they sell your products

As a brand, you cannot expect a retailer to proactively take on this responsibility. You need to equip them with the information and assets to succeed. After all, that’s probably what your competitors are doing. Retailers who are strapped for time and resources will likely direct the most attention to the brands who give them the most to work with.

How to develop a retail brand strategy

The retailers who carry your products play a role in your brand strategy, actively or passively. Their purpose and audience are perhaps more narrowly focused than yours. They have direct contact with customers in their local markets, which you can use to your benefit. Let’s look at how to create a retail brand strategy for local audiences.

Tailor personas to local markets

As you refine your personas, their location may influence how you communicate with them. You might actually create personas built around physical location or the size and type of retailers where they tend to shop — for example, big box retailers vs. neighborhood stores. Understanding those communities and retail locations can help you design more effective marketing campaigns.

Localize social media posts

Localized social media posts and pages are typically more successful than their non-localized counterparts. A study by Nieman Journalism lab found that geo-targeted social media posts were six times more successful than posts shared globally. Localizing your content goes beyond translating content into different languages. It means connecting with retailers to build customer loyalty and trust. Facebook is a safe choice as one of the best channels for businesses. As a consumer-focused social platform, Facebook can be used to build a loyal following, interact with brand fans, and use targeted ads to grow sales.

Expand your audience through retail partnerships

If your social media content doesn’t perform as well as you want, develop a strategy for supplying high quality brand content to your retailers. They are likely to welcome the help, especially small businesses struggling to make time for marketing. Great content using quality visuals and your brand standards, distributed through the channels of local retailers, benefits you both. It has a better chance of engaging customers, and it strengthens your brand reputation.

Consider all potential partners in your channel marketing strategy

A channel marketing strategy lets you distribute branded content across a broad network, including retailers. You can create a successful retail brand strategy by working with local retailers, but don’t discount other possible marketing partners at your disposal. Other partners in a channel marketing strategy may include affiliates, who promote your brand and earn a commission from each sale; and distributors, who spread the word about your products to retailers or resellers. Consider joining efforts with channel marketing partners to increase sales, boost traffic, expand brand reach, and pool marketing resources.  

Tailor your website to specific locations

To help drive traffic to brick-and-mortar stores and provide an excellent customer service experience, create location-based landing pages on your website. Landing pages tailored by location can help customers find your products in an area where you work with a local retailer. This hyper-local marketing tactic boosts your brand visibility as well as the visibility of local shops that carry your products. Include relevant keywords, metadata, physical address, hours, and the contact information of the retailer. Make each landing page unique for that location; for example, if one location is running a special sale or hosting a special event, include that on its page.

Use ThumbStopper for effective local marketing

Once you have your brand strategy and local target audience defined, let ThumbStopper automatically deploy your content across social networks and retailers. ThumbStopper’s segmentation services manage content flow to hundreds, even thousands, of retailers that carry your inventory. Content gets delivered straight to the feeds of potential customers, expertly timed for the greatest visibility. You and your retailers both win.
Now that you know more about how to create a brand strategy for local retail marketing, learn more about ThumbStopper’s services for brands today.

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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It's one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience - with your accessible, branded content - in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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[/et_pb_row]
[/et_pb_column]

Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It’s one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience – with your accessible, branded content – in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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[/et_pb_column]
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