What is a Brand Marketing Strategy?

For entrepreneurs and business-owners like you and me, we often hear the words “branding” and “marketing,” or even “brand marketing strategy” thrown around. Have you ever wondered exactly what those words mean, the difference between them, and how you can implement them? No worries! Read along to answer all those questions and to learn more about how to create a brand marketing strategy that actually grows your business and increases that ever-coveted Know-Like-Trust Factor!

What is a brand marketing strategy?

Before we dive into the explanation of a brand marketing strategy, let’s clear up a few definitions first – “branding” and “marketing.”

In short, “branding is the process of giving a meaning to specific organization, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds” (The Branding Journal).

People often view branding as one or two logos, and maybe a color palette. While those are very important components, it’s actually a little deeper than that. Building a brand focuses how you want your audience to experience your brand, what story you want to tell, and how you want your brand to be perceived.

Additionally, marketing is simply the steps you take to communicate your brand and the services / products your business offers. These are things like ad campaigns, social media, blogging, etc.

Now to the original question! A brand marketing strategy is a way to market your overall brand to your audience and therefore promote the services / products you offer. It’s a way to develop consumer awareness and confidence in your brand, and therefore trust in your offerings. Now before we go into the steps of developing a brand marketing strategy, I want to touch on why your branding should come first and foremost.

Why is branding important for your brand marketing strategy?

Before any business can develop their brand marketing strategy, they’ll first need to develop the brand itself. This will be the foundation of setting up the strategy for success.

First, and most importantly, developing your brand will create trust from your target audience. As humans, we typically don’t trust somebody we aren’t familiar with, and that goes for businesses, too. After all, you’re striving for that coveted Know-Like-Trust Factor!

Second, taking the time to develop your brand will make your target audience crystal clear, which will benefit you down the road. You want to know who you’re even marketing to, right?

Lastly, having a well-created brand will make your business easily recognizable from anywhere. The goal is to give your audience the ability to visually recognize your brand without having to think or read the name. Things like colors, logos, typography, are just a few of the elements that contribute to this.

How to create your brand marketing strategy

“But Karlie, how do I even create a brand marketing strategy?” No worries, it’s simpler than you might think! Brand marketing isn’t just for the big corporations – it’s also for the small business owner or solopreneuer!

1. Create your brand

Like I explained before, your very first step should be creating your brand. This is where you’ll determine how you want your brand to look, how you want your audience to feel when experiencing your brand, and how to make your business stand out. Below are a few questions you might want to consider during this process (psst, I might have pulled these from my down brand strategy client questionnaire!)

• What are the values / mission statement of your business?
• Why was your business started? What was the motivation?
• What makes you unique from the competition?
• What personality traits do you want your brand to display?

Because this can be a complex and detailed process, I recommend hiring a professional designer who knows what to do with the answers to those questions. Luckily for you, that’s kinda my thing! I partner with creatives, entrepreneurs, and business owners like you to create a visually stunning brand presence that makes you utterly unforgettable. If you’re curious, click here to take a peek at my services and what I can do for your business!

2. Dig into your target audience

Before you can market your brand, you’ll need to know exactly who your target audience is. This will help you know how to speak, where to market, and what to say. Below are a couple more questions from my client questionnaire to help you get started:

• What is your target audience’s demographics? Their age, their ethnicity, their gender, their income, their education, etc.
• What is it that your target customer wants? How can you help them?
• What do they care most about?

3. Decide where you’re going to market your brand

Now that you have a good picture on who your target market is, you need to determine exactly where you’re going to market to them. Use these questions to figure out what you should focus on for your brand marketing strategy:

• Where does your target market hang out? Are they on social media? If so, which ones?
• How are you going to speak differently depending on which marketing medium you’re on? What should be your message on Instagram, as opposed to a newspaper ad?
• Which social media platform is right for you? Having some sort of social media presence is crucial for almost any business. It’s phenomenal for really connecting to your audience on a deeper level – and we’re all about creating more trust!

4. Analyze your marketing strategy results

Throughout your brand marketing journey, you need to be aware of what is working for your business. What are people responding well to? What isn’t working very well? How can you adapt to maximize the growth of your brand? Make sure to periodically check in with these questions so you have a clear vision of where you need to go!

All in all

All in all, creating a brand marketing strategy doesn’t have to be intimidating! It’s all about determining how you want your business to be perceived and implementing that into how you market! But remember: the success you see in your marketing strategies depends on how thorough you are in the beginning! And if you need any help, well you know where to find me 😉