Tag Archive for: Branding

Why a New Website is a Great Marketing Tactic

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Whether you’re a B2B, or B2C company, or both; giving your website an overhaul every few years is a great move to make for the success of your business. A lot changes industry-wise and market-wise in a single year, let alone in a few years. The needs and wants of your audience are constantly evolving, and to continue seeing the expansion you envision; making the pertinent changes to match current trends will set you apart from your competitors.

Here are just a few reasons remodeling your website every few years makes for a great marketing tactic:

1. Brand Evolution

While the overall mission of your brand may not have and may never change, there’s no doubt that every few years, your brand evolves in more ways than one. Your rates have increased as you now offer more to your services, you have added a new facet or department to your business model, you have expanded from just one location to a handful of locations…The possibilities for how a business can change are endless, and no matter what those changes are, you’ll want to update both the aesthetic and the content of your website to reflect them.

2. Audience Shifts

As you evolve as a company, it is very likely that there will be some shifts in your audience as well, even if those shifts are small. For example: if you, like us, are a Staffing Agency, if you add a new job type, you’ll want to make changes on your website that appeal to the group of people who would be interested in that line of work. Additionally, many things change how your target audience thinks and approaches things. The pandemic, current wages, and how competitive the job market is, are all factors that influence your audience’s habits. In the current world of convenience, it’s important that your website be user-friendly from a smartphone, not just from a desktop. You’ll also want to make sure that the feel of your website is appealing to your current audience.

3. Brand Perception

Every company wants to have a good reputation and that goes beyond just your customer service and how you appear across your social media platforms. When your brand is new to someone, the first place they go to gather more information is your website. If the first thing they see is outdated icons and irrelevant content, they will look no further.

Reconstructing your website to reflect modern times shows that you are a company that is willing to invest where it matters, that you care to speak directly to your target audience, and that you are up-to-date on what’s happening in your field.

If your company is in need of employees, we at Award are here to help. Connect with us here to see how we can help you take your business to the next level.

How to Have a Strong Employer Brand

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If someone were to ask you what it’s like to work at places like Facebook, Google, or Apple, you would likely tell them that it’s a fun and laid-back environment that is trendy and health conscious. And the interesting part is…you don’t even have to work there to know that. This is because all of these companies have a strong employer brand.

An employer brand is a company’s reputation as an employer and how they are viewed from an internal employee’s perspective.

Most companies don’t put much thought into this because there is already so much branding and marketing to be done for their products and services as well as advertising open positions. However, employers that have an amazing work culture and an innovate strategy to promote it have an easier time finding the right talent who stays with the company over the long-term.

Here are our top recommendations for creating a strong employer brand that will attract top talent.

1. Conduct a Culture Audit

A culture audit is an assessment of your organization’s workplace culture that helps you determine how your company culture is perceived by employees as well as clients and vendors. Doing so will give you a good idea of what is currently working, what your employees value, and what areas need improvement. Gather data by asking your employees to complete an anonymous survey. Some good foundational questions to ask are:

  • How would you describe our company’s leadership?
  • What is our office environment like to you?
  • Have you come across any obstacles that have gotten in the way of your work?

It’s also important that you give them the ability to offer feedback and suggestions.

2. Add a Company Culture Section to Your Website

In nearly every job posting, companies claim that they have a “great company culture”, but outside of a brief description, give prospective candidates no way to gage whether or not they see themselves as a culture fit. Since a company’s culture is such a big determining factor for whether or not someone chooses to apply and/or work for a place, having this will set you apart from your competitors. A few things to include are:

  • A video that shows what the office/worksite looks like
  • A list or photos of some of the perks and fun things your company offers
  • A link to some of the causes your company supports with facts and statistics about that social issue

3. Spotlight Your Employees

Your employees are what make your business possible, and they all want to feel recognized for their efforts and contributions. Whether it’s through your blog, social media posts, or bi-weekly newsletter, feature your employees with their picture, some personal fun facts, and a highlight of their accomplishments. This will make your employees feel valued and show anyone who visits your online platforms that you appreciate your team and the work that they do.

4. Showcase Your Company Culture Across Your Social Media Platforms

The lowest hanging fruit is to post all about your products and services and write blog posts about what’s current in your industry. While this is definitely a good use of your social media channels, it doesn’t need to be the only thing you ever post about. In fact, you will have much more traction if you do something outside of the norm. When people browse your online platforms, they want to be engaged and see your brand’s personality. Make your digital spaces a bit more personal by posting photos of company outings, projects, and events; and accompany them with a caption that tells the story behind the photo.

Additionally, it’s essential that what you advertise about your company online, translates to how it actually is to work there.

If your company is in need of employees, we at Award Staffing are here to help. Contact us with your staffing needs here.

How Are You Building Your Brand in 2022?

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In the fast-moving and ever-so-competitive world we are currently living in, it’s the companies with strong, regularly evolving brands that will bring in the most business and continue to grow. It’s common knowledge that the pandemic, among a variety of other factors, have forever changed consumer behavior as well as employee needs and standards. As a result, many new norms have been created. Organizations that want to continue to thrive must adapt to shifts within the market and their industry, and must consider both their target audience and their employees when implementing new and improved processes. This begins with how a company brands themselves.

Branding is the ongoing process of creating a special identity that is associated with your company, products, and/or services. When most people think of branding, they envision logos, colors, and a catchy tagline. While those things are definitely aspects of branding, they account for a small fraction of branding as a whole. In order to create a strong and memorable brand, an organization must think of their brand as the identity and reputation of their business.

Building a powerful brand is how you will generate awareness, positive associations, and loyalty to your company and offerings. They way you get your audience to perceive your company and the value that it brings is by formulating an effective brand strategy. Here are some of the top ways to build your brand in 2022:

1. Emphasize Your Mission, Values, and Culture

Despite current popular belief, there isn’t actually a worker shortage; there is a shortage of companies that meet employee needs. Job seekers are in search of companies that align with their values and are willing to accommodate needs that may not have been there prior to the pandemic. You may very well be keeping up with workplace trends and have the best business model in your industry. However, if you want to attract employees that are a culture fit, you must advertise what you are all about across multiple platforms. People today look for purpose and want to feel valued at their place of employment. Additionally, people are more inclined to partner with and buy from companies that are making a difference. Don’t be afraid to showcase current projects or feature your core values on your website and social media.

Ways to Emphasize Your Mission, Values, and Culture:

  • Have a page dedicated to your mission on your website
  • Create posts about each one of your values and how your company embodies them for social media
  • Make an effort to recognize your employees publicly
  • Showcase your company charity projects on your website and social media

2. Know What Differentiates You

Every organization has something that separates them from their competitors, but it’s not always evident to their target audience. When constructing brand campaigns, it’s crucial to highlight how individuals would benefit from choosing you. Whether it’s your pricing, your fast turnaround time, or your stellar customer service; you must underline your unique selling point to compel your audience to buy from you.

Things that Can Differentiate Your Company:

  • What you look for in employees
  • Events your organization hosts
  • Having specialty departments
  • Having access to certain data

3. Establish Your Brand’s Personality

In order to have consistent messaging, you have to position your brand with a personality. Creative, professional, and luxury are all examples of brand personalities. Once you determine the personality of your brand, you will be able to create consistency in what your audience can expect from you. Everything from the wording you use in your print collateral to the way you facilitate conversations with potential buyers should match your brand’s personality. This gives consumers a way to identify you and decide whether or not your company will meet their needs should they partner with you.

Things that Establish Your Brand’s Personality:

  • The tone in your email campaigns
  • The graphics you use on your social media pages
  • The tactics you use to promote your services
  • The “extras” you offer to your clients

4. Experiment with Your Messaging

Companies that have the most success are the ones that test multiple different tactics to see what their audience responds best to. As the market changes, so will the mentalities and needs of your ideal client/customer. It’s important that you adjust your branding to address their pain points. This is most effective when it is backed by market research. Take the time to gather data and experiment with different platforms and advertisements to see what they engage the most with. You may be surprised at what they are drawn to.

How to Experiment with Messaging: 

  • Try a combination of free and paid marketing strategies
  • Keep track of when and where you get the most responses from your ideal clients
  • Poll your audience regarding what they want to see
  • Test out marketing tactics and platforms that are new and trendy

If your company is in need of employees, we at Award are here to help. Contact us with your staffing needs.

 

What is Your Company Known For?

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If you were at a business event and someone were to ask you or anyone on your team what your company is known for; would you be able to give them a confident response?

Of course you are known for the products you sell or the services you provide, but what exactly makes your organization’s model and digital presence different from that of your competitors?

This key selling point is often one that gets missed, since the top priority for most businesses is simply to promote their company as the best in the industry at what they do.

However, with more and more companies establishing themselves on social media to beat out their competition for the top spot in the algorithm; and a market where employees and job seekers have the upper hand, standing having strategically placed qualities that set you apart is what will make the difference between a company that is remembered and one that is not.

In previous years at Award, we have had a strong digital presence, particularly on Facebook, known as the local staffing agency that has a comical and entertaining presence. Through our creative use of skits, movie characters, and themed photographs, we build a solid audience and omnipresence to a group of people, of which many would become our associates.

Over the past year, we have rebranded and with that have also reactivated an important piece of our business- our Award Cares program.

It has always been important to us that we give back to our community; which is why, as of last summer, we decided to do a company-wide service project every quarter going forward.

To enhance each of these projects, we also create a social media campaign that showcases the progress of them from beginning to end on social media

Through this, we began to see a significant increase in our social media engagement, particularly on LinkedIn.

Many of our connections have showed an interest and what we are doing and have expressed the desire to do similar things at their companies as well.

To really stand out, we experimented with the idea of all black and white photos, with a pop of color. This began during our Warming Their Soles sock drive last fall when we wanted the primary focus of the pictures to be the socks our employees were wearing and the stories behind them.

It proved to gain a lot of traction online; therefore, we decided to keep it going and to make it a main focus of our strategy. Now, when people see the black and white photos with just a hint of our green and turquoise brand colors, they instantly recognize it as a post from Award Staffing.

Implementing these things the past several months have proven to be a very effective way build a presence within our local and online communities, all while showcasing what we at Award are all about.

What is something your company does or can do to increase that recognition factor within your industry?

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If you’re company is in need of employees, we at Award are here to help. Contact us here with your staffing needs. 

What Is Your Company Known For?

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Today, as some of our team was in a meeting discussing things we would like to roll out early next year, a very simple but profound statement came up; “We do two things, we sell and we hire”. It’s true, here at Award Staffing, we sell our services to local businesses and we help local residents find work (at those companies). Sure there are many moving parts to this, and they are not the only things we do per se, but those two things are our primary functions; they are what we are known for. That being said, if someone were to ask you what your company does, would you know what to tell them without giving a long, drawn-out explanation?

Many times in college marketing classes, students who are about to go out in search of their first real job, are taught how to craft an Elevator Pitch about themselves. An elevator pitch is a statement or description of a product or company that explains the concept in a clear way within a matter of seconds. Essentially, if you only had one elevator ride to tell someone what you did, what would you tell them? Although you may do a variety of things, this pitch is meant to highlight what’s most important so someone can decide if they are interested in working with you or your company. Truthfully, you never know where you’ll meet an ideal client or future employer or how much time you’ll have when you do. Therefore, being prepared for when that opportunity comes will put you at an advantage. Remember, though you and everyone at your company may be experts at what you do; the rest of the world isn’t as well versed. In order to market your company as one that others would want to work with, it’s important to be able to communicate your expertise in a prompt yet efficient manner.

There are a number of reasons it is important to explain what you do succinctly:

1. Your Website

People tend to have very short attention spans. When they are checking out your digital presence, you want to be able to capture their attention and understanding right away. If they can get an idea of what you do from reading just a few short sentences, you will give the first impression that you truly are experts, building a trust factor right away.

2. Conversation

Not only do you not know how much time you truly have to explain yourself when you are first meeting someone, but you also want the chance to make the conversation a dialogue. If you’re doing all of the talking in order to explain what you do, the other person won’t have a chance to ask questions or gage their understanding of what you do. You will look much more credible if you can explain what you do quickly and confidently.

3. Marketing

No matter what the medium, when you are marketing your company, product, or service, you need to be able to get your message across swiftly. Think of all of the most successful marketing and advertising campaigns out there…you likely remember them for their brevity and wittiness. A single quote, a new concept, a rising trend…Whether it’s the verbiage on a billboard or the 30 second pop-up advertisement, things are much more memorable when they are kept sharp and clever.

If your company is in need of employees, Award Staffing is here to help. Contact us here.

Why Now Is a Good Time to Consider a Rebrand

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It’s no secret that as a result of the pandemic, over a year and a half later we have shifted into a new world in many ways. As we’ve discussed in past blog articles, one of the most important things you can do as a company is keep up with modern times as this is how you become seen as a leader in your industry.

Well similarly, it is also imperative to keep your brand up-to-date. If a rebrand is something your company has been considering for a while, now could definitely be an advantageous time to do so, as many things are newly different as we come out of the pandemic.

What comes to mind when you hear the word brand? Most people associate brands with their logo and colors, but branding goes far beyond a person or company’s visual representation. Rebranding is all about altering how your product/service and company is perceived, which means that doing so will require a good amount of research and strategy. If well thought out, a rebrand has the potential to bring you more clients at higher rates, increase engagement & publicity, and build loyalty with both employees and clients.

Here are some signs that it may be time for a rebrand:
1. You haven’t rebranded in 5-10 years
2. You have changed your business model, services, or products
3. Your brand has expanded significantly
4. You blend in with your competition too much
5. You want to fix your reputation
6. You want to connect to a wider audience/change your audience

When you decide it is officially time for a rebrand, here are some of the most essential things to do:

Upgrade Your Logo

To keep potential clients interested and to stand out, it is important to use fonts and colors that are reflective of modern times. Although you don’t have to necessarily change your colors, opting for different shades that are brighter or trendier can make all the difference.

Determine Your New Messaging 

Chances are, things within your industry have significantly changed since your launch or your last rebrand. Is there anything you want to be known for that you haven’t been associated with in the past or anything that no longer suits your brand/company that you want to let go of. This will be a big determining factor in how you promote your company going forward.

Rewrite Your Copy

This goes for your “About Us” page, your services overview, your marketing materials, and anything in between. Use new vocabulary that is more in-line with modern language and talk about some of the new strategies you have implemented since your launch or last rebrand.

Re-evaluate Your Company Values

If they have remained the same, brainstorm ways that you can deliver them in a new, revamped way that will appeal to your target market. If there is anything that has been added to your list of core values, be sure to include that to keep your audience updated.

Re-design Your Website & Social Media Strategy

The types of images you use and the pillars that are frequently discussed in your new strategy must be reflected online. This is the first place competitors, clients, and job seekers will search for you, therefore, you want to make a good first impression and be sure that everything from your positioning to your graphics are parallel to your new brand identity.

If you company is in need of new employees, Award Staffing is here to help. Contact us with your staffing needs, today.