Most people think that in order to be more consistent with their marketing and conversion, they just need to do more marketing or get more eyes on their stuff. And while this is true to some extent, there is one strategy that comes before any of that and it will instantly boost your marketing.
Here’s what you’ll learn
- The one strategy that can make your brand better
- The difference between branding and marketing
- Why improving your brand can help your marketing by default
The one strategy that can make your brand better
I see so many business owners who are struggling to market and grow their business. They feel like they are doing it all and taking the right steps but aren’t seeing the needle move towards growth. And when I took a closer look at why so many were struggling, I saw a common thread – they weren’t focusing on the right thing.
You can’t market anything well until you know what it is you’re trying to market.
That’s why we are starting with the brand strategy first. By approaching your marketing with a brand based strategy, you are more likely to get the results you need from your marketing.
Any marketing tactic will work well if it is executed with the right strategy behind it. You can’t just copy and paste the surface level side of a marketing technique and expect it to work. You need to have the right depth behind it so it makes sense and you are reaching the right person with it.
By defining this foundational strategy for your business, you will be able to better understand and communicate your message to the right person. You’ll have a guide for the rest of your business growth, marketing, and decisions that will keep you on track instead of wavering inconsistently.
Instead of putting more emphasis on the strategy and building out your brand from there, the industry tends to put more emphasis on the design of your brand leaving you to hope and pray your marketing efforts will work and your pretty logo will get you by.
But when you take this approach, you end up with an inconsistent brand and confusing messaging. You’ll change your fonts and colors with the latest trends, and your messaging will be all over the place because you don’t have a grounded strategy to pull it all together.
That’s why I believe we should approach it the other way around – by establishing your strategy first so it can guide the rest of your brand and marketing.
Look at it this way – If you are baking a cake, you have to start with the first step. There is a specific order to do things so that it turns out right. Otherwise, you will have a bad tasting cake, and no one wants to eat that.
So when you are building your brand, think of it like you are baking a cake. Your brand strategy is the cake. Your brand identity is the icing. And your website marketing are the sprinkles.
You can’t start with the sprinkles. The sprinkles won’t do any good without the icing to stick to. And even though you could probably eat icing by itself, we all know that it goes better on a cake. You need all the ingredients together to make it work. So if you want your marketing strategies to work, you first need to have a well-defined brand strategy.
The difference between branding and marketing
Before we dive any deeper, let’s take a second to really understand the difference between branding and marketing so that you know what each actually is and how they work together.
Branding is defined as the activity of connecting a product with a particular name, symbol, etc. or with particular features or ideas, in order to make people recognize and want to buy it
It is what people are saying about your business. It’s the perception of what you’re putting out there.
Marketing is the term used to describe anything that connects your audience with your offering (product/service). Think of it as the way that you talk about your offerings and who you are talking to.
When your marketing is done right, the right person will get the right message and have the right perception of your brand. BUT you can’t put the right message out there unless you first understand what that is – and that is what your brand strategy does for you.
The most successful marketing campaigns are built from strong brand foundations because the marketing is fueled by a clearly defined target audience and message.
When you know who are you talking to and what you need to say to them for them to pick up what you’re putting down and become a loyal customer or client – you can easily talk about your offerings in a way that doesn’t feel so salesy.
Why improving your brand can help your marketing by default
Your brand strategy is the core of your brand and essentially your marketing. It’s the foundation that answers all of those important questions like who you are, what you do, why you do it, who you do it for, etc. Questions that need to be answered in order to know what to do with your marketing.
Once you have clarity on your vision, mission, audience, message, and offer, it will be the core of your business. If you stray from this you will only confuse your audience as to who you are and what you do.
Your brand strategy feeds your marketing strategy. Your goal is to attract the people you most want to serve, offer them value, and build trust through empathy and authority. And you can do that through your content and marketing. But when you have a well-defined brand strategy first, it can feed your marketing because you have those core messages already defined.
Then you can take those messages and turn them into powerful and more effective marketing campaigns. Before you build your marketing strategy make sure your brand will attract your ideal audience and connect with them on the right level.
Recap
The truth is that there will never be just one thing that will change the entire success of your business. It’s about combing the right strategies and actions to see needle-moving results. But your brand strategy is at the base of that. If you really want to build a business that is wildly successful and widely known, you need to start here.
Next Steps
Taking the time to build your foundation right will make everything else fall into place with more power and effectiveness. If you’re ready to build your brand the right way, it’s time to take action, which is why I created the Brand Strategy Blueprint course. It walks you through my exact process for building a solid brand strategy that will make marketing your business easier by default.
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