Branding Strategies to Grow Your Company (2022 Edition)

Effort, time, and a hefty portion of perseverance – all are required for a business to successfully grow. This extends across all elements of a company, with it being especially important for branding.

An effective, well-planned branding strategy has the ability to elevate a business to new heights. It supplies a company with an identity, boosts brand awareness, and builds trust with customers. All of this leads to the most important aspect of all: greater sales figures.

Before you can enjoy these benefits, you need to understand how to improve your branding. The following guide lists a number of key strategies for your business to implement.

Research your target audience

Before you attempt to make any improvements with your business, you always have to put in the groundwork – aka your market research. In terms of branding, it’s essential you have a full understanding of your ideal customer’s buyer persona.

By knowing the problems, requirements, habits, goals, etc. of your customer, you instantly gain a greater awareness of your target audience. This knowledge can then be applied to your products, services, and marketing materials.

As these elements have been produced firmly with the customer in mind, including their pain points and requirements, there’s a greater chance you will generate sales. After all, your brand, your ethos, and what you have to offer have all been made to cater to them.

However, problems can arise when you’re targeting different sets of customers. In this situation, you have to figure out how to modify your brand, products, and so on, ensuring they manage to successfully hit the various groups. This requires a more general approach that isn’t going to fully cater to a certain audience, but it also shouldn’t alienate them at the same time.

Put together the right brand architecture

A growing business is one that requires the right architecture. This also applies to your branding. If an appropriate structure isn’t in place, the branding can fluctuate and falter in different areas. Simply put, a brand that is well-built is one that is consistent – and that is where brand architecture comes into play.

While brand architecture is particularly important for large organizations that have a master brand with multiple brands underneath, it is also applicable for smaller companies. It ensures that components like logos, style guides, and color palettes remain constant across your business – including your products and services.

With your brand architecture’s guidelines, everyone across your business understands the types of imagery, colors, and words to use that remain true to your branding. The result: deliverables can be produced quickly and without confusion. The benefit of this architecture extends beyond internal means. It also plays a role in helping customers recognize what you have to offer.

For further information, the importance of brand architecture is detailed in this Brandfolder article.

Demonstrate how your business is unique

A generic business is one that will find it hard to grow. There are countless companies across all industries, and these are filling certain niches and specialist areas. As a result, if you fail to stand out with your business, you’re going to be left in the dark by the competition.

This is why a unique selling point is necessary when establishing your brand.

When you possess a USP, this can be the basis for your entire branding. It can be highlighted in your logo’s design, the tagline, graphic designs, and any other marketing material you put together. This critical differentiating factor is something to latch onto because it is your key to standing out from your competitors.

Reward customer loyalty

One of the most essential factors when building your brand is customer retention. Think about it. Customer satisfaction is necessary for any strong brand. If you get bombarded with negative reviews and horror stories from past customers, this is going to reflect badly on your business – and it’s going to drive away potential sales.

By meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers, they are likely to leave positive comments and reviews for your business. They may also take the initiative to promote your business via word of mouth, further helping with the growth of your business.

Most importantly, customer retention can go a long way to improving your profit margins. According to research reported by Harvard Business Review, just a 5% increase in customer retention rates can potentially lead to a 95% jump in profits for a company.

With these points in mind, it makes a lot of sense to reward customer loyalty. There are various ways this can be achieved, including:

• Special offers and discounts
• Early-access programs
• Invitations to special events
• Referral bonuses
• Loyalty card scheme
• Free gift with multiple purchases

Harness the power of influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to give your brand an instant visibility and engagement boost. By receiving assistance from a prominent figure in the social media world, they can endorse your brand by positively sharing information about your products to their followers.

Social media influencers are typically in possession of massive fan bases, some of which venture into the millions. By getting your business in front of so many eyeballs at once, your brand can experience a huge surge in popularity. Add in a special discount code or offer for them to share, and it’s also likely to result in a large collection of sales – which can go some way to covering the bill of hiring an influencer.

Of course, you have to be cautious when exploring this opportunity. Pick the wrong influencer, and all they’ll do is put a big hole through your marketing budget.

Make sure to research influencers that fit your niche. If you run a technology business, pick someone that appeals to a tech audience. Also, pay close attention to the type of interactions and engagement they’re getting with recent posts. An influencer could have a seven-figure follower count, but this metric could be hiding the fact they’re no longer the ‘influence’ they once were – or they may be benefiting from artificial follower numbers.