A brand strategy that stands out from the crowd and leaves a positive and enduring impression on consumers can seem like an overwhelming challenge at times. From the color palette of your logo to the brand voice and tone you use when engaging with customers. Brand strategy is the art of solidifying your values, personality and identity into a package that brings your brand to life. 

According to 5W Public Relations’ 2020 Consumer Culture Report, 71% of consumers prefer buying from brands that align to their values. But how can your brand show consumers that it is aligned with their values? We understand that a solid brand strategy requires attention to detail and a holistic approach that considers the multiple elements to creating a strong brand. So what are the fundamentals of developing a brand strategy that resonates with your customers?

1) Find your brand strategy

–        What purpose does your brand serve?

This may seem like a deeply existential question, but really the answer can be as simple as “we saw an opportunity to do something that was different to what anybody else does”.

–        What is your brand’s mission?

This question considers exactly what your brand is going to do and how you will achieve it.

–        What is your brand’s vision?

While picturing the ideal future for your brand might seem somewhat fanciful, it helps to roadmap a journey to successfully fulfilling your brand mission.

–        What are your brand values?

Assigning a set of morals and principles by which your brand exists makes it more relatable and adds legitimacy in the minds of consumers.

2) Build buyer personas

So, now you’ve figured out your brand identity and planned out how your brand will grow over time, what next?

No doubt you have an idea of what your target market is and maybe you’ve even defined specific market segments.

Well now it’s time to build buyer personas. What is a buyer persona you ask? A buyer persona is a detailed representation of your target market. The questions you should be asking when building a buyer persona should include (at the very least):

1. Who are they? 
2. What is their job? 
3. What is a day in their life like?
4. What are their primary pain points? 
5. What do they value most and what are their goals? 
6. Where do they go for information? 
7. What’s important to them in selecting a brand? 
8. What are their most common objections? 

The more detailed a buyer persona is, the better, as it allows you to gain a deep understanding of your customers’ needs and wants. This is crucial in helping you to map out the buyer decision making journey of your customers as well as how best to communicate with them.

3) Develop a coherent and consistent message

There is no point in banging the drum about something that doesn’t exactly fit with your brand. Seems pretty self-explanatory, right? But the reality is that poorly thought out brand strategies tend to jump from one message to another without any rhyme or reason. Strong brand strategies, on the other hand, set out an articulate value proposition and allow you to build an authentic brand story. Now that’s something well worth banging the drum about! 

Formulating a set of brand guidelines and style guides ensures consistency. Style guides for color schemes, fonts and typography in logos and merchandise make your brand easily recognizable to consumers. While style guides for brand personality and tone of voice ensure the way in which you express yourself and engage with customers does not diverge from the brand’s core identity. Developing a consistent message is something that can take time, but these efforts really pay dividends in the long term. 

4) Reward Loyal Customers

Loyal customers are good for business, that’s a fact. But when customer loyalty is rewarded in the right way it can bring a number of benefits. Firstly, it gives your brand the opportunity to interact with customers to build rapport and create brand advocacy. Brand advocates are people who endorse your brand without being paid to do so and these organic interactions build brand authenticity.   

5) Keep an eye on your competitors

If you want to stand out from the crowd, then you’ve got to know what the crowd are already doing. Your competitors serve as a tool for benchmarking your brand’s current position and also your own strategy. Their successes and failures can help to give you an insight into your market and keep you informed about trends in consumer behaviour, as such you should monitor what they are doing closely. Are they doing things differently? If so, is it working? Can you see limitations to their product offering? These sorts of questions are essential in finding the ideal position within a market for your brand to occupy. 

In summary…

Successful brands aren’t built overnight. It’s a journey that takes time and can be fraught with caveats, but a comprehensive brand strategy will solidify your identity and give your company longevity. Thud is here to take the stress out of brand strategy for your business. We work with our clients to evaluate where their brand is now and create achievable long term visions of where they want their brand to be in the future. Get in touch with our team today to learn more about what we can do for you.