Though your product or service is the basis of your brand and those that interact with it, brand strategy is deeper than just what’s on the surface, comprising of different elements of your business’s brand. Your brand isn’t just one thing either. It’s a collection of all the touch points, interactions, and experiences that lead a consumer to trust you in some way.
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In order to understand what a brand strategy is, we have to first talk about branding. Branding is the process of making an emotional connection with your customer. Your company’s brand name and logo are visible parts of the branding experience. The visible or tangible components are typically referred to as the ‘identity’ of your brand. A brand strategy is a plan that outlines how a business will build rapport and favorability within the market, and this is the reason why companies like GE and Nike are consistently voted as the most valuable brands in the world.
If you are thinking of establishing your own business, one of the first things to do is develop a branding strategy. It helps to be clear about your company’s name, products, and services, logo, etc.
You should be able to link these elements together to bring out the very best in your brand management efforts. If you are starting with an existing business, make sure that these elements match your company’s profile and meet its needs as well as those of your customers. If you are starting a new business, work through each of these steps so that you don’t miss any opportunities for improved public relations, marketing, or product development.
Important Constituents of Your Company’s Branding
Branding is the most important factor that contributes to a company’s success. Branding helps create a unique identity in the market and creates loyalty among customers, who become repeat buyers. Moreover, branding enables companies to price their products at higher rates, which then leads them to bigger profits and greater market share.
Here are 7 important ingredients of your company’s brand strategy:
- Your Mission Statement – This is what the famous business leader & strategist Simon Sinek describes as – why you do what you do.
A mission statement is a key component of branding. Every business has a unique purpose, which can be incorporated into your mission statement. A strong mission statement can build trust and credibility with customers while helping you communicate your company’s values and goals. Your mission should be inspirational, concise, and focused on what makes your company distinct.
Your mission should be more specific than a general promise, such as “serve the best pizzas in town” or “provide high-quality service to our customers.” Instead, it should be focused on what makes your business different from the competition.
- Consistency & Authenticity – Consistency & authenticity are important in any marketing strategy and especially in branding. If you keep your messaging consistent and authentic, your audience will recognize it, and as a result, feel more loyal and connected to your company.
When you talk about things that don’t relate to or enhance your brand, you’re putting your entire platform in jeopardy. If you’re going to add the picture of your dog to your profile photo, make sure it’s not a random picture from a night out with friends. If you’re going to post about that vacation you took last month, make sure it furthers the story of who you are as a business. These things matter!
- Empathy & Compassion to Build Emotional Connect – Empathy and compassion are two ingredients that go into building a brand’s emotional connection. Empathy allows you to understand the people you want to reach, while compassion is what makes them want to be connected with your brand.
It’s not always about what you say or what you promise. Sometimes it’s about how you feel because people buy with their hearts as well as their heads. So, build an emotional connection with your audience by creating that sense of empathy and compassion.
- Change With Time – As the old saying goes, “the times, they are a-changing” and that rings true for marketers and brands. Your brand should reflect your company’s values, but it also needs to be flexible enough to evolve with shifting trends and techniques in order to stay on top of its game.
Consistency and flexibility both go hand in hand for the best results with your brand.
- Sport Your Employees as Brand Evangelists – One way to ensure the positive personality and vibe of your brand is by encouraging your employees to become brand evangelists. Zappos, an online shoe retailer, has done this exceptionally well and employees even have a manual dedicated to speaking as though they are always on camera.
Ensure that your employees are familiar with every aspect of company culture, including how people interact on social media, and how customer service is delivered.
- Retain Your Loyal Customers by Delighting Them – If you already have loyal customers, don’t just sit there. Reward them for their loyalty by showing your appreciation and being generous with your time and effort. These people are eager to help you grow your business and have proven to be reliable brand ambassadors.
Loyal customers are a key part of your business. They love you, spread positive word-of-mouth as they tell their friends about you, and they’re willing to do business with you again. Re-engage these customers by thanking them personally, sending them the special swag they can use every day, writing reviews for them on your website and social media pages, and more!
So, if you want to get more loyal customers and more profit for your company, treat them well. It’s that simple.
- Competitive Benchmarking – Competitive benchmarking is one of the best ways to learn how to improve your company’s brand. While you will still be in the same business as your competitors, watching how they perform with their brand can give you insight into what works for them and what doesn’t.
Remember, you are not alone in your industry. You share the same customers and the same goals as other businesses around the globe. Learn from their successes, understand where they have failed, and tailor your own strategy for greater success.
Wrap Up
You now know how to use the power of the 7 ingredients of a company’s branding. The next step is to use this information to build a brand identity that will represent your business well. All the best!
Tell us how these 7 strategies resonate with you in the “comment” section.
Author Bio
Priya has about 7 years of experience in Market Research. Currently, she is working for Valasys Media, as an Assistant Manager – Content Strategist, which is amongst the top B2B Media Publishers across the globe. She has been preparing several personalized reports for our clients & has done a lot of research on market segmentation, cluster analysis of audiences & inbound methodologies. She has worked with government institutes as well as corporate houses in several projects. She possesses various interests and believes in a data-driven approach to problem solving. She holds a post-graduation in science also writes extensively on all things about life besides marketing, science, data science and statistics. She is a firm believer in higher realities and that there’s always more to life than we understand. She is a psychic healer and a tarot practitioner, who believes in a spiritual way of living and practices Yoga and meditation. When not writing you can find her enjoying music or cooking.
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