How Building a Brand Strategy Framework Positions Your Business for Success

No two brands are just alike. That's why your distinctive brand is one of the most valuable assets your company owns. It may not be as tangible as your amazing service or innovative products, but your brand works harder than your best salesperson, advocating and inspiring your target audience 24/7.

Because your brand identity is one of the most important aspects of your business, protecting it is essential to your company's long-term success. And protecting your brand requires a strong brand strategy framework that guards your brand voice, keeps your brand message cohesive, and unifies your entire marketing and sales team.

In this article, we'll show you how building a brand strategy framework not only streamlines your brand, but protects it from the competition by helping you generate powerful brand loyalty.

Let's begin!

What is a Brand Strategy Framework

Before we talk about how to build a great brand strategy framework, let's review a few key definitions:

A brand consists of all the tangible and intangible elements that work together to form your customers' perception of your business. It includes your visual identity, mission and vision, positioning, tone of voice, and core values.

Most businesses keep their key brand elements organized in a set of brand guidelines— like the ones you can create when you use ZeBrand's brand builder toolsfor business owners and entrepreneurs.

**A brand strategy framework**is the piece of your overall business strategy that defines exactly how those brand elements should be leveraged to reach your target audiences. This framework directs how your brand identity, brand personality, brand voice, and other branding elements should be used to help you reach your main business goals.

Why a Brand Strategy Framework is Important

It may seem like all your business needs to succeed is a great brand, an eye-catching logo, and a memorable tagline. But without a brand strategy framework in place, your brand will quickly become unfocused and chaotic— especially if you're working with multiple team members, contractors, and vendors.

A lot of businesses skip the crucial step of building out their brand strategy because they don't recognize how important branding can be. They rush through designing a logo and putting up a website, but when it comes to branding, they lack strategic direction. As a result, these other brands struggle to build the kind of customer loyalty and recognition required for long-term success.

On the other hand, a solid brand strategy benefits your businessby providing every member of your team with a clear roadmap that connects your brand purpose with your business goals in a meaningful way every member can understand. That leads to more effective marketing, better collaboration, and stronger employee retention. And it enables your brand marketing to support your business' growth strategy— accelerating your company's success.

In short, only when your brand strategies, marketing efforts, and sales goals align does your hard branding work truly benefit your business!

How to formulate your own brand strategy framework

Now that you know why your business needs a clear brand strategy, it's time to learn how to create your own. Luckily, the best brand development strategies follow a simple framework any business owner can use.

While every business has its own unique brand personality, these framework elements we'll share below work for every single business across every industry. So to create a complete brand strategy that effectively reaches your ideal customers, don't skip any of these essential pieces!

Tip: You can create your own comprehensive brand strategy with ZeBrand's brand DNA builder! Through a series of 5 guided stages, you'll define your brand vision, target market, brand positioning, visual identity and more. Click hereto see how it works.

Every effective brand strategy framework should include these elements

Each element defined below works together to form your brand perception. Take time to plan each piece carefully to ensure every aspect aligns with your overall brand purpose:

Brand story

Every brand, whether we're talking about corporate branding or a personal brand, has a story behind it. And your brand strategy framework should have this story at its core.

Your compelling story should include your brand's:

• Core values
• Mission statement
• Vision statement
• Background
• Main purpose
• Unique selling proposition

Brand positioning

Your brand positioning includes all the factors that ensure your brand stands out from other competitors in the marketplace. To define your positioning strategy, ask yourself, what is your brand's unique selling proposition? What key value propositions benefit your target audience? When you conduct a competitive analysis, in what areas does your brand beat the competition? These are the factors you want to capitalize on.

To write your own brand positioning statement, try using this simple template:

At [your company], we offer [product or service] to [target audience]. We do this by [value proposition] because [brand mission].

Now you've got a strong positioning statement perfect for keeping your team aligned and on target!

Brand voice

Every business has its own brand voice, delivered through its key messages. And the emotional benefits of developing a distinctive brand voice are undeniable.

Customers are loyal to the brands they consider to be authentic. When they develop an emotional connection with a business, such as by finding a company with brand values similar to their own, they'll continue to shop with that same brand for the long term.

Remember, your brand voice isn't about the things your brand says (that's your brand message, described below!), it's about how you say things. And it's the best way to communicate your company culture to your team and customers.

Brand message

Your brand messaging includes all the great words you put out into the world through your content marketing, advertising, website, and social media. It's based on your brand core, the elements you defined back in the brand story stage.

Even as your brand evolves, your brand messaging should remain consistent. That's why it's important to keep your full set of brand guidelines easily accessible every time you and your team launch a new marketing campaign.

Brand audience

The final essential piece in every successful brand strategy is a definition of your ideal customer. This is the group of consumers you'll be mainly targeting throughout your branding strategy process.

One way to get a better understanding of your key audience is to complete a buyer persona for each type of customer you want to reach. As you're creating your personas, review your competitor analysis to see who other companies in your industry are selling to. You might just discover a whole untapped audience you can share your product or service with!

Putting your brand development strategy into action

Now that you've created your complete brand strategy, it's time to put it to work! Your overall brand strategy framework— and the research you gathered along the way— should direct where you spend your valuable marketing dollars.

Here are a few ways you can use your new brand framework to grow your business and customer base:

• Launch a new marketing campaign. Now that you have a consistent brand strategy in place, use your refreshed branding elements to launch a new campaign. Let the five elements of your framework inform the voice, visuals, audience, and message of your new marketing materials.

• Improve your lead generation. With your refined buyer personas in hand, plan new prospecting strategies that meet your ideal customer where they're at— like on their favorite websites, social media platforms, or podcasts.

• Unify your internal teams. Your brand strategy isn't just for your customers! Use these elements to realign your teams, from your marketing and sales people to your customer service reps and product developers.

Looking for a brand strategist to guide you through the brand strategy process?

At ZeBrand, we help entrepreneurs and business owners create a brand strategy framework that aligns their team, brand managers, and marketing efforts.

To work with an expert brand strategist, or use our simple tools to build a brand development strategy yourself, visit https://zebranding.com/

Don’t do branding alone! ZeBrand has the tools and expertise you need to build a brand strategy that works. Start Nowor Contact Us Here.