Six things any brand needs to have a successful marketing strategy
After spending the past 13 years working in Marketing and Communications throughout various industries, I’ve found that often, when people think of “brands” they think of logos, some colors and a clever tagline- while those things are elements that amplify your brand’s recognizability, it’s important to remember that the person or people behind each brand is as much as, if not more than, a part of the brand as the services or products you offer.
From athletes’ personal brands to Fortune 500 companies, here are the six things the best brands have in common.
1: The best brands have a vision
When it comes to brands, the question is no longer if you have one- whether you are an individual or a business. The question has become whether you will allow others to define who you are on your behalf or whether you will shape how they view you. Telling your story before someone else tells it for you is an integral part of building any brand.
Define what you want your brand to be known for, how you want others to perceive you, and how you can take your story so far and build your vision for the future of your brand with that.
2: The best brands Create and embrace the stories they tell
Why do we like certain brands over others? In some cases, it's simply quality or preference, but as the world continues to be more interconnected, we often find that it’s not as simple as that. We support brands we connect with- whether it’s the time-honored tradition of a baseball team, the consistent creativity of a clothing company, or a brand committed to social justice- these elements of each brand’s story creates credibility, long-term affinity, and an audience that is ripe to convert.
Embracing your stories is about creating and providing a consistent experience and relating to your audience in a way that appeals to them on a deeper level, creating the trust needed to succeed. It’s not enough to be a brand that provides a great product or service, while also giving them that added feel-good bonus of supporting a brand they believe in.
On the personal brand (athlete, influencer, etc.) side of things, finding brands whose stories align with your story and causes is how the best partnerships are formed.
All ships rise when they have a common goal.
3. The best brands Craft and share content with clarity and purpose
One of the most common deficiencies I have seen when performing audits on brands is a lack of clarity and purpose in their message. On social media, this can be posting just to post “because best practices say I need to post at least 5 times per week”, whereas web content might be too scarce or not focused on what people are searching for to solve their problems and instead just focus on “winnable keywords”.
Algorithms change all the time, and human pain points don’t. Humans by nature are focused on surviving and thriving, is your messaging helping your audience understand how you can help them achieve that? Focus on creating content based on user intent and consider which channels you will use to distribute this content and how it needs to be adjusted to match the intent of the users on each channel.
4. The best brands provide value to their audience
Content that provides value is a great way to maximize the impact of your marketing efforts, as it allows you to focus on creating content that will be truly valuable to your audience, while still ensuring that you are reaching out to potential customers.
In social media marketing, many professionals abide by the 80/20 rule- it states that 80% of your effort should be focused on creating value for your audience, while 20% should be spent on promotional content. I believe that all content can and should provide value and that adding your sales pitch at the end of each post or piece of content is more likely to make you sound like a telemarketer or door-to-door salesperson.
Value isn’t just about giving away tips and tricks though. Value can be posts that inspire, inform/teach, give behind-the-scenes peaks, entertain, and other ways that genuinely connect you with your audience. (Although content is a great place to flex your knowledge and gain credibility!)
5. The best brands become supporting characters in their audience’s stories
In my experience as both a marketer and a consumer, the brands that really instill long-term affinity invite their audience to not only be a part of their story but more often focus on their audiences’ stories. This customer-centric marketing approach puts the customer at the center of all your marketing activities and guides your audience to become more aware of their pain points and how you can help them solve those.
To do this, it’s important to gather meaningful insights to better understand customers’ needs and preferences, and then use that data to develop targeted, personalized campaigns and content that not only meet those needs but ultimately allow you to guide your audience to become the “hero” of their own story with you along for the ride as their trusted guide.
At its core, customer-centric marketing involves engaging with customers on an individual level, providing a personalized experience that is tailored to their specific preferences. This type of marketing ultimately helps to increase customer loyalty, build trust, and create a positive, lasting impression.
6. the best brands have a strategy
This might seem obvious but a lot of brands don’t have a clear commercial (marketing and PR) strategy that aligns and ladders up to the overall business objectives, but instead are stuck in the midst of siloed tactics without a clear outline of how these big picture goals will be achieved.
Strategies include the target audience, budget, timeline, and resources needed to implement the plan, while tactics are specific actions or activities within the overall strategy that helps to achieve the desired goals. For example, a marketing strategy may be to increase brand awareness, and a tactic may be to create and distribute a series of promotional videos across YouTube or to pitch relevant podcasts and news outlets.
Tactics might work in the short term, but if you want your brand to have long-term success, it’s important to create a strategy based on your goals and what will make the most impact.
Need a little inspiration? Check out our 5 Days to a Better Brand Workbook!