Thinking about launching a digital marketing campaign in 2019? Great. Ready to garner new customers in your sales funnel? Awesome. Before you pull the trigger, let's talk about one of the most costly mistakes I see sabotaging online digital campaigns so you can witness the ROI on your work. Because let's face it, well-crafted digital campaigns require an investment in staff time and subscription services. Two direct costs that you want to recoup and profit from.
So what is this missing link?
What is the raison d'etre that undermines online sales success? Well, it really is quite simple, but it is often overlooked, or given just a cursory review. And it all boils down to one concept: lack of a clear Brand Strategy. Yup, executing a digital marketing plan without a clear and concise Brand Strategy in place is akin to the Lakers coach picking the Sunday uniform color before developing a game strategy. Picture it: the fans are excited to come to the game, they've reviewed the player photos, talked with their friends, arrived at the game but then quickly become disappointed and lose interest because the players are a confused mess on the court. Fans start to leave early, and the Lakers lose revenue. Epic fail.
Sound familiar? Lack of strategy equates to a loss of revenue. Plain and simple. Garnering web visitors is pointless if your brand isn't grounded in a well thought out plan that gives you the opportunity to convert them into buyers.
A successful Brand Strategy contains these five key elements:
- It identifies your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). You can define your USP by conducting interviews with key leadership and management. Then you also survey your customers and competitors. Ultimately, you take all of the information in and synthesize it into a USP.
- It defines your Brand Personality. This exercise is more on the touchy, feely side, yet is derived from surveying stakeholders. If you took the thought "if my brand were a famous personality, who would it be?" Or what five words come to mind when describing (your company name).
- It tells about your Positioning in the Marketplace. Using a statement that starts with "Only (Your company name) can do this..." as a starting point to creating a distinct position different from all of your competitors.
- It defines your Brand Promise. The surveys that you conducted earlier will also give you insight into what your customers and colleagues have come to expect from your brand.
- It explains your Brand Essence. As the blueprint for all future ideation and creation activities, the Brand Essence statement is an internal phrase that summarizes the brand, and is not an external statement like a tagline would be.
For a further explanation of our process for developing a Brand Strategy, you can read it here. Without these concepts in place, your digital marketing campaign won't make it to the playoffs.
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