The use of marketing collateral is not a new strategy. Yet, the concept and execution itself is worth revisiting every now and again. Like most things, it’s not static. Business environments, new technologies, and consumer trends all play a role in how customers respond to marketing collateral and how businesses use it. So what better time than the present to rewrite definitions, reassess best practices, and re-evaluate if you’re really getting the most out of your efforts? 

Brand storytelling is an increasingly popular approach to marketing that taps into the foundational human need to connect with others through story. It’s a method that centers your customer as the main character in the narrative, not your brand or your product. When you share relatable stories about life experiences that matter to your audience, you create strong emotional connections with your ideal customers.

Those connections build brand awareness, keep attention on your marketing channels, and establish trust. Not everyone agrees on the best approach to brand storytelling, but everyone knows it matters. Let’s examine why brand storytelling is so important, look at examples of best practices, and explore some ideas for getting started. But first, let’s agree on a clear brand storytelling definition.

Your brand is your company’s most important asset. It’s more than just words on a page or images on a screen ⏤ it’s how you communicate with and attract your audience. From your logo to every customer interaction, it’s the identity of your organization.  

To stand out in a competitive market, consumers need to easily understand who your company is and what you provide. Brand consistency helps consumers feel confident in their decision to become a customer because they know exactly what to expect from you with every interaction.

So, how do you ensure a consistent experience that builds brand loyalty? Develop strong brand guidelines.

Social media. Love it or hate it, it’s not going away anytime soon. So for marketers that want to meet their customers where they are, they need to embrace it. A strategic social media presence impacts your brand awareness and can provide value to both B2C and B2B businesses. 

What is a brand? Let me illustrate with a brand I'm partial to — New Balance. I used to think of New Balance as the maker of all-white, extra wide “dad” shoes. Now, as the proud owner of a dozen different pairs, I think of New Balance as a trendy, modern shoe that goes with my jeans and shorts. I can wear them out to dinner or to walk five miles. I can wear them anywhere!

New Balance fits my dad lifestyle. I feel that lifestyle when I check out their mobile app, open an email, see their sponsored posts on Instagram, or when I walk into the New Balance store and try on a new pair of shoes.

New Balance understands me well enough to offer suggestions for shoes I don’t even know I need – at a time when I’m not necessarily looking for new shoes – and I still want them!

The creative and marketing team at New Balance laced together an incredible string of technologies and workflows in order to create my omnichannel experience. They have shaped my impression of New Balance through a series of purposeful, memorable moments. Simply put, New Balance has mastered brand asset management.

Add collaborative marketing to your overall marketing strategy and you can gain new customers, increase brand awareness, and boost sales. To do it, you have to find a partner brand that aligns with your company’s values and has a similar audience. From there, you can plan and execute marketing campaigns that benefit you both.

When you find brands that have an audience with a need for your product and vice-versa, both companies can find new ways to meet and exceed their marketing goals. We’ll use this article to go into more detail about what collaborative marketing is, how you can use it, and some important details to clarify when partnering with other brands. 

A powerful content strategy has become the bullseye of modern marketing. But all too often, marketers miss their target.

We might have the sharpest arrows (content), but without the right bow (technology), it’s hard to aim. Digital asset management (DAM) is the bow that allows you to launch content with precision — and nail your content strategy.

To help you hit more bullseyes, we’ve created the Content Activation Model, a game plan that aligns your DAM system with your overall brand strategy. Our goal is to help you build a stronger brand by using DAM software to its full potential.

It’s no secret that what happens behind the scenes at an organization impacts the experience a customer receives on the front end. Any operational flaw — be it an inefficient workflow, disorganized content library, or lack of data transparency — affects the speed, quality, and consistency of a customer’s experience with a brand. Now, of course, no organization is perfect (and getting the right marketing technology (martech) stack in place certainly takes some work), but it’s often the organizations that leverage marketing resource management (MRM) tools that have the advantage.

As a company changes and evolves, so does its brand. After all, a brand is more than just words and images ⏤ it’s the identity of your organization. And memorable, cohesive brand experiences are built with current and approved brand assets. 

Digital asset management (DAM) systems help teams bring their brand to life with tools to centralize, organize, and distribute photos, videos, logos, and creative files. In essence, a DAM platform can be the gateway to your organization’s brand story. 

That’s why it’s important to infuse your brand across the look and feel of your DAM site. Not only is it an opportunity to remind your stakeholders who you are and what you stand for, but it helps embed your DAM site in your organization’s DNA — which encourages system adoption and long-term user engagement. 

There’s a key connective web between new products and customers in the market — product marketing. This multifaceted discipline brings together vital components of sales, marketing, and customer success to share a new product with the world. Product marketing requires a unique role to bring products to life and sell them — product marketers.

Product marketers are the ones who research, define, and articulate the position of your product in the market. They create a plan and work across departments and teams to bring products to customers. These unique product experts are responsible for everything from launching new products and building awareness to getting user signups, converting sales, and growing revenue.

In this product marketing guide, we’ll cover what product marketing is, what product marketers actually do, how they measure their success, and the tools they use to bring products to market. Let’s get started by defining product marketing.