What's up brand builder Stephen Houraghan here BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video you're
going to learn how to create a brand communication strategy with this seven-step process so you can
develop a tool of influence that goes way beyond the visuals to help your audience understand why
they should choose your brand now the brand communication strategy is the silent assassin
for any brand that has taken the time to develop it effectively now there are plenty of branding
terms that get plenty of pixel space such as brand design visual identity brand personality
and of course brand strategy and there has been considerably less time by considerably
fewer branding experts afforded to the seemingly less sexy brand communication strategy and in
this video you'll see why this strategic branding element can penetrate hearts and minds and shape
perceptions now believe it or not in many corners of the world there are those that believe that
branding is a collection of visual elements designed to create a distinction when compared to
other brands now while aesthetics certainly play a role in distinguishing one brand from the next
when it comes to making buying decisions and deciding which brands to adopt the
role of visuals is insignificant when compared to messaging and as consumers we quickly move on past
how a brand looks to get to what we really want to know about so what exactly is it that
we really want to know well whether it's you me john smith down the road your customer or
anybody else we're all thinking the same thing how can this brand this product this service
make my life better and why should i care and this is where a brand's communication strategy steps in
now in his wildly popular book the brand gap and one of my favorites mr marty newmeier said
a brand is not what you say it is it's what they say it is in other words although brands spend
billions of dollars a year to control their image in the market via multi-channel content marketing
strategies ultimately the consumer decides in their mind what that image means to them
brands therefore don't live on street corners on digital platforms or on billboards they live
and die in the minds of the audience now brands are described in many different ways and i often
make a point of describing what the term means in as few words as possible and if i had to pick
a single word as a descriptor i would choose the word perceptions if a brand lives in the mind of
the audience then it is shaped by the perceptions of that audience in the individual minds with
every new touch point your target audience builds a better understanding of how relevant
credible or interesting your brand is or is not the reality is no matter what level of
brand awareness a business has it doesn't actually have control over how the consumer perceives their
brand now you might be thinking really really steven no control so what's the point in all this
branding stuff if we don't actually have control over perceptions well although as brand builders
we can't control our target audience's minds we can most certainly influence them across multiple
touch points with a communication strategy that informs the stories we tell across traditional and
digital marketing materials and how do we do that well the brand communication strategy of course
now neuroscience is a rapidly evolving field that hasn't covered much about the human brain that we
never knew in the past or at least couldn't scientifically put our finger on every year
scientists uncover more and more about the way we behave as humans the repetitive patterns we
follow and why we do what we do we now understand that a vital part of our decision-making process
is through our emotional limbic system in our brain so much so that brain-damaged patients
left devoid of emotions struggled to make the most elementary decisions so what does this all mean
for marketing communications well quite simply the way to your audience is not through their
head is through their heart so how exactly do you go about developing a brand communication strategy
well look it's not difficult to find an article or a video that will wrap your communication strategy
up into a single core message but the reality is in the modern environment consumers need
seven to eight touch points on average to even take notice of your brand
so your brand communication plan needs to speak to your buyer personas to get their attention
and with that in mind you need a communication strategy that's a little more comprehensive
so let's have a look at how you develop one step one know your audience's journey now let's assume
you've already got a grasp of your audience from a demographic and a psychographic point of view
though many an article will put these two on a pedestal the reality is they don't really tell
you too much about the ideal customer who they really are what they really do what they really
feel and the challenges that they're going through but by understanding the journey your target
audience is on you can begin to understand what they're going through within their daily lives
and reach them on different channels where they get and where they share their information so we
need to ask questions like where are they coming from where are they going to what are they trying
to achieve what obstacles are standing in the way these questions will get to the crux of who these
people are and why the existence of your brand and the solution it offers is so important to
them step number two uncover their pain points and emotional investment understanding the journey of
your customer opens up their real world to allow for your empathy and understanding where they're
coming from means something to them where they're going to mean something to them what they're
trying to achieve the obstacles that are standing in the way these all mean something to them and
while many marketers and entrepreneurs go through the motions to get to the selling
as quickly as possible strategic brand builders on the other hand that spend that extra time on this
section really reap the rewards later on because they really understand their audience as abraham
lincoln once said give me six errors to chop down a tree and i'll spend the first four sharpening
the axe uncovering exactly what their journey is and the obstacles that are standing in their way
and what those obstacles mean to them and the emotions that they have attached to them gives
a brand a really really sharp axe step number three know your position now before the brand
communication strategy comes to life the brand strategist will have done their due diligence
they'll have applied creative thinking to uncover an opportunity to develop a differentiation
strategy or value proposition and ultimately a position in the market for their brand as in
why the audience should choose them over their competitors now this position will distinguish
the brand in the competitive landscape it will give them that competitive edge and outline why
that brand is different before a single message is crafted this position must be clearly defined step
number four gain clarity in your value now the key differentiator and the positioning strategy mark
the spot where the comprehensive brand image will stand so from here the brand strategist works to
clarify exactly what the value of that position is to the audience in other words what does this
position mean and why should the audience care and ultimately how will it make their lives better and
that clarity in both position and value are the key ingredients to an effective communication
strategy and no message should be crafted without us step number five develop your core message
now with the position and the clear value of that position to the audience already outlined
it's time to develop the core message now the core message is widely considered to be the cornerstone
of the communication strategy but i disagree the reality is it simply distills the key messages
that a brand should communicate so that the brand representatives are clear on what the underlying
message should be now that said the distilled core message is still an important tool and it
plants a flag in the ground outlining the summary of the overall message the core message however
is not a tool that can be used time and again by the brand manager so that's the role of the next
step step number six clarify your key messages now the core message places the crosshairs in the
general direction of where the messaging should go but there's a lot more detail required from here
the average brand today has a complex web of touch points representing the front lines of the brand
a core message is not going to help you craft messages for so many different touch points which
is why your brand communication strategy needs a coordinated effort the positioning strategy
the value that that difference offers and the core message all represent a series of key
messages that must all work together to shape the perceptions in the mind of the audience so clarify
exactly what your audience should know about your brand that would shape their perceptions
to create the desired image for your brand step number seven integrate meaning and emotion
now with a comprehensive list of key messages you can now reverse engineer these messages to
uncover the emotions that each one will appeal to remember we make most of our decisions through our
emotional brain so every last one of your branding messages therefore must consider
the emotion that it's appealing to and use the relevant language and tone to evoke that emotion
it's important to note here that you're not trying to get your audience to fall in love
with your brand through a single message over time however your audience will feel a connection
because the message is crafted from empathy and emotion so now that you have your core message
and your messaging framework we now need to decide what your communication channels are going to be
now imagine this years ago if you wanted to create a small business never mind to build a brand your
communication options were limited to tv which you couldn't afford radio which you probably couldn't
afford print media which you could scarcely afford or the yellow pages yay we're on the
map now let's sit by the phone business owners and entrepreneurs today are absolutely spoiled
for choice and all that's needed is a consistent series of well-crafted messages designed for the
heart here are some of the most effective modern digital marketing channels to distribute your
brand's communication first up is social media marketing now it's true that organic reach on
some social media platforms is not what it used to be probably because zucks is stuffing those fees
with ads but the reality is your audience still congregates on social platforms and groups within
those social platforms social media marketing is a powerful part of an effective brand communication
strategy because it empowers user-centered networking and online social interactions as well
and with a little bit of searching you might uncover a highly engaged group and become part
of that community email marketing now email shot into the spotlight with marketing in the late 90s
when email open rates were upwards of 90 percent but as usual however marketers ruined a good thing
and it got a bad rep today however email marketing is more effective than ever as the permission
allows consumers to choose who gets into their inbox or who doesn't email metrics such as
open rates click-through rates and updates allow brands to track their performance and adjust the
communication strategy as needed email automation allows brands to slowly and consistently nurture
relationships to draw customers closer with small deliveries of value on a consistent basis
website communication now your website is often one of the very first touch points that your brand
will have with your audience whether your traffic is coming from your marketing efforts such as
seo or social media or referral links your website messaging needs to assure that website visitors
that they're in the right place and that your unique selling proposition is something that
they're going to value most businesses will have messages that bang on about
how great they are including a detailed biography of the founders and their pets
and because you've taken the time to develop your communication strategy now
your website will display critical key messages that speak to emotions and begin shaping
perceptions from that very first touch point a lead magnet here a call to action there and
all of a sudden your target audience is on an email nurturing sequence and they're on route to
the eighth touch point and that's really where the magic happens that's really where the nurturing of
that relationship happens with your audience now look branding is a game of shaping perceptions
brands built strategically consider each and every one of the tools of influence that
shape perceptions and none are more important than the brand communication strategy so take
the extra time to develop this strategy and craft communication that cuts through the noise like a
sharp axe now if you want to dive deeper into brand strategy then this video here will help
you out but if you want to become a master of brand make sure you hit that like and subscribe
to get more videos like this until next time brian like a master and i'll see you in the next video