Branding is an essential aspect of any business, big or small. It's more than just your logo and color scheme - it's the overall perception that people have of your company. A strong Brand can differentiate you from the competition, attract high-quality customers, and even command a higher price for your products or services. In this post, we'll explore the importance of Branding and how it can benefit your business. (See our Case Study for Comprehensive Wealth to see how we evolved a trusted Brand)

What is Branding?

At its core, Branding is about creating a unique identity for your business. It's about defining what sets you apart from the competition and crafting a message that resonates with your target audience. Your Brand is the sum of all interactions that people have with your business - from your Website to your customer service to your social media presence. It's about creating a consistent and cohesive image that reflects your values and mission.

Why is Branding important?

Branding is important for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few:

1. Differentiation: In a crowded market, it's important to stand out from the competition. A strong Brand can help you differentiate yourself and make it clear to potential customers what makes you unique.
2. Trust and credibility: A consistent and professional Brand can help build trust and credibility with your audience. People are more likely to do business with companies that they perceive as trustworthy and reliable.
3. Customer loyalty: A strong Brand can foster customer loyalty. If people have a positive experience with your Brand, they are more likely to become repeat customers and even recommend your products or services to others.
4. Value: A well-established Brand can command a higher price for its products or services. People are often willing to pay more for a brand that they trust and perceive as high quality.

How do you create a strong Brand?

Creating a strong Brand requires careful planning and a consistent approach. Here are a few key steps to take:

1. Define your Brand: Start by identifying your target audience and your unique selling proposition (USP). What sets you apart from the competition? What are your core values and mission?
2. Develop a Brand strategy: Once you have a clear understanding of your Brand, it's time to create a plan to bring it to life. This should include everything from your logo and color scheme to your messaging and tone of voice.
3. Implement your Brand: Once you have a solid Brand strategy in place, it's time to start implementing it across all channels. This includes your Bebsite, social media profiles, marketing materials, and customer interactions.
4. Be consistent: Consistency is key when it comes to Branding. Make sure that all of your branding elements - from your logo to your messaging - are consistent across all channels.
5. Monitor and adapt: Your Brand should be an ongoing process. Keep an eye on how your brand is perceived by your audience and be willing to make adjustments as needed.

In conclusion, Branding is an essential aspect of any business. It's about creating a unique and consistent identity that resonates with your target audience and sets you apart from the competition. By investing in a strong Brand, you can build trust, credibility, and customer loyalty - all of which can drive business growth and success.

Are interested in knowing more about we help build successful Brands? Drop us a line! Our team is looking forward to working with you.

Before developing marketing campaigns or investing in branding initiatives, it is important to have a brand alignment from the inside out. Internally, you must know the purpose that is at the core of your brand. You must understand what makes your business unique. From the outside, it is important to develop a concise message and branding strategy that clearly communicates the solution that you want to offer customers. 

Thankfully, there are many resources that can help businesses develop a strategy that works for them. In this article, we will share a comprehensive guide to develop a strategy that actually delivers results.

Step 1: Understand Your Brand

Before you begin working on your brand strategy, it is important to understand the purpose of your company and what your mission statement communicates. Understanding your core values will help you stay true to your goals while making sure that you are meeting the needs of your audience. Understanding your unique selling propositions will help you grow and expand by leaning into the differentiators that set you apart from the competition.

At the core, a brand is the promise you make to your customers. This includes the name, symbol, design, and content that identifies your goods and services as distinct from those of other sellers. The key elements that make up a brand include brand name, logo design, tagline or catchphrase, product packaging, visual identity system, and voice in advertising. By creating a brand that is aligned on every channel, you can better communicate with your audience.

2. Determine Your Priorities

As you begin outlining a branding strategy, it is critical that you identify your company priorities. What is the most important factor that contributes to your growth and development? What are you trying to accomplish with your branding strategy?

These are the questions that you need to answer before executing a plan. Once you know what you want, it will be easier for you to develop a plan that leads to success. This is important because it allows you to allocate resources to the right places. For example, if you need to expand your brand across multiple states, you can determine where you can reduce and increase ad spend in order to reach the most relevant audience.

3. Create The Ideal Customer Persona

An ideal customer persona is a fictional representation of your target customer. Having this fictional character in mind helps marketers and business owners develop a message that effectively speaks to the audience.

The process of creating an ideal customer persona starts by asking some questions: What are the needs, interests, motivations, and goals of your target customer? What are their demographics? Where do they live? What are their values? Who do they trust? How much money do they make?

The answers to these questions can give you insights into what type of messaging will most effectively capture the attention of your customer.

4. Accentuate Your Unique Value Proposition 

There are many ways that businesses can establish a unique value proposition. You may create innovative products, offer customizable services, or develop products that are more effective than competitors. However, the most effective way to differentiate yourself from your competition is by finding and emphasizing your unique values.

Your uniqueness might come from the quality of your products or services. It might come from the quality of customer service that you provide. Whatever it is, you should make sure that you are putting it on display so that customers know exactly what sets you apart from other businesses in your industry. By accentuating this unique service or product, you can help customers begin to see why they need to choose you over your competitors.

5. Streamline Your Messaging

In order to effectively communicate, you must have a clear understanding of your brand and messaging. This is a process that can be difficult to do on your own. In order to ensure that there is a cohesive voice and tone for your brand, there must be an understanding of your goals from every member of the department.

There are many tools out there that can help streamline this part of the branding process for both small and large companies alike. In addition, there are many third party agencies, like RocketDog, that can help identify gaps in communication. 

6. Make Sure Your Brand Guidelines Accurately Represent You

After the fundamentals are established, a playbook of brand guidelines are the next step in developing an overarching strategy. These guidelines should include how to use your logo and assets, the details of your standard color scheme, your messaging strategy, and the mood of your imagery.

The guidelines should be clear and concise, outlining what you want to represent and how you want to present it. These guidelines should include the tone and voice of the company, as well as any other design elements that might need to be included, such as colors, fonts, imagery, etc.

These guidelines help you target your ideal audience and identify what channels you want to use for marketing purposes. These guidelines will act as a framework and outline for all initiatives that you engage in.

Conclusion

A brand strategy is much more than just logos and colors, it is the way you communicate your value to customers. By spending time developing the mission, vision, and core values of your brand, you will be better able to streamline your messaging and communicate your values to customers. If it is difficult to align both internally and externally, consider working with a third party marketing agency that can help identify gaps in messaging and streamline the proposed strategy.

Many people in the marketing industry use the term "Brand" in a variety of different ways. This inconsistency often confuses those who are trying to understand what a Brand is and how they can develop a successful strategy within their own business. By learning from experts in the topic, businesses of all types can determine the steps they need to take to have an effective and noteworthy Brand.

Defined Purpose

In order to accurately develop a Brand strategy, it's important to first establish what the purpose of your business is. For example, a healthcare company may want to be established as the leading facility for diabetic patients. From there, they can determine how to build awareness and develop their reputation. When a Brand is haphazard about their purpose, they will not be able to communicate a clear message in any campaign.

Narrow Target Audience

Even if your services are beneficial to a wide range of people, you must have a defined target audience that you are speaking to.  You must first assess who your ideal customer is and what problems they have that you can solve through your business. This process will help narrow down the messages you want to send out about your Brand, and it increases the chances of getting a return on investment for each campaign.

Custom Brand Language

Once a company has established their purpose and target audience, they can begin to develop their Brand language. A Brand uses every form of communication in order to relay messages about their products and services. When this language is consistent through all forms of marketing, it can reinforce your message. As you begin to define this language, consider having key team members brainstorm a list of words that they want the business to be known for. From there, a content strategist can help integrate these themes throughout all campaigns.

Ruthless Consistency

In order to have a Brand that is memorable, it needs to be consistent. By delivering the same message through all forms of communication, consumers will understand what your company represents and who they are speaking to. When companies attempt to be all things to all people, they tend to lose their effectiveness because no one knows how to engage with their product. It is important to have a team of people who are dedicated to aligning all marketing materials with the overarching purpose and language of the business. In many cases, it is good for this consistency to be clear internally and externally so that team members are equipped to communicate appropriately about the business.

Third-Party Perspective

All Brands need to be evaluated by outside opinions. When an objective person looks at your brand, they will be able to identify where it falls short. This analysis should include looking at the effectiveness of the messaging across all forms of communication. The reviewer can then provide feedback on what ideas are working well and which need improvement. Any company that wants to succeed must have a third party review their strategy to identify potential opportunities and gaps.

Robust Marketing Plan

Whether you use internal personnel or an external marketing firm, the key to success is having a team that understands how to communicate your Brand through all channels. There needs to be a team of individuals that have different skill sets. By utilizing social media, print ads ,and viral videos, you will give your business the chance to greatly expand their reach and influence. Since it can be hard to employ an entire department of specialists, it is oftentimes beneficial to work with a third-party agency that provides access to many different talented individuals. As long as everyone has clearly defined roles within this framework, it will increase the likelihood of successfully executing in all channels.

Overview

These six building blocks will help you create a strong Brand identity for your business. Once you have defined these attributes, it is important that you integrate them across all communications and marketing materials. By following these tips, your business can develop a sustainable company culture and establish a clear presence in your industry.

As a University, you have to employ a diverse group of employees that specialize in a variety of different arenas. From fundraising to education, there are dozens of different programs that work together to make a school successful. Without proper messaging, you may lose out on thousands of high-quality students, hundreds of qualified employees, and millions of dollars of funding. Although your messaging will be tweaked based on the audience, it needs to have a compelling purpose that will capture attention and motivate the readers.

Unfortunately, many Universities struggle to determine if they should employ an in-house marketing department or hire an outside agency. Other schools are confident that they will see growth if they develop a relationship with a marketing agency partner. Nowadays, marketing efforts are extremely complex. If you decide to employ an in-house team, you must ensure that you have staff members that have expertise in every aspect of the marketing strategy. At RocketDog, we have seen Universities thrive after engaging with a high-quality agency partner. Because Branding agencies employ every type of specialist, you will have the ability to access robust talent and diverse skill sets. The team at RocketDog is passionate about helping Brands develop messaging strategies that lead to growth and development. If you choose to outsource your marketing team, it is important that you choose the perfect agency partner. There are a few factors to determine as you pick the right partner for your school.

1. Consider Experience and History

As you choose an agency partner, it is important that you find a company that has experience within your industry. All industries must employ different marketing techniques to see success. If you work with an agency that specializes in IT sales, they will not know how to effectively improve donor bases, applicant processes, and the pipeline for quality professors. Search for an agency partner that has experience developing Brands in the Higher Education industry. At RocketDog, we have worked with educational institutes, including the University of Washington. Because of this partnership, UW saw growth and success among qualified applicants. 

After vetting the past experience of an agency partner, vet the length of their presence in the market. If the business has only been around for a few years, they likely do not employ the most robust and well-versed group of marketing experts. With companies that have decades of experience, you can trust that they are aware of  the ins and outs of the industry. In addition, these agencies will be well-versed on shifts and trends in the higher education industry

Universities have many different marketing initiatives that must be developed. Between varying departments, campaigns, and programs, there are always new pieces of collateral in the queue. When choosing the right agency partner, you must determine a contestant that has an ample selection of team members. A small team may be less likely to complete projects in a timely fashion. A large team with a diverse group of skill sets will have the ability to strategize, create, and tailor messaging techniques that create quality touchpoints with your audience.

2. Clearly Communicate Expectations

When choosing the perfect agency partner, it is important that you clearly communicate expectations. The agency partner should be well aware of your budgets and timelines. In addition, they should give you an outline of what you can expect from their services. At the core, a University is a business. When developing a partnership, you must have clear and established expectations. If you experience a lull in communication or lack of transparency in conversations with a prospective partner, it is important that you begin looking elsewhere. The right agency partner will be committed to your business, no matter what. At RocketDog, we keep the needs of every client on the forefront of our minds. Over the last two decades, we have worked diligently to develop excellent collateral within a variety of different budget and time constraints. When it comes to educational Brands, there are constantly new initiatives and programs that must be showcased. Because initiatives are constantly starting and ending, it is critical that a strict timeline is maintained.

3. Look For Robust Techniques and Skill Sets

Unfortunately, many Universities have outgrown the Branding that they established decades ago. In reality, Universities need to have robust Branding in order to engage the piece of the population that they are trying to reach. Teenagers and young adults are some of the most savvy individuals on the planet. Growing up with access to technology and knowledge of devices, this generation can quickly assess their interest levels on a particular school based on the context that they gather on the internet. Because of this, you must work with an agency partner that has in-depth knowledge of social platforms and other media outlets. If a marketing agency markets social media expertise, make sure they are following consumer reports that indicate the most effective ways to reach the target age group. 

At RocketDog, we know that different generations of individuals rely on different forms of marketing materials. When we work with Universities, we develop robust strategies including a TikTok presence that will attract students and a Linkedin portfolio that will impress parents and guardians.

4. Prioritize Storytelling Abilities

For many people, going to college is a lifelong dream and a life changing accomplishment. Because of this, the University you choose to attend is a huge decision. Students want to know how their University of choice will help them grow, thrive, and develop their skills. Parents want to know their children will be taught and cared for. Donors want to know that their money is being used to effectively develop the next generation. Employees want to know their expertise will be valued. All of these individuals are looking to hear stories of success. They want to hear about the people that have come before them and had amazing experiences. Work with an agency that has storytelling capabilities that can change the game. The agencies have the ability to identify, create, and showcase stories in a way that demands an emotional reaction from the target audience.

Summary

For Universities, Branding greatly affects that relationship you have with donors, applicants, and employees. Without quality Branding, many Universities struggle to create strategies that are actually effective. In addition, many schools have budget constraints that hinder their in-house marketing team. With constraints, you cannot employ individuals within every line of expertise.

When you work with RocketDog, you don't have to be stressed out about upcoming deadlines and budgets. RocketDog has years of expertise working within tight timeframes and restricted budgets. With each of our clients, we have created a lasting partnership that has driven results and improved business.

If you are looking to renovate the way that people experience your Brand, contact RocketDog today.