Brand Messaging That Drives Your Business Growth
Octavia Warren Gilmore
?? The Millennial CEO ?? Multicultural Branding & Marketing Unicorn ?? Fractional CMO ?????? Goldman Sachs 10KSB Alum
How do you develop a strong?brand ?message?
While the terms “brand” and “brand message” are frequently used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. A brand is an identity or a personality. It’s who you are as a company. Your brand is represented by your name, logo, slogan, website design and other visual elements.
A brand message is your verbal identity. It’s what you say about your company, its products and its services. It’s how you position your business in the marketplace. No matter which way you slice it, the bottom line is –?Branding? can make or break your business.
It’s so important for you to develop a solid brand message to help enhance your marketing efforts. The key is to remain consistent in all of your communications — both oral and written — because this will help you achieve greater results with less effort. If people know what to expect from you, they will be willing to purchase from you again and again, and they will refer you to others.
When someone hears about your business for the first time, your goal is to get them to keep on hearing about you over and over again. Having a clear and consistent brand message will help you reach this objective. Your brand represents who you are — it’s a promise made, as well as your image in the market. Brand messaging doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming when done right. The importance of developing a solid brand message cannot be overstated. This article will help you create an engaging, memorable marketing strategy that is sure to bring in more business!
WHAT IS A KEY BRAND MESSAGE?
A key brand message is a simple, clear statement that you want to be remembered by. When someone hears your key brand message, they should understand what your company is about and how you are different from your competitors. A key brand message is a clear, simple statement that signals to your audience that you understand their needs and can help them. It’s the driving force behind all of your marketing activities.
A key brand message helps you:
Key brand messages are a vital component of your marketing strategy. They help you gain clarity about your business, which in turn can make it easier to focus your marketing efforts on the things that will make the biggest impact on your growth and profitability.
If you have a clear idea of who your target market is, what they need and how you’re going to meet their needs, it’s much easier to create an effective marketing plan. Your marketing plan will then help you create marketing materials that will resonate with your target market.
If you’re like most people, the mere thought of “writing” your key brand message makes you break out in a cold sweat. Your mind goes blank or it starts racing with all sorts of bad ideas.
The key to writing this sort of statement — or any marketing material for that matter — is to remember that you are simply?telling a story , not writing an essay.
So, let’s think about the elements of a good story:
A good story is also made up of many details (setting, character, context), so tell your company’s story as a series of stories, where each story is really just another explanation or piece of information that helps get to the core. So how does your business create a positive brand experience? The answer is simple – tell your story. Every organization has a story to tell; who you are, what you do and why you do it. That story is at the heart of your brand promise and how you want your customers to feel about your business. Your story doesn’t have to be complex or expensive — it should simply reflect who you are, what you do and why customers should care. The key for successful companies is having the courage to tell it.
BRANDING GROWTH STRATEGIES YOU CAN STEAL
Branding is one of the most important components of starting a new business. This is why brand creation and management require serious strategy — and that strategy can often be stolen from successful businesses that have come before you. Creating an effective branding strategy is all about making a great first impression and continuing to satisfy your customers for years to come.
The biggest mistake most brands make is thinking that branding and growth are two separate things. In reality, if your brand has the right positioning and messaging, it will be easier to grow. Branding is the foundation of growth.
Growth strategy focuses on the metrics and science behind marketing, such as social media advertising, email marketing or even content marketing. All these tools can help you grow your business faster, but they won’t do anything if your brand is not ready for it.
Here are the steps you need to follow in order to build a solid branding foundation for your business:
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Does your business or organization have a strong brand foundation? You may have a strong logo, color palette, slogan, and even some nice marketing copy, but are you missing any of the other items from this list that are necessary for creating a solid foundation for your brand messaging?
3 EXAMPLES OF GREAT BRANDS?
“Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.” – Steve Forbes
The best way to grow a business is to study and learn from the best. It’s an idea that has been around forever, but just because it’s not new doesn’t mean it isn’t effective.
So, in this article, we’re going to look at some of the world’s most successful brands and what they do right when it comes to growth. By learning from them, we can apply their strategies to our own small businesses. Let’s go!
Apple.?When it comes to branding, Apple has the best of it. The company is not only the most valuable brand in the world, but also one of the most popular and beloved.
How did Apple become so great? Here are seven reasons:
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Nike.?Nike sells an idea, a lifestyle. They sell dreams! They don’t just sell athletic footwear and apparel, they sell an experience—an experience that inspires people to be better athletes, motivates them to push themselves beyond their limits and provides them with gear that helps them achieve amazing feats.
The Nike swoosh has become synonymous with comfort and style. It’s a symbol of victory across all age groups and cultures around the world. You see kids wearing it on the playground, competitive athletes wearing it at sporting events, celebrities wearing it on runways and everyone else in between who wears it as a fashion statement or just because they like how comfortable it is.
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Toyota.?It’s easy to see why Toyota is a great company. It dominates in the automotive industry, is the largest car manufacturer in the world, and has been winning awards left and right year after year.
Having won the Interbrand Best Global Brand Award twice consecutively, Toyota has been ranked as the 13th most valuable brand in the world by?Forbes.
But what makes Toyota such a great brand? And what can we learn from them as business owners?**
Let’s take a look at how Toyota created their success:?
Toyota has an unwavering reputation of reliability and efficiency. In fact, they are so popular that “Toyota” is now slang for “efficient” or “reliable” worldwide.??
?According to?research ,Toyota sells around ten million cars every year, which means every little detail matters. That’s why Toyota continually innovates their processes to make them even better than before. In fact, they’ve created an entire philosophy around this idea called the Toyota Way. The goal is to create consistent processes that will reduce waste and increase efficiency so they can provide their customers with cars that are high quality and affordable.
?Toyota has a clear vision of what it wants to become (and what it doesn’t). Toyota’s vision and mission statements focus on how the company provides value for customers and society at large. In fact, Toyota’s vision statement has remained unchanged for more than 50 years. The consistent message is a testament to the importance of stability and long-term thinking in business.
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It can be hard to know where to start when it comes to crafting a message that will resonate with your customers and drive business growth, but luckily, we’re here to help. Our team of?experts? has extensive experience in developing successful brand messaging for businesses of all sizes and industries. We would love to partner with you and help create a marketing strategy that drives sales by targeting the right consumers with the right message. Ready to take your branding up a notch??Contact us today for a custom consultation!??