Marketing Techniques for the Shoe Industry

The footwear business is a $48 billion industry, according to the National

Shoe Retailers Association, with 29,360 shoe stores in business as of
2012. Whether you manufacture footwear or sell shoes at a retail outlet,
you need marketing techniques that help customers learn about and want
to buy your product. Few brands really resonate with footwear buyers,
says Deloitte. That makes finding the right marketing techniques an even
more important requirement for turning your shoe business into a
profitable venture.

Branding

Building a brand is key to the long-term success of your company. This

requires looking at competing shoe businesses and finding ways to stand
out from them. For instance, if you open a sports shoe store, consider
carrying just a few types of shoes, such as running, hiking and walking
shoes, to become know as the local store for joggers and outdoor exercise
enthusiasts. If you’re a shoe manufacturer, look for types of shoes the
market is lacks, such as eco-friendly footwear, specific types of sports
shoes, wide-width shoes or affordably priced, trendy women’s shoes.

Multi-Channel

Selling more shoes requires a mix of digital and traditional channel sales
strategies. This means developing an ecommerce website in addition to
your brick-and-mortar shoe store. This allows you sell your shoes any
time of the day, not just when your store is open. In addition, some target
markets, such as Generation Y shoppers, rely on the Internet to conduct
research about products they want to buy. They’re likely to shop around
online for the shoes they want before heading to your store to buy a pair.

Customization

Making it easier for customers to find the exact shoe they want makes
footwear customization a technique worth reviewing. Customized shoes
appeal to several different target markets, including people with big or
wide foot sizes that make shoes hard to find, or people who like owning a
unique pair of shoes. Plus, once 3-D printing becomes widespread,
 offering customization may give your company an edge in the shoe
industry.

Social Networking

Encouraging customers to spread the word about your shoes makes social
networking a beneficial marketing technique. Use Facebook, Twitter and
a blog to interact with people are interested in purchasing your shoes.
Provide meaningful posts, such as on how to choose comfortable shoes,
what the differences are in different types of sports shoes and how
people’s feet change over time. Talk about the unique aspects of the
shoes you sell to use your social media sites to help build your brand

Branding
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or
small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge
in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does "branding"
mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them

what they can expect from your products and services, and it
differentiates your offering from your competitors'. Your brand is derived
from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to
be.

ADVERTISING

Are you the innovative maverick in your industry? Or the experienced,

reliable one? Is your product the high-cost, high-quality option, or the
low-cost, high-value option? You can't be both, and you can't be all
things to all people. Who you are should be based to some extent on who
your target customers want and need you to be.

The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and
promotional materials--all of which should integrate your logo--
communicate your brand.
Brand Strategy & Equity
Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on
communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you
advertise is part of your brand strategy. Your distribution channels are
also part of your brand strategy. And what you communicate visually and
verbally are part of your brand strategy, too.

Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which

means the added value brought to your company's products or services
that allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical,
unbranded products command. The most obvious example of this is Coke
vs. a generic soda. Because Coca-Cola has built a powerful brand equity,
it can charge more for its product--and customers will pay that higher
price.

The added value intrinsic to brand equity frequently comes in the form of
perceived quality or emotional attachment. For example, Nike associates
its products with star athletes, hoping customers will transfer their
emotional attachment from the athlete to the product. For Nike, it's not
just the shoe's features that sell the shoe.

Defining Your Brand

Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be
difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least,
that you answer the questions below:

 What is your company's mission?

 What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
 What do your customers and prospects already think of your
company?
 What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

Do your research. Learn the needs, habits and desires of your current and
prospective customers. And don't rely on what you think they
think. Know what they think.

Because defining your brand and developing a brand strategy can be

complex, consider leveraging the expertise of a nonprofit small-business
advisory group or a Small Business Development Center .
Once you've defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here are a
few simple, time-tested tips:

 Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.

 Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages
you want to communicate about your brand? Every employee
should be aware of your brand attributes.
 Integrate your brand. Branding extends to every aspect of your
business--how you answer your phones, what you or your
salespeople wear on sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.
 Create a "voice" for your company that reflects your
brand. This voice should be applied to all written communication
and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and
off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more
formal. You get the gist.
 Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise
statement that captures the essence of your brand.
 Design templates and create brand standards for your
marketing materials. Use the same color scheme, logo placement,
look and feel throughout. You don't need to be fancy, just
consistent.
 Be true to your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer
you to someone else--if you don't deliver on your brand promise.
 Be consistent. I placed this point last only because it involves all
of the above and is the most important tip I can give you. If you
can't do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.
What is a brand?
Simply put, your brand is defined by a customer’s overall perception of your business.

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, says it even better: “Your brand is what other
people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Your brand is your reputation!

In today’s market, a successful brand has to be consistent in communication and

experience, across many applications:

Environment (storefront or office)

Print collateral, signage, packaging
Website & online advertising
Content publishing
Sales & customer service

Now, brand building being simple? The truth is: branding doesn’t happen overnight…
or even in a few months.

Building a brand is definitely a process. However, the ongoing effort will result in
establishing long-term relationships with your customers.

This can lead to a steady increase in sales, more projects, word-of-mouth referrals,
and advocacy for your products or services.

What is brand building?

The definition of brand building is to generate awareness about your business using
marketing strategies and campaigns with the goal of creating a unique and lasting
image in the marketplace.

Positive impression + standing out = brand success.

In 2020, the amplification of your brand image can be done effectively through
various digital marketing activities:

User Experience (i.e. your website)

SEO & Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Email Marketing
Paid Advertising (PPC)

Together, these channels are fundamental to gaining brand awareness and growth.
We’ll dive into each of these elements in detail, later!

I simplified the path for a brand building process below, to help your business
brand or personal brand gain a more loyal following.

Are you wondering where to start?

How to Build a Brand

1. Discover the purpose behind your brand.
Every successful brand has a powerful purpose behind it.
And so should you.

It’s what you wake up every day loving to do for other people (and the world) through
your product or service.

There are four questions you should ask yourself when defining a brand purpose:

 Why do you exist?

 What differentiates you?
 What problem do you solve?
 Why should people care?

You’ll use these ideas to inform the foundation of your branding, through a tagline,
slogans, voice, messaging, stories, visuals and more.

So dig deep and find those nuggets of truth which can distinguish your brand from
others.

Leadership expert Simon Sinek, developed an impactful model called The Golden

Circle (he’s also the author of Start With Why—this book is excellent to read or
listen to on Audible!)

The Golden Circle concept can help in identifying the purpose behind anything in
business or life, really.
The 3 Parts to The Golden Circle:

 What – the products or services you offer to your customers

 How – the things that differentiate you from the competition
 Why – the reason you are passionate and why you exist

In fact, in the video you’ll see below, Sinek explains how to truly differentiate a
brand when most of them fail.

I’ve probably watched this presentation over a hundred times, and still get chills when
I do. It’s one that I send to all clients prior to our kick-off meeting for the brand
discovery phase.

Some people in the marketing industry think it’s overrated, but I disagree. It’s
inspiring, certainly if you are new to branding a business or idea. And, there’s a
reason why it’s one of the most popular TED talks of all time.

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

The goal is not to do business with everybody that needs what you have.
The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

– Simon Sinek

2. Research competitor brands within your

industry.
You should never imitate exactly what the big brands are doing in your
industry.

But, you should be aware of what they do well (or where they fail).

The goal is to differentiate from the competition. Convince a customer

to purchase from you over them!

We’re always thinking about how to make a brand stand out from what’s out
there already. Don’t skip this step in the brand building process.

Research your main competitors or benchmark brands. For instance, study

how well they have gone about building a brand name.

For a brand name to be effective, it needs to be easy for consumers to

recognize and remember.

Creating a brand competitor research spreadsheet

Competitor research is a key element of your own brand development. Start
by creating a brand competitor spreadsheet for comparison. You can use
Google Sheets, Excel, or even just a notebook.
Then, answer these fundamental questions.

Is the competitor consistent with messaging and visual identity across

channels?
What is the quality of the competitor’s products or services?
Does the competitor have customer reviews or social mentions you can
read about them?
In what ways does the competitor market their business, both online and
offline?

Choose a few competitors, two to four (2-4) is a good number for your comparison
chart. You might want to take a look at other local businesses, or even aim to
benchmark against name brands.
3. Determine your brand’s target
audience.
The foundation for building your brand is to determine the target
audience that you’ll be focusing on.

You can’t be everything to everyone, right?

Right.

When brand building, keep in mind who exactly you are trying to reach.
You’ll tailor your mission and message to meet their exact needs.

The key is to get specific. Figure out detailed behaviors and lifestyle of

your consumers.

I’ll explain with a few brief examples.

 Instead of “all Moms”, you could narrow down the niche to hone in
on “single Moms who work full-time from home”.
 “Techy people” is too broad. But “tech-savvy early adopters who
manage a large team” can narrow the focus in.
 If you are targeting “college kids”, there is definitely room to get
more specific. An example could be: “college students studying
abroad in Europe during the summer”.
 “Anyone who needs a job” is certainly not a niche target market.
However, “retirees looking to return to the workforce in an executive
position” can be!

As you can see, targeting a niche requires committing to something very

focused to start.

You’ll come to realize that the competitive advantage when branding your business is
to narrow your target audience focus. This can help ensure that your brand
message comes across crystal clear to the intended recipient.
Solidify a picture of your consumers, then learn how to create a brand identity
that they can understand and relate to.

Your Brand Buyer Persona

Brand creation relies on truly understanding the buyer persona. Here are a few of the
things to document when describing your ideal customer:

 Age
 Gender
 Location
 Income
 Education Level

To get even more definition for your brand’s buyer persona, dive into these details:

 Motivations
 Goals
 Pain points
 Influencers
 Brand affinities

Identifying the target audience for your services or products is an exercise that will
affect and benefit all areas of your brand building process, particularly marketing
efforts. You want the right person consuming your content, clicking on your ads,
opting in to your email list, etc.

As a result, determining the ideal audience for your business will support your overall
digital brand building strategies. It’s definitely an important first step!
4. Establish a brand mission statement.
Have you thought about your brand mission? In essence, you’ll have to craft
a clear expression of what your company is most passionate about.

This is your why; the reason you get up every day.

Before you can build a brand that your target audience trusts, you need to
know what value your business provides.

The mission statement basically defines a purpose for existing. It will

inform every other aspect of your brand building strategies.

Everything from your logo to your tagline, voice, message, and personality
should reflect that mission.

When people ask you what you do: answer them with your brand mission
statement.

You can use the information gathered from The Golden Circle exercise (see
Step 1) to create a clear and impactful brand mission statement.

Brand Building Examples: Nike

We all know the Nike tagline: Just Do It. But do you know their mission statement?

Nike’s mission is: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the
world“.

You can see the Nike mission everywhere. They focus on all types of athletes using
Nike products to be their best selves.
Nike goes even further with its brand mission, by adding a footnote to the statement:
“If you have a body, you are an athlete“. Think about how wide their target audience
becomes with a disclaimer like that!

The company has built up such a reputation and brand following, that it’s able to
increase the target to accommodate every “body”.
When branding your business, start small and remember to focus on your
target niche audience first.

With time, your brand loyalty may grow enough to expand your reach.

Let’s take a step back for a minute. Before crafting your brand mission statement, gut
check on whether you really committed to Step 3 of determining who your exact
consumer is. It’s one of the most important branding process steps of them all.

Start small when branding your business,

and remember to focus on your target niche
audience first.CLICK TO TWEET

5. Outline the key qualities & benefits your

brand offers.
There will always be brands with bigger budgets and more resources to
command their industry.

Your products, services, and benefits belong solely to you.

Starting a brand that is memorable means you dig deep to figure out what
you offer, and no one else is offering.

Focus on the qualities and benefits that make your company branding
unique.

Assuming you know exactly who your target audience is (see Step 3), give
them a reason to choose your brand over another.
It’s important to note that this is not just a laundry list of the features your
product or services offer to the customer or client. Think about how you
provide value that improves consumers’ lives (outcomes or results that
are experienced).

Here are a few examples:

 More authentic and transparent customer service

 A better way to support productivity
 Reducing costs with a more affordable option
 Saving time on daily tasks

Brand Building Example: Apple

Apple is obviously not just another computer company. One of their key
qualities is a clean design, and a key benefit is ease of use.

From unique packaging to their announcement events, Apple always

reminds customers that its products can be used right out of the box.

Do you remember Apple’s slogan back in 1997-2002? It was “Think

Different“. This notion continues to exist, today.
6. Form your unique brand voice.
Your voice is dependent on your company’s mission, audience, and
industry.

It’s how you communicate with your customers, and how they respond to
you.

A brand voice could be:

Professional
Friendly
Service-oriented
Authoritative
Technical
Promotional
Conversational
Informative

There are endless adjectives and possibilities that can build a brand voice
behind your messaging.

Ultimately, you want to choose a brand voice that makes sense and
resonates with your target customers. (Again, going back to Step 3!)

You’ll see that if you find and use the correct brand voice, you have the
strongest chance of connecting with consumers.

This is particularly important when publishing blog articles or social media

posts. Maintaining a consistent voice will help your brand image become
recognized on multiple channels in the same way. A community of
followers, readers or subscribers will come to expect a certain brand voice
and brand personality when they consume your content (see the next step).
Brand Building Examples: Virgin America
Virgin America is known for its friendly and reliable customer service, and
its voice constantly builds that brand.

On Twitter, notice their personable style—using location-based humor in

this instance. They also reinforce the value that they bring to their customers
—guaranteeing power outlets on every flight.

Fish sticks will fly at Pike Place before we

ever offer a flight without power outlets.
#FleetWide
— Virgin America (@VirginAmerica)
August 4, 2015
Choose a brand voice that makes sense and
resonates with your target customers.CLICK TO TWEET

7. Let your brand personality shine.

Customers aren’t looking for another cookie-cutter company that offers the
same thing as everyone else.

They are looking for an experience tailored to their needs, backed by

genuine personal interaction.
Wondering how to brand your business in a unique way? Make your
personality stand out in every aspect of your brand building process.

Be consistent with this brand personality across all points of contact.

It can be as simple as:

A conversational voice in communication (using “I”, and “you”)

Sharing behind-the-scenes content
Telling stories about real experiences
Describing your products/services in a quirky manner

Make your personality stand out in every aspect

of your brand image building.CLICK TO TWEET

8. Build a brand story and messaging.

When building a brand, tell customers succinctly who you are.
Use the business voice you have chosen for your brand.

Your messaging should be intricately associated with your brand and

conveyed consistently.

This part of the brand development process goes beyond your logo and
tagline to define the key aspects of:

 Who you are

 What you offer
 Why people should care

A brand story is an opportunity to communicate on a human level, making a

direct emotional connection with your consumers.

What this means, is that the language you use should be understood
immediately while striking an emotional chord.

Make it simple and clear.

Most importantly: when creating a brand story, address not what your
product can do…but why it is important to your customer.

Brand Building Example: TOMS Shoes

TOMS Shoes has built a huge social following and overwhelming positive
brand perception.
They clearly define their message front and center on their
website: “Improving lives. With every product you purchase, TOMS will
help a person in need. One for One.”

This story is carried out through every touchpoint a consumer has with the
brand.

A brand message is an opportunity to

communicate on a human level, making a direct
emotional connection with your consumers.CLICK TO
TWEET

9. Create a brand logo & tagline.

When you think about how to build a brand, visuals probably come to mind
first. We haven’t even talked about these until this deep into the branding
process!

This step may be the one where you need help with creative execution.

The most exciting (and arguably the most important piece) of the brand
building process, is to create a brand logo and tagline for your company.

This logo will appear on everything that relates to your business. It will
become your identity, calling card, and the visual recognition of your
promise.
So be willing to invest the time and money by creating something
exceptional to reinforce the visual identity for your business.

Need help branding your business? Hire a professional designer

or branding agency with logo and identity design experience, to help make
your brand stand out.

Their expertise will ensure that you get a unique and timeless mark for your
business.

A designer can also develop brand guidelines, to ensure consistency for

any future application of the logo and associated brand color palette or fonts.

A strong brand style guide will include the following things:

 Logo size and placement

 Color palette
 Typography and fonts
 Iconography
 Photography/image style
 Web elements

Work with a professional designer or

creative agency with branding and identity
design experience, to help you build your
brand.CLICK TO TWEET

10. Integrate your brand into every aspect

of your business.
The brand building process never stops.
Your brand should be visible and reflected in everything that your customer
can see, read, and hear.

Let me explain.

If a client walks into your office, or a customer walks into your store—your
brand image should be on display both in the environment and with personal
interactions.

Anything tangible–from business cards to advertisements, to packaging and

product–needs the stamp of your logo.

On any digital platform, ensure that your brand looks the same everywhere.
Use your brand style guide to create consistency with visuals such as color
and logo use, fonts, photography, etc.

Your website is the most important tool for marketing your brand. When
you design your website: incorporate your voice, message, and personality
into the content.

Profile pages for social media networks should be branded visually, and
with your chosen voice for engagement.

And don’t forget about video! YouTube, Facebook Video and Facebook

Live, Snapchat and Instagram Stories are all platforms that need to have
content executed with your unique brand voice and personality.

For those venturing into podcast audio, adhere to a theme that supports your
brand message, value, and voice.

Brand Building Examples: Warby Parker

Warby Parker has managed to quickly develop a brand that is unique and
best in class. Their innovative product home try-on experience, retail
environment, and digital content marketing efforts are perfectly tailored to
the lifestyle of its target audience

Your brand should be visible and reflected

in everything that your customer sees (and
doesn’t see).CLICK TO TWEET

11. Stay true to your brand building.

Unless you decide to change your brand into something that is more
effective based on measured consumer response, consistency is key.

Once you establish a brand voice, use it for every piece of content you
create. (See above, Step 6 in the brand building process.)

Document all the brand guidelines you create and distribute internally for
reference.

What is brand building worth, if it is not consistent? Don’t constantly

change your branding. The inconsistency will confuse your customers, and
make long-term brand building more difficult.

Brand Building Example: Starbucks

Starbucks is the world’s leading specialty coffee retailer, and their brand
has always promised to bring people together.
The Starbucks mission?

“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one
neighborhood at a time.”

That’s why at every store you’ll find free Wi-Fi, large tables, and soothing
music to make chatting with others easy. They always write your name on
your coffee for an extra personal touch.

Even despite a logo change in 2011 (removing the company name!), the

Starbucks brand perception remains strong. When you see that simplified
green mermaid logo, what do you feel? I guarantee it’s something.

Bonus: Be your brand’s biggest advocate.

When you build a brand that works for your small business, you (and your
employees) are the best advocates to market your brand.
No one knows your brand better than you, so it’s up to you to spread
the word.

When hiring employees, ensure that they are a culture fit–aligning with the
mission, vision, and values of your brand.

Encourage employees to establish a personal brand that aligns with your

company branding process, further strengthening reach.

Give your loyal customers a voice. Encourage them to post reviews, or share
your content.

No one knows your brand better than you, so it’s up

to you to spread the word.