Branding Your Info Product

Yee Haw! Years ago the way cattle were marked so that they could be identified was by ‘branding’ them with a symbol that represented their owner. There was a red hot branding iron involved…OUCH! That method is rarely used now…ear tags are more the norm. The idea of branding an animal was for the purpose of identification. The idea of ‘branding’ a product is a little more complicated but the idea is the same.

You recognize many brands of many different products by their logo’s, colors and fonts. Every year, billions of dollars are spent on advertising so that the buying public will recognize a particular brand of a general product. We have all heard the term ‘branding’ and ‘branding campaign’ used in the Internet marketing arena, but what exactly does it mean in that setting?
According to Capcomarketing it means, “An ad campaign that focuses on introducing, re-introducing or enforcing the brand for a particular product or organization. Branding is one of the most unappreciated aspects of web advertising because so many people focus on click-through rates. This is unfortunate because studies have shown internet advertising to be highly successful in building brand awareness.”

“Interesting’, you say, “but how does branding relate to my informational product?” The fact is that every day there are hundreds of e-books published or offered on the Internet. Branding is one way to make yours stand out from the crowd. The objective is always to stand out, stand above and be recognized. The purpose of branding your informational product is to establish yourself as a guru…an expert in the field…the ‘go-to’ guy (or gal).

There are several things that you can do that will help you establish a recognizable brand for your informational products. One such thing is to have a logo made that is yours alone. Think Coca Cola or Tide! You would recognize those brand logos anywhere.

If you are a graphic designer you can, of course, design your own logo. If you are like most of us, you will need to find a graphic designer to make one for you. Think of it as a one-time expense that will have value for you forever. Use this logo on all of your informational products and be sure that when it is reproduced the logo will be included in the reproduction.

Another way of branding your informational product is to use your own picture as a part of the work. This will help to establish you as the guru and any reproduction of the work should include the picture.

Use a slogan often enough that it becomes associated with your informational products. A slogan needs to be short and to the point. Think of the Wal-Mart slogan…Always low prices…always!” It works for them and a slogan can help you brand your products, as well. This slogan should be used as a part of your informational product as often as possible.

You can still have no idea how to brand your informational product, the one thing that you can do free of charge and every time is to put your name in the title of your informational product. “John Doe Teaches You How-to Whatever” is an effective way to brand an e-book or a CD or DVD.

As small Internet business owners, we just don’t have those beautiful multi-million advertising budgets that the bug guys have but we can use some of the same tactics that have made them big guys and branding is one of those tactics. Brand your informational products to help establish yourself as an expert in your field and thereby increase you income.







Resources: capcomarketing.com/mediakit/Marketing_Glossary/