Marketing is the lifeline of any business, and as the digital landscape continues to evolve, it becomes crucial for businesses to stay relevant and ahead of the competition. In this era of information overload, capturing the attention of target audiences has become a real challenge. This is where Brandformance comes into play—a powerful marketing strategy that combines the elements of branding and performance marketing to create a holistic approach that not only builds brand awareness but also drives tangible results.
“Your brand is your public identity, what you’re trusted for. And for your brand to endure, it has to be tested, redefined, managed, and expanded as markets evolve. Brands either learn or disappear.”- Lisa Gansky.
According to a survey by eMarketer, 56% of brands globally said combining brand and performance goals led to better marketing outcomes, compared to traditional solitary campaigns. In this article, we will delve deeper into the concept of Brandformance and understand its significance in today’s marketing landscape. We will explore four strategies to unleash the power of Brandformance, six ways to implement Brandformance and finally, we would delve into some advantages and disadvantages of Brandformance as well.
What is Brandformance?
Brandformance stands as a strategic approach to marketing expansion, positioning the brand as the focal point for scaling. This entails the formulation of an optimisation methodology designed to evaluate the efficacy of each marketing channel based on performance metrics. By establishing key performance indicators (KPIs), Brandformance aims to elevate brand awareness and drive growth.
Strategies to Unleash the Power of Brandformance:
- Align Branding with Tangible Goals: Ensure your branding efforts are purposefully connected to measurable objectives. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sales, market share, or customer acquisition. By aligning branding with these tangible goals, you create a focused strategy that directly impacts business success.
- Create Emotional Connections: Forge emotional bonds with your audience through authentic storytelling and relatable content. Develop a brand narrative that resonates with values and aspirations. Emotional connections enhance brand loyalty and customer engagement, translating into long-term success and positive word-of-mouth.
- Measure and Optimise: Implement robust analytics tools to continually assess the effectiveness of branding initiatives. Regularly monitor KPIs and consumer feedback, then optimise strategies based on insights. This iterative process ensures your brand evolves with changing market dynamics, staying relevant and impactful.
- Collaborate across Teams: Brandformance is not only a marketing endeavour as it cannot succeed without proper collaboration from the finance and legal team. If the individual functional goals are not aligned, a successful brandformance campaign cannot be accomplished. Remember it’s not just the CMO’s goal, as it’s the goal of the CFO and CLO (Chief Legal Officer) as well.
Ways to Implement Brandformance Strategy:
- Ensure comprehensive coverage of your brand in terms of both SEO and paid search (SEM) to avoid the risk of potential customers encountering competitor ads when searching for your brand online. Branded search terms often signal high awareness and potential purchase intent.
- Enhance the reach of your key creatives by utilising paid social media platforms.
- Explore the untapped potential of YouTube as a prominent channel for brand performance. Recognise that it is the second-largest search engine globally, following Google Search.
- Capitalise on content marketing by incorporating influencer collaborations and user-generated content to boost brand performance.
- Keep a vigilant eye on and experiment with unconventional tools like digital out-of-home (OOH), connected TV, podcasting, and voice search to diversify your brand performance strategy.
- Finally, integrate and blend of these various approaches for a comprehensive and effective Brandformance strategy.
A few Advantages and Disadvantages of Brandformance:
As per Nielsen’s study on advertising effectiveness, it was found that campaigns blending brand and activation strategies garner 58% larger business impacts than campaigns focussing on just one.
Advantages of Brandformance:
- Cost-Efficiency: Combines the cost of branding and performance marketing.
- Unified Strategy: Offers a more holistic approach to reach audiences.
- Innovative Campaigns: Merges traditional creative insights with digital tools, assuring engaging campaigns.
Disadvantage of Brandformance:
- Potential for Unclear Messaging: Juggling with branding and performance can sometimes muddle the core message.
The allure of Brandformance resides in its equilibrium. It skilfully reintegrates the impactful creativity often overshadowed by contemporary performance-driven strategies, all the while acknowledging the importance of cutting-edge performance tools.
In conclusion, you need to elevate your market presence and boost sales by delving into the realm of Brandformance. This innovative approach seamlessly merges the strengths of branding and performance, offering a dynamic strategy to establish a distinctive market identity. According to a recent survey conducted by the Performance Marketing Association, an impressive 68% of marketers foresee the integration of brand and performance marketing becoming the norm within the next two years. Don’t miss the opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and unlock the full potential of your marketing efforts through the powerful synergy of Brandformance.
