Branding is a marketing strategy and activity that helps build your business brand. And although branding is a term that many people use a lot, there’s more behind the scenes to build a good brand and customers than you might think. In this article, we will look at what branding is, how important it is and what branding strategies you can actually achieve.
What is Branding?
Branding refers to the marketing activities that businesses use to build their brand image. Through the creation of names, symbols, and other media so that customers can remember the business. Branding is to differentiate companies and products from competitors in the eyes of their customers.
Let me explain briefly. Brand or brand is a noun and Branding or branding is a verb. But there are some differences in practice.
A good brand like online casino Australia is easy to invite new customers and attract old customers to come back for a purchase. In short, no business will benefit from having a brand. In the next part of this article, I will explain the importance and advantages of branding again.
Building a brand is more complicated than just hiring a logo maker and advertising to promote your own business. In the eyes of the customer, be it the logo, the advertisement, or the way employees speak. Product appearance or after-sales service Is a mixture of ‘Company image’ all
The importance of good branding
Building a brand that matters Because brands make it easier for companies to communicate with their customers. In a shorter time, The opportunities gained from the convenience of this communication include To stand out from the competition Keeping customers long, and promoting easier and faster.
Branding can be very helpful. But it is something that comes with a lot of time and effort. (And for organizations like Coke, Nike, or Apple, that includes big money) So in this section, let’s look at how well these benefits are worth building a brand.
# 1 stand out from the competition
From a marketing point of view, nothing is more valuable than our products stand out and stand out from the competition. This difference makes customers stop asking if ‘Is the other person better?’, Why to buy it ‘or even’ get discounted ‘because in the end, being different means, you are rare.
Let’s look in real life at how many times you shop just because you know it or you’ve heard it before. We can see this kind of behavior all along, whether it’s buying water, buying clothes, or even buying a car, buying a condo.
# 2 keep customers long-term
In addition to attracting new customers, outstanding good brands can also invite customers to come back for a repeat purchase. Having repeat customers means that the marketing budget for getting new customers will be more rewarding like a best high roller casino. What’s more, repeat customers make it easier for us to predict long-term sales.
If we view the brand as communication that allows customers to understand the same message over and over. We can understand that even if the price is what attracts new customers. But the most repeat customers are those who are interested in value. Reliability and quality, so if we design good brand communication Customers will come back to us.
# 3 promote sales easier and faster
Ultimately, brands are marketing. Which is a matter of sales promotion The brand’s main strength is to create an image that customers can easily recognize. For example, European cars are luxury cars. iPhone is good mobile Seven is a convenience store that can do a lot of things.
I believe everyone has seen a Nike or iPhone billboard, as opposed to marketing a new product, a new company, and we can see how easy it is to advertise and sell branded products.
If we understand the basics of branding Let’s look at small business branding strategies. With little capital, it can be done.
What is branding strategy?
Branding Strategy It is long-term planning so that branding can achieve business objectives. A good branding strategy includes setting a branding goal. Understanding customer groups Selection of messages and communication channels and continuous measurement
We’ll say branding and branding are good things. But if we can’t actually do it This knowledge is no different from school text, the Branding Strategy is what makes our branding more tangible.
The components of a good branding strategy are as follows.
Brand Purpose – Even if a brand is a business image. And most businesses exist to generate profit but the goal of building a brand must be anything more than that. Overall, the goal of building a good brand is to help customers in some way. Or being the first or the expert in their own style
Core Message – Refers to the core message or message that we would like to communicate to our customers through our brand. This message should be communicated to customers continuously and across all channels throughout the life of the brand. The main theme should not have more than 1-3 topics.
Long Term Planning – Branding is long-term marketing, which can take up to 5 years, 7 years (or 100 years for some companies). Long-term planning is the scheduling and process of activities. Various aspects of marketing that a company can do in order to help build a brand
Actionable – It is the key to making any strategy work. This includes considering the resources in the organization. Such as the number of employees Employee skills, employee skills, time with funds
Measurable – to ensure that our branding strategy is in line with the goals we have set. Every work plan and activity must be measurable. Including sub-measurements of whether activities were successful or not And the overall measurement of whether customers can remember the brand better or not
Actually, apart from the Core Message issue, the rest of the components can be applied to all business strategies. It means that the basic principles of branding are not difficult to understand. But putting it into practice is more difficult. (Including having to endure repeating the same story for three years and five years)
The last thing we need to consider when building a brand is Positioning, or comparing our brand image with other competitors. From the customer’s point of view In this section, I advise everyone to read the basics of market positioning in this article first. Market alignment
If we understand what a branding strategy is, in the next part, let’s look at the branding strategies that can be done.
4 steps of a branding strategy that works
# 1 choose your branding goals
Choosing a branding goal is the starting point of every strategy. Because the process and marketing plan after this will have to be tailored to the goals that we set. Overall, the goals should include ‘Changing opinions’ of ‘our main customers’
As I have explained This part should not be profitable. But what should be done to benefit the eyes of customers, for example, I want to be a brand of cosmetics for the elderly. Want to be a car brand that customers can trust Or want to be a family restaurant brand
And if you are an ambitious brand Press, it may be to define that. Is it the largest brand in the country or the brand that customers like best? Can be supplemented with
You have to know your customer segment – unless you have a billion-baht main market budget. You cannot create a brand that people all over the country or the world can recognize. In this case, by dividing the customer segment first, we can create a specific strategy. And allows us to save a lot of marketing budget
If anyone is in doubt about choosing a group of customers, I recommend you to study the tools of marketing now and do STP Analysis.
# 2 choose a key phrase for branding
It means choosing the main content that we would like to communicate with customers. This should be the main point that makes your company or product stand out from the competition.
The main text should include:
Selling points – such as value for money, durability, and quality – are the reasons why customers make purchasing decisions.
Emotion – This refers to the emotions that are associated with the brand and that we want our customers to be associated with, such as happiness, comfort, and fun.
Some brands only ask customers to remember the message, one good thing can be sold. But a big-name brand like Coke can make people associate products with a feeling of freshness or happiness (for example, eating Coke and its refreshing is both a selling point and the same brand mood).
In this section we can However, we have to remember that many famous brands can change their slogan according to the era. As long as the message of communication still feels the same. See, for example, Coke Company.
# 3 Choose a channel (or multiple) to communicate with your customers.
This section is about choosing a channel to communicate with customers. Which is more of a basic marketing principle than direct branding.
A good channel is one that we can easily communicate with customers. And at a low cost Remember, building a brand is communicating the same message to your customers. Repeat until the customer can remember
In fact, these channels come in many forms. Such as advertising channels Sales channels How the employees speak Or even the look of the warehouse and packaging
That means every opportunity that customers can receive information from us. Well, it is a branding opportunity, with two factors we need to consider:
Consistency – to make it easier for customers to recognize the brand. All channels must be able to communicate the same messages over and over to customers. If the advertisement tells us that our products are safe Our sales and packaging staff must also be able to communicate these messages.
In addition to that, consistency includes the ability to communicate the same message over and over. Over a period of 3 years and 7 years, it may seem easy, but getting all channels to communicate the same message over and over requires effort. A lot
Employee Collaboration – If you’ve read through this section As you can imagine, brand-building marketing activities and each of them requires employees.
At the very beginning Supervising staff, or speaking directly to customers, are essential when communicating the core message of the brand to the customer. But in the long run, we have to focus on the whole organization. Because whether it is both inside and outside of work hours These employees should be able to show the brand identity as well.
In this section, I recommend you study the creation of corporate culture. If our employees are ready The brand is very easy to create. Articles on organizational culture
# 4 communication, troubleshooting, And continuous development
In the last 3 steps, I will explain the basics of preparing to build a brand. But in the fourth step, we will look at the actual operation.
Brand communication – including workflow design Product design Packaging design And staff training So that the brand message is consistent and consistent across all channels Both for the short and long term
Troubleshooting – because branding is a long-term process In most cases, there is no strategy that will 100% meet expectations, meaning brand builders need to be prepared to solve immediate problems, such as employees who speak badly to their customers. The product is defective Some of the processes go wrong.
Continuous improvement – Another essential marketing item. Because even if we do market surveys and do a lot of customer surveys, In the end, we have to rely on feedback from real customers to judge anyway. Keep considering whether it is what we are doing that looks good or that it looks bad in the eyes of customers. And bring this response to light to develop continuously
Although this step is a very short one. But staff management factors Correction of mistakes immediately And taking care of customer expectations It is all that we have to pay attention to the details.
In this section, each organization and customer group Will behave differently Brand builders must keep an eye on the strengths and weaknesses.
Finally, about branding strategies.
Lastly, I would like to say that actually building a brand is not impossible or impossible. Really, any organization can create a brand as well. It’s just that it may take a lot of time to be different. It depends on the marketer’s skills, investment capital, and the number of competitors in the market.
The downside, however, is that you won’t be able to build a brand that customers remember tomorrow. But if you have tried Able to endure doing the same things Pay attention to the opinions and views of customers and communicate the same message over and over to the customers for a long time. Any company can build a brand.