How To Grow Your Business Using the Flywheel

"What does the branding process involve?" This is a question we often answer for clients and potential clients throughout the year. So, we decided to break it down into three simple steps. Before we dive into all that, let's start with the basics – what is branding? Branding is how you distinguish yourself to your audience, communicate who you are, what you stand for, and what you sell. Branding is created by professional designers and brought to life through a name, logo, visual and textual language, and more. However, it's important to understand that branding is not just a visual differentiator; it's also about creating an emotional connection with your audience. A company's branding allows customers not only to identify it in a post, sign, or packaging but also to express emotions and attitudes toward it, sometimes without even knowing the company directly.  

Step One – How to Start the Branding Process for a Business?

The start is life itself, because every day we're exposed to hundreds of messages, ideas, videos, texts, and images. Later it all comes together, and our mind begin processing all these inspirations into new, original, and unique design and language for a specific client. At Oz, we make sure our team, in this case, our designers, is exposed to diverse content worlds and various content styles. This opens up their minds to creativity, from which different brands for different companies can blossom (even if they're in the same industry, they'll create something unique and original – that's the beauty of it!). The branding process for a business begins as a strategic process where we research and analyze the brand, the product, the company, or the service – and answer the age-old questions – what is the company's vision, what makes the company special, what customers expect, and what the competition offers. To differentiate the brand effectively, it's essential to examine competitors – what visual and textual language they use, what messages they convey to the world, and what their customers think of them. During this examination, we come across tons of content and inspiration on the web, and it's a fantastic process. All the research and in-depth analysis, combined with the ideas and inspirations, meld together to form the foundation of the brand – the unique value proposition, the narrative, the promise, and the brand's values.  

Step Two – How to Implement the Branding Process?

This is the step everyone seems to be familiar with – the name, logo, fonts, color palette. Supposedly. Since everyone talks about this step, it's crucial to understand that without a solid foundation and thorough research, it won't work. The brand's cornerstones (based on the strategic messages, remember?) need to be creatively and visually translated into the brand's language – both in verbal elements (the brand's name and slogan) and visual elements (the logo, fonts, shapes, and colors). The brand's domain, characteristics, and values will be expressed through its visual appearance. Importantly, the design should not only be eye-catching but should also have longevity. Trends come and go, but your branding should remain stable for years. Our designers have the ability to translate the emotional world into the visual world, making your target audience express positive emotions, identify with your brand, and remember your look (for the next time they encounter you) – or in short, to create an impactful brand for you.  

Step Three – How Does a Business Change as a Result of Branding?

So, we've gathered inspiration, worked with a professional branding agency (like OZ, ahem), researched, and analyzed, and the designers have prepared sketches. And the most exciting part – the management approved it! So now what? Implementation! At the end of the branding process and the creation of the brand's visual language, it's time to infuse it into every marketing and reputation aspect of the company. The new language will be applied across the board – on social networks, envelopes, outdoor signs and ads, physical offices, pens and notebooks – anything that comes to mind (and if it doesn't, our client managers have plenty of ideas). Effective design is measured by its versatility. If the base has a strong and focused idea, it will be clear how to continue and develop that into the brand's language in every format – digital and print.

Account-based marketing (ABM) and lead generation are two powerful strategies for generating revenue and boosting return on investment (ROI). While both approaches have their own unique benefits, it's important to understand the key differences between them and how they can be used together to achieve optimal results. Lead generation, the core of demand generation, is a strategy that involves generating a large number of new leads for the sales team by targeting specific markets and industries. This approach is ideal for creating awareness and interest in a product or service, and can be done through various channels such as LinkedIn Campaign Manager. In contrast, account-based marketing (ABM) is a targeted approach that focuses on reaching out to specific named accounts, rather than a broad audience. ABM is designed to engage with the right accounts and create personalized content that captures their attention and drives further engagement. One key benefit of demand generation is that it brings leads in, at the top of the funnel and nurtures them until they become an opportunity for the sales team. However, as the market becomes saturated, the time, money, and resources needed to generate leads can eventually outweigh the results, leading to diminishing returns. This is where ABM comes in. By focusing on specific named accounts, ABM allows marketers to "land and expand" by targeting bigger fish that match the ideal account profile (IAP). This allows for a more efficient use of resources and a higher return on investment. While ABM and demand generation may seem like competing strategies, they can actually be used together to achieve optimal results. For example, demand generation can be used to create awareness and interest in a product or service, while ABM can be used to generate qualified leads and sign-up new customers. This marketing tactic, can start with a broad-based demand generation campaign to create awareness, which will help to identify targeted leads or target market segments, which can then be used to inform a more targeted ABM campaign. An ABM activity can be used to reach out to specific named accounts with personalized content. These combined activities allow marketers to use both strategies to accelerate the buyer's journey and assist with selling. It's also important to note that while ABM and demand generation are both outbound marketing strategies, inbound demand generation is also possible. By using inbound marketing tactics such as content marketing, SEO and other digital marketing strategies, you can drive leads and customers to your website and then use ABM to engage with them. On LinkedIn, there are two primary types of users. The first group is known as "active users" and they exhibit a high level of engagement on the platform, such as performing searches, interacting with content, and sharing posts. These users also typically stay on top of their inbox and respond to relevant messages. These active users can be effectively targeted through an awareness campaign, followed by account-based marketing efforts. The second main group of LinkedIn users are referred to as "basic users." These users tend to have a more limited level of activity on the platform, mostly just scrolling through their feed. They are less likely to respond to private messages. These basic users can be targeted through professional lead generation campaigns that will catch their attention while they are scrolling through their feed, with the use of an appealing message and creative content. It is important to note that there are other types of users who fall somewhere between active and basic user, and by combining efforts of ABM with lead generation it will help in effectively reaching out to all types of users, with the right format and message. In conclusion, account-based marketing and lead generation are both powerful strategies for generating revenue and boosting ROI. While they have their own unique benefits, it's important to understand how they can be used together to achieve optimal results. By using a targeted ABM approach in conjunction with a broad-based demand generation campaign, marketers can achieve their pipeline and revenue goals by capturing the attention of the right accounts and signing up new customers. For more info and questions contact us.

  With the rising popularity of AI-powered search and ChatGPT in particular, there's a respectively rise in Bing popularity as a search engine. Are you ready for the new audience on your website?

---

Here are some general points to consider when comparing SEO for Bing and Google:

1. Keyword Research: While Bing and Google both consider keywords relevancy as an important factor for SEO, they may have different algorithms for how they interpret and rank keywords. It's important to research and optimize for search terms that are relevant to both Bing and Google search results. ➭ For example, After conducting keyword research, you may find that [your company solution] + USA are popular search terms on both Bing and Google. By optimizing your content for these keywords, you'll increase the chances of appearing in search results on both search engines.
2. Social Media Integration: Bing tends to give more importance to social media integration and social signals, such as social media shares, likes, and comments, compared to Google. Incorporating social media strategies into your SEO efforts may be more beneficial for Bing rankings, so be sure to promote your content on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, encouraging shares, likes, and comments to improve Bing rankings.
3. Backlinks: Both Bing and Google consider backlinks as an important ranking factor, but they may have different algorithms for evaluating the quality and relevance of backlinks. It's important to understand the differences and optimize your backlink strategy accordingly. ➭Request backlinks from authoritative industry websites or thought leaders to enhance your website's credibility and rankings on both Bing and Google.
4. Local SEO: Bing tends to place more emphasis on local search results compared to Google. Optimizing your website for local SEO, by including location-specific keywords like "top Global B2B agencies in [Israel]"  ;) will help optimize your local listing, and getting local citations, will be beneficial for both Bing and GMB rankings.
5. Rich Media Content: Bing tends to place more importance on rich media content, such as images and videos, compared to Google. Including relevant images and videos with proper optimization may help improve your rankings on Bing.
6. Technical SEO: Both Bing and Google consider technical SEO factors, such as website speed, mobile-friendliness, and crawlability. Optimizing your website's technical aspects according to the guidelines of both search engines can help improve your SEO performance on both Bing and Google. ➭ To find the technical guidelines for both Bing and Google, you can refer to the official documentation and resources provided by each search engine:
   • Bing Webmaster Guidelines
   • Google Search Quality Guidelines:
   Additionally, both Bing and Google offer webmaster tools that provide insights into your website's performance, indexing status, and potential issues. These tools can help you optimize your website according to the search engine guidelines, improving your overall SEO performance.
   • Bing Webmaster Tools: https://www.bing.com/webmasters/
   • Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console

It's important to note that search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, and SEO best practices may change over time. It's recommended to stay updated with the latest guidelines and best practices from both Bing and Google and regularly monitor and optimize your website for both search engines to achieve the best SEO results. You can refer to reputable SEOz blogs, online publications, and industry websites for more detailed and up-to-date information on SEO for Bing and Google.