Affiliate Marketing: Promote Shopee and Lazada Products

Affiliate Marketing in the Philippines

Affiliate Marketing is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to start earning online. There is a vast affiliate marketing programs available internationally which are accessible in the internet today. These affiliate programs offer different categories from physical products, digital products as well as services. But in this article we will focus on Shopee and Lazada affiliate programs since most beginners in the affiliate marketing world need few guide on how to start in this journey.

The situation in the Philippines amidst Pandemic is not a joke as unemployment rates increase especially in the National Capital Region. Some people who were not given chances to retain their jobs moved to their provinces to start or re-start new lifestyle – in a sense a “new normal”. And if you are one of them, don’t get discouraged but take heart! This may be your chance to become a successful Affiliate Marketer!

Five Easy to Follow Steps on How to Promote Shopee and Lazada Products

Affiliate Marketing Step #1: Registration as a Publisher at Involve Asia – To register at Involve Asia, you need to at least have a “Property” where you can display the Advertisers’ products. The property can be a Facebook page, Facebook group, Pinterest Page, Instagram Business or Personal account, Youtube Channel, Twitter, Website, etc. Fill up the Registration Form with your details, submit and wait for the approval of your account as a Publisher.

Affiliate Marketing Step #2: Approved Account – Once your account is approved, you need to apply to different Advertisers in the Involve Asia platform. When your application is submitted, accepted and approved by the Advertiser, you can then promote any of the products of that Advertiser.

Affiliate Marketing Step #3 Choose a way to promote a product(s). You can promote different products through shoplinks, deeplinks, banners, vouchers, datafeed, etc. One of the most easiest and effective way to promote affiliate products of Shopee and affiliate products of Lazada is through deeplinks. My husband and I often use this method to promote affiliate products because in our experience, this marketing method works for us.

Affiliate Marketing Step #4 Be sure to target the right customers or group of people – correct audience matters! Why? Niche focus is compared to a Dart Board while Dart Pins are compared to your products. You must give or offer right products to the right audience. In other words, throw the pins to the board with precise move force and timing. Likewise, offer products which match the exact tastes, age groups, interests, etc. of your prospective customers.

Affiliate Marketing Step #5 Choose at least two or more properties or platforms to introduce, promote or advertise those affiliate products. We use usually use Pinterest and Facebook when marketing affiliate products.

Why are products from Shopee and Lazada easy to promote in the Philippines?

Most Affiliate Marketers choose to promote affiliate products from Shopee and Lazada because of the following reasons:

• Shopee App and Lazada App – Both applications are user-friendly for both buyers and sellers. The apps can easily be installed with only few clicks.
• Mode of Payments – The Cash-On-Delivery (COD) offer of Shopee and Lazada attracts buyers who are skeptical of payment first policy.  With COD, buyers can check out products without hassle.
• Mode of Shipment – Local suppliers or sellers have the option to choose what couriers to enable in at the seller center back office. Enabling two (2) or more courier providers is an advantage.
• Shopee and Lazada – are the two most popular buy and sell app for all ages in the Philippines.

5.  Trusted Brands and Sellers – There is no need for heavy advertising because most brands and sellers in both platforms are properly screened and verified. The advantage of this is that affiliate marketers that promote these affiliate products and or affiliate programs do not need to heavily boost their promotions or advertising efforts thereby making affiliate marketing an enjoyable business.

Five Tips in Affiliate Marketing – Promote Shopee Products

Affiliate Marketing Tip #1: Choose a trusted brand.  When promoting affiliate products, be sure to read the comments of the buyers and from their comments generate your catchy introduction or promotional text.  For example, you have read a comment saying the product is good, the size is perfect, the color of the items delivered is exactly the same color of the item ordered, etc. Here, you can make advertisement posts like: “This is one of the best sellers. See comments of satisfied customers, etc.”

Affiliate Marketing Tip #2: Be mindful of seasonal products.  For example, one or two months before an event or holiday, you should have planned what affiliate products to promote – Christmas Season products – ham, Christmas tree, gift ideas and e-gift cards, etc.

Affiliate Marketing Tip #3: Use a catchy image or picture when you promote affiliate products to social media platforms. Choose or create images that catch the attention of the audience.

Affiliate Marketing Tip #4. Use texts or put a short text and readable information in the product image – price, sale, unit or brand, etc.  My husband and I have proven that this affiliate marketing method is very effective.

Affiliate Marketing Tip #5.Put a call-to-action in your posts. “Shop now” Buy now” “Learn more”, “Click here”, are just some of the most popular CTAs that work well.

Affiliate Marketing as a Passive Income Stream

Once Affiliate Marketing Strategies are properly planned and set in place, the online business will thrive and will provide a long-term passive income stream. To conclude, affiliate marketing is one of the best and easiest ways to build an online business.  More so, there is no need to buy or manufacture products to sell and promote, no warehouse costs, no shipping costs, no inventory to maintain. Affiliate marketers just need to put advertising strategies, a little investment to promote if you plan to promote via paid advertisements, and of course, the ability to observe market behavior, trends, and courage to implement planned those affiliate marketing strategies you have in mind.

Something for you to think about:

Beginner (Affiliate Marketer 1) – develops new strategies on his own.

Beginner (Affiliate Marketer 2) – implements what is tried and proven strategies

Beginner (Affiliate Marketer 3) – combines new and tried affiliate marketing strategies

Beginner (Affiliate Marketer 4) – confused.

Expert: I think I have experienced 1-4!!! The difference is that I can easily shift and swift when it is needed!

"The first rule of focus is this: where ever you are be there". Unknown Author

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus". - Alexander Graham Bell

Marketing and the Power of Persistence

What is Marketing?

Marketing is any activity or set of activities such as communicating, advertising, delivering messages in print media, television, person-to-person, audio clip, etc. to a group of people or society at large with an aim to influence their buying objectives and decisions.

Popular Types of Marketing

I. Digital Marketing or Internet Marketing
1. Content Marketing
2. Affiliate Marketing
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Email Marketing
5.Mixed Media Marketing

II. Traditional Marketing or Non-Internet Marketing
1. Direct Sales Marketing
2. Word-of-Mouth Marketing
3. Print Media and Audio Clips Marketing

You may be asking yourself which of the above is the most effective type of marketing to use in order to promote your product and get a higher percentage of sales. Well, the answer simply depends on how you would like to get results and how do you perceive your goals – short-term or long-term goals.

1.     Fast and easy but costly (short-term) – you can use mixed media marketing like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.  If you have a very good and enticing images and videos for your products, most likely, people will click on your ads and you pay per click accordingly.  In this kind or marketing, most advertisers choose to target a very limited audience or narrowed target markets in order not to spend too much on the clicks of uninterested audience.  With these kinds or types of marketing strategies, think of growing a Mushroom. You can grow a bunch of Mushrooms overnight and profit from them immediately. If not harvested correctly and on time, mushrooms die off naturally. 

2.     Slow and steady yet free or can be of low cost (long-term) – you can use content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing and other traditional types of marketing  Authority websites have chosen these kinds of marketing strategies.  By their website contents they have already built their credibility. When we say website content, we mostly refer to articles, images, videos and product links within their websites. Authority websites need not much of active marketing as their credibility themselves market for them and the search engines like to show their contents especially if their “meta” framework and keywords choice are well-engineered.  With these kinds or types of marketing strategies, think of growing a Bamboo. Growing a bamboo will take months. You’ll notice that you already have Bamboo Clusters in a few more months from that single bamboo planted into a fertile soil suitable for growing the plants. You can have the benefit of growing bamboos for a long time. I tell you bamboo clusters are very hard to eliminate!  

Those are metaphors and from these examples, you can familiarize yourself with what kind of marketing strategy to use by trying and testing. Choose the best marketing strategy or combination of marketing strategies to apply in order to make your online business or traditional business thrive in this fast-changing digital era.

The Most Popular Types of Marketing and How to Apply them Effectively

I. Digital Marketing or Internet Marketing

1. Content Marketing

This popular quote, “Content is king and engagement is queen” is very trueWhy did I agree with the quote?  The answer is because I have proven that contents that meet the needs of target audience will somehow get more engagements, too. Content Marketing really works.

2. Affiliate Marketing

We already know what Marketing is, and now let us find out what is an “Affiliate”.

What is an Affiliate?

According to Oxford Dictionary, an affiliate is a person or organization officially attach to a larger body.

Affiliate Marketing is any activity or set of activities such as communicating, advertising, delivering messages in print media, television, person-to-person, audio clip, etc. to a group of people or society at large with an aim to influence their buying objectives and decisions by an affiliate as approved by a larger body or organization he is affiliated with, following and engaging with the terms and conditions agreed upon by both parties.

Marketing products and services as an affiliate is the most popular and is one of the best ways to make money online as an influencer, blogger, marketer, publisher, vlogger, etc. because the products and services to promote are ALL READY to be served or delivered to the customers or buyers.  The affiliate needs only to promote the services or products to target market or target audience. The affiliate earns a percentage or commission from every sale made. 

My husband and I are affiliates of some good and reputable companies. Here are our favorite seven:

1. Involve Asia

2. Fiverr

3. Creative Fabrica

4. Shopee

5. Shopee Mall

6. Lazada

7. iHerb

3. Social Media Marketing

Let us see how the Oxford Dictionary defines, “Social” and “Media”

Social –an informal social gathering, especially one organized by the members of a particular club or group

Media – is defined as the main means of communication regarded collectively.

Social Media Platforms such as Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, Quora, Instagram, Tumbler, Twitter are great avenues to find a group of people or community with the same interests or advocacies

Social Media Marketing is a favorite marketing strategy of most influencers who have large numbers of followers.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is probably the best strategy to build a long-term business. The funneling system makes it possible to let previous customers buy future products offers again and again.

5. Mixed Media Marketing

Mixed media marketing strategy is most effective when the product or services being promoted is evergreen and the products’ or services’ availability is relevant at all times. For example, if you are selling only one item like a custom-made jewelry you previously bought, mixed media marketing may not be the best solution for you to sell it. Imagine, marketing it on email, youtube, pay-per-click at the same time and then after a few minutes the item has been sold. It will hurt you credibility if you mark something “for sale” now and then after few minutes you mark it “sold” already. The next time you post something like this again, your potential buyers may doubt if the item you are offering is still available or not, the height of their interest will drop if this happens often. Mixed media marketing is the use of two or more different marketing strategies at the same time.

II.  Traditional Marketing or Non-Internet Marketing

1. Direct Sales Marketing

Direct Sales Marketing is usually used by Companies whose products are promoted by the members of their business organization themselves. Examples: Amway, Avon, etc. Although direct sales marketing it categorized as traditional business, many companies have shifted to marketing their products using Internet Marketing, too.

2. Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Word-of Mouth Marketing is equivalent to Viral Marketing in the digital world.  This Marketing strategy is proven effective since the ages.  Have you noticed those free samples of cookies, pizzas, coffee, soaps, perfumes, noodles, etc. inside malls and department stores? They are promoting the products by letting potential customers, taste, feel, smell or own a product for free.  The potential customers will buy or not according to the result of his or her experience, talk about this experience about the product with his neighbors, friends and relatives. This word of mouth marketing strategy goes viral – positively or negatively according to the result of the experience(s) of those who have tried the products.

3.Print Media and Audio Clips Marketing

Print media and audio clips marketing are those we often see in the newspapers, billboards, printed magazines and radios.

The Power of Perseverance

Now that we already know about marketing and the different marketing strategies, it is time to connect to something humane- let us give value to human ingenuity.

Many online businesses are now being run by Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems which make some businesses operate with efficiency and precision and this is one of the many advantages and benefits of living in this digital era.

But do not undermine your talents. Always remind yourself that you are clever and you can achieve your goals with perseverance.

What is perseverance and what can it do to your online business or traditional business?

Perseverance according to the Oxford English Dictionary is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

What is perseverance and what can it do to your online business or traditional business? Perseverance can make your business thrive and succeed. More so, it can polish and develop your inner core more than you could imagine!

Much is being said, It is time to act.

 Perseverance, in my opinion is knowledge in action, improving that knowledge and action, and repeating it again and again until target goals are met.

“The inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the cause of action.” - Raymond Holliwell

Earn Passive Income by Writing Ebooks

The Kindle Direct Publishing Platform

In this digital age, self-publishing has become more popular than traditional publishing. This has gained lots of benefits for the writers, the publishing platforms as well as the readers. In self-publishing, the writers retain control over the books he/she is publishing and they enjoy much higher profit margin. Since self-publishing platforms provide access to the platform, writers can update any detail or edit their work anytime. It is relatively inexpensive as compared to traditional publishing. There is no need to get the book or manuscript approved before publishing.  

Writers enjoy the freedom to work on their own pace and style, as well.  Self-publishing however, tends to be tedious at first because writers prepare everything by themselves if they choose not to outsource other works like preparing e-covers, editing and proof reading. Formatting and cover design is a critical point in self-publishing because this is the front of the product – ebook. The ebook cover is the promotional flyer itself. But do not worry because formatting and designing an ebook cover can all be outsourced for your convenience if you have enough funds for it.

Kindle Publishing : An Overview

What is the Kindle Bookstore?

In 2007, Amazon introduced the Kindle App which is an electronic reading device. It makes use of wireless connectivity to allow users to browse, search and download ebooks, magazines, blogs, newspapers and other digital media to the App. Ebooks can be downloaded to the Amazon’s Kindle App. From 88,000 digital titles, the library quickly grew to more than 765,000 titles in 2011 and continuously growing until now. Think of the Kindle bookstore as a search engine for books. Anything that ranks well and becomes popular does not need further promotion.

Amazon is clever enough to expand their customer base by offering a Kindle app for every platform there is.

In terms of volume, the Kindle bookstore offers a much more competitive offer than the big boys Barnes and Noble’s. The diligent community of users who put out book reviews also helps. While offline book sales are dropping, online sales are going the opposite direction. This trend is set to continue as predicted by experts. If you plan to self-publish, selling your book via the Kindle bookstore is a must.

But how exactly do you do this? Here is how:

The Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Program

Being a published author on the Kindle bookstore is pretty straightforward. This is possible through the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program. It allows any writer to participate in the 70% royalty program and the ebook becomes available in all Kindle devices when downloaded. To publish an ebook, one need to open an account at Kindle Direct Publishing Platform.

How to publish an ebook in Amazon’s KDP

Self-Publishing on Amazon’s Kindle Bookstore

Getting published through the Kindle bookstore is quite easy. Content may be uploaded online in a matter of minutes depending on the size of the files. Here are the steps in publishing:

Kindle Publishing Step#1: Format the ebook content

Have the ebook prepared and formatted. Amazon sets the standards for formatting so be sure to edit accordingly. The Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) requires a simple HMTL code without any CSS-style sheets. Other formats such as DOC and PDF are accepted but HTML conversion is preferred. Do this by saving your document on MS Word to HTML (Web Page, filtered). Page numbers, footers and headers must be removed since Kindle re-flows everything according to reading settings and font size. The table of contents should have links to each section it refers to.

Kindle Publishing Step#2: Cover Images

Prepare two cover images, one in full color and one in grayscale, should be included. Cover images should be in JPG or TIF format and around 400 x 600 pixels on the longest side.

Kindle Publishing Step#3: Upload the cover images and content

Go to https://kdp.amazon.com/ on your web browser. Log-in to your account or sign up. After signing in or signing up, click “Add New Item” on the following page. There are expandable sections which need to be filled in and they appear under the heading that says “My Shelf.”

Kindle Publishing Step#4:  Enter product details

Enter the product details which include the title, description (note the limit of 4000 characters) and keywords among others. Enter an ISBN if you have one. Otherwise, Amazon will assign one for tracking reference. Leave the publisher field blank if you do not have one. This is where you upload your cover image as well. Note the option to enable or disable digital rights management. When you are done, click on “Save Entries.”

Kindle Publishing Step#5: Content Rights

Confirm your Content Rights. Select radio buttons for all the territories where you have sale or distribution rights. Check the box to confirm that you have the right to upload content. Upload and preview your eBook. Be sure that the file type is accepted by the Kindle bookstore.

Kindle Publishing Step#6: Set the Price

Enter the retail price. The minimum amount is set at USD.99 and the maximum is USD200. Authors can retain as much as 70% of the price so be sure to consider this when pricing.

Kindle Publishing Step#7: Publish the ebook

Hit the "Publish" button. The eBook has already been uploaded to the Kindle bookstore. The process of approval will take around 24 to 48 hours to complete and after approval it will appear in search area on Amazon as well as in Google once indexed.

Kindle Publishing Step#8: Revision to a published ebook

If an author would like to make a revision to the ebook published, he must be sure to upload an edited version. It will overwrite the original without a hitch.

Ranking on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Platform

The Importance of Keywords:

Keywords affect how people will find your eBook. As such, an author should put a lot of thought into which words will be used. Getting this right maximizes the ebook’s exposure and will rank higher on the Amazon search engine.

The importance of finding the right niche and targeting the right audience:

Identifying the audience is one of the most important aspects of writing. Before an ebook is written, the author needs to know who exactly are the target readers or audience. In other words, set a definite target audience and focus on writing.  There must be a narrowed down or streamlined audience or target to arrive at a point where you can start focusing the content of your eBook. This is called niche.

Identifying the audience makes the ebook more manageable and it is easier to choose a niche. It also gives a huge advantage when it comes to marketing. Once this is out of the way, any writer can start ticking off items on a checklist. The following is a sample list of factors in choosing a niche:

Target Audience or Readers:

1.  Age Group
2.  Gender
3.  Background Experience o Depth of Topic
4.  Economic Status or Education
5.  Ethnicity or Familiarity
6.  Location or Profession or Interest

The above list is basis for choosing the right niche for a topic.  The ebook will be based on these criteria which include vocabulary, sentence structure, tone, humor and imagery among others. In short, the content of the eBook should be done with the audience in mind just like a teacher giving a lesson in front of his/her students.  Grade school students need the basic lessons. Post graduate students need an in depth lessons or discussions. 

The Flow of Your Writing Style

After you start with your eBook, it is a good idea to keep this checklist as you progress. See if everything are still focused on writing for your selected audience based on the items on your list. If so, then keep on writing. If not, you may want to make the necessary changes and adjustments to stay on track.

As you can see, this means that you have to do a lot of research before starting your eBook. This is best done during the planning phase where everything is still being laid out. Writing for a specific audience also increases your chances of success. This is why it is so important to spend some efforts and time into making sure that your eBook is focused on specific topic for a specific audience.

Writing in Mainstream: Finding the Balance

Writing for audiences means having to choose between mainstream topics and more specialized niche topics. This is one of the most crucial decisions you will have to make as a writer. Each one has its own pros and cons as discussed below.

Going Deep with Niches

Writing for a niche audience is a good thing because of the profit potential involved. More often than not, the information you need to present here is very specific. Details are very much needed which means a lot of research is required. As such, the kind of writer needed when going deep is someone who knows a lot about something specific. You can quickly build an online reputation here and be recognized as an expert in the field.

Writing for a niche audience is a good thing because of the profit potential involved. More often than not, the information you need to present here is very specific. Details are very much needed which means a lot of research is required. As such, the kind of writer needed when going deep is someone who knows a lot about something specific. You can quickly build an online reputation here and be recognized as an expert in the field.

Niche writing involves what to write about. It takes a special kind of writer to come up with content for niche topics. This means there is less competition here which is a good thing in terms of making a profit. Niche writing is not about writing things you like or what people enjoy reading. It is all about sharing content to those who want to pay for it. Apart from enjoying less competition, your audience is also much more targeted. This makes coming up with useful content much easier. You only have to worry about a narrow band of topics. This makes earning a pay check easier.

On the other hand, you need to spend a lot of time on research to become an expert, otherwise you will find it difficult to come up with content. Niche writing is time consuming since it requires some heavy thinking. Another thing is that not all niches are profitable.

Going Wide with Niches

Going wide means you write for a broader audience. Instead of coming up with topics for teenage girls, you can expand your base to include teenagers in general. This style of writing is versatile and can fit any writer’s personal style. When you go wide, it is much easier to write an eBook. You can pick up any topic you want and start coming up with content in a matter of minutes. Keeping this up is easy as well. There is no need for long hours spent on research. Best of all, you can ride trending topics and include them in your writing for your benefit.

Writing for a more mainstream crowd is not without its pitfalls though. It is easy to go wide but this also means you have a lot of competition there. This means it can be quite difficult to make money especially when you are a newcomer. Promoting your eBook is difficult and involves promotional costs as well. Building a loyal following of readers is also a challenge. There is a good chance that not a lot of people are all interested in the same topics.

The eBook Readers

Few years ago, no one would have known what an eBook was. This is how new this concept is but now it is so popular that even kids read ebooks on their tablets more that flipping a coloring book on a paper book. As such, eBook readers belong to the younger crowd of Generations X and Y.

More often than not, these are the people who grew up with technology as their playmate. Any ebook’s audience then, is technologically savvy and used to the on-the-go modern lifestyle. If you are writing an eBook aimed at young adults in their early 20’s, there is a good chance that it will do well in the Kindle bookstore. A large number of this crowd does their shopping online anyway.

They are more likely to turn towards their mobile devices to read this content as well. Conversely, an eBook aimed at an older audience may not enjoy as much success except for few targeted audiences like those who are in the upper or middle class life styles where they were also influenced by their younger peers or loved ones, children or grandchildren just like my mother who is already a Senior Citizen but is so fond in her gadgets as a past time and hobby. But there are some surveys that writing about popular activities after retirement may be profitable in physical bookstores but it may stagnate online.

So, choose you niche considering some of these surveys or some facts. This is another good reason for identifying the audience vis-a-vis the niche. It lets the author see if the ebook idea will flourish or sell. Many experts believe that this generation gap is set to disappear eventually. For the meantime it is there and you have to consider this in your decision in choosing your niche.

Here are some quotes for you:

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” - Sylvia Plath

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” - Anne Frank

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” - Louis L’Amour

What is a Brand and What are the Popular Branding Strategies

 What is a Brand?

A brand in simple term is called an “identifier”. It could be a name, a logo, a header, a symbol or anything that makes a company, a product, a service or intellectual property, identifiable where it belongs. A brand is protected by a copyright or a trademark when registered in a patent office or agency – local or international. Branding and labeling are key factors of product marketability and business success.

Why is a brand important in a business?

Importance of brand name in the industry where it belongs

Any kind of product, be it physical, digital or intangible product like intellectual property, needs a brand name in order to be competitive in the market within the same line of industry where it belongs. A brand is important even in marketing and advertising because it is the brand name, logo or tag lines, etc. that make people remember what is being advertised. The brand resonates to the consumers or to potential target market. Have you ever noticed promotions or advertisements of generic products? Seldom - right? It is because generic products are hardly remembered because they do not have names.

 Importance of brand name to business owners

If you are a manufacturer of your own products who would like to sell on your own brand name, you will always set high quality standards. Likewise, when another company produces them for you, this is called “white labeling or private labeling” you will always have the same sets of criteria for them to follow because as a brand owner there is a commitment to maintaining or always improving the quality of your own brand. Brand name is important to business owners because of authenticity and credibility. Authenticity in branding plays a very important role in gaining consumers’ or buyers’ confidence and loyalty. Whereas, credibility, give the business owners both challenges and rewards of being on the sweet spot in the market industry and therefore, not to give place for complacency.

Importance of brand name to the consumer

Once a consumable product has been tested by a customer and is satisfied, he is likely to buy the product again and again – he becomes loyal to the brand unless this customer is an explorer who wants to try almost everything new (this is fun for some but terrifying for many especially if the products explored are beauty products). Imagine using a beauty product with a new brand with the buyer’s expectation of making her skin look younger and beautiful but she has got an ironic result! Brand name is important to customers most especially if the products become part of their lifestyles. Satisfied customers are good advertisers which could go viral.

 What are examples of brand elements?

Brand name

Brand imagery

Brand color

Logo

Header

Banner and Signage

Favicon

Tag Lines and others

Here are some classic examples using brand elements in different categories:

Jon Morrow, who is the founder of Smartblogger.com uses Blue texts in his blogs.

Robert Kiyosaki uses hues of Purple in his book covers.

Colgate uses Red and White.

Mc Donalds uses Yellow M for its signage and logo.

Google uses a combination of Blue, Orange, Green and Red for its products

… and so the list goes on.

Branding Strategies

1. Brand Positioning Strategy

Branding strategies differ from business to business. Aligning your product brand with other products within the market industry is a good strategy to strengthen business foundation – we call this, Brand Positioning. Find your sweet spot and build from there.

Here are some classic brand positioning strategies:

1.Price-Value Positioning - emphasize the value or the benefit which the customers are getting with the price they are paying.

2.Quality Positioning - quality control is greatly adhered by business owners when they like their brand names to stay long (or forever) on top in the market industry and they keep on innovating and improving their products as needed.

3. Purpose-Driven Positioning - these are focused on their advocacy, missions, goals and etc. while building their brand - think of business solutions, apps, intellectual properties.

4.Product Positioning - used in most consumable products. This is exercised within or inside the business itself. Example, you choose a product to promote, when it becomes a "best seller", you make another product as a package then choose the best seller and partner it with those which are not so noticeable yet so that it will rank higher in your list of products once promoted. When that partnered product becomes known, make another product package or offer it as a stand-alone product with a higher price. In other words, product positioning is like choosing your top ten students to compete in a challenge - train those who are in the numbers 6-10 with those in top 5. Later on, those in the ranks 6-10 goes up at par with the top 5. So then, you'll have 10 products in the top 5!

5. Market Class Positioning - this is the same as number 4 but instead of product, you'll choose market class or product line to compete in that line of market industry. AND you choose who is your target market - the masses, a certain group only, the elite, gender, age groups, etc.

2. Brand Pricing Strategy

Brand pricing is focused on cost-benefit factors. A business with a brand that targets Elite Market has exclusive pricing system. Brand pricing is adjusted to each level especially when the product offered is a subscription-based product.

Examples are:

Regular – Group A Market

Premium – Group B Market

Silver – Group C Market

Gold – Group D Market

Research is important in this kind of branding strategy because knowing the group or market class in order to set the prices per group is critical. This is to avoid comments like - "it's too cheap", "it's too expensive", "it's not worth it", etc. As a business owner, we always would like to hear the customers say: "it's worth it!" , "the price is right", etc. Read an article about RESEARCH HERE.

3. Brand Recognition Strategy

The main goal of branding is identification. There is a difference between identification and recognition:  We will borrow terms from the English Webster Dictionary.

Identification – a psychological orientation to self in regard to something.

Recognition – a special notice or attention.

Based on the definitions “recognition” is relevant when it catches attention. Brand Recognition therefore, is very effective in building relationships to customers. Brand Recognition Strategy is making the target market know more about your brand and vice-versa (Brand Awareness). Examples:

Mc Donalds - puts signage at crossroads where most travelers see the signage.

Facebook – you can see them in almost all websites with social sharing buttons. If you can see the blue small letter “f” ,you know its FaceBook. This is the same with other social media sites like Pinterest with "P", Twitter with "t" , Instagram with the "camera", etc.

Apple – if you are using an Apple product, you’ll always notice the shiny little fruit in there.

… and again, the list goes on.

Or maybe, I’ll introduce a little about our website “OBC” which uses a brand recognition strategy by putting some quotes here and there, some images in every post, and we use orange, green and blue color hues whenever necessary. And I hope you’ll recognize it the next time you see OBC somewhere in the search engines. :)

4. Brand Personality Strategy

This branding strategy is most common if a business would like to offer a brand to target markets or groups with the same sentiments tapping on emotions, intellect, advocacy, missions, etc. If you are aware of the social media, there is already this called “STORY” in the boards, posts, etc. Brand personality strategy taps the emotional aspect of the target market and this branding strategy is very effective in building relationship with customers and this is therefore the best way to cultivate loyalty of customers to the brand. Brand personality strategy focuses on communities and encourages responses or reactions from the groups. This is therefore, again, the best way to analyse market demands and needs. With this branding strategy in place, product development, product collaboration, and new product introduction is easy. Brand personality strategy is mostly used by big market players - instead of them competing at each other, they collaborate.

5. Brand Signature Strategy

Almost all businesses with multiple products and services have established their brand signature products or services. They put it in the front lines or hide them in their treasure box but offer them only to those who are proven loyal to them (for members or subscribers- only- products).

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