Today, I’m going to teach you about one of my favourite brand elevation strategies that I’ve used in many, many different companies across a bunch of different industries: The Halo Effect.
If you’re looking to bring more credibility to your brand, gain access to top tier potential clients or customers, and benefit from a strong network effect, even if you have a small team or a small budget, keep reading.
Before we dive into how to leverage this strategy in your own business, let’s first unpack with the “halo effect” is.
What is The Halo Effect?
In 1920, Edward Thorndike, an American psychologist studying the psychology of learning, wrote an article called “A Constant Error in Psychological Ratings” where the term “halo effect” was born.
Thorndike was the first to say that the halo effect was a specific cognitive bias in which one aspect of a person, brand, product, or institution affects one’s thoughts or judgment of the entity’s other aspects or dimensions.
While Thorndike originally coined the term referring only to people; its use has been greatly expanded especially in the area of brand marketing.
This is where it gets interesting.
In an article written by ISFA, the author shared that “Business owners and marketers can create leverage, awareness and the Halo Effect by associating their businesses with other successful brands. This association is intended to elicit positive, endearing, impactful thoughts and emotions of high quality, performance, and reputation.”
Now, your creative brain might instantly jump to strategies like influencer marketing, co-branding, partnerships, etc., and you wouldn’t be wrong.
Unfortunately, many brands can’t pull off the budget required for large-scale influencer campaigns nor do they have a dedicated partnerships team. For these companies, the “halo effect” can seem a little out of reach.
The good news is that the “halo effect” can be used by any brand or company of any size regardless of your team size or budget.
How to Use the Halo Effect in Your Brand Marketing
Whenever I’ve worked in startups, I’ve always looked for ways to elevate the brand, build awareness, and establish credibility with prospects and customers by leveraging the halo effect.
An easy way to do that is to create opportunities for influencers, well-known industry professionals, or larger brands to engage with your company.
The Halo Effect & Blog Interviews
The simplest way to do this is through your blog. If you know who your target audience is, think about the brands or companies that would be amazing to have as customers. Then, go and interview them for your blog.
For example, Noibu, an Ottawa-based startup that helps its e-commerce customers detect and resolve shopping cart errors, interviews C-suite executives from brands that are right within their wheelhouse – Harry Rosen, Davids Tea, and Destination Maternity – to name a few.
