Unless your brand is a household name like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Apple, or Nike, you probably think about brand awareness within your industry and among your audience. Questions you may ask yourself include, “How can we get more people to ditch our competitors and buy from our company instead?” “What would it take to increase brand recognition among our target audience?” “What strategies are effective and successful at increasing brand awareness and ultimately growing our customer base?”
As a part of the oil and gas industry, you have to create and enact a brand recognition strategy so that your target and ideal clients can (a) know who you are, (b) understand the value your company brings to the table, and (c) trust your company to maintain a reliable, dependable, high-quality brand. The better your brand is known and trusted, the more likely consumers and clients are to lean toward the products and services you offer.
Want some proof? Check out these facts about consumers and their relationship to brands:
- 88% of consumers value transparency when deciding which brands to support.
- 46% of consumers say they will pay more for a product or service if it comes from a trusted brand.
- Companies that maintain consistent branding and image can increase revenue by more than 30%.
- The marketing rule of 7* applies to branding, as well—it takes seven messages from a brand for a customer to take notice of the brand and begin trusting it.
*The original rule of 7 in marketing states that it takes seven engagements between a brand and a customer before the customer will take action to purchase the item, sign up for service, or pursue the brand in any way. These engagements can include social media ads, radio ads, print ads, or any other form of promotion or advertisement.
The Market Knows Us. Why Should I Put Effort Into Boosting Our Brand?
Even if you think your brand is well known or known enough among your oil customers and target audience, it’s detrimental to neglect your brand’s status or not actively work to influence how it is perceived in your industry. Before anyone chooses you, they have to know you first. AND, customers who have chosen you before can turn on a dime if a company with better branding tactics or brand perception comes along. Boosting your brand should always be a priority to increase your likelihood of increasing revenue and growing your client base.
Whether you’re a young company or you’ve been around for years, boosting your brand:
- Improves your status among competitors – the more people recognize and choose your brand, the less they will turn to your competitors.
- Strengthens trust among your customers – as we’ve discussed, the better promoted your brand is, the more likely you are to gain new clients and customers.
- Increases your probability of company growth – the more customers choose your brand, the more sales you’ll make and the bigger your company can grow.
- Brings in better candidates for employment – a well-known and trusted company is more attractive to talented, skilled, and knowledgeable people seeking employment.
What Strategies Should I Enact to Boost My Brand in the Fuel and Oil Industry?
The brand-boosting strategies most effective for your oil company are the same ones that are effective for a company in any industry:
Be Consistent
From uniformity with your brand to reliability with your products and services, consistency is vital to gaining and maintaining your audience’s trust.
Have you ever seen an ad from a company that featured a specific logo and brand colors only to see a follow-up ad from the same company that featured a different logo and brand colors? Or, what about reading a brand’s mission and vision statement and realizing neither aligns with the company’s values or identity?
It is essential to maintain consistency across the board and in all promotional or advertisement pieces to ensure trust among your audience. The less consistent your brand appears, the less likely you are to appear trustworthy. And no one wants to partner with a company that presents itself in unreliable ways.
Likewise, it is crucial to provide high-quality products and dependable service all the time and every time to lock in your customers’ trust in you.
Identify Your Values
It’s easy to say, “We’re a gas company that provides X services and Y products. That’s all people need to know.” And when it comes down to brass tacks, that’s true. What you offer is what you offer. But, clients and customers also put stock into how a company delivers its offerings. They pay attention to the values a company brings to the table with each interaction or transaction.
You can offer your services, but do your services include honest and transparent communication? What about a commitment to collaboration and innovation? There are countless values your company can hold, and it’s important to identify the ones that make you tick and allow you to deliver the best to your customers. Once you identify your values, ensure they are known through your brand voice and promotional messaging. And, ensure your values are identifiable in your team’s daily actions and operations.
Reach Your Audience Where They Are At
As an oil company, you want to attract both commercial clients and residential consumers needing fuel, oil, and gas products or services. So how do you reach them? First, you need to research your audience and create buyer personas. Doing so will reveal where your target audience can be reached most effectively. Perhaps your ideal commercial client is reachable through ads on LinkedIn. Or it may be that your residential customers are responsive to direct mail campaigns. By creating a buyer persona, you can reach your audience more efficiently and make the most out of your marketing budget, strategies, and tactics.
Invest in Your Community or Communities
Consumers of all kinds take notice of brands that give back to the communities they serve, and they really appreciate it when they know their dollar will make a difference. By participating in philanthropic opportunities to give back, you’ll take your branding efforts beyond the realm of marketing and support those who need it in your community.
In a different but similar vein, brands can adopt environmental practices that (a) help improve the environment, and (b) allow them to market themselves as green companies.
One thing to note, however, is that when it comes to giving back to your community or promoting yourself as a green company, no one likes dishonesty or a showboat. In other words, consumers do not appreciate a company that uses its philanthropy or eco-friendly status disingenuously. People do not respond well to greenwashing—the act of promoting yourself as environmentally conscious without making much change to actually minimize your carbon footprint or environmental impact—nor do they respond well to companies that give back purely for publicity.
Are You Interested in Boosting Your Brand in the Fuel and Oil Industry? Partner With the Branding Pros at M&R Marketing! 478-621-4491
Since 2008, we have worked with businesses to improve their branding efforts and grow their businesses. And, our team has served oil companies across the US with effective marketing plans, strategies, and campaigns to increase brand awareness and drive conversions.
If it’s time to boost your brand in the fuel and oil industry, contact one of our business development managers today!
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