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A brand strategy is a process designed to help give your business a distinct identity that will help it stand out against its competitors. Brand strategies aren’t simply about your company name and logo (although these are important), but should be built around the core principles of your business and the customer need it fulfils.
Building a successful brand strategy takes time and perseverance (you may not get it exactly right the first time), and it often helps to enlist the help of experts from brand agencies. But, to get you started, here are the things you need to consider when putting your brand strategy in place.
A key question that should underpin everything your business does. Although making money is the main purpose of most businesses, it’s intent can be broadly categorised in one of two ways:
Every bit of content your brand produces should be relevant to its key messages and echo its tone of voice. It’s easy to let this consistency slip, especially on social media where it’s easy to re-share things you like that could, in reality, be way off brand. Try to keep all messaging relevant and consistent by always asking why you’re producing it? If you don’t have an answer to how it fits your brand message, it could confuse your customers.
Consumers aren’t always rational about their purchases, and some would sooner pay that bit more for a product from a brand they like than opt for a cheaper, identical product from another brand. When building your brand strategy, you need to tap into the emotions of your customers – even if this just means using certain words over others. User testing is a great way to find out what words and images resonate with consumers, and should be carried out on a regular basis.
Although consumers often like a consistent message, they can also be wildly unpredictable – messages can quickly wear thin and wear off, particularly as social media makes everything a bit more disposable. While you should always strive to keep your brand values, if the message is no longer resonating like it was, you’ll need to be prepared to change it.
You may think that simply offering the goods or service that you do is reward enough for all your loyal customers. And in many instances, it will be. But it never does any harm to grease the wheels, and it often pays to reward people who act as your brand ambassadors. This could be in as simple a way as rewarding referrals or as involved as running a high-profile competition to find your brand’s biggest advocate. Or anything in between. It’s all about knowing your audience and finding a strategy that works for them, while also resonating with any potential new customers.
By Steven Roger | 22/09/2021
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