{"id":18741,"date":"2020-10-19T16:44:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T20:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/?p=18741"},"modified":"2024-07-25T00:37:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T04:37:27","slug":"proven-ways-developing-new-brand-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/proven-ways-developing-new-brand-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Proven Ways to Create a Brand Strategy [From 64 Marketers]"},"content":{"rendered":"

A brand strategy<\/a>\u00a0is the way a company intentionally presents itself to the public. Brand doesn\u2019t just mean a logo and the appearance of a company\u2019s products or services. Rather, a brand strategy involves many facets, including deciding on a brand\u2019s purpose, values, messaging, voice, and the channels used to promote the brand.<\/p>\n

Brand strategy also closely involves selecting the brand\u2019s ideal audience, and how to best position the brand in front of that audience in a way that\u2019s different from its competitors.<\/p>\n

We wanted to know what marketing experts consider the most essential elements of a brand strategy. We also asked about their best advice for businesses taking their first deep dive into brand strategy.<\/p>\n

Sixty-four marketers shared their insights. Not surprisingly, nearly all of the marketers we surveyed (98%) have a formal brand strategy.<\/p>\n

But what do they include in a brand strategy, and how do they measure its success? How has a formal brand strategy helped them grow their businesses? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n

Brand positioning: The most popular brand strategy<\/h2>\n

When asked what types of common brand strategies<\/a> they use\u00a0for their own companies, 80% of marketers reported they use brand positioning, making it overwhelmingly the most popular brand strategy. Strategic partnerships<\/a> came in second, used by 58% of marketers.<\/p>\n[su_icon_text color=”#474747″ icon=”icon: lightbulb-o” icon_color=”#0088cc” target=”self”]Brand positioning is the way a brand is presented to its target audience to differentiate it from competitors.[\/su_icon_text]\n

\"Common<\/p>\n

What\u00a0marketing methods do companies use to implement their brand strategy?<\/p>\n

More than 9 in 10 experts (91%) use SEO, and more than 8 in 10 (83%) use organic social media, making them the two most popular methods.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of marketers (73%) use email marketing, while around half of marketers use paid search (53%), referral marketing<\/a> (52%), or social media ads (50%). You can review the frequency of use of these and other methods in the chart below.<\/p>\n

\"Methods<\/p>\n

Ways a brand strategy helps businesses<\/h2>\n

When we asked how brand strategy has helped their business, the most popular responses were that it grew their customer base (80%) and grew their company as a whole (75%).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 69% reported a brand strategy helped them increase profit, and 61% said it helped them increase customer loyalty. Thirty-eight percent reported it led to more employee engagement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Ways<\/p>\n

Ways to measure the success of brand-building<\/h2>\n

How do marketing experts measure the success of their brand strategy? Nearly all of the marketers (94%) track website metrics, including traffic, clicks, and conversions, making this the most popular tracking method by far.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 47% of marketers use social listening, which involves tracking and analyzing any mentions of their brand on social media, in reviews, and more. Another 47% use advertising metrics, while 33% used customer surveys.<\/p>\n

Other ways marketers measure brand strategy success included tracking user engagement, media coverage, referrals, and other word-of-mouth marketing.<\/p>\n

\"Measuring<\/p>\n

21 tips for developing a new brand strategy<\/h2>\n

Now, let\u2019s dive into the tips our experts gave for marketers preparing a new brand strategy. These tips include ways to best establish a purpose that drives your brand, position your brand against the competition, and telling your story to the right audience.<\/p>\n

Start with your values<\/h3>\n

Lynn Power of Masami<\/a>\u00a0shares, \u201cStart with figuring out your brand positioning and narrative (including archetype and values) at the beginning of the process. All too often, I see companies de-prioritize the brand foundation for the product news, and then need to unravel communications and marketing later when they realize it doesn’t hang together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let your brand purpose drive your brand strategy<\/h3>\n

Kimberly Gordon of KSG Group<\/a>\u00a0shares, \u201cIt’s critical to articulate the higher purpose of your brand in your customer’s life. It’s not just about what you are selling, it’s how you are improving your customers’ lives. If you can effectively define that, then you’re halfway there.\u201d<\/p>\n

David McHugh of Crediful<\/a>\u00a0tells us, “Make sure you convey purpose. As you’re developing your brand, it’s important to think about what ideas, thoughts, and images customers will associate with that brand. When people think of your brand, what kind of value do you want them to attach to it? Even more important is what messages you want to send to the market through your brand, and what feelings and emotions you want to associate it with.”<\/p>\n

Understand the many facets that make up a brand<\/h3>\n

Landon Ledford of Double L Brands<\/a>\u00a0shares, \u201cBefore starting, clearly understand all that a brand actually encompasses. Be overly detailed with documenting your brand\u2019s target audience and your competitors\u2019 audience. Just as it takes more than a cowboy hat to make a cowboy, it takes more than a logo or name to make a brand. A brand is the set of expectations, memories, and relationships \u2013 the overall feeling \u2013 consumers associate with a certain product\/service when thinking about it (consciously or subconsciously).”<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t rush \u2013 take time to form a solid brand strategy<\/h3>\n

Joy Corkery of Latana\u00a0<\/a>recommends, \u201cTake the time to think about what you want your brand to stand for. It’s a competitive world out there for companies and it may lead you to the conclusion that the faster you concoct a brand strategy and get it out there, the better. Of course, time is of the essence and you do need to factor it in as you set out to compete. However, speed is worth nothing if you release a brand your target audience doesn’t emotionally connect with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set measurable goals to track brand marketing success<\/h3>\n

Laurel Mintz of Elevate My Brand<\/a>\u00a0advises, \u201cStart with a baseline or hypothesis against which you can measure success. Even though it’s not an attractive conversation, it’s exactly where most brands fail. They just start throwing money in different directions without specific and measurable goals or KPIs they’re tracking month over month.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like driving across the country, you need to know the streets, roads, and highways you’re going to take to get there. Otherwise, your likelihood of successfully reaching your destination is slim to none.\u201d<\/p>\n

Target the right audience<\/h3>\n

Harshil Bhatnagar of Staiir Social Media Marketing<\/a>\u00a0recommends, “Choose the correct target audience. One of the biggest mistakes people make while creating an individual brand is trying to appeal to everyone. But in reality, that never happens. Find out your ideal audience’s demographics: What are their dreams, goals, and aspirations? What is preventing them from achieving their goals? The more you learn about your audience, the better you will be able to convert them.”<\/p>\n

Rex Freiberger of GadgetReview<\/a>\u00a0agrees, “The first thing I do is look at who the brand will be serving and who we’re hoping to reach. This is the whole purpose of creating a strong brand, as you want it to resonate with your target customer. Developing profiles for your target audience can help you reverse engineer a brand strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if you find your ideal customer spends a lot of their social media time on Instagram, then Instagram needs to be a part of your strategy. If they’re more responsive to videos than images or text, you can incorporate videos. Everything should serve a purpose that will draw in your target audience.”<\/p>\n

Kevin Walker of Boardwalk<\/a>\u00a0advises, \u201cStart by defining your market. List all the groups you need to perceive your brand in a positive light. Your customers and employees, of course, but everyone else, too. Omit nobody. Once you\u2019ve done that, determine the need your product or service fills for that market. Remember, people don\u2019t buy drills because they want a drill. People buy drills because they want a hole. What you\u2019re selling is the \u2018drill.\u2019 What is the \u2018hole\u2019 your market needs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanjay Patoliya of Teclogiq\u00a0advises, “Your goal is to develop a strategy that will get your company in front of as many eyes as possible, but make sure those eyes belong to your target audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch your competitor\u2019s audience, as well. Find out who your competitors are targeting and how they\u2019re promoting their business. Your goal is to get an idea of how you can capture some of that attention, or on the flip side, what niche they might be missing out on.”<\/p>\n

Be authentic, relevant, and different<\/h3>\n

Shannon Riordan of Global Brand Works<\/a>\u00a0advises, “For a brand strategy to successfully drive a business, it must be three things:<\/p>\n