It takes an average of 10 seconds for consumers to form an opinion of a company.
Statistics about first impressions, like this one from ActionCard, show that every second counts when it comes to making a first impression with potential clients. And, this is why startups often choose to dedicate a good portion of their budget to branding when first getting started.
Your business brand involves connecting with your customers on a level so that they have a positive, lasting image of your company. A well designed logo and website can play a big role – but it’s not the only component of a company’s brand strategy.
What is Brand Strategy?
Creating a brand strategy is an important step for organizations. Your brand sums up how customers perceive you as a company, product, or service. It defines your mission and vision as well as the unique space in the market in which you operate.
You brand strategy includes critical things like your mission and purpose, target audience, values, and competitive advantage. It also guides how your brand is expressed – your company’s personality and voice along with the visual elements like colors and imagery. Decisions around your name, logo, and tagline all stem from these elements. Together, they reinforce a single, unified brand experience to your audience.
Your brand is where it all begins when turning your target audience into loyal customers and brand advocates.
Creating a Brand Marketing Plan
One of the most obvious hurdles for any brand is competing for an audience. As a small startup business, you may be competing against big brands with devoted customers with large marketing budgets. Your company needs to do more than just build a cool logo and website. Building your brand is a process and requires a strategy. AND, it requires ongoing work in order to maintain customer relationships throughout their buying journey.
Customers that experience a great brand experience are more likely to purchase up sells and cross-sells, provide word-of-mouth referrals to their colleagues, and to become advocates for your products and services. Ultimately, the reward for a good brand is additional leads and revenue for your company.
There are eight key elements to define when establishing your brand.
Brand Purpose
A description of what your business is – who you are, what you offer, and to whom.
The brand purpose is the “why” you do what do — other than just making a profit. It is the foundation in which everything else is built upon – your “how” (culture, brand experience) and your “what” (the products and services you offer).
Brand Values
Ideals that your brand represents.
These are the core values that your company believes and stands for. It differs from brand goals in that goals are where you want your business to go, and values are how your business behaves in pursuit of those goals. And once these values are established, it is important to figure out how to integrate these values into your business. These values should drive every choice that your company makes.
Brand Promises
The underlying guarantee that you’re offering to your customers by doing business with you.
A brand promise is a value or experience your customers can expect to receive every time they interact with you. It sets expectations on the quality of your products or services. It is a way for customers to hold your company accountable to the standard that sets you apart.
Brand Identity
The look and feel comprised of logo, brand graphics, colors, fonts, and images.
Your brand identity is what makes your company instantly recognizable to your customers. It’s the identity which forges a connection between you and your customers. It is what builds loyalty. And, it determines how your customers perceive your brand.
Brand Differentiation
Your unique selling proposition which helps you stand out in the crowd.
Competitive advantage (or the unique offer or value that you have that your rivals do not) is one of the first ways to differentiate your company from the competition. It provides a unique solution to your customers’ problems. It establishes you as an innovator and appeals to their emotions. It helps you stand out in areas other than pricing, products, or services.
Market Position
The position in the market that is held by your brand, based on a calculation of quality and price.
The position of a brand is a strategic process that involves marketing the brand in a certain way to create and establish an image or identity within the mind of the target customer. This position must be maintained over the life of the brand – and it requires ongoing marketing initiatives to reinforce that image over time.
The positioning statement focuses on your unique value proposition, is focused on the target market and their needs, and is consistent across the business.
Brand Messaging
The voice of your business – what you say and how you say it, including tagline, positioning statement, brand promise statement, key messaging, and marketing copy.
These are the key messages you want to communicate about your brand. This message should be applied to all written communication and incorporated into the visual imagery of all materials, both online and offline. It may be friendly, or conversational, or maybe even formal. But most of all, it’s consistent.
Brand Experience
The way in which your customers interact with the the products and services you offer.
The brand experience is not specific to a channel or media type, but rather is the sum of all the sensations, thoughts and feelings that persons have in response to your brand. It’s important because positive experiences facilitate deeper connections, inspire audiences, and ultimately deliver results.
It is also important to remember that your brand needs to be promoted internally as well. In fact, your internal brand should be the driver of your entire brand strategy. It’s the singular road map for your employees to take forward into the market. It encourages them to embrace your brand values and to contribute to the brand promise. It is key to the company morale, culture, and productivity.
Measuring Your Brand
While identifying and broadcasting your message are important, the ability to measure brand awareness is more challenging. Brand metrics are are quantifiable variables that are measured to track your brand’s performance. They will help you understand how your brand is performing for your customers and against the competition.
Having metrics that show how your brand are contributing to the company’s revenue will be key to having the necessary budget for ongoing campaigns. Continuous monitoring will show you when the brand is on track to achieve your goals and also identify any areas that need attention.
Some of the common metrics used to measure brand include:
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Direct and Net-New Traffic
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Branded Search Volume
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Mentions in the News, Social Media, and Industry Publications
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Increase in Revenue/Leads
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Social Media Engagement
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Brand Awareness Surveys
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Need help making sense of brand strategy?
Building a strategy and measuring brand awareness are a vital part of brand awareness success and future proofing your marketing strategy. If you are looking for assistance, check out the ways SAIL Communications can help your company.
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