Your brand strategy is what makes you memorable, setting you apart from the competition. Ultimately, it’s why your most loyal customers will decide to invest in you.
Companies with clear, consistent branding can expect to earn 23% more annual revenue than those without a well-communicated brand.
Defining your brand strategy is a lot like answering life’s toughest questions. Who are you? What were you put on this earth to do? It can be a daunting discussion, but until you have a clear mission and vision for your company, you won’t have a clear path forward.
If your company has introduced a new product line or you’ve made a major strategic shift, this conversation is crucial.
At Kuno, we’ve had the privilege of leading brand development discussions for companies in a variety of industries, from highly technical software to one of the largest greenhouses in the country.
Here are our recommendations for making the process successful.
Brand development goes far beyond the marketing department. While your marketing team has great insight into what messaging and campaigns have worked well in the past, your sales leaders have a better sense of what’s on the minds of your customers and prospects every day.
Your executive team has a long-term vision for your company and will want to ensure your brand conveys that.
Don’t forget to include service technicians, product designers and customer service representatives in the conversation, too. They can offer valuable insight into your customers’ needs and how your products and services are evolving to support them.
Whether you meet in a conference room or you have this discussion over a series of video conferences, make sure each person you invite understands why they’re involved. Tell them specifically what you want them to contribute so they can come prepared.
For instance, sales can bring a list of frequently asked questions from prospects. Your executive team can reiterate your company’s objectives and share their thoughts on how the new brand will support them.
Your brand doesn’t exist without your customers, so they should be at the center of every branding discussion. Start by reviewing your buyer personas — the fictional representations of your ideal customers. Focus on their challenges and what they may be thinking, feeling and doing as they search for solutions.
Are they anxious? Frustrated? Eager to be an early adopter?
There are many ways to bring your customers into a branding discussion. Here are just a few ideas.
Hosting regular meetings where your customers have the opportunity to share their input on your products and services is a great way to keep them at the forefront of your internal discussions. You can learn a lot about how they’re using your offerings, what frustrates them and what they’d like to see in the future.
Another way to get candid customer feedback is to schedule one-on-one interviews. You can learn a lot about their professional and personal priorities, what other solutions they considered, who else was involved in the decision and what questions they had during the process.
This is a crucial part of developing a content marketing strategy. Try to interview a variety of people, including prospects who ultimately chose a different solution if they’re willing to talk about it. They can offer insight on what held them back, whether it was the cost, lack of internal buy-in, or other factors.
Analyzing customer data can tell you a lot about your best buyers. For instance, including form fields that ask for company size, location, role and industry will help you validate that your ideal customers are who you think they are. You may have assumed your primary customer is someone in an HR role, but after looking more closely at the data, you may learn IT leaders have more influence than you thought. That may mean the brand you’ve established with human resources in mind needs to evolve to speak more to the priorities of someone trying to find the best technology that integrates easily with solutions they already have.
Your customers share a lot without being asked, but it’s up to you to listen. Social media monitoring can give you a better understanding of what’s on their minds.
Asking the right questions will help you uncover your brand. These are questions like What is your brand story? Your mission? Your vision? What are your core values?
Let these questions guide your rebranding journey — after all, YOU know who you are, and now it’s time to share it with the world.
Now that you have a clearer picture of your brand identity, you’re eager to share it with the world. You want to make a big splash with a brand new website, amazing videos and scroll-stopping social media posts. But first, you need logos. You need custom imagery that will set you apart from the sea of stock photography. You need brand guidelines. You need clear, enticing messaging that compels people to learn more.
This is where Kuno Creative helps your company shine. In addition to helping you establish your brand strategy, our creative team can design all the branding assets you need to turn your vision into reality.
Our services include brand development, website strategy, video marketing, custom content, social media strategy and more. If you’re ready to take your brand to the next level, schedule a free consultation with us today.
.jpg)
