The 3 essential elements for any good brand strategy
And how marketing is the key to a successful brand
There is so much out there about what makes a good brand, creating a strong brand, and developing a brand strategy.
And if you got here by googling how to create a brand strategy, you saw just how many articles there are.
But the thing is, they fall short.
Crafting a good brand doesn't stop at the logo or messaging. It starts there!
When most people think of a brand, they just think of the visual aspects with a look and feel, logo, and colors. Or maybe they'll incorporate the brand voice, key messages and personality.
And yes those are super important. And it is what we focus on before we launch a brand, but what about after the launch?
We tend to put all of our new brand assets to the side and turn our attention to marketing: spreading the word, building our followers and customer base, and engaging with our community.
Sure, we'll pull out our logo and use our colors and fonts for a while. We'll write in our brand voice for the big stuff, but day to day we let the brand identity slide in favor of churning out content quickly to get through our to-do lists.
When we start to put our brand aside and see marketing as separate, that's when our once strong brand turns weak. The content is no longer consistent and since we aren't staying true to our brand identity, it is no longer authentic.
Here's the secret: marketing should be essential to your brand strategy. Not an afterthought.
I'm here to tell you that branding and marketing are so intertwined that if you aren't creating a holistic strategy that encompasses both, your brand will fail.
But don't worry - I've got you! My three essential elements to a good brand strategy incorporate both.
It's all about building out a complete brand strategy from the start and creating an action plan that is designed to communicate to and with your audience through your brand, not just from your brand.
Yes, there is a difference.
Communicating from your brand: you are using the marketing channels you set up to talk to your audience. Your website, social media, articles, speeches, etc. Essentially, you are speaking at the podium your brand owns, but you say whatever is on your mind and go off on tangents that make it hard for your audience to connect to you.
Communicating through your brand: Now you and that podium are on in the same. What you share with your audience is not only tied to your brand's core value and goals, but it's' also exactly what your ideal audience wants to hear.
Best of all? The latter is actually easier! Because when your marketing is truly informed by your brand, it takes the guesswork out of your day-to-day.
Let's get into it!
The three essential elements to any good brand strategy:
Brand Identity
Compelling Content
Audience Engagement
Your Brand Identity is the foundation of your brand.
We talked about brand identity above. It's what most people think of as the brand, but I think it's just the building blocks of your brand.
Your brand identity is made up of your look and feel and brand voice.
The look and feel go beyond your logo, brand colors, and fonts to include your imagery. It's important to have a cohesive look, especially as social media is so visual. What photos or filters work with your brand? What design elements would you incorporate into any graphics?
Your brand voice is the overall way you talk to your audience. It embodies your personality, your tone, the language you use, and of course your key messaging. And it goes beyond the copy on your homepage or about description. You want your brand voice to come through on all your content.
Compelling Content attracts people to your brand.
Content. It's not only the thing that makes your brand come alive, it's what attracts people to it. You want your audience to keep coming back to you. Whether it's more of what you are selling or what you are posting on Instagram, compelling content will keep them wanting more.
Content pillars keep your message on brand and consistent. Every brand should have 3-5 subject areas or themes that they share content on. It's the areas of work that your brand is most known for. Creating content within your content pillars will define your brand and set it apart from others in your field. They are your North Star. They guide all of your marketing content and in turn, your audience will trust you as an expert in those areas and keep coming back.
You also want to create compelling content in the mediums that let your brand identity shine! Maybe that is long-form blog posts if your brand personality is more of a serious educator or short videos on TikTok if it's quirky and loud. The type of content you create should be true to your brand.
Audience Engagement fuels the growth of your brand.
The ultimate goal of any brand strategy should be to build trust with your audience. When you are a trusted source, they become brand evangelists, spreading the word so your brand grows.
To build that trust, they need to feel connected to you. That starts with you knowing exactly who your ideal audience is. What are their passions and hobbies? What are their goals? What motivates them? What frustrates them? The best brands know their customer types and develop their content specifically to attract their ideal audience.
Once you've attracted them, you want them to like you and start building that trust. The best way to do that? To build a community with them. Bring them onto your email list, engage with them in your direct messages, respond to their comments, etc.
When you create your brand strategy, you need to have clarity on who your ideal audience is and how you will cultivate and bring them into your community. How will you make them feel special?
Does your brand strategy have all three elements? A brand should always be evolving and changing as the business grows so it's never too late to build them into your brand!
Ready to craft a brand that will fuel growth in your business? Let’s Chat!
