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Planning? No. 2022 is already here, and it is flying by. The time is now to set the stage for your brands and to help them succeed this year, with some fresh new considerations to be made along with ideas and concepts to try out. Yes, there is time for experimentation, and it will come, but for now, here are the facts for 2022, and what you absolutely need to know to give yourself an edge in terms of developing a brand strategy and positioning yourself in the market.
Developing a Brand Strategy – Always Have a Plan B
Sure, your one idea might work, or you might be depending on this one strategy you have. It does not matter if it is the most successful it has ever been, the first step towards developing a brand strategy, is to always have a backup in place. Of course, here we will be telling you all about the strategies you need to apply, but you have to go into it knowing that you won’t have to choose only one strategy.
That being said, it is also necessary not to overreach yourself, and go to places you cannot go to. If you will benefit from expanding your e-commerce footprint and your brick-and-mortar stores, for example, sure, go for it, but consider one as your primary and the other as your backup.
Consider Using First-Party Consumer Data
If, for example, you already have an online presence and an e-commerce setup in place, chances are you have a website. Now, every website generates cookies, and gathers certain consumer data that is Non-PII (Non-Personally Identifiable Information), meaning that it only contains metadata, and no customer private info.
Using that data should be considered as one of your most important assets, since it is data gathered by you. However, it can also be useful to determine if this data reveals something new or is just an update about the trends and demographics about your audience, and whether you should check the facts against third or second-party data.
Make Your Outreach More Efficient and Effective
Now, brands have to juggle their presence across several channels, and in both the online and offline space. That means having a website, a social media page, active social media presence, up-to-date website maintenance, mobile applications, responsiveness between mobile and desktop versions of online channels, as well as stores, advertisements, etc. This smorgasbord of media coverage might make it difficult to manage, but with the right kind of organization and optimization, you can use it to convert high-value customers instead of anyone and everyone.
Of course, you want to reach as wide an audience as possible, but for most businesses offering physical products, for example, having a moderate outreach with reliable clients and consistent growth may be far more manageable than a constantly ballooning client list where demand overwhelmingly outpaces supply.
Make Your Brand Strategy Go Creative
2022 is the time of online social media presence, viral sensationalism, and influencers. That means there are potential customers with huge presence and influence that might not initially look as high-value as they are. Yes, a well-optimized brand strategy can go a long way, but if you pair that with a highly creative one, then you have just the right mix of ingredients in your hand for a recipe of brand success!
That not only means online strategies, but offline as well. Creativity gets shared online, and the amalgamation of both is where true creativity lies. Now, people scroll through advertisements absentmindedly, which means that you have to understand this fact and truly create something that stands out.
Advertising itself is changing. It is going away from the banner ad focused way of engagement, and more towards celebrity and influencer endorsement, the classic word of mouth, and online presence.
Get Ready for an E-Commerce Extravaganza
You have made sure that you use consumer metadata, have a backup strategy, optimize your media outreach, and utilize creativity to make strokes of marketing genius. Now, you need to consider the last item before you make a potential consumer into an actual one; making the purchase.
This is where you expand your e-commerce platform as much as you can, and ensure that your e-commerce footprint makes the most out of your brand strategy and positioning. It is necessary to consider your brand strategy and positioning when it comes to e-commerce, because you have to ensure that you don’t sell out so much that supply cannot keep up with demand, and that you make use of the growing e-commerce channels. Amazon and Facebook Marketplace are two examples of online shopping experiences worldwide, whereas those such as eBay, FlipKart, and Rakuten are big names in their own international areas as well.
One thing to note is that your brand e-commerce experience should be consistent across the various platforms. The Amazon one-click buy might be great for some shoppers, but if another platform makes it too difficult, it could create problems, especially if you use your own website as an e-ecommerce platform.
Ensure Environmental Friendliness and Sustainability
In 2022, more and more brands have to consider the sustainability factor, in which they determine whether or not their business harms the environment. Of course, here it means creating as much of a carbon-neutral operational process as possible for your business.
For example, an apparel brand that creates all its clothing items from sustainable materials, or has a separate brand that only has sustainable, recycled materials for its clothing, might be preferable for customers. Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, purchasing electric vehicles over combustion-engine powered ones, going for battery-powered and solar-charging equipment where possible, and looking at the sustainability factor when it comes to brands.
That is also part of a growing trend of holding brands to a high standard, such as keeping track of how their public stance is on social issues, and what the brand values are in terms of social consciousness. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plays a huge part in determining your brand’s public stance on social and societal issues.
Build a Brand Community or Ecosystem
Contemporary brands are not just about having the right kind of product, but one that can allow for community interaction and getting together as one. Essentially, you must use your brand to create a community, or be able to create one.
A brand community goes beyond just people having a similar product, but to truly resonate with your brand’s personality, values, and more. When several people get together around these values and the brand identity, they can form a community around it.
At the same time, building a community at the product level can help your brand strategy and positioning. Apple is one of the most recent and most successful examples of how it has built its own Apple community. Every Apple product can be recognized as such, and people tend to focus on the company’s values when they make a purchase as well. Of course, this example is of one hyper successful brand juggernaut, but the point stands.
Partner with Other Brands
Building a brand community might be about more than just focusing on consumers, but on other brands as well for your brand marketing strategy. Most forward-thinking companies look to compete within their own product stack, and align with brands that have similar values to their own—and sometimes even as competitors—to truly build a brand community. Nowadays, a Community Manager has a far more important role, especially with how more and more interactivity is exclusively online.
Partnerships can also come with individual brands, meaning influencers, celebrities, and other people that have a brand power in their name.
Such partnerships can boost sales, audience numbers, and benefit communities as a whole. When they are done right, a simple licensing deal can prove to be one of the best strategic moves for your brand strategy and positioning.
Content is Key. Content is King.
Your social media presence won’t matter if you don’t produce something for it. That is where content comes in brand strategy in marketing. Content itself is a broad umbrella term, meaning that content means anything, from a blog post to a full-fledged marketing video.
The internet is always changing, and brands have to stay up to date on the online trends, adapting to the changes that occur. The fast-changing online atmosphere means that any change in the brand’s communication strategy – or even no change at all – could have unprecedented effects. The only way to be sure is to stay ahead of the curve and be as divisive as possible when it comes to content and brand communication.
Conclusion | Branding Strategy For Your Brand
Building the right kind of brand strategy and design in marketing is about more than just choosing colors and logos, but about constant brand management and developing a brand strategy and keeping a close eye on how customers react.
Here were just a few considerations of what you need to know to get your brand to success in 2022. Here is hoping for a successful year!
