Long-term brand marketing is essential to achieve sustainable growth.
If you only focus on sales, you may meet your sales goal, but you will have a customer that has no loyalty to your brand. They will buy your product once for a particular reason and may not ever come back. By building your brand identity, you can increase customer retention. Your brand has a better chance of engaging customers in the future if they can connect with it.Long-term brand marketing is essential to achieve sustainable growth. According to Alexander Porter, head of copy at Search It Local, you build up your brand slowly and establish a trusting relationship with your audience in long-term brand marketing. As a business grows over time, it becomes stronger, fitter, and more capable.
As a best practice for effective marketing, Les Binet and Peter Field’s research argues that 60% of a brand’s budget should be invested in long-term brand-building strategies. Field also stated in his guide for marketing practices during a recession that “a greater focus on brand advertising investment rather than on short-term sales activation is more sensible from here on in.”
Long-term brand marketing:
Your brand is what your customers will think of when they see a specific product. For example, when you’re shopping for a smartphone, what is the first one that comes to mind? Is it Apple? Brand loyalty is what keeps so many iPhone owners reluctant to switch to an Android smartphone.
Hubspot’s The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2021 says that 90% of online searchers haven’t made up their minds about a brand yet. A brand needs to have a distinctive edge if you want to stand out in an incredibly competitive market.
It will show what worthy causes and positive associations your brand cares about. Customers are more likely to pick your product if you stand up for what your audience believes in.
Make sure your brand is well-known and has a positive reputation. Credibility leads to recognition, loyalty, and competitiveness. Credibility helps your target audience feel more confident when they buy from you and, consequently, recommend your product to their friends and family.
Companies should focus on the benefits their products or services offer consumers. But creating awareness takes time because marketers need to run Campaigns repeatedly, so consumers become familiar with the brand.
All of these things need to be well thought out when you are building your brand. It is crucial to develop a sound business strategy focused on how you will approach people. Brand building takes time, and you will need to adjust your goals with time, but it can help create a unique identity for your business.
A few things to think about while building your brand strategy are:
Many companies out there don’t understand the value of having a clear mission statement. However, it is essential that you convey the value and vision of your business to your customers. The mission statement should answer all essential questions, such as why your business exists and why you are so passionate. It has to be meaningful for you and your customers.
Research leading companies in your industry. Learn how they succeeded and what sets them apart from the rest. Then apply your knowledge to your brand. It’s crucial that you know and show what differentiates you and why your customer will be better with your brand.
A big part of branding lies within your visual identity. These visual representations have the power to connect with your target audience. A logo and tagline can convey your business message effectively and quickly. You should invest in something that will stick to your customers’ minds.
Your message shows your voice, and that will help you communicate with your customers and create an emotional connection with them. Use emotional marketing to build a dynamic appeal that creates long-term associations with your target audience.
Nowadays, being socially responsible is a must and is one of the best ways to make your brand go viral.
This could be a catchy jingle. People remember songs for years and can make your brand memorable.
Throughout the history of Nike, the focus has been on innovation and performance. Their message is about empowerment, with a tagline that says “Just Do It” and a name from the Greek goddess of victory. Nike developed the waffle shoe and built its brand around serious athletes. Now their product line includes athletic apparel that boosts performance beyond shoes.
Notice how they usually feature athletes doing sports or working out. That’s because the brand is trying to communicate their commitment to innovation for serious athletes and that they can help you perform at your peak at all times.
Apple is a favorite brand for tech-savvies. Using technology unlike anything you’ve experienced before, Apple builds beautiful, innovative computers that resonate with consumers. When people wear their brand, they feel they are at the forefront of the latest technology.
According to Apple’s message, their users mirror the same characteristics that they promote through their products: innovation, creativity, and imagination. In addition, they place more emphasis on the features and benefits of their products than on price.
Trader Joe’s says that their stores are the brand. They don’t sell online or wholesale, even though they could gain more profit from it. According to Jon Basalone, Trader Joe’s’ president of stores, they want to give their clients the store’s experience.
To illustrate that concept better, we will quote Traders Joe’s CEO Dan Bane for Forbes: “We won’t open a store just because we can, we want to open a store that’s run by the right kind of people doing the right kinds of things, and that’s really important to us.”
As well as offering good food at a low price, they also try to make shopping fun and enjoyable. Additionally, they make good use of their visual identity. In-store signage, Hawaiian shirts worn by staff, and the language used on the website all serve to reinforce their nautical theme.
Investing your resources in long-term brand marketing will guarantee that your brand achieves sustainable growth. While you benefit from short-term sales initiatives to drive more revenue, it stops there. It doesn’t create a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
You want your customers to keep coming back so that your brand lives on for many generations.