Relationships take work. This is true for friends, lovers, AND companies and their customers.
If you want people to adore your brand, to wax lyrical about its benefits to their pals, you need to build strong connections with them. A great reputation doesn’t land in the night. It’s earned by offering a great service of course, but also by sharing clear messages, consistently, with the right people, over time. On this page we’ll discuss brand communication strategy, and how Fabrik can help you create and implement one
Sweeping statement alert. Most companies don’t have a brand communication strategy. They do a lot of marketing stuff, sure, but it’s not informed by proper analysis. A brand communication strategy is much more than a to-do list. It’s a focused plan to help you overcome certain challenges. The strategy might lead to a new website, logo design, or marketing campaign. Or to developing your visual identity, tone of voice, or brand positioning. But before you choose your approach for dealing with the challenges, you need to diagnose exactly what they are.
What’s your problem? And that’s not a precursor to some argy-bargy. Creating an effective brand communication strategy requires a willingness for self-scrutiny. Once you know what the issue is you can design a plan to deal with it. What stage is your brand at? If it’s completely unknown, you need a different strategy to a brand that wants to strengthen relationships with already-loyal customers. Seems obvious, but it’s important to make the point that there’s no universal answer.
Just as your company is unique, so your brand communications strategy should be tailored to that uniqueness: your audience, your distinctive strengths, your brand personality. All brands want to make an impact. But no piece of marketing happens in isolation. Everything is connected, for better or worse. Which is where a brand communication agency like Fabrik comes in. We offer an objective, well-rounded view of your business. We bring consistency to the look, feel and tone of your brand communications. So who the heck are you talking to and what do you want to say?
How well do you know your audience?
A brand communication strategy is an investment. You won’t notice all of the benefits immediately. But you are laying the tracks towards future success. Internally, a strategy helps unite colleagues around a common purpose. Externally, following a strategy allows you to improve your interactions with your target audience; taking them all the way from interest to purchase.
To do this you need to know all you can about your customers. What breakfast cereal they eat. What car they drive. Short of riffling through their bins, you need to gather as much information as you can. Sloppy targeting is a great way to waste money. Once you know exactly who you’re talking to, you need to decide what to say.
What’s your story? How can you make it interesting and persuasive? This links back to understanding your audience. The better you know their motivations, and the choices they have (your competitors), the better you can create appeal and differentiate yourself. What you choose to say is also linked to the desired outcome, whether that’s changing minds or reinforcing your image. And it’s helpful to boil down your offer as much as possible. If you had to sell your product in one shouted sentence to someone speeding past on a train, what would you shout?
Next, you need to choose the creative execution that’s right for your brand. Always bearing in mind your business goals. Creativity is most powerful when it’s focused. The aspirational qualities of your brand are an excellent foundation for communications that have strong emotional appeal. When brands offer insight into real human problems—the ‘Ha! So true!’ moment—they move people from customers to die-hard fans.
All of this lovely customer insight, focused messaged and perfect creative is useless if you don’t put it to work in the right places. Brand communication happens every time a consumer interacts with your brand. When they see your logo. When they visit your website or store. When they speak to you on the phone.
But it goes further than that. Ideally, your marketing should be based on an understanding of your customers media habits. What blogs, magazines and newspapers do they read? Are they tweeters or ‘grammas? Social media has radically altered the way brands market themselves. We can help you get up-to-speed there too.
Consumers’ trust has to be earned
Consumers don’t just get marketed ‘to’ anymore. Thanks to social media, a lot of marketing these days is collaborative. Brands market ‘with’ their customers. Social media allows businesses to communicate with those who are most interested in what they do. When you push the right buttons, those people respond, share and do your job for you. Used cleverly, platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are much more than platforms for pumping out messages. They’re interactive soapboxes from which you can build trust.
Many years ago, we could have paid for a billboard proclaiming ‘Fabrik is the best brand communication agency in London’ and people would have believed us. If a company said it it must be true, right? Thankfully, people are much savvier than they used to be. These days people won’t take brand communications at face value. Businesses have to earn their trust. Once they do, with authentic, human communications, people become advocates for your brand and recommend you to their friends. That’s how great, long-lasting brands are built.
In summary, a sound brand communication strategy will allow you to overcome the marketing complexity and conflict that plagues most companies. Where do we come in? By helping you diagnose the problem, find the right answer, and devise a list of actions that will take you from where you are now to where you want to be.
Fabrik’s brand communication strategy services:
- Competitor research
- Communication audits
- Positioning & differentiation
- Customer persona’s
- Messaging & tone of voice
- Conceptual development
- Brand stories & manifesto’s
- Implementation planning
Is brand communication
on your agenda?
In this digital, on-demand world strategies can’t be too rigid. Being flexible and nimble will allow you to respond to new challenges as they arise. But, as your company grows and conditions change, a brand communication strategy—your guiding star—will keep you heading in the right direction. Climb on-board the good ship Fabrik. Let’s plot a course to success.
Contact Fabrik today to turbocharge your brand communication strategy. Our expert team of strategists, planners and creatives will get your brand communications headed in the right direction.
Let’s talk…
Whether your brand requires a refresh or invention, Fabrik has the nous to help. Drop us a line and let’s start a conversation…