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In-store marketing is a brand reinforcement tool that helps people in your store get to know your brand, form a deeper connection with your company, and remember you long after they leave your store.

But, simply having in-store marketing won’t create a high level of brand reinforcement. You need to know how to use in-store marketing the right way to lead to these results.

Even more, you need to know how to use in-store marketing the right way to prevent your efforts from being counterintuitive and actually leading to less brand recognition or even brand confusion. To help you masterfully use in-store marketing for brand reinforcement, use these tips to make sure your strategies are helping, not hindering your efforts.

Create and Stick to a Brand Guide

The easiest way to stay on course and stick to your brand guidelines is to have them in the first place. Create a brand guide that outlines all of the details of who your brand is and how it should be represented.

A brand guide is even more essential if you have multiple team members working on creating elements for your in-store marketing. The guide ensures that everyone stays on the same page and creates the same type of final product.

Create a document that outlines your company’s:

  • Brand Mission
  • Brand Voice, Tone, and Style
  • Branded Definitions and Phrases
  • Logo and Iconography Usage
  • Colors
  • Fonts & Typography
  • Signage Specs
  • Graphics, Illustration and Photograph Standards

For more information on how to create a guide for your brand, check out our post: Brand Guide: Creating a Consistent Look and Sound For Your Business.

Think About Branding for All Five Senses

Branding is usually closely associated with visuals. When we think about branding, we imagine logos and advertisements. And while yes, these elements are powerful parts of branding, they aren’t the only parts.

When you think about reinforcing your branding in your store, don’t just think about how the visuals influence customers. Think about how every sense can influence customers.

  • See: Use in-store digital screens, such as video walls and waitboards, that feature your brand colors and photos, graphics, and videos that represent the feel and culture of your company. Use consistent fonts and typography on all signage as well as bags, flyers, and other physical, branded merchandise.
  • Hear: Only broadcast in-store music that matches your brand vibe. Use overhead music, rather than generic radio stations, to create custom playlists of songs that your target audience wants to hear. Also, consider the tempo of the music, and use songs that reflect the feeling you want customers to have in your store. If your store should be quiet and serene, utilize sound masking tools to make your space more peaceful and relaxing.
  • Smell: Smell is one of the strongest senses, yet it is often overlooked as a marketing tool. Create a signature scent that aligns with your brand. This smell shouldn’t be overwhelming just subtle enough that when customers walk into your store, they instantly recognize the scent and know where they are.
  • Taste: Give your customers a taste of your brand by offering free treats or drinks while in your location. This strategy can be as simple as providing a signature coffee, fruit-infused water, or free warm cookie.
  • Touch: Customer experience goes all the way down to how customers physically interact with items in your store. Think about the places where customers sit, and add comfortable or styled seating to reinforce your brand even when customers are passively passing their time.

Put Your Branded Mark On All Visual Elements

While all of the senses are important, visible in-store marketing elements are among the most important. So as you put together visual cues, signs, and styles in your store, do everything you can to put a branded touch on each element.

  • Create a custom private label TV channel. Don’t rely on another TV channel to accurately reflect your brand in every way. Instead, create your own private label TV channel that only airs the content you select. Plus, when you control all of the content, you also control all of the advertisements. This ensures that only your brand’s ads show and none of your competitor’s commercials reach your in-store customers.
  • Create custom videos. Just as you don’t want to rely on third-party TV channels, you also don’t want to rely on third-party videos that were created for generic use. Instead, create your own custom videos that accurately reflect your branding by featuring your products, services, team members, and behind-the-scenes looks at your business.
  • Put a branded wrap on your digital content. Constantly keep your logo in front of customers by adding a branded wrap around your digital signage content that includes your logo, brand colors, and tickers that share your social media streams.
  • Add branding to in-store WiFi. Most shoppers use their mobile devices during their in-store shopping experience. You can bring your branding to their online experience while they’re in your store through WiFi marketing. Offer free WiFi to in-store shoppers and drive them to custom, branded splash landing pages on your website when they log in. This allows you to reinforce your brand and present it on every screen customers see while in your store.

Improve Your In-store Marketing

It’s not enough to just launch and start using in-store marketing. You need to use it in strategic ways if you want to reap the benefits of this powerful marketing strategy.

Proper branding is just one of the elements that needs to be in place for your in-store marketing tactics to effectively connect with customers, increase your sales, and keep customers coming back for more.

Find out how else you can improve or upgrade your in-store marketing strategies by downloading our free ebook: The Ultimate Guide to In-Store Marketing.