109: Brand Strategy in a Nutshell - Why You Need a Brand Architecture, Strategy and Plan

Your brand is the foundation and one of the most important aspects of your business. Doesn’t matter if you are a solo entrepreneur, small business, large, super size, business to business, business to consumer or anything in between. You only have one chance to make a first, second and third brand impression. In a nutshell your brand is your promise to all those who come in contact with your brand. It's your promise to your customers, partners, employees, audience and community. Your brand will help you tell your story and helps you build trust as it informs people what to expect. When done right it will also help differentiate you from your competition. Your brand is rooted in who you are at the core, what you are about and what you do for your customers, employees, partners, audience and even online community. Your brand is so much more than your logo. Of course your logo, colors, website, mobile site (or not), mobile applications, videos, tweets, Facebook and other social network pages, packaging, communication is also part of your brand foundation. Some may argue that "your audience determines your brand, so why worry about it."  While this is true that the perception of your brand is in fact in the eye, heart and mind of the recipient. It is not true that the receiver is responsible for that first, second or third brand touch. That responsibility comes from you. As a marketer you have the opportunity to be storyteller, and to also engage and empowers others to not only be part of the story, but to give them a canvas and a paint brush and inspire them to help you write and tell it. By developing your brand strategy, brand architecture, vision, mission and more, you can impact perceptions. You can better connect with the human beings on the receiving end of your brand visuals, messages, social media updates and everything you create and deliver via whatever mediums you are using to connect with your audience, community and customers.  Although you obviously can not control how others perceive your brand, you can definitely influence and design a positive, inspiring and engaging experience every time they come in contact with your brand. Take a listen to the 109th episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast where I provide the definition of a brand, reputation and most importantly the top 5 reasons why you must develop your brand strategy and how it can benefit your business, customers and greater community!   In this 30 minute podcast you will learn:  Definition of a brand Definition of brand identity Definition of visual branding Definition of brand trust Definition of reputation Top 5 reasons you must develop a brand strategy for your business The power of brand story telling and why you must invest in creating your brand story Inviting and taking other along to help you craft your brand story Earning trust and credibility via branding How to differentiate from your competition via branding How to use branding to connect emotionally with your audience, fans and customers