In a nutshell:
- Brand strategy may sound like consultant jargon, but in the day-to-day operations of an SME, it’s a tangible tool against price wars and product interchangeability.
- Without it, every marketing campaign falls flat.
- We’ll show you in five steps how to develop a brand strategy that really pays off in sales, on your website, and in customer conversations.
Organizations, firms, and companies use brands as value creators to build a foundation for future success. In this way, brands offer customers guidance and build trust.
To reap all the benefits, a strong brand strategy must be developed, and a unique brand identity and brand positioning must be created. Goals, strategies, and measures must be defined and optimized to achieve a successful growth trajectory. We’ll reveal how that works here.
What exactly is a brand, and what is a brand strategy?
When you think of a brand, you usually think first of the corporate design—the consistent logo, the website in the company colors, and the matching business card. But visual elements are only one aspect of branding.
To build a strong brand, you need to make your communication and presence expressive in order to create a memorable impact that attracts people. However, when building a brand, you shouldn’t focus solely on corporate design; you should also consider other aspects.
The Brand = An Image in the Mind
A brand’s impact is created through the consistent communication of messages that evoke an image in people’s minds. This image is reinforced through branding—that is, by embedding it in memory. The impact of a brand is subjective and based on the interpretations, feelings, and experiences created by our perception.
The experiences we have with a brand are decisive for our relationship with it. We will only like and endorse brands with which we associate positive experiences, that do not disappoint us, and that meet our desires and needs. Through communication, the brand conveys cognitive and emotional impressions to us, which become an experience that shapes our relationship with the brand.
Brand Building
The process of brand formation consists of a combination of thoughts, associations, experiences, emotions, and impressions that help us form an opinion about a brand, develop an attitude toward it, and evaluate the brand.
This process takes place largely subconsciously yet still influences our purchasing decisions. Since we tend to choose well-known brands, the brand benefits from corresponding brand equity, which can be measured in sales figures.
A strong brand can help improve your public image. Clear positioning and memorable branding create an immediate impact and strengthen your <adata-wpil href="https://waterproof-web-wizard.de/blog/ecommerce-marketing-strategien-tipps/" class="lnk">marketing efforts. </adata-wpil>
This can even lead to cost savings, as your brand’s search volume can increase through other touchpoints. People will search for your brand directly and want to know what you offer. This gives you a competitive advantage over companies that spend a lot of money on keywords. The value of your brand grows automatically.
Why is it important to develop a brand strategy?
A brand and its branding help add value to a company and its products or services. Through its impact, it generates value and creates a brand experience that people appreciate and perceive as trustworthy.
This makes the product or service the preferred choice over competitors’ offerings, for which people are willing to pay more. However, to anchor the brand in the target audience’s memory, brand recognition among the audience must be high. Successful brand communication conveys knowledge about the brand, which can later play a role in the purchasing decision and lead to stronger brand recall.
But this doesn’t happen automatically; it requires sophisticated planning. We’ll now discuss what this planning looks like in detail.
Developing a Brand Strategy in 5 Steps
When it comes to a product or service offering, customers always ask themselves: “What’s in it for us, and what’s the benefit for us?” Successful brand development and positioning require that you be able to answer this exact question for your customers. To achieve this, it is necessary to delve deeply into the market and the target audience.
The SWOT Analysis
If you’re analyzing your target audience, the SWOT analysis is a great tool for this. SWOT stands for:
| S = Strengths: the brand’s strengths | W = Weaknesses: the brand’s weaknesses |
| O = Opportunities: the opportunities in the market | T = Threats: the risks in the market for your brand |
The SWOT analysis focuses on factors that affect your own company, product, or service. These include internal resources, the strengths of the product and service, the budget, as well as the company’s values, vision, and identity. These factors can be influenced and are incorporated into future brand positioning.
The so-called OT (Outerlying Factors) refer to analysis results of the market and its players, which can be influenced only to a limited extent or not at all. These include trends, developments, market conditions, the competitive environment, target group analysis, and all other information relevant to the industry.
- Market Analysis
It is important to understand the market in which your brand operates and the expectations that come with it. This requires a clear and focused analysis that addresses market conditions, including consumer demand, needs, and purchasing behavior, as well as the competition.
To successfully position your brand, it is crucial to gain comprehensive market intelligence to understand the market in which you want to position your brand.
To determine your branding strategy, it is important to describe your target market and identify the relevant market you wish to target. You can define the relevant market in terms of product, geography, and time to shape your strategy.
This way, you can ensure that your brand is aligned with the needs and requirements of your target audience and that you can focus your resources specifically on the market most relevant to your business.
Product-Based Market Definition
Functional market definition refers to the characteristics of the brand’s product or service. Competitors are defined as those companies that offer a similar product or comparable service. Thus, the market is determined by the functional characteristics of the offering and the competition.
| Note: When determining the relevant market, it is important to consider the buyer’s perspective and their needs. You should ask yourself who buys what, and for what reason or need. Which brand and which product would the buyer choose to satisfy their need in a different way? A brand like Haribo defines the relevant market not by the product “gummy bears,” but by the target audience of children and the specific need for a snack. Therefore, the direct competitor is not wine gums, but the confectionery market, which targets children and the need for snacking. The perspective is thus different, but it is the relevant one for the brand. |
The spatial definition
The spatial definition of the market refers to the geographic area where your brand should be present. If your brand has a local connection, for example, you should target that area in the future. So ask yourself in which region or area your brand should operate in the future.
This can be at the local, national, international, or even global level. This way, you can determine which competitors you will encounter in the defined area, how high the demand and purchasing power are in the region, and what specific needs or motivations the target audience has due to local or national factors.
The temporal scope
The time frame of the market refers to a specific period or season. Does your brand have a seasonal focus? Typically, the time frame isn’t particularly significant unless you’re developing a brand specifically for Christmas products or other seasonal items.
- Macro- & Microanalysis
Macroanalysis refers to the relevant external circumstances that can influence your brand, such as ecological, physical, technological, political, economic, social, or legal factors in the market.
What market trends are emerging, and how will the market develop in the future? What risks and opportunities exist? All the important and relevant macro factors you identify can influence your brand’s future strategic positioning.
| Tip: Google Trends, trend studies from the Zukunftsinstitut, and Statista can help you gain insights and gather important information for your analysis. |
Target Audience Analysis
A detailed description of your target audience provides you with essential information about the people you want to address and reach with your brand. In particular, the core needs of your target audience should be taken into account. This information serves as an important guide for your brand’s positioning and the associated strategic direction.
In addition to demographic data, there are a few other factors to consider:
- What motivates your target audience?
- What are their desires and needs?
- What emotions are triggered in your target audience when they think about your challenges?
- What are their purchasing and consumption habits?
- Where do you encounter your customers?
- What problems and concerns do your customers have?
Competitive Analysis
By gaining an overview of the competition, you can consider how to differentiate yourself and stand out from other brands. Successful brand development requires an understanding of the market environment and where your competitors’ strengths lie.
How do competitors operate in the market, and what strategies, messages, and marketing activities do they use? How do they position themselves in the market compared to other brands, and where are they present? Additionally, it’s important to assess the strength of their digital presence.
The Company Analysis
To achieve successful brand development, it is crucial that you present yourself authentically and showcase your strengths to the outside world. Therefore, you must also take a close look at your company and decide which aspects you want to highlight through your brand.
- Where do you stand in the market?
- Where do you offer added value to your customers?
- How are you currently positioned (current positioning)?
- How is your branding perceived, and do you have a brand identity?
- Can you be found online?
- How strong are customer loyalty, referral marketing, and personal relationships?
The information gathered from this business analysis should now be carefully evaluated. To do this, it can be entered into a SWOT matrix to provide a clear overview of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis forms the basis for formulating a suitable strategy that can later be implemented in operational procedures.
- Define SMART Goals
Now define SMART goals for your brand to increase your success:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attractive
R = Realistic
T = Time-bound
| One of your brand’s goals could be to establish brand awareness (realistic) as “eco-friendly” (specific) for target group Y (attractive) within time frame X (timed) and to verify whether awareness increases by x% (measurable). |
- Target Positioning
The goal of target positioning is to convey a clear vision of how you want to be perceived by your customers. It should be important to you to create a cohesive and distinctive brand identity that sets you apart from your competitors.
One possible positioning statement could be:
“Our brand stands for high-quality and sustainable products that support a minimalist lifestyle. We offer our customers a simple way to capture and organize their thoughts and ideas. We create clarity and foster creativity to enable a fulfilling and mindful life.”
Many brands are successful because they don’t try to communicate every benefit. Instead, they focus on a single standout feature and bring it to the forefront.
Even if the product has many other valuable features, it’s important to communicate only one clear message. The reason is that the recipient can never remember all the features, and it would quickly seem confusing and vague.
A good example is the Geox brand with its slogan “Geox – the shoe that breathes.” Although Geox shoes have many other features, such as an ergonomic footbed, a perfect fit, and durability, the positioning and brand communication focus on this one standout feature.
This core message is communicated so powerfully that the recipient can easily visualize and remember it. After all, who wouldn’t want to wear shoes that breathe?
- Brand Leadership and Brand Management
What you need now is a solid 3-step copy strategy. This will help you develop consistent communication and tailor the message to your target audience.
In practical implementation, you use this simple 3-step method to develop a tagline and a visual identity that reinforce the desired brand essence and execute the copy strategy.
The 3-step copy strategy consists of: benefit, a rationale for the benefit, and tone.
- The benefit for the target audience can be described as follows:
“Your feet breathe in our shoes…”
- Reason Why = The rationale for the benefit
“and stay fresh, dry, and odor-free even after long walks!”
- The tone “fresh, dry, no odor” is clear, simple, and to the point.
In the implementation phase, you develop a tagline and a corresponding visual identity that reinforce the desired brand essence and execute the copy strategy. All measures and operational activities—whether offline or online—are aligned with the brand essence and the desired positioning. Precise brand management is essential here.
Conclusion – Developing a Brand Strategy with Waterproof Web Wizard
We’ve outlined the process of developing a brand strategy here. Here’s a brief summary of all the key points:
- Identify the relevant market and market environment
- Conduct macro- and micro-analysis to define the conditions for the brand and positioning
- Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses
- Reach your goal faster with the Smart Method
- Brand leadership and brand management for steering, maintaining, and further developing the brand
At Waterproof Web Wizard, we work with a variety of companies across diverse industries and can adapt flexibly to your needs. By the way: We’re an agency that listens to what you need first before imposing a solution on you.
Your goals are our top priority, which is why we discuss all decisions with you and your team first. This way, we can succeed together. Whether it’s an online store or the needs of offline customers: if there’s no connection between the two, nothing can really work well.
Need help with lead generation? We at Waterproof Web Wizard are happy to assist you. Be sure to read our client testimonials first to get a better sense of who we are. Beyond that, we’re specialists in SEO strategies, which are a crucial part of marketing. Here are the areas we cover:
- Brand Concept
- Search Engine Optimization – SEO
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO
- SEO Audit
Feel free to contact us with no obligation: You can reach us by phone at +49 751 95 89 92 17 or send us a message via our contact form.