How do I set strategies for brand growth?
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- An effective brand growth strategy will target each stage of the marketing funnel with a variety of tactics to help potential customers move smoothly from awareness to usage, and ultimately preference.
- You should typically have one focus area at a time. One way of determining that is by looking at your marketing funnel and the rates of conversion between different stages.
- For example, if you have a low rate of conversion between awareness and consideration, you may want to direct more of your budget towards consideration. This could include activity like influencer campaigns, in-store sampling, or email marketing.
It’s one thing to know how your brand is tracking – it’s another thing to interpret this data and use it to set effective growth strategies.
We like to use the marketing funnel as a framework for understanding how to grow your brand. An effective brand growth strategy will target each stage of the marketing funnel with a variety of tactics to help potential customers move smoothly from awareness to usage, and ultimately preference.
Awareness
Make potential customers aware of your brand and products.
Example tactics: Mass advertising (e.g. TV, radio, OOH), content & social media, PR, sponsorships, SEO
Consideration
Encourage potential customers to consider your brand.
Example tactics: Influencer campaigns, product reviews & ratings, in-store demonstrations & sampling, retargeting advertising, email marketing.
Usage
Encourage purchase and usage of your products.
Example tactics: Promotions, coupons & discounts, referral programs, subscription services.
Preference
Building a strong preference for your brand over competitors.
Example tactics: Loyalty programs, personalised marketing, exclusive content & offers.
For most of us, it’s not feasible to have all of these running at the same time, so typically there will be one focus area that requires more of your attention.
One way of determining that focus area is by looking at your marketing funnel and the rates of conversion between different stages. For example, if you have a low rate of conversion between awareness and consideration, you may want to direct more of your budget towards consideration.
Example case study: How would Pepsi set an effective growth strategy?
The first thing Pepsi would likely do is pull up a comparison of their brand with Coca-Cola, their biggest and closest competitor.
Looking at this dashboard below, we can see that Pepsi has a much lower conversion rate than Coca-Cola between Awareness and Consideration: 76% compared to 63%.
As a result, the Pepsi marketing team may decide to focus on improving their top-of-funnel conversion.
How could they do that?
Budget: Marketing budget impacts the reach and effectiveness of campaigns. Pepsi could increase its marketing budget allocated to activities that build brand awareness and activities that encourage consideration such as sampling campaigns and influencer marketing.
Number of touch points: The more touch points and positive interactions a person has, the more likely they are to recall and consider a brand. Pepsi could look to diversify its marketing across more channels and formats to reach people more frequently.
Target audience: Identifying the right audience of people likely to buy a brand and speaking to them in a way that resonates is crucial. Pepsi could carry out research to better understand their audience’s preferences and behaviour to create more relevant, personalised and targeted content and campaigns.
Share of voice: A higher share of voice means a brand has a stronger presence in the market relative to competitors and can lead to increased awareness and consideration. Pepsi could look to dominate conversation by establishing high-profile sponsorships or creating buzz-worthy campaigns that generate media attention.
Thinking deeply about these brand growth drivers will help Pepsi set a strategy and tactical plan to achieve their brand growth goals.
