The only way to make your marketing strategy effective is to create a loyal customer base. However, to accomplish that, it’s not enough to just implement your carefully thought out marketing initiatives. No matter what action you come up with, your ultimate goal should always be to develop strong brand equity. That’s the only way to reach your goals.
As they say, keep your eye on the prize – and the prize in this case is a loyal customer base. You can achieve that by ensuring you are always putting your customer’s needs first. Furthermore, a company has to understand what sort of impact their marketing strategy will have on their target audience. In other words, you have to have an equity measurement system in place. You need to know if your brand equity is positive or negative — your company’s future depends on it.
What is Brand Equity?
However, let’s dig a little deeper and see what brand equity really is. In short, brand equity stems from the knowledge about your brand that’s formed in the customer’s mind. It includes brand image and brand awareness.
Brand awareness is the ability of the customer to see the brand as the only worthy option in the events of consumption. That means that the customers will not only recognise the brand as fitting but also recall it in times of need due to an already formed deep attachment.
Furthermore, the brand image consists of physical elements that aren’t necessarily limited to the product alone – branding and logos, packaging, symbols, etc. A strong brand image entails positive associations with all of these vital elements.
However, building a strong brand equity doesn’t solely depend on brand knowledge alone. Other factors also play critical roles. How to achieve a more significant impact and plant your seed in the minds of consumers? Highlight both product-related and non-product-related characteristics in your marketing strategy.
What’s more, it’s simply not enough to point out the elements that differentiate your brand from the competition. An excellent marketing strategy will also aim to advertise the similarities. That way, the product categories will remain be the focus points.
Strong Brand Equity Allows Higher Prices
One of the significant advantages of building strong equity is being able to charge a higher price for the products. Brand competitors within the same product category might not be able to do so if they haven’t built strong brand equity. Furthermore, consumers harbour greater respect and pay more attention to products made by brands with substantial brand equity.
What’s more, strong brand equity usually means a positive response to marketing efforts. However, the two factors are interdependent. Brand image and brand awareness are built by implementing a well thought-out marketing strategy.
How to Build a Strong Marketing Framework?
All your marketing actions have to have a strong framework beforehand. That’s the first step in brand building. Symbols and logos that present your brand image to the consumers are the basis of brand building. They are what makes the brand memorable and impactful.
An excellent marketing strategy also has to include highlighting the value for money that the brand offers, as well as distribution and communication. A reliable and robust distribution channel, advertising plan, and customer service impact the brand strength positively. Furthermore, secondary brand connections are significant factors as well. Corporate branding and the country of origin can bring more value and awareness.
The second step of brand building is to develop marketing strategies. They should focus on previously mentioned brand image and awareness.
A strong brand image means that the consumers see the brand as a powerful competitor on the market. Pointing out differences and similarities, as well as the qualities and benefits your brand offers will strengthen your brand image. Furthermore, increasing brand awareness will make the consumers see you as the optimal choice when it comes to consumption.
Strong brand equity leads to a loyal customer base. That means gathering a steady following of people who don’t mind paying a premium price for your product and who view your brand as their first choice when it comes to your product category.
However, building brand equity doesn’t end when you reach the peak of your power. Brands have to work hard to maintain it. The first steps should be measuring and managing the brand equity.
Measuring Brand Equity
Measuring the brand equity means doing audits and evaluations of each step of the marketing strategy. Furthermore, it involves scaling the income generated by the applied marketing strategy. Managing the brand equity includes plans for expansion and extension. Once you conquer one segment or one market, you have to move forward.
To conquer the market and keep your business from failing, you have to invest time, effort, and resources. Furthermore, the brand has to live up to its full potential — understanding the brand potential and implementing strategies to achieve it is the first step here. Not to mention that the brand always has to be adaptable and accommodating not only to the consumers but also to the environment.
Related content:
Strategic Brand Management Knowhow – learn more about strategic brand management with our collection of informative educational articles.
From printed promotional pens, promotional mugs, water bottles and polo shirts, notebooks through to promo caps and fleece jackets, here at GoPromotional we believe that you are sure to find the perfect custom branded freebies to help successfully market your brand.
If however, you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of our experienced team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
