Brand Builders Part 8: Have You Developed Your Strategic Brand Plan?

What is a Brand Building Strategy?

You want to be more profitable. You want to grow your business. You want to stop wasting so much money on your marketing and advertising. You want your advertising and marketing efforts to be more effective. All these things are made better if you have a strategic brand plan. Now, it’s not just a marketing plan, because the marketing plan is just the tactical stuff, where the ads are going to go, and when they’re going to run. That’s the marketing plan. A strategic brand plan is about, I don’t know, a half a dozen things before you even get to the marketing part, and all of that is going to make the marketing part even more successful.

So, when we think about building a brand, we are really focused on building a strategic brand plan that you can utilize. Because now you’re going to know exactly who you’re talking to, you’re going to why they should listen, you’re going to know what you should say to them, and you’re going to know where to say it. All those elements of that strategic brand plan are so important.

I think of it as a blueprint. You would not go order a whole bunch of materials, have it dropped off at some address and say, “Okay, build a building.”  And yet, people think that’s how marketing works all the time. No, you’re going to have an architect. You’re going to have an engineer. You’re going to have a construction company. You’re going to have a designer. Everybody’s going to work together, and they’re going to figure out exactly what it is you’re building, so they’ll know when it’s done. They’ll know exactly where every light switch, plug, floor, sink, chair. Everything. Where does it go, and how it is all going to work together?

If not, somebody ends up without a room. Your kitchen is in your garage. Your building is only three stories tall, but it should have been seven stories tall, whatever it might be. So, a strategic brand plan is basically turn by turn directions to get you to your destination, which is growth, more profitability, a bigger business that you can sell for more money. Most people treat marketing like a compass. They know the direction they want to head, but they don’t have a lot of details on how to get there. So, utilize a strategic brand plan and let it take you to exactly where you want to go, which is building a better brand.