Brand building is one of the most important aspects of any business development strategy.

It is important however to
realize that developing a brand is not complicated simply because it is more a process than it is a strategy involving
genius! The ultimate purpose behind branding is to make yourself or your business easier to identify from the masses
thereby giving you a competitive edge.

Here are the 3 simple steps you will need to take in order to establish the brand you want to have for business
purposes.

Reputation

You must first select the image or brand that best suits your purpose and is consistent with what you intend to deliver.
It is always a good idea to select something that is easily identifiable but do not lose sight of the importance of
maintaining relevancy so as to not confuse people. Remember it is this image upon which you will now build your
reputation and brand so make it a positive one!

Reinforcement

It is now time to get your new image out in front of people on the internet so you need to select some strategies that
will help you get the exposure you want and need. Circulating content in the form of articles or viral reports is a great
start. The use of social network sites is also highly effective as is interacting on blogs and forums that are relevant to
your niche. What you need to do is be consistent in reinforcing the image you have selected and this consistency is
very important to make your branding efforts effective!

Repetition

branding is an act of reinforcing your message or image repeatedly. This is where it becomes more of a process and
less of a science because you are really following an established pattern of activities. It is this repetition that will help
to firmly plant your new brand in the minds of people who you are basically conditioning. This is really a process
where people are learning to associate you with the image they are continually being exposed to therefore your
perseverance is what will make this work!

Brand building is an essential component of any business development strategy because it helps increase your
competitiveness. Considering the importance of branding it is somewhat surprising to realize it is more about
perseverance then it is about marketing genius! This is a non-complicated process which can be successfully
accomplished following the 3 simple steps discussed above. Although an brand does take a little time to firmly
establish, the efforts involved in doing so can be as simple as learning to ride a bike.

Branding. In event marketing it’s more than plastering your logo on a pen, sponsoring a
lunch or hanging the largest banner allowed by show management over your booth. To
truly build a brand that leaves an indelible imprint on the hearts and minds of
audiences, event marketers must adopt a more strategic, holistic approach.
Think of it this way. People build perceptions through five lenses: emotion, reason,
knowledge, personality and experience. It is exceedingly difficult to effectively address
these through logos, signage and the like. To truly build a positive brand impression
requires the building of trust and relationships.
Here are 13 ideas to help you build your brand through broader and deeper audience
engagement at your events.
Everything Matters: Every touch point with your audience has the opportunity to
make or break their perception of your brand as well as your relationship with them.
Take nothing for granted.
Booth Layout: The look and feel of your booth is a good starting point. Remember,
what’s not in your booth is just as important as what is. Keep it open, inviting and
comfortable.
Signage: Use messaging as a strategic weapon. Adopt a messaging hierarchy for your
presence. Consider what your messaging strategy is, and what high level and detailed
messaging you will include to draw people into your booth and entice conversation with
your staffers. Hint: you don’t have to tell the whole story from across the convention
center. Also, the amount of messaging, fontography, and integration with pictures and
video is critical. All elements need to work together simply and seamlessly, to tell your
story. You have 3-5 seconds. Go!
Experiences: In my earlier post, Are You Experienced? I discuss some tips on how to
turn your event into an experience. Given that one of the key foundations of building
perception is experience, you should really focus on this one. Make your events
authentic, engaging, interactive and immerse your audience and you’ll go a long way to
bolstering brand perception.
Storytelling: Use case studies and stories to build positive brand impressions from an
audience perspective. Using guest speakers on panels or use video both at the event
and online to draw your audiences in and show how your brand addresses their needs
and makes them a hero in their own story. Check out Storytelling to learn more.
Trained Demonstrators: It is true that no one in your company knows your products
better than the folks who created them. It is also true that delivering demonstrations
based on audience needs (not product features and benefits) presenting ideas
effectively in a public forum and engaging audiences in meaningful conversations, is a
skill in it’s own right. If your staff is trainable (meaning they could pass as a
professional speaker or demonstrator) by all means train them. If not, use them as
company and product experts after the pros energize, excite and engage the crowd.
Educational Sessions: Whether you are participating in a third-party tradeshow,
conference or planning a proprietary event, it’s important to add value to your
audiences. In many cases this means offering some sort of education. The tracks you
participate in, the type of knowledge you impart, the number of sessions, the quality of
the speakers and the breadth and depth of content you provide all say something about
your brand. Also, keep in mind that any educational session should be designed so it is
entertaining, easily digestible and shareable beyond the session itself. Think about how
audiences will use this content in social media.
Speaking Opportunities: Like educational sessions, speaking session should be
treated as critical for appealing to the emotion, reason and knowledge lenses of your
audiences. Work with show producers to secure the most prominent speaking
session(s) possible whether through purchasing sponsorships, or building such a
reputation in the marketplace for excellence, the mere presence of your rockstar
executive will draw crowds to the event.
Private Meetings: The most important audiences are those who  align themselves
with your organization. This is true for prospects, customers, and loyal advocates.
Holding special off-floor activities just for them will make them feel special and validate
their affinity with your brand. Make sure these activities are of the highest quality, 
valuable, entertaining and allow for networking with peers.
Audience Generation: Aside from “just do it,” remember the type and frequency of
touches you have with your potential attendees before the event creates an important
brand perception. Here you have an opportunity to show you care about these
audiences, which activates emotional triggers.
Promotion: Although niche themes for your event can be fun and all, try to resist the
temptation of going way off brand. Whatever promotions, gameshows, sweepstakes,
giveaways, contests, booth themes, etc. you choose, they should be first and foremost
designed to add real value to your audiences. Secondly, they should be aligned with
your core brand values and messaging. The promotion should never outweigh the
prominence of your brand. here’s a simple trick. Try saying the promotion name with
your competitors brand and message as part of the slogan. If it works, it’s not for you.
Follow-Through: The speed and authenticity of your follow-up activities with your
audiences after the event also have a tremendous impact on brand perception. make
sure you have a plan for how to manage hot, warm and cold leads after the event.
Ensure any information captured on site about the audience is shared with the sales or
field staff responsible for post-event contact strategies. Audiences should be contacted
as close to immediately after the event as possible, or they will shop your competition,
and you have lost an opportunity to build deep, meaningful relationships, not to
mention negatively impacted your return on investment.
Social Media Integration: Think beyond the event in terms of audience, content and
relationships. Social media activities and audience engagement should be planned for
and executed before, during and after the event. An event is a point in time, a
relationship lasts far longer. Make sure you participate where your audiences are
already congregating. Do your research. It may not be where you think.
An event is the best place for audiences to look a company in the eye and become
immersed in a ‘brand experience’.  Second to this is the pervasiveness of the digital
channel in providing interactive ‘brand experiences’ for many audiences. Outside of
events, digital marketing provides an experience which engages audiences in a two way
conversation with a brand. This often leads to a transaction that is immediately
measurable. However, this transaction is far less indelible than a face-to-face
conversation which helps build a long term relationship based on shared experiences, a
mutual exchange of value, and the building of trust. You may meet your mate on
Match.com, but (hopefully) you won’t marry them until you have built a face-to-face
relationship.

Virtual Events

Virtual events are a new way for a company to build their brand. Such events can create an
immersive environment where customers and prospects can interact with your company and
share their interest with others.

Social Media And Brand Building

The internet has already made brand building far easier than ever before. There is no longer
the need for extensive television and magazine advertising and the staging of big physical
events. This started with the introduction of the internet and social media websites, like
Facebook and Twitter.

Social media has changed things drastically. You no longer need a corporate budget to build
a brand. Anyone who puts in the "sweat equity" can do it, as Gary Vaynerchuk and others
have proven.

Many multi-national corporations have now also dived into social media, bringing their big
budgets with them. This has allowed them to interact with customers more effectively. With
such one-to-one customer service possible on such a large scale, a level of brand loyalty
can be obtained that simply wasn't possible a few years ago.

And that is without considering the opportunity presented by holding a virtual event, which
could create even more passion and excitement.

Virtual Brings Cost Savings

If you consider the difference between staging a physical event and a virtual event, even if
you only consider the cost of hiring a venue, the scope for cost reduction becomes
immediately obvious. In the virtual, you can have a bigger space and allow the event to run
far longer, if not indefinitely.

And that isn't the only example of cost savings. The virtual event of the future will provide
more effective marketing for a far lower cost.

The Future Is Virtual

Virtual events are still very much in their infancy. There are many things that will influence
what such events will be like in the future and how they will happen.

Better Technology-- Faster computers will mean better graphics and more immersive
environments. The virtual event of the future will be a 3D space that anyone with a
computer can wonder around and enjoy. Equally, better internet connections will make
virtual environments smoother and more detailed, making video and sound crisp and clear.

New Standards And Frameworks-- Developments such as HTML 5 and Microsoft Silverlight
are giving developers new options and possibilities. They can better utilize the speed of the
average person's computer, while simultaneously giving them an experience they will have
never had before. Customers won't have to install specialist software to enter a virtual
space (like with Second Life), but can simply do so using their browser.

New Ideas-- There is still much unexplored territory when it comes to using virtual spaces.
As companies experiment and learn how to use them more effectively, they will come up
with new innovations that will engage customers even further. It may be that virtual career
fairs, virtual trade shows, and virtual corporate events will replace their real-world cousins.