6 Strategies To Ensure Your Brand Out-Thinks The Competition
Getting the most bang for your buck isn’t about an all-singing, all-dancing campaign, it’s about working from the ground up. That means a strong framework that provides both you and your team with a clear and concise roadmap from day one. It is with this structure in place, you get to your point-of-difference. And this is where you out-think your competitors.
1. Put data first
From understanding the consumer journey to spotting trends, data is pivotal to how your brand stays one step ahead. Putting data at the heart of your planning and strategy forces you to measure everything and continually learn.
At BBT, on every single campaign we sink our teeth into, we are constantly evaluating performance; striving to understand consumer’s behaviours, and what motivates them on a daily basis. We see how these change throughout the customer journey, and we adapt and learn.
Where we win is in seeing how it can unlock new business. We can pinpoint future customers shaped by an understanding of their wants and needs, all leading to more focused targeting.
2. Define a clear hypothesis
Often overlooked in business, the humble hypothesis has a lot going for it. My experience has shown me that taking the time to define one helps structure ideas, achieve better results, and avoid time-wasting.
A clear hypothesis should be testable, address conversion barriers and aim to gain valuable marketing insights. Never phrase it as a question, but as a statement that can be rejected or confirmed. Base it on rationale and always be aiming for learnings about your users, regardless of whether the test wins, loses or is inconclusive. One key metric, one clear outcome.
3. Be courageous with creative
No matter how smart your strategy, if you aren’t commanding attention with your creativity, you aren’t getting anywhere.
Over the years, I’ve learned to put more and more trust in my creative team. Because new ideas mean new opportunities and more importantly, new business. I am often surprised to see how thinking in an entirely creative sense better aligns with audience’s emerging behaviours. Let your creatives breathe, your business will thank you for it.
4. Update the technology toolbelt
Many brands are being held back by old systems and processes. You can’t avoid it, good technology is critical to good business. To put yourself up there with the titan teams, you need to think about the software solutions that are going to help you bring new and enhanced strategies into play.
Investing in the right platforms and analytics tools is how you stabilise, but also how you become more agile and dynamic. The right software helps you crystalise the process, and will change the way you make strategically informed decisions.
5. Focus on concentrated targeting
Investing where your audience is most actively engaged is a no-brainer. But when your competitors are doing the same, you’re likely to come to a lot of the same conclusions.
With this in mind, over-fragmentation is not the answer. Better to reach fewer people with the right message if they are the right audience, than reaching more people and have none of them engage or remember you. Clearly determining your digital strategy in this sense is imperative if you want to succeed in today’s climate.
6. Find the right partner
There is so much to be said for the right partnership. And while it can be tempting to appoint a few specialist agencies, appointing one you have a strong relationship with, and who cares about your business and the challenges it faces, has way more value.
Definitively, with structure comes clarity. Actionable steps that lead to revolution. Because, in a way, to top-trump your competitors, your brand needs to be its own revolution. It needs to subvert the usual way of doing things, with systematic process as its backbone.
