I am a huge proponent of brand strategy. Shocking I know. It’s a no-brainer yet many clients bypass it. Well, according to research, it takes about 5 to 7 impressions to start creating brand awareness. Every business needs a strong brand that people can easily recognize and relate to. When consumers recognize your brand immediately, they pay attention to ads, recommend your company to others, and become repeat customers if they like your products or services.
Now, with only seven seconds to make the first impression, you need to bring your A-game if you’re going to create a winning brand strategy. Here are ways to create a winning brand strategy.
Define Your Brand’s Purpose
Your brand’s purpose is what it stands for and what it hopes to achieve. It should be something more than making money. Nike, for example, doesn’t just make shoes and clothes — they inspire people to be their best selves. Harley Davidson isn’t just about motorcycles, they stand for freedom and the open road. Knowing your brand’s purpose makes it much easier to create marketing messages that resonate with your target audience. You can also use it as a guideline for your business decisions.
Create a Strong Brand Identity
Your brand identity is what makes your brand unique. It’s what people remember about you, even when they can’t remember your name or product. Apple is an excellent example of a brand with a strong identity. Their logo, colors, and marketing messages are instantly recognizable to consumers worldwide.And their work, well, it’s spectacular, to say the least.
And like them, your brand identity should be consistent across all channels, from your website to your social media profiles to your print materials. Use the same fonts, colors, and logos throughout so that people know they’re dealing with your brand.
Create a Strong Brand Personality
Your brand personality is what your brand sounds and feels like. It should be unique, just like your brand identity, and should be reflected in your marketing campaign. For example, Apple’s brand personality is sleek, modern, and minimalistic, while Harley Davidson’s brand personality is rebellious and edgy. Think about the words you would use to describe your brand and use them to create a voice for your brand.
Develop a Marketing Strategy
Your marketing strategy is how you plan to reach and engage your target audience. It should include tactics like online advertising, PR, and content marketing. You also need a brand strategy that fits within your larger marketing strategy. It’s essential to understand how you’re going to reach your target audience every time, not just when it comes time for big campaigns. You can use tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to determine which ad networks are the best match for your brand.
Use Social Media Strategically
Social media is an integral part of any good brand strategy for many businesses. Customers want brands they can engage with in meaningful ways. With the right brand management in place, social media becomes a powerful tool to engage your customers and build brand awareness at the same time. There are plenty of brand management tools out there, so it’s just a matter of finding one that fits your brand.
Be Consistent With Brand Messaging Across All Channels
Your brand identity is how you present your brand to the world. Whether you do it through your products, a marketing campaign, or social media. It should be consistently presented across platforms so people can identify it immediately and relate to it easily. If people see different messages on Twitter than they do on Facebook or Instagram, they might not know which brand they represent. Now, most processes are not that easy, and you may need professional help, so hire a brand strategy agency.
Build Brand Loyalty Through Brand Experience
The brand experience is what your customers feel when interacting with your brand. That’s whether trying out a product or interacting with customer service online. Brands like Disney and Starbucks have built their success on providing great brand experiences that create loyal customers and raving fans. Your brand experience should be consistent across all channels, from your website to social media profiles to customer service interactions. Every touchpoint matters. Make sure everything aligns with who you are as a brand and what you stand for at every point in the journey.
Create Brand Associations
Brand associations are the images and feelings your brand evokes in consumers’ minds. Associations can be positive or negative, but they have to strike a chord with your target audience if you want brand recognition. For example, Old Spice is associated with virility. Dove is associated with nurturing women’s self-esteem. Both brands are successful because their brand associations are clear and resonate with their audiences.
Get Brand Reviews From Experts and Existing Customers
Getting brand reviews from experts in your industry plays a significant role in brand recognition. You see, people respect third-party endorsements. They’ll be more likely to trust the authenticity of your brand if it’s been recommended by an expert they respect. If you don’t have any brand reviews yet, ask some of your satisfied customers for recommendations. Use these reviews in future marketing and sales materials and on your promotional channels, website, social media platforms, print materials, etc.
Analyze Your Brand Competition
It’s important to know your direct brand competitors because these are the people you’re competing with for brand recognition and sales. However, don’t stop there. You should also study how other brands in your industry get their message across to determine what works well and what doesn’t work at all. If possible, try to get a copy of an annual brand report produced by an industry association or research company. You’ll see which brand strategies are working best in your business niche. Compare this data to your brand strategy to see if there are any gaps between where your brand is now and where it needs to be for success.
Measure Brand Success Using Key Performance Indicators
To know if your brand strategy is working, you must track progress and measure it against your goals. You can achieve this by setting up key performance indicators (KPIs) and tracking them over time. KPIs can vary depending on your brand and business. However, common ones might include brand awareness, website traffic, leads generated, or social media engagement. By tracking these metrics regularly, you can see how well your brand strategy is working and make necessary adjustments along the way.
Creating the Best Brand Strategy: Everything You Need
Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business. A strong brand strategy can help you to connect with your target audience. It’ll help you stand out from the competition, and achieve success in today’s crowded marketplace. With the tips provided in this guide, you should be able to create a winning strategy. That said, if you need help getting a good brand strategy together, please give us a call, and we’ll work together.