by Andreea Vasilescu
Marketing Executive
Launching a new brand is risky from the start, but the better developed the brand strategy, the better the chances of success.
Branding strategies are what make or break a company’s success, and the image of your brand assists you in building a relationship with potential customers.
What is the difference between a brand and a branding strategy?
The brand is the identifying element in the relationship with your consumers. Each of these elements, including your name, logo, slogan, colors, communication style, and even your entire verbal and visual identity, contributes to the construction of your brand identity.
What can you do to help those consumers associate an entire experience with your brand?
Develop and implement a branding strategy. The branding strategy is the whole action plan that needs to be implemented in order to create long-term branding and competitive advantage.
When your business has a well-developed branding strategy, all of your business elements generate greater customer loyalty and ownership.
But how do you create a branding strategy?
- Meet the needs of your target audience
Why is it important to know your target audience? If you understand the market you are about to enter, this will help you optimize your marketing costs and create the right image for your consumers.
a. Analyze your audience (current consumers, visitors to your site, social media followers, etc.) by considering factors such as demographics (age, gender, income, industry) and their buying behaviour. (those who request an offer, those who buy, their activity on the site, etc.).
b. Identify the benefits you offer to your consumers. Although these benefits differ for each industry, most fall into categories such as: saving time, reducing the time of a specific activity, creating a more enjoyable consumer experience, and optimizing costs.
c. Check where your audience finds you.
What are the sources of traffic to your website? Does the audience come from social media, articles, newsletters, blogs?
What are the keywords they are looking for?
What video channels are they watching?
d. Identify sources that your audience trusts.
What are the busiest sites in your industry?
Who is the “voice” of this industry? Which review sites do your consumers trust?
2. Differentiate yourself from others
Identify and analyze your competition, focus on a real problem that your customers are experiencing, and offer them more than one product. Begin by providing them with a unique experience, develop your own brand ambassadors, and differentiate yourself through exceptional customer service. In addition, read and listen to everything said about you and others on social media.
3. Authenticity is the key to success
Choose your goal – Of course, profit is the goal of any business, but the true value of a brand lies in what it manages to convey, the cause it supports or the experience it tries to make available to consumers. While earnings are a priority, if they are the only goal of the company, you will not be able to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Be Consistent – Whatever method of communication you use, maintain the same tone of voice and visual identity. To make it easy for your followers to identify your communication style, create a brand manual that includes everything from the tone of voice used in key messages to the colors and fonts used. This will help your brand stand out.
Connect with your consumers – Everyone, regardless of job, profession, or background, wants to be a part of a group and form relationships with others. Find new ways to connect with your customers, even on an emotional level.
Be flexible – Consistency helps you set brand standards, but flexibility is what helps you make the necessary adjustments in the context of a constantly changing market and position yourself differently from the competition.
Build customer loyalty – When you have customers who value your business and brand, reward them. Thank them, send them a small something, ask them for their opinion on the products you buy, and post them on your website. The slightest gesture can mean a lot.
Recognize your competition – Look at your competition as a challenge to improve your strategy. Look at every step they take, but don’t be swayed by it.
Conclusion
So, the reasons for developing a branding strategy are to distinguish yourself from the competition and to establish strong relationships with your customers. And, if you choose to develop and implement a consistent brand strategy, you will be able to communicate with your customers more clearly and authentically. The more relevant your messages are to your target audience, the more likely you will attract new customers and build loyalty with existing ones.
A clear brand vision and mission not only ensures that your business is on the right track, but it also attracts talented people to contribute to its growth and scaling up.