Top 3 Brand Marketing Strategies for 2024

Navigating the current retail landscape poses several challenges for brands, given the backdrop of store closures, continuing inventory issues, and cautious customer spending in 2024. For brands, it is time to get creative! Here, we share our top 3 brand marketing strategies for the year ahead. 

To be a memorable brand, share a compelling story  

What is your brand message? Perhaps it is time to revisit your training strategy and how you deliver your content to ensure it is you have a variety in your training content. This approach is important today, to appeal to different learning styles and preferences. Research from TalentLMS and Vyond found that over 7 in 10 employees remember information presented in a video better than information presented in writing. 

Consider making bite-sized TikTok-style videos or slide decks heavy on the visuals - anything to uniquely convey your brand story. Highlight the features and benefits of your brand's new line of winter gloves in a video of yourself doing an activity such as skiing or playing hockey on an outdoor ice rink. Showcasing your products in such real-life settings are likely to be perceived as memorable and authentic. 

What’s more, training takes time to complete, and sales associates are busy, especially during busier times such as the end-of-year holiday season. What can you do to help your brand stand out from the crowd? 

Help sales associates become product pros

Once you have your story and messaging in line, hone in on enhancing product knowledge, focusing on associates on the sales floor. Increase frontline sales associates’ expertise in your products, making them your brand's best advocates. After all, a well-informed sales associate is more confident and willing to promote your products.

Consider the following scenario. Sales associates in a clothing and sports equipment store just watched an engaging and informative video showcasing your brand’s new gloves. Lightweight, waterproof and touchscreen compatible, but also extremely warm. Will these gloves be top-of-mind during customer interactions? Most likely. By boosting product knowledge, you can also increase sell-through of your brand’s products. 

Focus on community engagement, IRL and in the digital space  

This goes along with our point about sharing compelling and engaging content, yet also incorporating the community aspect into the mix. Build a community around your brand by organizing outdoor events, workshops, or group activities for store associates. If they share a passion for outdoor sports and activities, then this is great! In a recent webinar, Gregory Beidler, Director of Operations / District Manager at DICK’S Sporting Goods gave an example of a brand partner who visits a specialty running store to discuss several new products and their features. After a practical demo such as showing their new running shoes, the brands would then give employees a chance to try them out, and then later dive more into the shoe’s technical features. This type of experience is both interactive and engaging. 

However, in-person visits are costly, and may not be practical or feasible, especially when dealing with geographically dispersed sales reps and store locations. If this is the case, bring that interactive experience into the online realm! 

Drive sales associate engagement through a gamified environment, complete with team leaderboards and regular brand-led competitions. Several other tactics include:

• Designing virtual challenges that encourage participants to engage in outdoor activities
• Running campaigns that reward associates for sharing photos, videos, or stories showcasing how they use your brand's products in diverse outdoor settings
• Partnering with outdoor influencers who can create and share content that resonates with your brand's community of outdoor enthusiasts

Amid the ever-evolving retail landscape, there is room to get creative with your brand and training strategies. When it comes to marketing and showcasing the best of your brand in 2024, the possibilities are endless truly endless. 

Schedule your demo of Myagi’s brand training platform to see how you can deliver your brand's message accurately to frontline associates, helping them become your biggest brand advocates! 

‍