Do you have your business goals ready for 2019? Furthermore, have you considered how the brand will contribute to your business goals? So often, businesses begin the year with good intentions and goals, but strategy and campaign planning fall by the wayside.
If you haven’t started thinking about brand management for 2019 or are unsure how to transform your branding goals into a clear pathway, it’s time to create a comprehensive brand vision. Not sure where to begin? Here’s our step-by-step guide on building and developing your brand vision for effective brand management.
How to develop a brand vision for 2019
1. Conduct a SWOT analysis
It may seem dull but conducting a SWOT analysis is one of the best ways to determine the Brand positioning strategy.
It can also help you to gain much-needed clarity for your brand vision. Block out an afternoon, gather some key people who can provide important insights about the business and start to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the business faces.
2. Build a personality profile
After determining the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the business, you can start to build up the personality of your brand. Furthermore, you should also look at the company’s culture and personality, and how that shines through in the brand. There will be some aspects of the business that just isn’t worth doing internally. Many businesses think that they have to do it all, but it’s often much more effective to outsource any areas of weakness or when it’s more economical to do so.
By matching up the internal culture and personality of the business with the brand, it becomes more apparent to see where the strengths really lie and the areas where your brand might need support.
3. Get to really know your customers
A core aspect of a business is the customer. However, it takes more than just building up a customer profile to fully understand your clients. It takes time to get into the mindset of your customers.
Think about key aspects such as:
• How do they talk and act?
• What do they care about?
• Who do they follow and why?
• Where do they spend their time?
• Why do they do what they do?
• What’s their motivation?
Once you dive into the customer mindset, you can start to work out how they interact with your industry and where your brand can help.
4. Take a trip down memory lane
After gathering all the details that define the current state of your business and customers, it’s essential to reflect on the past year. This reflection will help you create a constructive brand vision for 2019. Developing your brand identity will require deep soul-searching and asking critical questions. Consider what strategies worked, what didn’t, the skills your business required, and the skills your team possessed but didn’t utilize.
Consider aspects such as timings, deadlines, urgency, client communication and relationships. Were there any supplier issues, customer problems or distributor hiccups that could have been done differently?
After writing down a list of all the highs and lows of the year, rank them in order of importance so that you know the key lessons and takeaways to bring forward into 2019.
5. Start looking ahead
Now the past and present are dealt with; it’s time to focus on what 2019 will bring you. Don’t be tempted to skip straight to this step. It may feel like you haven’t got time to reflect on the past or worry about the now, but all of this information and data will be invaluable for defining the future of the business.
Begin by documenting your business goals and envisioning what an ideal 2019 would look like for your brand. Then, quantify those goals with specific figures. For instance, if your aim is to increase revenue, specify that you want the business to grow by 20 percent. Integrate social media strategies to amplify your efforts and reach a broader audience, ensuring that your objectives are both measurable and achievable.
So to achieve this goal, how much more will the business need to earn per month (considering seasonal sales forecasts)? Once you’ve figured this out, break it down further with weekly and daily goals. Now you know exactly what the business wants and how it can be achieved. All you need now is the solution in place to make it happen.
Remember, it’s all well and good setting these plans and having the goals of your business, but how can you make sure they actually happen? Can you put in place the KPIs and measures to check the progress? Who should be accountable for these goals and where will the commitment to reach them come from?
If there’s a series of goals, it may help to delegate goals to individual team members. They’ll love the responsibility of having a crucial business focus, and it also helps to delegate, so you don’t lose track of any of the goals.
6. Make the plan
You have all the information in place now to create a plan and prepare your brand for 2019. If the team lacks motivation, consider this key question: “What will a fantastic 2019 for the business mean to the business and staff?”
7. Reach out
Whether you are struggling to make a business plan for 2019 or you need some help to achieve your goals, don’t be afraid to ask for it. There are support services all around that help businesses achieve their brand vision for 2019. You don’t need to do everything on your own in order to succeed.
8. Get ready for action!
If you’re having difficulty crafting a business plan for 2019 or need assistance in achieving your goals, don’t hesitate to seek help. There are numerous support services available that can aid in your rebranding efforts and help you realize your brand vision for 2019. Remember, you don’t have to do everything alone to succeed.
It’s time to see what 2019 can do for your brand. Contact the team at Liquid and let’s maximise your brand’s full potential.
Read more: How To Create A Memorable Brand Logo: Tips And Tricks
