Brand Strategy 101: How to Create a Compelling Brand

Can you explain your brand in 7 seconds? That’s all the time you have to make a strong first impression on your target audience.

Everyone talks about first impressions when it comes to an interview, a date, or even a LinkedIn profile. But how do we create a compelling impression for a brand? I’ve got two words for you: Brand Strategy.

Before we get to how to build a brand strategy, you need to understand what it is, why it matters, and the key elements of a strong brand strategy. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through:

What is brand strategy?

Brand strategy is a plan that defines why a brand exists and how it should position itself in the minds of its target audience to achieve specific business goals. Businesses focus on developing a brand strategy to build an emotional connection with their audience, rather than a superficial one.

There may be some psychology at the root of it. As we know, humans are complex social animals. We have a desire to belong and thrive on a sense of familiarity.

Although that seemed insignificant to businesses, customer expectations changed over time. The rise of technology, social media, and AI saw people shifting their focus to purpose, authenticity, and connection. Brand building, in a way, cater to these new expectations.

Business strategy vs brand strategy vs marketing strategy

Business strategy is a rational plan that considers logical and analytical decisions involving resource allocation, market analysis, etc. It helps to determine the overall direction of a company and how to create value for its stakeholders.

Brand strategy is concerned with defining the brand foundations and creating a favourable perception in the eyes of its audience. The consistent application of the brand strategy helps a business establish itself as a brand.

Marketing strategy is a tactical plan to promote the brand to the right people at the right place at the right time to drive specific outcomes. It aims to reach and engage customers where they are.

In simpler terms, business strategy is goal-driven, brand strategy is emotion-driven, and marketing strategy is action-driven.

Why is brand strategy important?

Beyond the financial motive, products or services are designed to satisfy a need or want of a target audience. If living beings are involved, doesn’t that imply there are emotions attached to it? And if there are emotions in play, doesn’t it make sense to appeal to them instead of the features of your offerings?

A study by a Harvard professor concluded that 95% of purchasing decisions are subconscious, which is why it’s most effective to target the subconscious mind. As the saying goes, “people buy with emotions and justify it with logic.”

A well-thought-out brand strategy relies on emotional connection and aims to influence how customers perceive a business or a brand.

Apart from that, here are a few other reasons why brand strategy is important for businesses.

• Clarify your unique value proposition (UVP)

Your unique value proposition is what sets your brand apart from competitors. Defining what makes your brand unique and how it provides value can make your brand more relevant to your ideal customers and employees.

• Define your core messaging

Brand messaging refers to how you communicate your UVP and personality to build an enticing brand. Brand strategy helps you understand your dream clients and speak to them in their own words.

• Develop a consistent brand persona

A brand profile helps your target audience associate human attributes like purpose, personality, and identity with your business. Creating a brand strategy toolkit can also help maintain a consistent persona across all platforms.

• Align your business decisions and marketing efforts

When you have a clear idea of why your business exists and what matters the most, decision-making becomes easier. You can also streamline your marketing strategies to make your communication even more specific and tailored to your audience.

• Build brand awareness and foster loyalty

A consistent, cohesive presence can build trust and confidence among your ideal customers. You may even find a community of like-minded people who believe in your product or service and become your brand advocates.

5 key elements of a strong brand strategy

Now that you know the benefits of brand strategy, you might be wondering how to build a compelling brand strategy.

Before we get to that, can you guess what differentiates a good brand strategy from a mediocre one? Well, there are a few key elements of brand strategy you can’t afford to miss.

• Target audience

If you don’t know who you’re selling to, how do you ensure your message is reaching their ears? And how do you even know if your brand is relevant to them?

Understanding your target audience beyond their demographic factors can help you frame your positioning and messaging to better connect with them. It can also determine what you should communicate, where, and how.

• Brand purpose

Your brand purpose is ‘why’ your brand exists, beyond making a profit. It should be the guiding force of your business, a.k.a. the Obi-Wan Kenobi to your Luke Skywalker.

From a customer or employee standpoint, people feel good about supporting a greater cause. And from a business perspective, you have to stand for something to not fall for everything. (Quite philosophical, I know!)

• Market positioning

Market positioning is a component of both business strategy and brand strategy. In terms of business strategy, market positioning involves analysing your competitive advantage and overall direction.

Its primary goal is to define how your brand is perceived by your audience in comparison to your competitors. And that’s what makes it equally important in brand strategy.

• Personality & values

These are arguably the most obvious and memorable brand strategy elements. Every brand desires to be noticed and instantly recognised. It gives your business an advantage.

Businesses could shout over one another about how good their offering is. But you have a better chance of drawing attention and connecting with your dream clients by highlighting your personality and values.

• Core messaging & storytelling

This refers to the words, phrases, and narrative you use to communicate your brand story, unique value proposition, and how you help your customers.

A messaging strategy can help you translate your brand positioning into messages that address different segments of your target audience. Because if you write for everyone, you’re essentially writing to no one.

How to build a brand strategy in 7 steps

A well-thought-out brand strategy influences how your customers — and you — perceive your business.

Now, let’s dive into the step-by-step process of creating a brand strategy that matters to you and your audience. I’m breaking down each step, why it matters, and how you can do it yourself.

1. Audit your current brand (if any)

The first step to defining your brand strategy is assessing your current brand and how well it aligns with your objectives. A brand audit examines how your brand is positioned in the market and helps you identify what’s working,& what’s not, and find gaps for improvement.

When conducting an audit, revisit your brand foundations, such as purpose, mission, personality, etc. Is it still applicable to your business, and is it relevant in today’s world? If it’s not, work on it.

To analyse the effectiveness of your branding and marketing strategies, you can use social listening, customer/employee surveys, or interviews.

2. Research your audience and competitors

A target audience is a group of people who are most likely to benefit from or interact with your brand, offering, or message. It could be potential clients, employees, investors, or even influencers you want to collaborate with.

One method to understand the psyche of your audience is to hang out where they are. See how they talk about their pain points and identify the common objections. Aside from that, check out your competitors, what they are doing, and how you’re doing it differently or better.

This can give you an idea of what your distinct advantage is and how to position your brand as the best choice.

3. Define your brand purpose

We already discussed what brand purpose is and how it should highlight a good cause. But that doesn’t always imply the greater good of the world, such as an environmental or societal cause. It could be something more specific to your audience.

Your purpose might be related to a functional or emotional goal that matters deeply to your audience and you. When writing your brand purpose, use clear and concise language. It should clearly express why your brand exists and why it matters.

Don’t settle for the first purpose that comes to your mind. Keep asking yourself “why” until you drill it down to its core.

4. Clarify your positioning

At this stage, you should have a clear idea of what makes your brand different and why prospective clients would benefit from choosing you over others. This is your unique value proposition (UVP). Now, it’s time to determine how you want people to perceive you.

The intention with positioning is to carve out the mental space you want to occupy in your customers’ minds. Think about how and where you will talk about your UVP. Also, consider how your target audience may respond to it.

You can also use this to consistently guide your branding and marketing efforts to reinforce your desired perception.

5. Refine your personality and values

Personality and values are easily perceived from the first interaction. Now that more and more brands are adopting human traits to be more endearing, you might decide to do the same. After all, who would we be without our unique qualities?

Personality dictates how you express yourself, and it should ideally mirror the characteristics that your target audience can associate with your brand. Meanwhile, values are the core principles or beliefs that reflect what you stand for and what you believe in as a brand.

A common trap to avoid here is making it entirely about you. Instead, highlight the characteristics and views you and your audience share.

6. Carve out your brand messaging

Based on your positioning, define 3-4 key messaging pillars that emphasise how you are different from your competitors and the benefits of working with you. What is relevant to your customers may not be suitable for new hires or employees.

You need to tailor the message to target each segment of your target audience. This process can get increasingly complex if you have other stakeholders besides your customers, like employees, investors, and suppliers.

Your messaging strategy sets you up with a clear framework to put your mission, UVP, brand story, and more into words.

7. Apply consistently across all touchpoints

Many businesses struggle with consistency across all touchpoints because they don’t have a clear brand strategy. Even the lack of a clear, cohesive brand identity can be traced back to vague or incomplete strategic thinking.

While not mandatory, you can develop a document that covers the essential aspects of your brand strategy to help you and your team work towards the same goal.

One thing to note here is that brand strategy is never really complete. It should evolve with time. So, make sure to track and tweak it accordingly.

I know this can seem overwhelming or time-consuming. But a comprehensive brand strategy can set you and your business up for success. The key consideration is how you implement it.

You can learn a lot from other brands that have their strategies straight.

Does that mean you need a million-dollar budget to create an effective branding strategy? Of course, not!

You don’t need to match their scale to match their clarity and consistency.

Keep in mind that success looks different for each individual and business. So try not to fall into a comparison trap.

Next steps: Making your brand strategy actionable

You have a brand strategy, now what?

No one tells you what to do next. So, let me do the honours.

• Determine your brand direction

Brand strategy lays the foundation for building a strategic brand. Once your strategy is in place, you can define your visual identity, verbal expression, and brand behaviour.

• Document it for future reference

Once you define all the core elements, you can create a simple document or brand guidelines outlining them. This gives you and your team something to refer back to whenever needed.

• Translate it into actions

It doesn’t matter if you have a good brand strategy if you don’t use it. Use your brand strategy to guide the 7Ps of the marketing mix and create an effective marketing strategy.

• Show up consistently

The more you uncover about your business, the more confident you can be. Own your brand and show up where your audience is to position your brand as the best choice in the market.

• Play the long game

Don’t think short-term. Brand strategy can help you gain brand recognition and achieve success in the long run. Be patient and give it a reasonable time to work its magic.

• Revisit your strategy regularly

Continuously monitor how your brand is performing and if it’s contributing to your business objectives. If not, you might have to analyse why it’s not and fine-tune your branding.

Key takeaway

As of 2025, there are over 350 million businesses globally. So, it’s not surprising to imagine many of them get ignored and even go out of business. People have to notice you and constantly choose you over others.

Brand strategy provides a framework to align your business, brand, and behaviour so you can build a brand that attracts your ideal customers.

If you need help with your brand strategy, I might know just the person for the job. After all, building a brand strategy for your small business is easier with the right partner on your team.