Branding strategy: connect your target audience with your brand

Introduction

If you are an entrepreneur, then your goal is probably to create a strong brand for your business. A brand that your target audience recognizes, that has clear core values and that people feel connected to. The result is a growing, future-proof brand that continues to gain traction. To achieve those goals, you need a solid branding strategy (brand strategy). How do you develop that branding strategy?

What is a branding strategy?

A branding strategy is how you want to gain a foothold in your customers' minds so that you can make maximum impact. With a good branding strategy, you build a strong brand, where brand and customer are closely linked.

Why is a branding strategy important?

A good branding strategy (or brand strategy) is important for the success of your business, because a strong brand means you have distinctiveness. And more importantly: that your customers know what that is. A good brand strategy ensures that the values of your company are clear to everyone who comes into contact with your brand. Based on those values, customers will confidently choose your product or service and become ambassadors for your brand. Your branding strategy also makes it clear what goals you want to achieve.

Defining your branding strategy in four steps

Want to create a strong branding strategy? Then get started with this roadmap:

1. Define vision, brand promise and brand identity

Who are you and what do you stand for? These are not easy questions, but they do form the basis of your branding strategy. In this first phase of this process, it is essential that you get your vision and brand identity clear. What is the "why" of your brand? What are you promising your customers? What do you want to achieve with your brand and what problem of your customers do you want to solve? What are your brand values, the character traits that define your brand and that customers can relate to? This is the story of your brand and your customers should be able to dream that story.

2. Get to know your target audience as well as your competition

To create a successful branding strategy, it is imperative that you know your target audience inside out. Who are the people buying your product or service? How do they want to be addressed? What values appeal to them? Why should they choose you and not the competition? It is useful to develop personas for this: your fictional ideal customers. That makes it easier to make the right choices later. When making trade-offs around a particular marketing issue, you think about the question "what would that persona think about this?" and that helps you tie the knot.

Competition mapping

Carefully map out who your competitors are. What is their message and what are their values? Once that is clear, you can get to work developing a distinctive brand direction.

3. Develop brand concept and visual identity

Once your brand identity and target audience are clearly identified, you can have them translated into a brand concept. This is the way you present your brand identity to the outside world: the appearance of your brand. The brand concept includes the brand name and the elaboration of your brand story. Based on this, you have your brand's visual identity developed: logo, corporate identity and tone of voice. Colors, imagery, fonts, shapes: everything should fit seamlessly with what your brand wants to convey. Note that coming up with a good brand name is a process in itself. Learn how to come up with a strong brand name here.

Developing communication style

The way you communicate (the tone of voice) toward your target audience is also very important. How do you address customers? Businesslike, or do you also use word jokes? The total picture must be right and fit seamlessly with your brand identity.

4. Defining branding strategy: creating and implementing a marketing plan

Is your visual identity complete? Then it's time to create your online and offline marketing strategy. How are you going to reach your target audience? How do you want to remain visible, through what means and campaigns, how often and when? What does your content strategy look like? This marketing strategy gives you guidance in the practical implementation of your branding strategy: developing communication tools and campaigns for different online and offline channels.

The importance of consistency in your brand strategy

Once you have determined your brand strategy, it is imperative that it be executed consistently. Everything your company does must be consistent with the character and identity of your brand. Interpolis' slogan is "crystal clear. That value is carried through in every facet of its operations, right down to the policy terms and conditions. If Interpolis suddenly starts communicating woolly and unclear, it damages the brand's carefully constructed image.

Time for rebranding?

Of course, at some point your brand may be due for a rebranding. New developments, target groups or markets may require you to position yourself differently. That's not a problem, as long as you do it in a careful, deliberate way.

Also explore our extensive articles for coming up with a company name, go-to-market strategy, buying a company name or get inspired by the coolest company name ideas.

Engage a branding expert

Creating a branding strategy is much more than choosing a nice logo and font. Developing the strategy is a careful process that will help determine how your company will operate. Therefore, it can be a good idea to hire a specialized branding agency that can work with you to determine the right course of action. That way, you won't waste time and you can build your strong brand the right way from the beginning.