Are you in this for the long haul? Here are five long-term marketing lessons for anyone who’s building brand equity to last. 

In this fast-paced digital world, we’ve grown so accustomed to instant gratification and maximum impact that we’ve lost the ability to appreciate the small moments of impact that can add up to something greater over time. 

Sometimes the long game really is more effective – especially in marketing. 

“Like music producers create ‘one-hit-wonders,’ most brands can produce a single, positive customer experience,” writes Jessica Wong for Entrepreneur.com. “Granted, this initial good impression means the customer relationship is off to a good start. But it says little about the long-term relationship between consumer and brand.”

It does little to support a lasting relationship, and that’s the problem. 

If you want to build a brand with staying power, you have to be willing to invest in the long-term strategies that create true brand equity. 

Here are five lessons we’ve learned about long-term marketing and the strategies required to not only grow but last. 

How To Build Brand Equity With Long-Term Marketing Strategies

Successful marketing starts long before the first conversion. 

If you follow the current marketing experts and business influencers, it’s easy to expect your leads to turn into customers with just one campaign or conversion tactic. But consumers are more relationship-driven than ever. They want to know, trust and believe in your brand before they reach out for information about your products or services. 

“Building trust between a brand and a consumer not only takes time. It also requires a consistent effort,” writes Jessica Wong for Entrepreneur.com. “They are unlikely to make that initial purchase without having already built some kind of relationship with your brand.”

That’s why marketing starts long before the first attempt at conversion. More often than not, we have to be in a potential customer’s purview for a while as we establish and build that relationship. Every interaction, piece of content, and branding opportunity is working slowly toward that goal. Then, when they are in need of the solution you provide, they will think of you – instead of the competition. 

Think of it like dating. If your goal is a lasting relationship, there’s a certain “courting” period involved. You don’t ask someone to be your serious boyfriend or girlfriend on a first date. You get to know each other, establish trust, and make the move when you feel confident the relationship has progressed.

Marketing is similar. You can’t jump the gun and expect them to commit to a brand they don’t know. 

Even when you don’t feel like you’re marketing, you are. 

During the long courting period that has become modern marketing, it’s easy to think your marketing opportunities are limited to email opens and social media posts – but everything is marketing. Every time you help your potential customer solve a problem, or go above and beyond to answer their question, you’re strengthening that relationship. Maybe you can’t help them with an immediate need, but you connect them to someone who can help. Whenever you leave them with a positive experience, you’re showing them your brand values. You’re demonstrating that you’re helpful, genuinely interested in their success, and willing to go the extra mile. Even if it doesn’t immediately lead to a sale, these are the intangible brand values that often make the difference. 

“Every successful global brand has found a way to communicate the intangible value of its product to consumers, which translates into a brand-customer emotional connection,” writes Ernest Ross for Forbes. “Every brand should mean something more than just the functionality of its products.” 

Everything is either a vote for or against your brand.

Habit-building expert and author James Clear suggests that each time you perform a small habit, you’re working toward the person you want to become. If you want to be a runner, every time you hit the pavement or treadmill, you’re one step closer to embodying that identity. Every time you skip a run, you’ve missed the opportunity to get closer to your goal. 

“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become,” James writes in his book, Atomic Habits. “No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity.” 

Branding is the same. Every interaction with a customer or potential customer is either a vote for or against your brand reputation. That includes your in-person, phone and digital interactions. It includes the quality of your product or service. If you market on a local level, it could also include your personal relationships and community-wide reputation. In fact, a PricewaterhouseCoopers study revealed that 32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad experience. 

“People pick up on mistakes immediately; inconsistencies in writing style stick out and grab people’s attention — in a bad way. You want consumers thinking about your message, not irregular commas and numbering systems,” writes May Habib for Advertising Week. “Accurate content and clear branding lets people focus on the heart of your messages.” 

Your brand value builds or declines over time. 

While this could either be good news or bad news, we choose to see it as an opportunity. If every interaction, every touchpoint, every piece of content, is a vote for or against your brand, then every time you do it right – you’re building the value of your brand exponentially. 

Think of it like compound interest. Let’s say you meet a potential client at a networking event. You introduce yourself and have a nice chat. Nothing comes of it. Next time you see them, you follow up with a specific question, something that you learned about them in your first conversation. They appreciate that you remembered, and now your conversation feels more meaningful whenever you see them. A few months later, you run into each other at the grocery store, and they share that they’re struggling to find a reliable graphic artist. You do a quick email introduction to connect them with yours. Next time you see them, they’re grateful because the graphic artist was fabulous. Now they’re ready to rebrand their website. When their web designer suggests new photos, they reach out to you for a consultation. 

That’s the reality of how marketing works. Even if your market is solely online, the same process happens through digital platforms. Each time you respond to a comment, answer a direct message, or post solution-oriented content, the engagement from your digital community is a vote for your brand. 

For example, a couple years ago we noticed a steady yet dramatic uptick in our email open rate. Over a period of a few months, it was climbing from a 12% average to a 30% average with no signs of slowing down. But we weren’t doing anything differently. We were so confused by the increase, in fact, that we reached out to the support team for our email software to ask why our open rates were climbing so much. Do you know what he said? All of our hard work was paying off – our consistency had finally led to an inflection point, and our audience was genuinely engaged. Today our email open rates are consistently above 45%, and we no longer question why.

James Clear also writes about this phenomenon with an excellent illustration: “Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks … Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” 

And we believe that positive branding touchpoints are the compound of interest of marketing. 

Client experience is the easiest place to start. 

Now, this isn’t rocket science. Without too much research, it’s easy to recognize that positive branding interactions add up over time; conversely, negative branding interactions can destroy a relationship in an instant. But when you think about it that way, it can start to feel a little overwhelming – especially for us perfectionists and high-achievers, right? 

That’s why we wanted to give you the easiest way to start collecting votes for your brand. It’s your customer experience. You want to start with current customers because, if that’s not squared away, then you’ll get caught in an endless cycle of losing customers and constantly seeking new ones. That’s not how you create compound interest. 

Start by looking at the experience your customer has from start to finish. Is it consistent for every single customer? If not, how can you create systems or processes that support a more consistent experience? Is your customer experience a positive one? How can you make small changes to increase the ease, convenience, effectiveness or positivity of their experience? How can you personalize the process or incentivize them to come back for more? 

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Resist the urge to implement 15 new strategies or impose complex processes on your team. Start small and let the compound interest build. Trust in the inflection point, and let your reputation speak for itself. Once you have a happy and thriving customer base, it will be easier to attract more. 

How We Can Help 

It has always been important to us to go above and beyond for our clients, to help in any way we can – even when it has nothing to do with photography or video. We’re here to help, to give you the best experience possible, and to make sure you have everything you need to be successful. It’s part of our DNA. We can’t help it. 

But we now understand it’s a big part of why we’re still here. People notice the difference. 

Over the years, we’ve worked these values into every detail of our business and customer experience, and during our Visual Marketing Strategy & Planning Sessions, we share everything we’ve learned, as it applies to your brand. These customized sessions are designed to give you all the tools you need to execute your marketing plan. Each two-hour session includes a strategic plan that will help you reach your business goals. We start by evaluating your business and personal brand to understand where you’re at currently. We’ll talk about your goals, so we can begin outlining a roadmap to get you there. Next we will help you create a visual marketing strategy, including a timeline and schedule, to use your existing assets to reach your intended audience. And finally we will leave you with some homework to take home to set you on a path to achieve your goals.

“When I initially met with Brian and Lindsay, I was moving in 100 different directions without a concrete plan, and in turn was feeling overwhelmed and absolutely lost. After our initial meeting, it was a complete turnaround,” shared Christina Trujillo-Sieren, LCSW. “Their ability to align with my vision and priorities helped structure my next steps, and I left with concrete to-dos that re-directed me on a path to feeling excited to implement new strategies that worked.”

Visual Marketing Education 

At SchlickArt, we know your marketing visuals are only effective if you actually use them. That’s why we help you create powerful photography and video – and then we teach you how to share it. With each session, we’ll give you our best tips based on your specific marketing goals. We provide the education and resources you need to brand your content, integrate it into your marketing strategy, post it with intention, and maximize engagement along the way. 

If you want even more tips and resources, we have an educational blog, newsletter and video channel to help you dive deeper, as well as professional presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions if you’re ready to take action and level-up your marketing now.

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a boutique photo and video studio in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of beauty and authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy — rather than a product, service or person — SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt.