Brand Marketing In the world of marketing, of course, we will often hear the terms branding and marketing. However, did you know that there is a brand marketing term which is one of the main keys to the success of a marketing campaign? As we know, basically the most important element that drives the success of the marketing process is consumer attachment to a brand (brand engagement). This attachment can be created from various aspects. Starting from an effective marketing campaign, product quality or product value according to customer needs, pricing according to the target market, to good relations or relationships between brands and consumers. Brand marketing is an attempt to create it. Instead of only attracting consumer interest, this one marketing activity is also able to increase customer loyalty to the brand (brand loyalty). So, how do you create it?
What is Brand Marketing?
Launching from Amazon, brand marketing is the process of building a relationship (relationship) between a brand and its consumers. In order to create this, a brand does not only need to carry out a promotional strategy or a marketing campaign strategy to highlight products/services. But it should also highlight the brand as a whole. Thus, the target market or target consumers are not only familiar with the product, but also the brand. In simple terms, we can interpret brand marketing as a process so that consumers know the identity and character of the brand. Thus, this is the right way to connect brand identity, personality, and value (brand value) with consumers.
Brand Marketing and Product Marketing, What’s the Difference?
At first glance, the meaning of brand marketing is almost the same as product marketing. However, you need to know that basically the two have significant differences.
Quoting from Business 2 Community, product marketing is a marketing strategy in which the company has goals and targets to maximize product positioning. So that product marketing will be very closely related to product development and sales processes to increase sales and achieve customer success. Meanwhile, on the other hand, brand marketing is more focused on efforts to establish relationships with consumers. Instead of emphasizing on sales figures, this process aims more so that consumers can connect and remember brands when they need certain products/services.
Why is Brand Marketing Important?
In accordance with its definition, brand marketing is one of the important processes in marketing strategy. Because basically, this activity has several benefits. Not only can build relationships with consumers, but also provide identity and value to the brand. The following are some of the benefits of brand marketing that you need to know:
- Building interactions and relationships with consumers (customer engagement)
- Increase customer loyalty and brand loyalty
- Building strong and emotionally positive connections with consumers
- Increasing advocacy marketing opportunities by turning consumers into brand advocates
- Building brand recognition and awareness
- Forming a positive brand image and brand reputation
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Reducing the chances of customer churn or turnover
Tips for Optimizing Brand Marketing
After knowing the importance of brand marketing and its goals, then you need to make efforts to optimize it. Launching from 99design, here are 5 steps that you can apply to optimize brand marketing:
1. Understand Brand Purpose First
The first step that you must take is to understand the brand purpose or purpose of creating your brand. This is an important step before you create a brand persona, such as logos, typography, to color tones that can represent your brand. To understand brand purpose, you need to answer the following questions:
- Who is the brand’s target consumer?
- Why should they trust your brand?
- What kind of feeling do you want consumers to feel towards the brand?
- What challenges is your brand trying to overcome?
- Who are your brand competitors?
- What is the story behind the creation of the brand? Why was your brand created?
- If your brand is a human being, who would they be and why did you choose them?
2. Do Market Research to Understand the Target Market
The next step is to do market research or market research to find out who your target market is. The method is to collect information, conduct customer analysis, to create a buyer persona or customer persona. In this way, you can describe what the ideal consumer is like for the brand. So, you can make personalization for them in a marketing strategy to make it more oriented and on target. To create a customer persona, you need to do a few things. Starting from segmenting customers, finding out what they need, complaints or pain points they experience, and so on. This information will become useful marketing insights so that brands can fulfill market orientations.
3. Create a Brand Story
Basically, brand marketing is an attempt to build a relationship or connection with consumers. So that consumers feel connected to the brand emotionally, you need to create and build a story or brand story. The brand story itself doesn’t have to involve complicated things. You can pack it simply. For example, if you have a business niche in the culinary field, then you can make a story behind the recipes you make.
4. Competitor Analysis
All businesses certainly have competitors. So, basically knowing competitors is as important as knowing your target market. To optimize brand marketing, you need to do competitor analysis or analyze competitors. The goal is that the marketing strategy you use is different from theirs. For example by identifying the differences between your brand and competitors. Focus on the brand messaging that you want to convey, marketing communications, to the uniqueness or unique value that your brand has that can be a competitive advantage.
5. Create Brand Guidelines
The next step is to create brand guidelines so that the previous steps are consistent. Brand guidelines are useful guidelines for governing the design, composition, and general appearance of a brand. So, brands can determine elements such as taglines, slogans, logos, brand voice, marketing content on blogs and social media, to advertising content more easily. With guidelines, brand identity will be formed and it will be easier for your target market to remember them. This of course will support the success of the branding process that your business is doing.
Because with a brand identity that has been formed, it will be easier for you to spread brand awareness and attract the attention of more leads or potential new customers. This will be very useful for keeping the appearance of the brand consistent for the audience. For example, your brand has rules for using red as the base color in every content design. Therefore, every team that has the task of creating content on social media, blogs, and websites must be able to include these colors. Thus, the brand will look consistent and the audience will remember it more easily.