For this blogpost, we interviewed internal communications expert Marieke van Duijnhoven, responsible for employee communications and engagement at Carglass® in The Netherlands. The company’s shift toward increased innovation called for a new vision on internal communications.

Does your brand have a story? Some brand stories are so well-known that they’ve become part of popular culture. We all know the story behind Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the same with Virgin and Richard Branson. We’ve seen their companies and products evolve, and it’s almost like we know them – we’ve made an emotional connection.

Isn’t your visual identity just your logo and a letterhead? Well, it is, but it’s also a whole lot more. Think about all of the opportunities you have to highlight your visual brand ID – websites, business cards, office décor, digital and printed brochures and newsletters, signage, trade show booths, banners, products, product packaging, t-shirts, pens, mugs and other swag … the list is practically endless.

For some B2B companies, developing a brand is an afterthought. The focus is on refining and marketing the product, and the brand ends up being created on the fly, by the engineering department or even company execs, just in time for a product launch or an important trade show.

Once you’ve decided to move ahead with a reference marketing program, the first thing to do is determine your objectives. Of course, you want to increase sales, but there are a lot of other benefits you can derive from reference marketing.

When it comes to choosing the components of your marketing plan, return on investment is an important consideration. If you’re like most marketers, trying to do more, with less, you’re likely looking for options that will deliver the highest return on your marketing spend, while checking off a few other boxes for your organization as well. For many tech and healthcare companies, customer reference marketing represents one of the best and most cost-effective ways to create awareness and build credibility with prospects.

Way back when, our ancestors started the concept of “branding” when they burned an identifying mark onto their cattle so they could easily pick them out of a herd. Today, branding has evolved far beyond simply identifying a product, and is more about creating psychological connections between purchasers and products.

For certain types of consumer products or services, brand ambassadors play a key role in spreading the word.Companies that sell products like vodka, headphones or makeup, or organizations promoting events build buzz with brand ambassadors who interact with selected demographic groups. To succeed, these ambassadors must be credible, authentic and trusted by their audiences.

Just like the rest of your marketing & sales collateral, using the buyer’s journey as your guide is a great approach to creating video. The buyer’s journey is all about figuring out what information your prospects need, and when they need it. Prospects want different things at each stage in their buyer’s journey: