Steps to Increase Adoption of your Brand Center
By: Leslie Pinkerton, Marketing Content Manager, 4/6/17
So, you’ve taken on the challenge of unifying your brand across the organization. Congratulations! That’s a tall order, but one that is part of a strong brand management strategy.
If you’re like many organizations who rely on a centralized platform to access, customize, and distribute marketing content (like MarcomCentral), you’ve got a powerful tool to control your brand and empower your employees and partners.
But, a marketing technology tool does not work like the famous baseball field in Field of Dreams. You likely remember the line, “If you build it, they will come.”
Setting up the technology is only half the battle. To make the most of your purchase, demonstrate ROI of the tool, and take advantage of the benefits of consistent, on-demand brand assets, you’ve got to ensure the right people on your staff know what’s available to them, and when to use it.
To ensure user adoption, consider the following steps to promote your new brand center internally:
- Launch a campaign – Put those marketing skills to good use. Just as you would market your services or products, apply the same principles to market this tool to your employees. Be clear about the benefits (answer the question “what’s in it for me?”), create a FAQ, and use a variety of channels to get the word out. You’ve worked hard to set up a comprehensive Marketing Asset Management tool, now let everyone know!
- Roadshows – If resources allow, consider traveling to each facility or branch office. A good rule of thumb: Don’t make them come to you, but rather, go to them. You’re more likely to earn the attention of busy staff when you allow them to take a break in their own location, giving them an opportunity to learn about the new tool live. Encourage questions and live interactive training.
- Internal communications – If your organization has a companywide intranet, or other centralized communication tool like Slack, use these well-adopted channels to promote your new brand management platform. Anytime there are new materials, promote it companywide, driving traffic to the tool.
- Use it in conversation – As the brand manager, you likely have many conversations about specific material. Integrate your brand center into each discussion, for example saying “we may have that on our brand center” in response to requests. Your goal is to encourage employees to use the tool as their first resource. The key is for them to understand that this is a tool everyone should use.
- Project request system – Host a way for users to request materials or projects within your new brand center tool. When you or your team is asked for one-off requests for materials, send the requester to this new project request system. While they may feel the need to make a formal request, chances are they’ll explore the tool instead, and find exactly what they need.
The name of the game is about changing behaviors companywide to eventually begin using your new Marketing Asset Management tool. Change doesn’t happen overnight, so be patient, and use a variety of tactics to get the word out. Adoption happens with continued conversations and ongoing encouragement. Don’t let it go.
With increased usage, you’ll have peace of mind that when vendors and staff go-to-market and activate their plans, it’s done in a consistent manner.
Here at MarcomCentral, we are constantly inspired by the great work of our customers, one of whom exemplified how to successfully launch a unified brand center across a large and distributed organization, Orlando Health.
See it by the numbers:
- 2,000+ users (and growing)
- 2,500 assets
- 100 dynamic pieces
- 7,500 orders to-date
Learn How Orlando Health Uses MarcomCentral to Communicate, Protect, & Build Their Brand.