How to Build a Successful Brand Strategy

In today’s fast-paced and competitive business landscape, building a successful brand strategy is essential to stand out from the competition, establish brand recognition, and build customer loyalty. However, the first thing to note is that a brand strategy is more than just a catchy logo or a flashy advertising campaign. It is a well-crafted plan that encompasses all aspects of your business, from your brand identity to your marketing initiatives.

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Creating a strong brand strategy that resonates with your target audience takes time, effort, and a deep understanding of your business and the market. So in this article, we will analyze the steps you need to take to build a successful brand strategy that resonates with your customers and drives positive business results. Whether you're a startup or a well-established business, this guide is for you.

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Let’s dive in.

Define Your Brand

Defining your brand is one of the most fundamental yet essential elements of building any brand strategy. It sets the foundation for all your branding activities. 

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A well-defined brand identity encompasses all aspects of your business, including values, personality, and tone of voice, among other critical elements, such as color scheme and messaging.

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For businesses embarking on new branding initiatives, defining your brand is the critical first step.

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To get started with defining your brand, here are three main steps to follow: 

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• Create a clear mission statement
• Identify your target audience and create buyer personas
• Conduct competitive research and analyze your unique selling proposition

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Let’s take a look at each step. 

Create a clear mission statement

Developing a mission statement for your brand is crucial in establishing your company's goals and purpose. Here are some tips to help you formulate a compelling and impactful mission statement:

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• Define your brand's core purpose: Start by identifying what motivates your brand and what you're committed to achieving. This could be anything from delivering the highest quality products or services to providing exceptional customer service.
• Identify your unique value proposition: What sets your brand apart from competitors? Think about what makes your product or service truly special, and integrate these values into your mission statement.
• Keep it concise: A mission statement should be short and to the point - a few powerful words that encapsulate your brand's core values and purpose.
• Focus on your target audience: Your mission statement should speak to your target audience and address their needs and concerns. Think about how your brand can make their lives better and more fulfilling.
• Use powerful language: Use active verbs and descriptive language to create a sense of energy and enthusiasm around your brand. Make sure your mission statement is inspiring and memorable, both for customers and employees.
• Make it authentic: Ensure that the statement aligns with your brand's identity and resonates with your team members. A mission statement should represent your brand's true values and commitments.

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An example of a good mission statement is from Nordstrom - “To give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.”

Identify your target audience and create buyer personas

Identifying your target audience and creating buyer personas ***

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• Research your market: Start by researching your industry and identifying your competitors. Look at their customer base, their products, and their unique selling points to get an idea of what kind of audience you should target. Tip: You can also use social listening to keep track of competitors and learn more about their audience.
• Analyze your current customer base: Use your sales data and customer feedback to identify who your current customers are. Analyze demographics such as age, gender, location, education level, income, and more.
• Create buyer personas: Once you've gathered enough insights about your current customers, you can create buyer personas. These are fictional characters that represent your ideal customers. Creating buyer personas will make it easier for you to tailor your content and messaging to meet the needs and interests of your target audience.
• Empathize with your target audience: Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer and empathize with their needs, wants, and pain points. This will also help you create brand messaging and content that resonates with your customers.

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Remember to constantly gather feedback and adjust your approach accordingly so you can stay relevant and meet the evolving needs of your customers.

Conduct competitive research and analyze your unique selling proposition

Conducting competitive research and analyzing your unique selling proposition (USP).

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• Research your competitors: Start by researching your top competitors to understand their products, services, pricing, messaging, and content strategies. You can use tools like Google or social media to gather information.
• Identify their USP: Analyze your competitor's messaging and content strategies to identify their unique selling proposition. This is what sets them apart from other companies and what they emphasize in their marketing efforts.
• Identify gaps in the market: Use the information gathered from your competitor research to identify gaps in the market. This can help you develop a USP that fills those gaps and resonates with your target audience.
• Analyze your own USP: Now that you've identified your competitors' USP, analyze your own. Determine what sets your products or services apart and how you can use this to your advantage. This is your unique selling proposition.
• Develop messaging that aligns with your USP: Use your USP to develop messaging that resonates with your target audience. This messaging should be used across all platforms, including website copy, social media content, and advertising. (We will see how to do this further in the article)
• Regularly analyze and adjust your approach: Your USP and messaging may need to be adjusted over time as your market evolves. Regularly analyze your approach and adjust accordingly.

Establish Your Brand Voice 

After defining your brand, the next step will be to establish your brand voice and identity. 

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Establishing a brand voice and identity is an essential component of building a successful brand strategy. A clear and consistent brand voice helps to differentiate your brand from competitors, build brand recognition, increase brand awareness, and build trust with customers.

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Here are the steps to follow when establishing a brand voice that is effective.

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• Start with your company's values: Values can be thought of as the guiding principles that drive your business. Consider what you stand for and what you want your business to be known for.
• Identify your target audience: Who are your customers, and what are their values and interests? You want to create a brand voice that speaks to their interests, values, and concerns. For example, if most of your audience is young teens, your brand voice should be playful and fun.
• Define Your Brand Personality: Your brand personality is how you present your brand to the world. It encompasses things like tone and voice, formatting, and visual identity. Think about the personality you want to convey and how you want your brand to be perceived by customers.
• Choose an Appropriate Tone and Voice: You can choose from a wide range of tones and voices to convey your brand personality. From authoritative to conversational, and from formal to informal. Consider your target audience when selecting a tone, and make sure it aligns with your brand personality.

Create a visual brand identity

Creating a strong brand identity is crucial in today's highly competitive market. One of the most important elements of a brand identity is its visual identity, which includes the logo, color palette, typography, and visual elements. A strong visual identity is eye-catching, memorable, and reflects the brand's personality and values. 

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Let’s take a look at how you will go about the process of creating a brand’s visual identity. 

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First note that before you can create a visual identity, you need to have a solid understanding of your brand. (We’ve seen how to do this above).

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Ask yourself this question -

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“What makes your brand stand out in the market, and what are the key messages you want to communicate to your audience?” 

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Your visual identity should reflect these elements of your brand.

Choose Your Color Palette

Colors play a crucial role in brand identity. Choose a color palette that reflects your brand's personality and resonates with your target audience. For example, blue is often associated with trust, while red is associated with energy and excitement. Your color palette should be consistent across all platforms, including your website, social media accounts, and printed materials.

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McDonald made the strategic choice to use red and yellow in their branding. 

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The color yellow conveys optimism while red is a stimulating color and also a hunger-inducing color. The yellow arches are also the easiest to spot from a far distance at night, making it the perfect color for a restaurant.

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Design Your Logo

Source: 99designs

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Your logo is the centerpiece of your brand identity, and it should be simple, memorable, and reflect your brand's personality. Hire a professional designer to create a logo that is scalable, versatile, and can be used across all platforms. Your logo should be visible and prominent on your website, social media accounts, marketing materials, and product packaging.

Choose Your Typography

Typography is an essential aspect of brand identity, and it can convey the tone and style of your brand. Choose a font or a set of fonts that aligns with your brand's personality and values. Whether you choose a minimalist sans-serif or a bold and expressive serif, make sure to use the same typography across all platforms.

Add Visual Elements

Visual elements, such as illustrations, icons, and patterns, can add depth and dimension to your visual identity. Choose visual elements that reflect your brand's personality and values and are consistent with your color palette and typography.

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Tip: Be Consistent! Make sure your visual identity is consistent across all platforms and marketing materials. Consistency helps build a strong and recognizable brand that customers can trust.

Develop your Brand Messaging

Brand messaging is the foundation of any successful brand strategy. It is the messaging that informs your audiences of who you are, what you stand for, and what you offer. Effective messaging can make all the difference in how your target audience perceives your brand.

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Good brand messaging differentiates you from your competitors, appeals to emotion, and drives people to become loyal customers.

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Here are the best practices when creating your brand messaging: 

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• Keep it Simple: Remember the old adage "less is more." Well, the statement holds true. Keep your messaging clear, concise, and easy to understand.
• Empathize with Your Audience: To create messaging that resonates with your target audience, you need to understand their pain points and desires.
• Be Authentic: Your brand messaging should be a true reflection of your brand values and mission.
• Stay Consistent: Consistency is key when it comes to brand messaging. Ensure your messaging is consistent across all your platforms, from your website, social media accounts to your in-store experience.

Build Your Brand Online

There are a ton of reasons why brands should get online. 

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First and foremost, being online can help your brand reach a wider audience. The internet is accessible to billions of people worldwide and having a strong online presence can help you tap into that potential market. It also allows you to connect with your customers in new and more personal ways. Social media, for example, can give your brand a voice and help you engage with your audience on a more casual, conversational level.

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Another benefit of being online is that it can help you gather valuable data about your customers. With tools like Google Analytics, you can track user behavior, see which pages are popular, and more. This information can help you make more informed decisions about your branding and marketing strategies.

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Lastly, being online can be a great way to build trust with your audience. By maintaining a strong and consistent online presence, you can establish yourself as a reliable and trustworthy brand. So, if you haven't already, it's definitely time to get online and start building your brand's web presence!

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Here are the key steps to take when building your brand online. 

Build a website and develop a content strategy 

Maintaining a website and a content strategy is imperative in today's digital age. Infact, 84% of consumers today believe that a website makes a business look more credible.

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 A website serves as a virtual storefront for businesses. It offers convenience for customers and provides an efficient means of communicating information about the brand. 

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Along with building a website, a content strategy involving a diverse range of content mediums, such as blog posts, videos, and infographics, will also help businesses capture and retain customers' attention.

Develop a social media strategy that engages your target audience

Every brand should have a solid social media marketing plan. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, have drastically changed the way businesses connect and interact with their audience. 

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First, social media platforms provide an easy and affordable way to reach a large audience. With so many people on social media, brands can get their message in front of a diverse range of people through techniques such as organic reach (content that gains shares, views, and follows over time), sponsored posts, or influencer campaigns (paying a social media star to promote your product/service).

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Social media also help businesses build relationships with their customers by providing a one-to-one communication channel with them. And by regularly posting valuable content, responding to comments, and engaging with their audience, businesses can foster stronger relationships with their customers.

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When it comes to analytics, social media platforms provide valuable insights into a brand's audience. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer insights into who is seeing your posts and how they are interacting with them. Understanding how to leverage these insights can help businesses improve the effectiveness of their campaigns and reach a larger audience.

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Lastly, having a social media strategy can help businesses reinforce their brand's identity online and increase brand loyalty. 

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Tip: Consistently posting content that reinforces your brand's values and messaging, interacting with your followers and customers, and running promotions for audience engagement are a few ways you can grow your brand’s presence online.

Build an email marketing strategy that uses brand messaging to drive conversions

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach a large number of people. Unlike some other forms of digital marketing, email marketing can be done cheaply, with low costs for sending each email. This makes it an attractive option for businesses looking to reach a broader audience without breaking the bank.

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Email also offers brands an opportunity to connect with customers in a more personal and targeted way. Email campaigns can be specifically tailored to individual subscribers on the basis of their interests, past purchasing habits, and more. This makes for a more customized experience for each subscriber. 

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Email marketing also provides valuable data about the customer's behavior. When using email marketing software, businesses can track how people interact with their emails, including opens, clicks, and conversion rates. This information can be invaluable when optimizing future email campaigns or developing marketing personas.

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And by creating a well-crafted email marketing strategy containing personalized content, relevant calls to action, and visually-appealing designs, brands can boost engagement with their subscribers, build brand loyalty, and drive sales.

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If you want to get started, read our extensive guide on how to run a successful email marketing campaign.

Measure and Adjust Your Brand Strategy

Understanding key metrics, analyzing performance, and making adjustments are necessary for brands to stay ahead of competitors and maintain relevance with their target audience. Here are some essential metrics to consider when measuring and adjusting your brand strategy to ensure success:

Brand Awareness 

The first metric to consider is brand awareness. Understanding how well your brand is known and recognized by your desired audience is important. It helps you to decipher if your marketing efforts are hitting the desired market. You can track brand awareness using surveys, brand mentions, and social analytics to determine how people perceive your company’s market presence.

Brand Engagement

The second metric is brand engagement. This metric measures how well your target audience is interacting with your content. Track metrics such as website clicks, page views, and the time spent on each page on your website. Also, monitor the comments, likes, and shares on your social media posts. These metrics will provide valuable data on how your audience engages with your brand.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an algorithm that measures the likelihood of customers recommending a particular brand. A simple survey sent to your customers can help you identify your score.

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You can simply ask, “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our brand to your friends and colleagues”. 

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You will want most of your customers to fall within the 10 to 7 range. This will mean that your brand strategy is effective and that you are really delivering value to your customers. 

Ready to get started?

Building a successful brand strategy requires careful planning, attention to detail, and a willingness to continually evaluate and adjust the strategies as needed. By using the tips in this article, you will be able to build a successful brand strategy that will help your business grow faster.

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