What is a Brand Strategy and Why is it Important?
A companies brand strategy is a set of actions and measures that are designed to define the value a company places on its brand, how they intend to market this brand, and how their actions will support the brand’s goals.
Branding is the idea of creating an image for a company or product in order to differentiate it from its competitors. A brand identifies and represents a product, service, individual, business entity, or virtually anything else. Brands help differentiate companies and products from their competitors, making them valuable to customers as they seek reliable information when making purchasing decisions.
Every company needs to have a brand strategy that is designed to suit its specific business goals.
If there isn’t an understanding of how this can be achieved, then it’s not uncommon for marketing to become misdirected due to misinformation or even conflicting directives from different divisions within the company.
Different Types of Brand Strategies
Brands can enhance the strength of their customer relationships by utilizing different types of branding strategies. There are three different types of branding strategies that brands can utilize to build stronger customer relationships. Communication, association, and performance are all different types of branding strategies.
Communication is a type of branding strategy that includes sending one or more pieces of communication, audio or visual, to an audience. A brand can send communication through email, social media, print ads, television commercials, billboards, and other forms of communication channels.
Association is another type of branding strategy that has consumers associate themselves with the brand. This is done by developing associations between the product or service being offered and qualities that are familiar or admired in various groups of people. Some associations may change over time. For example, Apple was once associated with younger people between the ages of 18 and 35. However, now it is associated with creativity for all age groups.
Lastly, performance is the last type of branding strategy that brands utilize to build stronger relationships with their customers. This type of branding strategy enhances brand value by associating an attribute or an object with the brand. For example, many brands use engines in their advertisements or logos to represent how strong their product or service is.
All of these branding strategies can help consumers develop a stronger relationship with brands.
Branding in Relation to Social Media, SEO, and Advertising
Social Media has changed how branding works. In the past, companies focused on developing an image through print ads and logos. Today, they can focus on social media in order to create a virtual brand. Social media allows people to engage with a company. Rather than simply reading ads about products or watching commercials, social media facilitates interactions between consumers and brands.
This shift in the marketing world has led every company to take a step back and evaluate their social media branding strategies. Social Media, because of its ability as an equalizer, has encouraged more companies to participate and use it as a platform for free advertising. The Open Graph protocol created by Facebook allows brands to create pages that people can like and follow. Any company, group, or individual can create a page on Facebook. Every 60 seconds there are 510K comments posted on Facebook. What are they saying about your brand?
People can then share the content with their friends and family and thus spread information about the product or service much further than if it were only being advertised on TV or the Internet.
With Social Media being such a big part of people’s lives, marketers have to be aware of how brand strategy is affected by it. Social media has changed the way branding works because companies must now focus more on engaging with their audience through several different platforms and allowing consumers to interact with their brand.
Developing Your Own Branding Strategy
The world is changing. Markets are evolving. Consumers are demanding more than ever before. And you? You’re in the driver’s seat, guiding your company through this uncertain landscape. You need a cohesive marketing strategy that speaks to your customers on both an emotional and rational level.
What does it take to get there? A strong brand identity rooted in consumer insight, coupled with a well-planned, creative marketing plan for social media campaigns, SEO optimization, content distribution, and email campaigns all designed to reach target audiences at just the right time. If you want to be successful in today’s competitive market, you need a solid branding strategy.
Developing a branding strategy is challenging. There’s so much information out there, it can be difficult to know where to begin. So how do you go about building a smart brand strategy? What works and what doesn’t?
Here are a Few Simple Ideas to Help You Develop Your Own Branding Strategy
Identify Your Positioning
Your brand is who you are, what you stand for, and how you want to be perceived by consumers. It begins from the top down with your Executive Team creating a brand manifesto. This is a crucial step in the process–don’t skip it!
Once that’s done, move on to identifying your target audiences and their personas (i.e., age, education level, marital status, children or lack thereof, income, etc.).
Finally, identify the gaps between where your brand is now and where you want it to be. Keep in mind that no branding strategy is static–you must constantly monitor growth opportunities and threats. Map out a plan to address those challenges.
Craft Your Brand Positioning
Now that you have all the information you need, it’s time to build your brand positioning statement. This is a one-sentence summary of who you are–it will be your guide in everything related to branding and marketing communications. It should include two main elements: what makes your brand unique and what’s in it for your target audience.
For example, “Crisp Seafood Co. is America’s leading seafood provider, providing only the finest wild-caught salmon and other sustainably harvested fish to families across the country.”
Expect this process to take some time. Don’t rush yourself–it’s worth taking a few days to consider every angle before you settle on a final statement.
Distill Your Brand Positioning Into A Tagline
The ideal tagline is one that reinforces your positioning and further differentiates your brand. It’s often said that a great tagline should be able to tell the story of your brand in 6 words or less. This is especially true if you’re trying to target multiple audiences; the fewer words, the better.
Example:
Crisp Seafood Co.: America’s leading seafood provider for wild-caught salmon and other sustainably harvested fish. (16 words)
The Hungry Lighter®: Smart meals that satisfy your appetite, keep you fuller longer, and help you lose weight. (7 words)
Match Your Brand Positioning With A Visual Identity
Now that you’ve got your positioning statement and tagline nailed down, it’s time to match them with a visual identity. This is the look of your brand; everything “speaks” to your target audience through your logo, website design, stationery, signage, and other marketing materials.
The main goal is to develop a recognizable visual identity that will build equity and stand the test of time. You’ll also want to choose a color palette to complete the brand image.
Enhance Your Brand Image With PR & Marketing
Your brand is only as good as your ability to reach and maintain relationships with customers.
Work with PR experts (also known as Public Relations, or “P.R.,” professionals) to develop effective brand exposure strategies that will strengthen your reputation in the marketplace and deliver a solid return on investment.
Before you can do that though, you need to have a strong story to tell. What makes your brand unique and different from the competition? How did you get started, and what sets you apart from other brands in your industry?
Even if you’re not ready yet to invest in public relations or marketing, plan ahead by mapping out social media strategies that will help you start building awareness of your brand online.
Strive For A Consistent Brand Image
As a refresher, your brand image is everything that “speaks” to your target audience through your logo, color scheme, and other marketing materials. With all the pieces in place and everyone on board with what you’re trying to accomplish, make sure it’s reflected across all your brand touchpoints.
For example, if you have a strong social media presence but customers only hear from you when they complain, they might assume that customer service is not one of your company’s priorities. This will ultimately affect the overall image and reputation of your brand.
Use Your Branding Strategy To Guide Marketing Decisions
Branding is the result of consistently following a strategic approach to your marketing activities. The ultimate goal is to establish consistent exposure for your company, product, or service while maximizing the value you receive from every dollar spent.
As you start planning out and putting together a marketing budget, refer back to the positioning statement for guidance on how best to allocate
In Conclusion
To have a successful brand, you need to consider the following: your positioning statement, how it applies to marketing decisions, and what type of visual identity you want for your business. After that’s done, remember to think about PR in order to get the word out there.
Keep in mind that branding is not something that happens overnight–it takes time–but careful planning and consistency across all channels including social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter can give you an edge against competitors.
Do you want to know more about Brand Strategy?
To learn more about creating a successful brand strategy for your business, contact us today or give us a call at (206) 388 3843. We would love to hear from you!
