As you’re busy working out your targets for this next quarter… you might be wondering whether you’re moving the needle of your businesses in the most effective way? You’ve heard about brand strategy, but will it help you drive business growth?
How Brand Strategy can significantly impact your growth?
Brand strategy, is like a well thought out map for the brand. There are so many different paths you can take to reach your goals, but if you try and attempt all the paths – you’ll find yourself wandering around, lost, or flailing.
Ever sat down to figure out your strategy, and find yourself drowning in way too many options and ideas? Or you pick a couple of areas to focus on – and find yourself drowning in all the things you need to do to execute on them all? Without a clear and well crafted strategy, it’s easy to lose your way.
What are the benefits of a well crafted brand strategy?
1. Alignment & Focus
The most obvious benefit is that the brand strategy will align to your business goals. After all, your brand should be working with you to achieve that vision, right? And when things are aligned & you know where you are going. This will give you & your team a lot more focus and direction.
2. Differentiation & Recognition
Another power of brand strategy, is that it helps to differentiate your uniqueness in a very crowded market. By clearly defining what makes your brand special, you can create a distinct position in the market and attract a loyal customer base.
When you then consistently apply that differentiated brand at every interaction the client has with you – it builds customer recognition, and trust.
3. Positioning and market share
When your brand strategy positions you effectively, you attract more of the customers you want, which naturally drives sales + growth. so if you want a bigger slice of the market – you need to be super clear as to where you’ll position your brand.
4. Culture (internal brand)
One of the benefits of a really well crafted brand strategy (that not many people talk about), is that your team will also be aligned to the vision. The brand strategy also gives the team a roadmap as to how they should behave as ambassadors of your brand.
This creates your culture and your internal brand will start shifting. When the team consistently build the brand experience – it will accelerate your business growth.
Oh, and a side bonus – if you build a great culture – your existing staff will be motivated, and really great staff will want to come work for you.
5. Resilience + Sustainability
No-one could have planned 2020, but when faced with the crises – brand strategy is a powerful tool that companies can use to review their current landscape, adjust their strategy in order to adapt to the times. Brand Strategy allows companies to be resilient + build an organisation that’s sustainable.
No brand strategy? Here’s how it could be holding your business back.
When you don’t have a clear brand strategy in place, you’ll probably start experiencing one [or more] of the challenges below. These roadblocks could be holding your brand back from success.
Roadblock: Too many roads to choose from
One of the biggest roadblocks business owners face, is a lack of clarity + focus. This leaves them with too many choices, diluting their efforts, and ultimately wasting a bunch of money.
Roadblock: Communication is challenging
Without a clear brand strategy, it can be challenging to communicate a consistent message to your target audience. This can lead to confusion and a lack of understanding of your brand’s values and offerings, making it difficult for customers to connect with your business.
Inconsistent messaging can also make it harder to differentiate yourself from competitors, reducing your chances of standing out in a crowded market.
Roadblock: Brand isn’t standing out
A weak or undefined brand strategy results in the brand being so diluted, that it can make it difficult for customers to remember your brand and associate it with a specific product or service.
This can lead to reduced brand recognition, making it harder to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Brand recognition also builds trust in the market.
Roadblock: Difficulty in Building Brand Loyalty
A clear brand strategy is essential for creating emotional connections with customers and building brand loyalty.
Without a defined brand strategy, it can be challenging to create a consistent and memorable brand experience that resonates with customers. This can make it harder to build long-term relationships with customers and increase customer retention rates.
Roadblock: Inability to Differentiate from Competitors
In a crowded market, it’s essential to differentiate yourself from competitors. Without a clear brand strategy, businesses may struggle to stand out and differentiate themselves from others in their industry. This can make it harder to attract new customers and retain existing ones, reducing your chances of achieving long-term success.
3 practical tips when using brand strategy to drive growth.
Many brand agencies will focus on the essentials of creating a brand strategy, like your overall client, your messaging + positioning, or your brand identity [and the visual aspect of the brand].
For us at FreshSage Brand Agency, we like to delve into the following to ensure that your brand strategy is really powerful [and drives growth]:
1. Start with your vision.
Make sure that your brand is aligned with your businesses vision + the overall goals. Your brand strategy needs to work towards achieving those results you set [otherwise, what are we actually doing here?].
2. Look for opportunities.
When we plot the customer journey + review your brand touchpoints, we also like to asses where the opportunities are that the company can leverage – in order to build that consistency, recognition and trust.
3. Continually reviewing effectiveness.
Brand strategy is not a one and done. With every journey you go on, it’s essential to check in with the map every once in a while to make sure you’re travelling in the right direction.
Some of our clients will review their brand strategy annually to determine whether shifts + changes need to be made. Other clients ask us to hold them accountable to their strategy on a monthly basis. Either way – having an external “check in” is a powerful way to drive business growth.
Last Thoughts…
Having a brand strategy is a great starting point. But if you really want to drive growth, make sure that your brand strategy is aligned, positions you effectively [whilst making the most of the opportunities at hand], so that you can grow market share!
Are you ready for an outside branding expert to evaluate your brand and create a fresh brand strategy for your company? FreshSage specializes in brand strategy [and the creative execution to help you grow]. Connect with us here to schedule a consultation with the team.
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