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Brand Strategy

What does brand strategy actually mean?

In B2B SaaS, your brand strategy involves translating your technical offering into a clear value proposition and backing it up with a messaging framework and brand personality you can own. Brand strategy is a long-term play. It aims to achieve a series of goals and codify your brand’s DNA into your customers’ minds.

Your brand strategy is everything from proof points to key messages and positioning. — it aims to control how your customers talk about you when you’re not in the room. A well-executed brand strategy touches all aspects of a business, from your internal values to the tone of your sales copy.

What are the elements of a successful brand strategy?

Value proposition

A value proposition encapsulates what you do and why it matters in your clearest and most concise language. It tells your customers how your product or service solves their specific problems better than anyone else by describing your:

Product/service/solution
Target audience
The pain you relieve and the primary benefit you offer
Why your offer is better than the competition

Market positioning

Market positioning is how you see and differentiate yourself across your industry, niche, vertical, or geographic. It compares your product/service/solution with your competitor’s pricing, quality, attributes and benefits.

Key messaging hierarchy

A key messaging hierarchy or framework distills your product/service/solution benefits into 3-5 concise points.

Each key message should be supported with benefits, reasons to believe, and social proof that is unique to your brand and differentiated from your competitors. Key messages should inform your copy and not be used as copy.

Proof points

Proof points are testimonials, indisputable truths, case studies, and stats used to back up your key messages. They build credibility and trust by dispelling the fears, uncertainties, and objections keeping your customers from going further down the funnel.

Brand personality

Brand personality attributes human-like qualities and traits to a brand to establish a unique brand identity. Brand personality guides tone of voice, communication imagery style etc. For example, a brand personality could be ‘lovable’ and ‘innovative’ or more ‘straightforward’ and ‘bold.’

Why is brand strategy so important to get right?

Lack of Differentiation

A well-executed brand strategy is your ticket to differentiation. Without a strong brand strategy, your messaging, brand colours, and marketing collateral will fade into a sea of competitors, leaving you behind.

Loss of Trust and Credibility

Inconsistent branding and unclear messaging are unprofessional at best. If your customers can’t understand what you do and what you stand for, they won’t trust you, And if they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you or continue to buy from you.

Difficulty Scaling

A brand strategy helps you account for and plan for growth. It leaves room in your brand messaging, marketing collateral, and sales workflow for iteration. A long-term brand plan allows you to more easily enter new markets, scale your products, or elevate your services.

Investment Inefficiency

A lack of brand clarity wastes precious marketing spend. Without a solid brand strategy, you’ll target the wrong audience at the wrong time with the wrong message.

Limited Pricing Power

Strong brands are synonymous with strong revenue. A well-executed brand strategy allows you to command premium pricing due to your brand’s perceived value and earned trust. Weak brands have a harder time justifying high prices.