If your business was a car, what would it be and why?
You might find the question above to be a bit odd. At first, it can feel strange to think about your business in those terms. But in order to have a successful marketing strategy, you need to reflect on your business and your brand in out-of-the-box ways.
To start, let’s backtrack a bit. Do you know what a “brand” is? If you’re unsure, Ignyte Brands’ definition is, “A brand is the way a company, organization, or individual is perceived by those who experience it. More than simply a name, term, design, or symbol, a brand is the recognizable feeling a product or business evokes.” With that in mind, think about what you want your customers to feel when they encounter your business.
This exercise can take on different forms depending on how mature your business’s brand is. Are you starting from scratch? Rebranding your business? Reflecting on your current brand? If your brand is new, focus on your customers’ pain points and what you’re hoping to solve. How will your customer feel about you as they interact with you? If your brand has been around for a while, think about how customers currently experience your product or services. How do they feel currently, and how do you want them to feel in the future?
A helpful tactic to uncover this is to hear from your business’s employees and focus groups. You may think that you know your brand, but in marketing, data is king, and it’s important to gather as much as you can to make an informed decision about your brand’s voice.
Here are some considerations when creating a branding survey:
Who are your competitors, and how do you fit into your industry? Thinking about what differentiates you from the competition will help you find a voice that’s unique to you.
Consider your brand’s core values. Not what your company sells, but what your company is. What causes are important to your brand? What does your brand stand for?
Who is your brand talking to? Social Media Today shared that hyper-personalization is not just a “nice to have” - it’s a must to keep up with evolving customer demands. Reflect on how many messages you consume in a day. Your customer likely consumes just as many. Your only chance to stand out in the crowd is to address your target audience’s feelings and needs directly so that they know you’re speaking to them and that you’re here to help them, specifically. Talk on their level and let them feel heard.
Keep your mission and vision at the core. What is your brand trying to accomplish? And how do you see that playing out over the next few years? Leading with your mission and vision will ensure that your brand helps your business reach its goals.
Imagine your brand in different scenarios. Detach your brand from your products and services for a second to dig down deep into how your brand speaks and what you want it to say. For instance, consider the question I posed at the beginning of the blog. The type of car that you choose to compare your brand to says a lot about how you think of your brand. Is it high-end? Caked in mud? Bright red? Electric? Another question could be to compare your brand to a celebrity. Who would it be? These kinds of exercises help you dive deeper into the characteristics that you associate with your brand identity.
It’s important to expand your perceptions of your business and open yourself to others’ perspectives to create an effective, cohesive marketing strategy. If you’d like some extra help, we’re here for you. All you have to do is ask.