What is Brand Strategy?
I often get asked, 'what is brand strategy?' and 'why is it important?'. If I rewind my life by 15 years, I'm asking and wondering the same thing. As a trained designer and born creative, I had a knack for creating brands. However, when it came time to scale said brands, I found myself in a world of hurt. In the disconnect between creating and scaling, I learned that a brand and brand strategy were two different things.
What is brand strategy?
Brand strategy aims to let your customers know that your brand exists. It is a strategic plan built around your customer, values, mission, and voice. It is the plan to which your brand attracts customers and generates sales. I believe it is an essential plan to ensure successful growth in today's competitive business landscape.
What is brand strategy? Brand strategy...
makes you identifiable in the market
gives your brand a voice
attracts your target customers
keeps your messaging and marketing efforts consistent
effects all departments within your organization
What isn't brand strategy?
As important as 'what is brand strategy?' is 'what isn't brand strategy?'. Brand strategy is not the sum of your logo, color palette, or website. Though these creative elements play an essential role in a successful branding strategy, they are nothing more than design elements. Building a beautiful brand is one thing; building a strategic brand is another thing. Being a trained designer turned entrepreneur, I believe that design elements can't make or break your company, but the brand strategy can and will. That's the difference.
Why is brand strategy important?
Sales
Cash money, baby. Brand strategy is how you effectively attract, speak to, and build relationships with your customers. Look no further if you want to streamline your sales efforts and grow your bottom line. Would you rather make 100 cold calls with a 10% conversion rate or make ten cold calls with a 100% conversion rate? The latter is brand strategy at work.
Company Culture and Talent Retention
Brand strategy builds your company's voice, mission, vision, and values. Without these foundational brand pieces, you will have confused employees working in circles. It's 2022; employees want more than a paycheck, and customers want more than a product. Great talent works for brands, not businesses. Zappos, Amazon, and Google are all well-known companies whose brand strategy has defined their company culture and continued success.
Streamline Marketing Efforts
A good brand strategist builds its plan around the nuances of the target customer. When a brand knows who it's selling to, acquiring the said customer is much easier. Brand strategy identifies, targets, and communicates your offerings to your customers. A business can streamline its marketing efforts and increase conversion by having a strategic road map.
Why do businesses get it wrong?
Most businesses never stop to ask, 'what is brand strategy?'. They think their design elements are their 'brand', and that's that. However, when they struggle to scale, retain talent, or fight off their competition, they start to wonder what they are doing wrong? I have met with numerous executives that didn't know the company's vision, mission, customer, and values were all part of a strategic brand plan. A lack of education and awareness creates disconnected companies that focus on each department without a cohesive and strategic plan. A business owner will rarely say it, but often, the only plan in place is 'everyone show up to work and sell, sell, sell.' Creating an environment of high turnover and struggling sales.
Why is crafting a brand strategy difficult?
A good brand strategist not only straddles the line of creativity and analysis but also has real-world experience growing and scaling a company. Yes, that's right, I just listed three traits that very few people encompass at the same time. However, all three qualities are essential to understanding, creating, and executing brand strategy. I believe former entrepreneurs can make the best strategist because they understand the roadblocks and curveballs of running a business that a college degree or desk job will never teach you.
Who not to hire to build your strategy?
I will say it; a new college graduate can not create your strategy. I highly advise using a third-party group/consultant who is experienced in brand strategy and not employed within your organization. I've had to create brand strategy while living inside a business, and I'll tell you, it isn't easy. There is an internal fear of being wrong, but also it can be challenging to disconnect from the day-to-day operations. Having an outsider jump into your business is one of the most significant ways to see things you otherwise wouldn't notice. Unless it's an agency managing multiple brands, strategists need not be full-time employees. It is best to contract a brand strategist for the initial plan and then monthly, quarterly, or yearly management.
How should you use your brand strategy plan?
A strategic plan for your brand should be somewhat fluid. In the early years of growing a company, it should be reviewed quarterly, with minor tweaks and adjustments as the company grows. The most crucial aspect of a strategic brand plan is its awareness throughout an organization. Great companies look for creative opportunities to build bits and pieces of their brand strategy into everyday work materials. Be it a header on a company meeting agenda or a focal wall in a communal breakroom; the reiteration is crucial to a successful implementation.
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