A brand strategy is a plan designed to position your business in the market. It includes how you want your customers to feel about your brand and how you communicate with them. While the strategy needs to be bespoke to your business, most plans include messaging, design, colours, and logo use. But unfortunately, it’s not just a case of having these elements and hoping for the best because the most successful branding strategies also need to incorporate a few extras…
Branding strategies are personal to each brand, so it makes sense that they are rooted in your brand identity. But this goes beyond the initial visualisation of a brand. From brand voice, story and design, there are plenty of elements that make up your brand personality. Once you’ve nailed this, you need to always keep it in mind when creating messaging and communication. This includes whether it’s internal or external, online or offline.
Ultimately, your brand strategy outlines your how and why. It’s a plan that details what you will do and how you will use colours, logo, and design for your customers to feel and react in a certain way. To get this right, you need to consider what inspired your business in the first place. Why do you do what you do? How did you get to where you are? And what will you need to do to go further?
A clear understanding of your mission, vision and values is essential. This is because a brand strategy is more than just about getting sales. It connects a brand back to its purpose and outlines a way to build an emotional connection with potential customers.
As well as knowing what your brand stands for, it’s essential to understand who you are aiming to talk to, and how to do this. More than just identifying your target audience, you need to balance their needs, wants and preferences. Consider what’s in it for them. Being able to identify and communicate how your customers benefit from your products and services will ensure your branding and design is always aligned. At this stage of the process, market research is crucial.
Market research isn’t the only research you need to do. You also need to evaluate your competition, their strengths, and weaknesses, and what sets you apart. By knowing the latest trends, you can stay ahead of the competition too.
Armed with this information, you can determine why consumers should choose you. This is known as your unique selling proposition (USP). List down the qualities that make you stand out, as well as what others aren’t doing and then communicate this in your content and design. This should then be clear and concise, appearing on all marketing materials – including in your branding strategy.
As mentioned, your branding strategy isn’t just about design. It should also outline essential communication strategies. For example, who are you talking to, what message do they need to hear and, importantly, which channels will you use. For example, if your ideal customer prefers Facebook over Twitter then you need to be focusing on this platform. Again, this is where research comes into play.
Remember that just like your branding, communication needs to be consistent too. So, use the same voice, tone, and style – even if you’re communicating on different platforms. By keeping your communication aligned with your brand identity, consumers will gradually associate your messaging with your brand.
Looking for some support when it comes to your own branding strategy? Or perhaps you want to check that your branding is firing on all cylinders? I’m available via phone or email – reach me on studio@foxgraphicsdesign.com or 01625 468038.
“Design adds value & we’re here to help businesses improve & strengthen their market communication & message.”
Established in 2008, FGDM work with a diverse range of businesses to help them improve their market image involving branding, digital, animation/video, websites, direct marketing, exhibitions, marketing material designed to build and bolster brands.
