Brand Marketing: Meaning, Goals, Strategy & Examples
Dominic Enzenauer5/3/2022
In this article, you will learn about the importance of brand marketing for your company, how to develop the right strategy, and what matters in the process.
Table of contents
- What is brand marketing?
- What are the goals of brand marketing?
- What is the significance of brand marketing for companies? What advantages does it offer you?
- How do you create a brand marketing strategy?
- Here are two great examples of successful brand marketing:
- These tools support you in brand marketing
- Conclusion: Brand marketing requires creativity and endurance
What actually lies behind the term brand marketing? How do you develop a successful brand marketing strategy? And how do you build up your brand?
Brand marketing is a subdivision of marketing that deals with the design and establishment of brands as a whole. With brand marketing, you tell the story of your product or service by placing the brand at the center to create a strong and positive brand that attracts and binds customers.
Our guest author Dominic Spohr shows you what brand marketing means, what benefits it offers for your brand, and how you can achieve your goals with the right branding concept. We will also look at the best examples of good brand awareness marketing and show you which tools can support you in building a brand.
What is brand marketing?
Brand marketing is a part of marketing that deals with the design and construction of brands. The goal of brand marketing is to create a strong and positive brand that excites customers.
To achieve this, companies must first develop a clear understanding of what makes their brand unique and how it can stand out from the competition. These insights form the basis for creating a strong brand identity.
Following this, the strategic planning and execution of activities aimed at increasing the brand's awareness, image, and value. It encompasses all aspects of marketing, from product design and tonality to packaging and the sale itself. A key aspect is to ensure that all communication measures are uniform and consistently convey the brand.
It is also important to define the target group accurately and tailor the communication to it. Only in this way can it be ensured that the right message reaches the right people.
The implementation of these activities requires a lot of time, effort, and creativity. However, brand marketing is a crucial investment, as a strong brand can secure the long-term success of a company.
What are the goals of brand marketing?
Brand marketing primarily pursues three goals: to increase a brand's awareness, improve a brand's image, and strengthen customer loyalty. The main focus is on establishing a strong and positive emotional connection between the brand and the customers.
Increasing a brand's awareness is the first and most important goal of brand marketing. To achieve this goal, the brand needs to be as present as possible - both online and offline. There are various ways of doing this, for example, advertising, PR work, or sponsoring.
The image of a brand is the second important goal of brand marketing. A positive image means that customers are happy to buy the brand and recommend it. To build a good image, it is important that the brand has a clear positioning and follows it consistently.
Customer loyalty is the third and last goal of brand marketing. To strengthen customer loyalty, the brand must offer its customers added value. It is important that customers can identify with the brand and like to use or buy it.
The brand marketing should be planned long-term and not only aimed at short-term successes. The added value of brand marketing builds up over time and requires some patience.
What is the significance of brand marketing for companies? What advantages does it offer you?
Brand marketing is extremely important for companies, as a strong and well-known brand is one of the key success factors for a company. Brand marketing helps companies strengthen and increase brand awareness. In addition to the long-term effect, brand marketing also has an impact on short-term success. It offers you the following advantages:
- You can increase your sales, as customers are willing to pay more for products and services from well-known brands.
- You can increase your customer loyalty, as customers become loyal fans of your brand.
- You can attract new customers, as well-known brands have a higher attraction for potential customers.
- You can improve the perception of your company and your products.
- You can strengthen your competitive position, as well-known brands are usually the leading players in their respective markets.
- You can also strengthen your employer branding, as your brand's awareness and visibility also benefit your employer brand.
To be successful, it is important that you think about your brand marketing concept and implement it consistently. But how do you create a brand marketing strategy?
How do you create a brand marketing strategy?
Building a brand is not an easy task. From the target group to the positioning to the branding concept and the brand design, there is a lot to consider. You are on the right track with these 5 steps.
1. Define the target group: Who should get to know and use your brand?
First, you should consider who your target group is. Where are your customers? Which social networks do they use? Which websites do they visit? You should ask yourself these and other questions and try to narrow down your target group as much as possible. Create buyer personas to better illustrate your target group. The following questions can help you:
- How old is the person?
- Where does she live?
- What is her relationship status?
- What job does she have?
- What are her hobbies?
- What did she buy last and where does she like to shop?
- What is important to her?
- What does she want from my product/service?
2. Define the positioning: Why should customers choose your brand?
After you know which target group you want to reach, you should think about the competition and the positioning of your brand. Take enough time to research direct and indirect competitors. Think carefully about how you differentiate yourself from these and what makes your brand unique.
What is your story? How do you want to stay in people's minds? What image should your brand convey? These questions are crucial for the further success of your brand.
Nobody wants to feel like they're buying something generic from a vending machine. Your customers want to be sure that their money is going into quality and meaningful products that make a difference in their lives.
3. Define the brand appearance: What should your brand look like, speak and act?
To stay in the minds of your existing and potential customers, you need clear recognition features. Building brand awareness begins with creating the logo, colors, and fonts. The look of your brand should unmistakably reflect your values and character.
The tonality also plays an important role. Are you using 'Sie' or 'Du' in your marketing? Is your communication young and cheeky, or rather conservative? It can help to personify your brand. If she were a person, how would she behave? Which people would be similar to her?
Once you have clearly defined the appearance and character of your brand, you should definitely create a brand guideline. This document explains like in a user manual how your brand communicates, how to use the brand design, and what values the company has. If you hire new employees or commission agencies, the brand guideline saves you a lot of work and ensures the consistent appearance of your brand.
Brand consistency is not only important for brand awareness. A consistent brand appearance can increase sales by up to 23%. However, less than 10% of companies achieve a high degree of brand consistency across all products and marketing channels (Source: inc.com).
4. Choose touchpoints: Where and when should the target group see and hear your brand?
Then it is a matter of finding the right channels for spreading your message and building your brand. Should you be active on TikTok? Are print magazines and newspapers interesting? What about PR? Think carefully about which channels are suitable for you and test them.
Firstly, the choice of the right channels for your brand marketing depends on the target group. Concentrate on the media that your target group consumes. If you sell high-priced fashion items, for example, fashion magazines are probably useful. If you distribute software for corporate customers, LinkedIn is an interesting channel. Are you a start-up looking for investors? Then focus on getting into the press and building visibility.
A second factor is the available budget. Not every company can implement large TV campaigns and plaster cities. Here, the motto is: work smart, not hard. With imagination and creative ideas, you can achieve a lot without bursting the budget frame of a small company.
Once you have found the right channels for your distribution, you now need to be consistently active. Post regularly and make sure that your content is always up-to-date. Interaction with potential customers is also important in order to increase your reach. Be creative and surprise your target group again and again with new and interesting content.
5. Analyze and optimize: What works, and what can you improve?
Last but not least, you should regularly think about how you can further develop your brand. How can you achieve more reach? Which content is well received by your customers? Which channels work best? How can you strengthen the bond with your brand? You should also regularly question these questions and try to find potential for improvement.
What are the best practices for brand marketing and which companies can serve as a good example?
The best practices for brand marketing are varied, but some points are particularly important. Companies should clearly define which target group they want to address. The message that is to be communicated with the brand should also be clear. Then you need to develop a strategy on how the brand can be communicated most effectively. This includes choosing the right channels through which the message is conveyed. Lastly, it is important to review and optimize your digital branding, continuously.
Some companies are particularly leading in this regard. For example, Nike has been relying on cooperation with athletes and stars for years to strengthen its brand. Other major brands such as Coca Cola, McDonalds, or Red Bull rely on a strong media presence and sponsorship activities. These companies are aware that a strong brand not only has a high level of awareness but also represents high value for customers.
Here are two great examples of successful brand marketing:
Apple - Master of the Brand
The world's most valuable brand is a perfect example of brilliant brand building. Hardly any company enjoys more reputation worldwide than Apple.
And hardly a book on marketing comes without this example. The brand expert Simon Sinek always mentions Apple in his book “Start With Why” and summarizes their brand positioning as follows:
Why: We think differently. We want to change the status quo.
How: We do this with products that are well designed and focus on creativity.
What: And we just happen to make computers as our product.
The “why” is in everything the brand does. Apple's “Think Different” campaign is still one of the best brand marketing campaigns. Thinking differently is the core of Steve Jobs' vision and to this day is an unique feature in everything the company does.
What you can learn from this? It is worth spending a lot of time on the question of “why” when positioning your brand and becoming clear about what your brand should stand for.
Sixt - Advertising with Humor
When it comes to a car rental company, you don't immediately think of humor. Unless you're talking about Sixt. For decades, the company has continuously stood out with funny, satirical advertisements. Hardly a politician is spared. A political scandal is often followed shortly afterwards by a biting headline from Sixt.
The cheeky and humorous nature is now a firm part of the brand's character. In this way, the brand manages to be a regular topic of conversation far beyond its customers, and to generate enormous reach beyond its own advertising.
What you can learn from this? On the one hand, a brand can become part of a larger discussion with creative ideas and quick implementation, create viral content, and gain reach. On the other hand, it can be helpful to attach a unique feature to yourself and occupy this niche.
These tools support you in brand marketing
Don't worry, you don't have to do everything yourself. Fortunately, there are many tools that support you in building your brand.
Design & Content Marketing
Especially small companies do not always have the resources for an agency or professional help in creating marketing content. Tools like Canva can help you find inspiration for your content. Thanks to the variety of templates, you can create appealing content for all channels without a lot of prior knowledge. Can't think of a good text for the next social media post? The AI texter from neuroflash delivers text suggestions and entire posts in seconds.
Email Marketing & Marketing Automation
Email marketing is very effective if your goal is customer loyalty. With automated email series, you can tell stories, build tension, and amaze customers. The market for email marketing and automation tools is large. With providers like HubSpot Marketing Hub, and Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue), you can't go wrong.
Social Media Monitoring
How is your brand being talked about? What does your target group think about you? Tools like Hootsuite or Semrush analyze your channels and show you how your brand is perceived on social media.
Marketing & Web Analytics
Brand awareness also includes metrics like website views and search volume on Google. So that you can analyze and optimize the development of your brand, you should at least be using Google Analytics.
Not sure which tools you want to use for your brand marketing? OMR Reviews helps you with the selection and makes your decision easier.
Conclusion: Brand marketing requires creativity and endurance
Brand marketing is a vital part of any successful brand strategy and an effective method to strengthen your brand and win customers. The right strategy can help reach the target group and keep the brand positively in memory.
With the tips in this article, you can create your own brand marketing strategy and successfully build your brand. And it's even easier with the right tools.
To be successful in the long term, you should define your target group exactly and find out which messages appeal to them most. Then you need to find creative and original ways to convey this message. With some time, effort, and creativity, you are on the right path to more brand awareness and visibility.
Author
Dominic Enzenauer
Dominic Enzenauer unterstützt mit seiner Agentur Captiva Design vor allem B2B Unternehmen dabei, unverwechselbare und wirkungsvolle Markenerlebnisse zu schaffen. Von der Positionierung bis zum Kommunikationsdesign legt er besonderen Wert auf langfristige Strategien, die nachhaltige Differenzierung und ein einheitliches Markenbild schaffen.
