Branding Isn’t What You Say It Is.
Branding doesn’t have to be a subject we either shy away from (we’re not big enough of an organization or we can’t afford to brand) or we go all in and blow budgets and resources to try the latest and greatest (overbranding).
Branding at its core should be a strategic conversation between the organization and its customers. It shouldn't be what the CEO thinks it should be and it certainly shouldn’t be based on the latest trends, fads, or trending topics on Twitter.
Branding needs to be about what your customers want. As Marty Neiumuer says, who I’ll be quoting a lot says, it’s not what YOU say it is, it’s what THEY say it is.
Let’s break this concept down a bit so we can truly understand the impact this has.
As business leaders, entrepreneurs, or even marketers, we go into projects full-steam ahead. Sometimes we have great data to help inform our decisions, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we have data and we glaze over it and sometimes we just kinda say enough with all this data.
Regardless of your stance on data (that’s a different post for a different day), the only set of data (or one of the only) we should be looking at when it comes to your brand is the data that comes directly from your audience.
Now I know what you’re probably thinking, Steven, we don’t have the resources or funds to conduct that kind of research. To that, I say rubbish (said in my best English accent).
Every brand on earth has the opportunity to pressure test with their audience and gain valuable feedback. In the big agency world, we might refer to this as an ATU report. ATU stands for “attitude, trial, and usage” and essentially, it’s a report that gauges how well your brand is liked, performing, and resonating with your audience.
Brand gold if you ask me.
While big brands and big firms spend millions to obtain this data, here are a few ways you can create your own ATU report.
Make a schedule of the year on when you will be generating this report. Is it monthly? Quarterly? 2x year? Whatever you decide, stick to it
If you worry about your audience responding, try incentivizing them. Gift cards work great or perhaps a coupon to your store. The minor investment you make here will pay back dividends with the data you’ll receive.
Decide on a platform. Google Forms is a great place to start. So is SurveyMonkey and TypeForm. Some platforms have features that others don’t, but again, we want this to be easy to pull through.
Decide on 5-10 of the most important questions you want to ask your audience. Refine them as needed but make it so they can answer in a way that is easy to understand from your end. I recommend Yes/No questions, using a Likert scale (on a scale of 1 to 10), or even a drop-down with predetermined answers. It’ll make the data easier to consume.
Send it out to your audience multiple times through multiple platforms. Email, social, text, direct mail — whatever it is, make sure they have clear instructions and understand the cut-off date.
Send and wait for the amazing data to come in.
Analyze the data for trends and see how your audience is resonating and responding to your brand.
Course correct and pivot as needed, repeat often
While not rocket science, there is an art & science behind getting these surveys to foster the right data back to the brand. It’s going to take repetition and some finesse. It’s also going to take time to get into a cadence where this is just part of the process of connecting with your audience.
Will it be easy? No. But it’ll be worth it because remember… A brand is NOT what you say it is. It’s what THEY say it is.
- Steven
Have a question you want to ask? Need additional clarification? Hit the reply button and ask away. It’s part of my mission to respond to every email that comes through.