Successfully communicating the image of your brand can be difficult. Branding is very important because it directly affects how consumers view your products and your company. The more consumers are aware of brands, the more likely they are to develop preferences. After all, successful branding occurs when marketers can convince consumers to favor their brand over others. In fact, consistent brand presentation can lead to an increase in revenue of up to 23%. This article will give you tips for how you can improve your brand management strategy.
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What is Brand Management?
Before we can talk about brand management tactics, we should define what brand management is. First, your brand goes further than just the product or service you provide. It is also your company’s core values and how you interact with customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders. This means that brand management is the series of techniques you use to increase the perceived value of your product or service.
An effective brand management strategy will increase your loyal customers due to positive brand association.
Luckily, there are several brand marketing strategies we will share here so you can utilize them to help your brand grow.
Focus on the Right Target Audience
It is important that you focus on a target audience when branding your products. Your brand will likely not appeal to consumers of every age, location, or behavior for example. That is okay because that just means you can focus your brand on a specific audience.
If you are not sure who your target audience should be, take a good look at your product. An effective brand management strategy is to base your target demographic around what type of consumer is most likely to use your products. If your product is mostly used by women, then you should be sure that your branding also appeals to women.
A popular online brand management strategy is to look at what type of branding different consumers respond well to. After you have selected your target audience, you can more easily figure out what branding they will like the best.
Establish a Social Media Presence
One of the best branding management strategies is to be active on social media. Look into the demographic you are attempting to target with your brand. What social media platform do they use the most? If you are attempting to target older consumers, your time will likely be better spent on a platform like Facebook than TikTok, since the average age of Facebook’s users is typically older.
Additionally, make sure that you are regularly producing content. If your brand rarely posts on social media, it doesn’t provide consumers a reason to engage with your brand. Not only should you regularly post, but you should also make sure that your posts are in line with the voice of your brand. Is your brand more serious or light-hearted? The tone of your brand can drastically change the content you should put on your social media. Social media is also a great opportunity to get feedback from consumers about your branding. In fact, many brand managers find out what people are saying about their brand on social media by engaging with consumers.
Make Sure Your Branding Communicates Your Message
If you have been struggling with your branding, it might be worth trying a different direction with your branding. A crucial part of brand management is to ensure that your brand is effective with the consumers you are trying to reach. If you have a suspicion that your brand is not connecting with your audience, you should get feedback from the target audience.
There are several ways you can do this. Traditionally, a brand could set up a focus group and do a SWOT analysis to see how they could improve their brand. However, this can be very costly for some brands. Additionally, it can be difficult finding a focus group if you do not have a dedicated marketing team.
Another way you can find out how well your brand is connecting with your audience is through online surveys. The main issue with online surveys is that they often have a low response rate. If neither of those works, sometimes brand managers find out what people are saying about their brand on Twitter by creating a Twitter poll. A Twitter poll is a nice option because it engages your audience but also provides feedback within 24 hours.
Focus on What Makes You Different
Another brand management strategy companies will often use is focusing on how they are different from their competitors. When your brand is able to stand out, consumers will be able to recognize it more easily. Simply copying other successful brands is not a great strategy because you will likely get left behind and consumers will continue to purchase the brand that already does that type of branding. Additionally, you want your product to stand out.
Branding management will typically think about aspects of their product that competitors do not have. Do you sell your product at a lower price? Is it a premium product? Whatever makes your brand stand out should be included in both the packaging and overall branding of the product. The color of your packaging can play a very important aspect in branding. Look at all your competitors: what color is their packaging? Try a color they have yet to do to really stand out.
Support Your Local Community
One tactic companies will often use when trying to improve their brand management strategy is working with their local communities. Working with your local community can help consumers feel even more connected to your brand. Many consumers are proud of wherever they are from and often respond positively when brands embrace their roots.
This strategy works especially well when branding food products. This is because a lot of food is regional and different locations have various specialties. Popular examples of branded food based on communities are the New York pizza or a Chicago-style hot dog.
Even if you do not want to include a community directly into your branding, you can still benefit from supporting local charities. A common brand management strategy is to sponsor local charities. This gives your brand more exposure in your local area because members of the community will associate your brand with a charitable cause. Ideally, this will lead consumers to think more positively of your brand. As long as you avoid any controversial charities, supporting a charity can help your branding.
Have Consistent Messaging
Staying consistent in your messaging is a crucial brand management strategy. Once you have decided what exactly you want your branding to be, make sure you are consistent. Consistency is important in branding because without it consumers become easily confused. Consumers should be able to look at your logo, packaging, and brand name and be able to easily understand what messages you are trying to communicate. This is where the visual aspect of branding can be really important.
Keeping your logo and color scheme of your brand consistent is necessary to build a successful brand. When branding is done successfully, consumers can actually identify which logo belongs to which brand without even needing to see the brand’s name. A good example of this is McDonald’s. The golden arches have become so iconic that most consumers can see that alone and instantly identify that it is McDonald’s. Making sure that your consistent branding continues on your social media accounts is also a great online brand marketing management strategy.
Always Be Authentic
Making sure that your branding is authentic is crucial when you are looking to improve your branding. The reason this is such an important brand management strategy is because if your brand is seen as inauthentic then consumers will likely not interact with it. Consumers do not like to feel like they are being tricked by branding. This is why it is so important to be upfront with consumers about your intentions as a brand.
For example, if a company brands itself as an eco-friendly company and then releases tons of waste into the wild, consumers will likely be upset. If you are ever unsure how your brand is being perceived by consumers, you can always check social media to get a gauge on how consumers feel about your brand. Sometimes brand managers find out what people are saying about their brand on social media by looking at the comments on their posts.
Be Aware of Your Competition
Being aware of your competition is important when focusing on branding. Not only should you look at what your competition is doing so your brand can be different, but you can also learn a lot from your competition. This is an especially good brand management strategy depending on the industry you are in.
The branding in different industries can often vary dramatically. Studying what works for your competition can often give you some ideas on how you could improve your brand in the future. If you are looking for another online brand management tactic, you can also see how your competition brands its website and social media accounts.
FAQs about Top Tips and Tactics of Brand Management:
- What is brand management?
- Why does brand management matter?
- What makes a successful brand?
- How do I know what my consumers want from my brand?
- How do I make my brand stand out?
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