Make Your Brand Marketing Strategy Successful With Brand Strategy
- August 14, 2023
- Nicole Andrew
Table of Contents
In today’s consumer-led economy, brand marketing strategies are what business owners MUST HAVE to be reaching and engaging their target audience. But what fuels these strategies and ensures that they resonate with the right people at the right time?
The answer… a well-defined and carefully crafted brand strategy.
A brand strategy acts as the foundational blueprint defining who you are as a brand, what you stand for, why your brand matters, and how you want to be perceived by your audience. Establishing a clear brand strategy ensures that all marketing efforts align with the overarching goals of your business.
When brand strategy and brand marketing strategies are in sync, the result is a powerful, coherent, and authentic brand presence that connects with consumers on a deeper level. It’s this alignment that makes marketing efforts more effective, meaningful, and ultimately successful.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the intricate relationship between brand strategy and brand marketing strategies, revealing how one shapes the other and why this integration is crucial for building a brand that not only stands out but also thrives.
What are brand marketing strategies?
Brand marketing strategies are comprehensive plans that outline your “brand’s” approach to produce, price, promote, and position your offer(s) within your market. These strategies are designed to build awareness, recognition, engagement, preference, and loyalty, among your target audience to achieve specific marketing goals.
To better understand brand marketing strategies, you’ll first need to learn brand strategy.
What Is Brand Strategy And Why It’s Before Brand Marketing
Brand strategy refers to a long-term plan that your business develops in order to achieve specific brand goals. It serves as a guiding beacon that informs not only your marketing, but also various operational aspects of your business.
The central components of a brand strategy typically include:
- Core Brand (purpose, mission, vision, values)
- Target Audience Identification
- Competitive Analysis
- Positioning
- Value Proposition
- Brand Personality
- Messaging & Storytelling
- Brand Identity
Each of these components serves a distinct function in the overall foundation of a brand.
For instance, brand positioning helps define where your brand stands in relation to its competitors, while your brand identity represents the aesthetic features like logos, typography, and color schemes. Together, these components create a unified and comprehensive strategy that shapes the public perception of your brand, setting expectations, and guiding interactions.
Have A Clear Core Brand Of Purpose, Mission, Vision, And Values
The core of brand strategy lies in a clear brand substance, which encompasses the purpose, mission, vision, and values of your brand. It acts as the heart and soul of your brand, providing a sense of purpose and direction that’s beyond money.
The mission statement outlines your brand’s fundamental commitment(s) and what it aims to achieve. The vision statement, on the other hand, shines the light (like a North Star) of the desired future state and what your brand aspires to become. Together, the mission and vision statements create a powerful narrative that inspires both employees and customers.
Values are the guiding principles that shape the behavior and culture within your business, ensuring alignment with your brand’s DNA. A well-defined core brand acts as a compass, ensuring that all actions, communications, and decisions are consistent and coherent with what your brand represents.
Brand Strategy Lays The Foundation For All Brand-Related Activities
Brand strategy is not merely an isolated aspect of marketing; it forms the very foundation for all brand-related activities. Businesses that skip brand strategy and go straight into marketing and advertising have a higher chance to fail than to succeed within their first 5 years.
The most common reasons small businesses fail include a lack of capital or funding, retaining an inadequate management team, a faulty infrastructure or business model, and unsuccessful marketing initiatives.
Whether it’s product development, customer service, marketing campaigns, or internal communications, your brand strategy serves as a unified guide that ensures consistency and alignment across your entire business.
Branded Content is 22 times more engaging than marketing display ads. 91% of professionals agree it’s very important for your marketing materials to match your branding.
Branding is like a cemented infrastructure for all aspects of your business, ensuring that they work in harmony to build a cohesive and recognizable brand image. By having a robust brand strategy, your business can ensure that every touchpoint with your customer reinforces the core brand, creating a strong and lasting impression.
Like a new building getting formed, the strategy part of branding is like a blueprint that informs and shapes every element of your brand, from the messages conveyed in advertising, to the design of your offer(s) and the tone of customer service interactions. Without a well-articulated brand strategy, businesses like yours risk disjointed efforts and mixed messages, potentially leading to confusion and mistrust among customers.
The foundation laid by a solid brand strategy ensures that all efforts are coordinated and purposeful, contributing to building you a strong, reputable, and enduring brand.
Understanding Brand Marketing Strategy
Brand marketing strategy is an intricate plan that focuses on promoting and positioning your brand within the market to achieve specific business goals. Unlike generic marketing (which is becoming increasingly ineffective), brand marketing (developed from brand strategy) emphasizes the unique characteristics and values that define your brand, making it stand out in the crowded marketplace.
Key components of a brand marketing strategy often include:
- Target Audience Analysis
- Brand Positioning & Differentiation
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Engagement
- Influencer Collaboration
- Advertising Campaigns
- Performance Measurement (KPIs)
Together, these elements work cohesively to create a vivid and memorable brand image that resonates with your target audience.
The identification of your target audience (through brand personas) helps in customizing messages, while the content marketing aspect ensures that your brand’s story is told compellingly. Every piece of this strategy plays a vital role in cultivating a relationship with your customers and building brand equity.
Focus on Promoting And Communicating Your Brand To Your Target Audience
Brand marketing strategy isn’t just about promoting your offers; it’s about communicating your essence, values, and promise of your brand to your target audience. This requires a deep understanding of
- Who your audience is
- What they care about
- Why your brand matters to them
- How your brand can meet their needs or solve their problems
Through carefully crafted messages, visual elements, and experiences, brand marketing seeks to create an emotional connection with your audience, transforming your customers into raving and roaring fans. It’s about creating a consistent and relatable brand voice that speaks directly to the hearts and minds of the people your brand serves.
Whether through a heartwarming advertisement or an informative blog post, every piece of communication is designed to reinforce your brand’s identity and value, building trust and preference in the market.
Advertising, Social Media, And Direct Marketing
It’s been in the past 10 years that social media has significantly increased in brand exposure.
In a brand marketing strategy, various channels play specific roles in reaching and engaging with the target audience. Advertising, whether through traditional media channels like streaming networks and print or digital platforms like Google ads or social media ads, advertising serves to create wide-reaching awareness and interest in your brand. It’s often the first touchpoint that introduces potential customers to what your brand represents.
Social media, on the other hand, offers a more interactive and personalized experience. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn allow brands to have real conversations with their audience, share insights, gather feedback, and build a community around shared values and interests.
Other (more direct) channels like email marketing, content marketing, influencer partnerships, and event marketing add further dimensions to your brand’s presence, each serving specific purposes in the overall strategy. The integration of these diverse channels ensures that your brand reaches your audience where they are and in ways that resonate with them.
This multichannel approach ensures a seamless and consistent brand experience, no matter how or where your customer interacts with your brand, strengthening recognition, affinity, and loyalty.
Brand Marketing Strategies And The 4 P’s Of Marketing
If you’ve been searching for ‘What are the 4 important brand marketing strategies?’, there IS NOT a specific number on brand marketing strategies. You might be getting this ‘4’ confused with the ‘4 P’s of Marketing’.
The 4 Ps model is a cornerstone in marketing that helps businesses like yours strategize and implement effective marketing plans. Understanding and balancing these four aspects is essential for creating a cohesive marketing approach that resonates with your target audience and drives sales.
The 4 P’s Of Marketing
The 4 Ps of marketing, also known as ‘the marketing mix’, is a classic concept in marketing that represents four essential factors that come into play when marketing an offering.
We mentioned these 4 at the beginning of this article. These four components are:
- Product – this refers to the physical product or service that a business offers to its customers. It’s essential to understand what need or desire your offer fulfills and how it differs from your competitor offerings.
- Price – this refers to the cost of the product or service. Pricing strategies are vital in positioning your brand within the market, influencing perceptions of value, and directly impacting profitability.
- Placement – this refers to the distribution channels used to get your offer(s) to your customer. This “place” aspect considers where customers look for the product and how to ensure that it is conveniently available there.
- Promotion – this refers to the marketing and advertising activities used to promote your offering(s). Promotion is all about how a brand communicates with your target audience and the tactics it uses to increase awareness, interest, and conversion.
FAQ: What are the 7 commonly used branding strategy?
In more recent times, some marketers have expanded the model to include three additional Ps, particularly in the context of service marketing, making it the 7 Ps. These additional components are People (the interaction between employees and customers), Processes (the procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities), and Physical Presence (the tangible brand presence that helps to sell your offer(s), such as a physical location or website).
The Symbiosis Between Brand Strategy and Brand Marketing Strategy
Why IS The Alignment Between Brand Strategy And Brand Marketing Strategy So Vital
Alignment between brand strategy and brand marketing strategy is vital because it ensures that both your overarching goals and daily operations of your brand are moving in the same direction. While brand strategy is the foundational blueprint that defines what your brand is all about, brand marketing strategies, on the other hand, is the tactical roadmap to communicate and promote these aspects to the target audience. Without alignment, there’s a risk that marketing efforts may diverge from your brand’s core identity, leading to confusion, a diluted brand image, and lost opportunities.
How A Clear Branding Strategy Guides Marketing Efforts
A clear branding strategy provides clarity on who your target audience is, what your brand stands for, and how it should be perceived in your marketplace. This understanding guides every marketing decision, from the selection of channels and crafting of messages to the design of your visuals and execution of campaigns.The Importance Of Consistency In Messaging And Visual Representation
Consistency ensures that no matter where or how your customer interacts with your brand, their experience and impressions are uniform. Inconsistent messaging or visuals can create confusion, erode trust, and diminish the perceived value of your brand. Consistency reinforces your brand’s identity, fosters recognition, enhances credibility, and builds a more profound connection with your audience.We can’t stress this enough to business owners: Consistency in messaging and visual representation is paramount in building a strong and recognizable brand.
How Brand Strategy Ensures A Unified Approach Across All Marketing Channels
Since brand strategy acts as the foundational infrastructure, it ensures that all marketing channels deliver a consistent and cohesive experience throughout every touchpoint of your marketing. By defining the core elements of your brand, such as tone of voice, visual aesthetics, value proposition, and personality, brand strategy ensures that every touchpoint, be it a social media post, advertisement, email, or in-store experience, aligns with your overarching brand essence.This unified approach amplifies your brand’s impact and ensures that it leaves a lasting and consistent impression on your audience.
Collaboration Between Branding And Marketing Teams
Perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of symbiosis between brand strategy and brand marketing strategy is the collaboration between your branding and marketing teams. These teams must work hand-in-hand, with a shared understanding of your brand’s core identity and a unified vision of how to communicate it to the world.Regular meetings, clear communication, shared objectives, and collaborative tools are essential in creating a seamless integration between the strategies. This collaboration ensures that everyone is on the same page, that branding guides marketing, and that marketing amplifies branding, creating a synergistic effect that propels your brand forward.
Case Studies or Success Stories
In-Depth Analysis of Successful Brands that Have Integrated Branding Strategy with Brand Marketing:
Apple
Apple’s integration of branding strategy with brand marketing is perhaps one of the most iconic success stories in modern business. Their branding strategy is rooted in innovation, simplicity, and premium experience. Every aspect of their marketing, from product design to advertising, embodies these principles. Their famous “Think Different” campaign not only resonated with their core identity but helped redefine technology’s role in our lives. The challenge was maintaining this image across various product lines and keeping innovation at the forefront. The result has been a brand that is globally recognized, fiercely loyal customers, and continued leadership in the tech industry.
Starbucks
Starbucks transformed the coffee industry by integrating its branding strategy, focusing on community, quality, and experience, with a holistic brand marketing approach. From the store’s ambiance to the staff training, everything was aligned with their brand’s core values. They faced challenges in scaling this experience globally and maintaining quality. However, through careful execution and alignment between branding and marketing teams, Starbucks has created a unique coffee culture that transcends geographical boundaries.
Airbnb
Airbnb’s success in integrating branding strategy with brand marketing is evident in their community-centric approach. your branding emphasizes belonging, discovery, and unique experiences. The marketing activities, including user-generated content, social media engagement, and storytelling, reinforce these values. Challenges included regulatory hurdles and maintaining trust. Yet, by staying true to their core identity and leveraging innovative marketing, Airbnb has revolutionized the hospitality industry.
What They Did Right, What Challenges They Faced, And Their Results
The success stories above illustrate a few key lessons. Each brand clearly defined its core identity and ensured that every aspect of marketing was aligned with this essence. They faced challenges, whether it was scaling, maintaining quality, navigating regulations, or building trust.
However, they succeeded by maintaining alignment, fostering collaboration between teams, adapting to change, and staying authentic to their brand. The results have been powerful brands that not only lead their respective industries but have also shaped culture and consumer behavior.
Build a Monumental Brand Strategy That Aligns With a Brand Marketing Strategy
Building a robust and resonant brand strategy is no mere task; it’s a pivotal process that shapes your entire marketing approach. Your brand strategy isn’t just a logo or a catchy tagline; it’s the essence of who you are, what you stand for, and why your customers should care.
Because the process is complex and extensive, it makes partnering with our branding agency a strategic advantage for your growing business.
Here’s what you’d get when partnering with us:
20+ Years Expert Guidance – Although we are specifically a branding agency, we house a team of experts with 20+ years of (branding and marketing) experience, innovative thinking, and a deep understanding of your branding process inside marketing. (We are great collaborators, and it’s why we touched on “collaboration” earlier in this article.)
We don’t just help you build a brand; we help you shape an identity.
A Custom-Tailored Approach – Every brand is unique, and so should be its strategy. We take the time to understand your business, your vision, your audience, and your goals. We then craft a brand strategy tailored just for you, ensuring it resonates with your specific audience and stands out in the crowded marketplace. Just look at our case studies and portfolio. Each and every one of our clients is unique. WE DO NOT DO SAMENESS.
Alignment and Consistency – A coherent brand needs a consistent voice. Our agency ensures that your brand strategy is aligned across all marketing channels, creating a unified and powerful brand image that sticks in the minds of consumers.
We give you the language, the tone and voice that’s uniquely you and give you directions on how to implement it throughout your marketing. (NOTE: We incorporated a bit of “roaring” language in this article. Did you catch it? If not, you’ll see it below.)
Strategic Positioning – With keen market insights and strategic thinking, we position your brand where it matters most. We find that sweet spot where your brand’s unique value meets your audience’s needs and desires, setting you apart from the competition.
Adaptation and Growth – The market changes, and so should your brand. We help you adapt without losing your core, ensuring that your brand remains relevant, engaging, and growing, no matter what the market throws your way.
Holistic Integration – Our agency doesn’t just stop at branding. We collaborate with you and your team to integrate your brand strategy with your overall marketing strategy (for it to become your, “brand marketing strategy”), creating a seamless and effective path from brand awareness to customer loyalty.
Business owners that want solid marketing strategies know that brand strategy is a must in their overall business plan. Partnering with us becomes a strategic advantage to you because we carry the branding strategies, data-driven insights, and creative firepower to execute a strong, roaringly successful brand.
So, could now be the time to strategize your brand properly? Maybe by having some questions answered that will help you decide. We will be happy to answer and guide you through making the best and right decision for your brand.
Schedule a FREE consultation with us to get started in the process.
Want to see Some Of Our Case Studies?
Nicole Andrew is a 20 year brand designer, Level-C certified brand strategist, educator, and co-owner of 28Lions, a branding & marketing agency that helps service-based entrepreneurs turn their expertise into powerful brands.