Knowing how to build a strong brand is one of the first steps toward starting a successful business. With around 305 million startups launching yearly, a strong branding strategy helps one stand out from the competition.
However, without sufficient knowledge, branding your business can be a long and complicated process.
To help out, here are key tips on branding your brand.
Customers like great products and they like serious benefits. For them, things that benefit them personally are easy to justify. The Nike Moon shoes did this, but only because the customer was beginning to understand jogging and its benefits for their health. Bill’s secret goal wasn’t to sell shoes, he was simply promoting something that he believed in. This may not sound like a marketing strategy, but it certainly should.
If you’re unsure what your audience is really looking for, try putting yourself in their shoes for a moment and think beyond the scope of your product or service. Instead of thinking about your product’s features or competitive advantages, think about what goal your customer is trying to achieve. Then, be there with the information, products, and services they need to make it happen. This means you need to do your research first.
Base Your Strategy On A Felt Need
Initially for Nike’s audience, the felt need wasn’t for better running shoes, but for a better way to get in shape. Certainly, running was already popular among kids and athletes in the 1970’s, but it wasn’t the widespread social activity that we see today. The growing white-collar workforce helped pave the way for social activities that included the promotion of cardiovascular health. Once the trend was ingrained, the need shifted and the “jogging shoes” themselves became the felt need.
Believe In Your Product
It’s unlikely that Bowerman’s original goal was to become a millionaire as he penned the pages of his first jogging pamphlet. That wasn’t why he did what he did. His only goal was to promote a sport and an idea that he believed in. As marketers, shouldn’t we believe in the product and the ideas we are selling? For Bowerman, it sure made marketing a lot easier. He was “marketing” without even realizing what he was up to.
Sell Easily Identifiable Benefits Instead Of Your Product
While jogging is pretty easy to understand, the waffle tread isn’t (at least not until you understand why Bowerman made it in the first place). His goal was to make the world’s most light–weight running shoe. He believed that this factor alone could dramatically improve the speed of a distance runner. His product worked and quickly gained the industry respect that it deserved.
Embrace New Technologies
While Nike’s early marketing strategy centered on print publications, they later went on to dominate other mediums, like television in the 80s and 90s, through modern social media platforms today.
Adapt To The Needs Of Your Audience
Nike hasn’t historically adopted new communication platforms for their marketing just because they’re chasing new, flashy objects. Far from it. Rather, they’ve been quick to conquer new mediums because they’re where their customers are. For example, take a look at their Instagram profile. They know their core demographic includes heavy Instagram users and so it makes sense for their brand to maintain a presence there. However, they also make sure that everything they post provides value. Rather than interrupting the flow of their follower’s feeds with flagrant sales pitches, they share motivational messaging. Other posts subtly tie into the brand’s history and their sponsored influencers while directing users to interest–specific Nike sub-accounts on Instagram. In this case, they could have simply said something to the effect of, “Check out our women’s footwear and apparel profile, and our general running product profile.” Instead, they went the extra mile and created something memorable and entertaining while staying relevant to what their audience wants to see.
Stay True To Your Sense Of Purpose
They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. For Nike, that has certainly remained true. Throughout their current content marketing initiatives, Nike makes sure their brand message hasn’t gotten lost over time or across channels. They focus their emphasis on creating content that promotes the benefits of their products, rather than the features. Helping their customers be better at what they love to do is still the focus of their branding and message. By moving their content marketing to the platforms where their customers are, it shows that they are keeping their audience’s needs in mind while staying true to themselves. Nike’s marketing strategy has succeeded in sustaining a global brand while many of their competitors have come and gone from the spotlight.