A continuación, te explicamos cómo puedes poner en marcha tu viaje de estrategia de marca como principiante.

To kickstart your brand strategy journey as a beginner, start by defining clear goals. Identify what you want your brand to achieve, whether it's increased brand awareness, customer loyalty, or market penetration. Make these goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Consider your target audience and how your brand can meet their needs. Develop a unique value proposition that sets your brand apart. Outline a basic plan for content creation, marketing channels, and budget allocation. Seek feedback from industry professionals or mentors to refine your strategy. With clear goals and a flexible approach, you're set for a strong start.

As a beginner, launching a successful brand strategy requires careful planning and execution. Start by defining your target audience - identify who your ideal customers are and understand their needs. Conduct thorough market research to analyze competitors' strengths and weaknesses; this will help you create unique value propositions for your products or services. Develop your brand message - craft a compelling narrative that reflects your company values and resonates with potential customers. Create a visual identity - establish consistent colors, fonts, logos, and imagery across all marketing channels to enhance recognition and trustworthiness.

As a brand strategist I’ve tried many different approaches and here is my tipp for beginners in branding or any professional: Try using the “Golden Circle” at the beginning of your branding project. It is a easy way to start and a good secret of all successful brands. This is how is works: Answer three ‚simple’ questions: Why? How? What? By starting with “why,” you lay a strong foundation for all decisions in branding. This approach helps develop an unique brand built on strong core values. 2nd step is to ask yourself how you are going to make your way to achieve, what you want. 3rd step is to describe what you have to do everyday to fulfill your ‚why‘. It is much easier to go through the branding process, with clear brand goals.

Before getting to the part of producing the exec version of your brand strategy, sit down and have some fun brainstorming. Start with these questions and get into the nitty gritty: - Who's your audience? - What do they need? - How will your brand help them and what do you bring to the table that other brands don't? What does success look like? Start writing out your strategy as a story or credo. Be idealistic and think of what your goals are for your brand. Then it's time to bring in the 'other stuff' like metrics, budget, etc.

Understanding your target audience is the cornerstone of any successful brand strategy. To truly connect with potential customers, it's essential to shift your perspective from that of a seller or brand developer to that of a consumer. Start by creating detailed audience personas—This involves not only considering demographics like age, gender, income level, education, and geographic location, but also diving deep into the psychographics: their interests, values, pain points and motivations. This shift towards empathetic engagement encourages a more holistic understanding of your audience. By focusing on the customer's needs and experiences, you can tailor your branding and messaging to resonate deeply with them.

The better you understand the consumer the more focused and targeted you can be. That doesn’t mean you can’t have more than one target perhaps with different offers. In addition to the points flagged it’s also highly beneficial to think about their consumer journey and key touchpoints in terms of awareness, trial and purchase as this can differ significantly now.

At the core, a successful Brand strategy requires a deep understanding of your target audience and how they perceives your brand. So, How can we even do that if we don't really understand the audience for who we are trying to build the perception or differentiation? Unless we understand ' What is IMPORTANT to them'? how as a brand we can tailor our messaging and marketing efforts to resonate with their specific needs and preferences. Consider brands like Apple, known for innovation, and Nike, synonymous with empowerment. How effectively with strategic branding they have turned a brand into a lifestyle. They’ve mastered the art of connecting with their audience on a deeper level.

When you're a beginner (or a startup bootstrapped for funds) conducting full-fledged market research is impractical. Two things that have helped me understand audience segmentation are: 1. Social media is an opportunity goldmine. People talk to each other and share experiences, and thanks to the nature of it all, it happens right in front of us. Tapping into this vast sea of information and extracting relevant information is key. Not just passively listening, but also participating in conversations in forums make a difference. 2. Fictionalized prototyping of consumer: Some research must inform this prototype but this exercise can define not only your audience's demographics but also their motivations, goals, frustrations and personality.

In the process of analyzing the competitors, The first thing to do is to identify the competitors correctly by identifying my position in the market and what class my product is and make sure that the selected data of competitors is relative to my brand and accurate, after identifying the correct data I must use them as a guide to start from where my competitors ended and work on enhancing my message to by unique and stronger and stand out against others.

Your competitors are your biggest guide to the market and the forces that shape it. Understand that no brand sets out to fail, despite what it may look like from the outside. Instead understand what they attempt to do and why. Use this as a guide to start when coming at a sector or market cold.

Research and analyze your competitors to understand their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market positioning. Identify gaps in the market, opportunities for differentiation, and potential threats to your brand. Leveraging competitor insights can inform your own brand strategy and help you stand out in the marketplace.

Some businesses are pioneering something that has never been done before. I always have the perspective that there is always something to look to- benchmark against a working model or see where you are stronger against your competitors. Either way, analysis is designed to help you level up with tangible, informed and accurate data.

Analyzing competitors is incredibly important for me in building my brand strategy. It's like having a roadmap – by studying what others in my industry are doing, I gain valuable insights into market trends and customer preferences. Understanding my competitors helps me understand my target audience better and refine my messaging to meet their needs effectively. Plus, it's a reality check – comparing my performance to theirs helps me identify areas of strength and areas needing improvement. Most importantly, it inspires innovation and helps me identify what sets my brand apart. In a nutshell, competitor analysis is not just a strategy; it's a mindset that guides me towards success in my brand journey.

This step should come after "Define your Value Proposition" as your colors, tone, fonts or any visual representation of your brand should reflect that value proposition.

🗯️ Start by crafting your brand's unique message. It should be the core of your whole brand strategy and set the tone of voice. 🔜 Translate this message into visual design using color psychology, typography and adequate pictures which support and transport the brands message. 📣 Your corporate team should be the first ones you communicate this new brand identity to. Make them brand ambassadors and use your insights and feedback to plan the external brand campaign for your audience.

Brand Identity should be an expression of the core values and value proposition. Start with what Dolly Parton mentioned: "Find out who you are... then do it on purpose". Research what makes your brand stand out, for both internal and external audiences, and focus on those key attributes. Then compare with competitors and find out which of those attributes are differentiators. Then "do it on purpose".

A compelling value proposition should be centered around your customers. While it's important to be aware of your competitors, focusing too heavily on them can distract from what matters most, your customers. It's important to remember that your value proposition is not a one-time, set-it-and-forget-it exercise. As your customers' needs evolve, as new competitors enter the market, and as your own offerings change, your value proposition may need to adapt. Continuously gather customer feedback, monitor market trends, and assess your performance to identify areas where your value proposition may need to be updated or refined. Be prepared to pivot your messaging as needed to stay relevant and compelling to your target audience.

You have to be honest here. To yourself and to potential customers. Is there a real, rational benefit in the sense of a "pain killer" or just a few "gains". In the latter case, the only thing that helps is a lot of marketing budget to emotionally charge a small benefit so that in the end everyone believes it is a big benefit.

Clearly communicate the value your brand offers to customers. Highlight what sets you apart from competitors and why consumers should choose your products or services.

Make sure you understand the journey your customers are going through and experiment with critical moments of communication. Keep a consistent thread in your value message that is based on your brand identity but plays with the tone of voice, styling and copy. Consider building on top of relevant zeitgeist moments in order to maintain a feedback loop for customer interests.

While it's essential to have a well-crafted, thorough plan for executing your brand strategy, the most successful plans are those that put the customer at the center. Many companies make the mistake of focusing too heavily on creating a flawless, internally-focused plan, while neglecting the most important stakeholder: the customer. By bringing customers into your "command center" and treating them as true partners, you create a shared sense of ownership and commitment to your brand's success. This partnership mindset fosters long-term, sustainable growth that benefits both your brand and your customers.

As the military saying goes, even the best plan only works until the first contact with the enemy. It is often the same with marketing. Whatever has been meticulously planned must be constantly and agilely adjusted from the first contact with the customer. Only those who are mentally free and have the right tools can recognize and exploit opportunities.

Absolutely, executing a brand strategy requires meticulous planning. Here are two concrete examples: 1. **Creating a Content Calendar**: Develop a content calendar to schedule your marketing activities throughout the year. For example, plan social media posts, email campaigns, and blog updates around key dates and events relevant to your audience. This ensures consistent messaging and keeps your brand top-of-mind. 2. **Choosing Effective Marketing Channels**: Identify which marketing channels are most effective for your target demographics. If your audience is active on Insta, focus your efforts there with targeted ads and engaging content. Conversely, for a professional audience, LinkedIn/email marketing might be more appropriate.

Consider collaborating with complementary brands that can help to expand your reach. Look for partnership opportunities that align with your brand values and target audience.

Revamp Your Brand Strategy for the Modern Age Brand goals still matter, but beginners take note: it's time to modernize your approach! Embrace Agility: Ditch rigid goals. Be ready to adapt based on data and audience shifts. A/B testing is your friend! Build a Community: Move beyond transactions. Spark conversations & create a space for shared values. Go Purpose-Driven: Modern consumers care about impact. Define your brand's social/environmental contribution. Personalize & Leverage Tech: Craft targeted experiences with data & automation. Omnichannel marketing is key! Stay relevant & build lasting connections with your audience! #brandstrategy #marketing

Learning. Without rushing. By "reading" the experienced team members. By creating your own puzzle. Piece by piece. Always looking for value propositions.

Pick your models and frameworks. There’s an old statistics saying “all models are flawed, some are useful,” or something like that. There are so many models and frameworks in strategy that it’s east to get into a churn cycle of analysis paralysis. Pick no more than 4 lenses or frameworks, know why those work for you/your vertical, and run you processes. Then remember to calibrate and adjust as the market changes!

There's a lot of creativity to be applied in executing campaigns, even if you think most of the creative part is just at the beginning of the ad creative phase. Thinking about new and innovative ways to reach your audience is key. You can create great messaging and assets, but if your marketing mix is old fashioned, you'll spend a lot of money on paid media and still feel underwhelmed. Look for the guerrilla tactics, viral opportunities and collaborations that can propel you by getting closer to where your customers are... and how they want brands to talk to them.