BRAND STRATEGY
Connect With Your Target Market. Win Over The Competition.
WHY BRAND STRATEGY IN MARKETING
Brand strategy is the foundation for all healthcare marketing, but it’s often a gap for start-ups and mature companies alike. Without devloping a brand strategy, messaging is inconsistent and fails to resonate; trust and credibility are lost, and acquiring and retaining customers become even more challenging. Campaigns fail to gain traction, sales teams can’t close deals, and growth slows.
CLAIM YOUR UNIQUE SPACE
A brand strategy can allow your company to carve out your unique place in the market, determine where you offer the most value, and develop brand messaging that connects with your target market and encourages them to take action. In fact, companies with a well-defined brand strategy can expect to see revenue increase by 10 to 20%.
THE ROADMAP FOR HEALTHCARE MARKETING GROWTH
Brand strategy includes the many intangible areas that—when clearly identified—transform companies into memorable, standout brands. Health tech companies have a comprehensive understanding of the brand, why it exists, what it stands for, who it is for, and how to win over the competition.
With brand strategy, companies determine what makes them unique, where they need to be, and what’s next. It serves as the playbook that guides the C-suite, marketing, public relations, and sales on everything the brand stands for and the messaging behind it.
Key benefits of brand strategy:
Establish your unique position in a crowded market.
Differentiate your brand from your competitors.
Identify why the brand exists—and why your customers should care.
Build recognition, trust, and loyalty.
Create consistent messaging across channels.
Drive long-term growth.
KEY ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE BRAND STRATEGY
Brand Messaging Framework
Get clarity on who the brand is, why it exists, what makes it unique, what it stands for, and where it is headed (finally). The core components of a brand messaging framework allow for consistent messaging that fosters trust and credibility with your market, allows you stand out from the competition, and ensure every team is aligned. The framework includes your Why statement, brand positioning statement, mission, vision, unique value proposition (UVP), brand pillars, proof points, brand promise, and elevator pitch.
Brand Personality & Archetype
These two characteristics distinguish and humanize the brand and make it attractive and relatable. When customers connect with your brand on an emotional level, they build an attachment to—and affinity for—the brand.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice guidelines explain how the brand communicates and expresses itself, how you say the message, and the feeling the brand conjures. These guidelines help your brand build trust, forge emotional connections, sound unmistakably human (even when AI is in the mix), and can even be a factor when buyers decide you over the competition.
Buyer Personas
Also known as a customer avatar, each buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. Buyer personas allow you to understand your customers’ needs, pain points, challenges, and objections so you can attract and retain the right accounts, build better connections, and tailor your message according to who you’re speaking to.
The Hero’s Journey
A common narrative structure, The Hero’s Journey is a way to tell the story of how the protagonist goes on a quest to achieve a goal, encounters obstacles along the way, has a guide (your brand) to give them a plan, and ultimately returns home transformed. The Hero’s Journey supports brand storytelling and helps your team develop effective narratives that can be used in marketing and sales.
Tagline
The tagline is a short, memorable, pithy phrase that communicates the brand’s purpose and positioning. It captures what your brand stands for, it delivers your brand promise, and it can drive instant recognition.
THE PROCESS
KICK-OFF
We’ll initiate our engagement with an intake survey, meeting with your team to align on the process, scope, and timeline, and review existing materials.
DISCOVERY & RESEARCH
We’ll hold workshops with your team to uncover valuable insights, conduct interviews with internal stakeholders and customers, and perform market and competitive research. We’ll then summarize and present our key findings to your team.
BRAND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
We’ll then get to work on the key elements of brand strategy and present them. Once we receive your feedback, we’ll make any edits and deliver the finished product.
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Frequently asked questions
We have brand guidelines. Isn’t that the same thing as brand strategy?
People often use branding, brand identity, and brand strategy interchangeably. Branding is the process of developing the brand and shaping the perception in the market. Branding has two parts: brand strategy and brand identity. Brand strategy defines the brand’s meaning, why it exists, who it is for, and how to win over the competition. It allows you to understand your target audience and how to connect with them. It helps you identify the overlap between how the brand wants to be perceived versus how customers perceive it. Brand identity, on the other hand, is the visual side of branding. Think: your logo, colors, typography, and more all pulled together in your brand guidelines.
Why do we need a brand strategy?
Brand strategy is an essential first step for marketing, sales, and business growth. It’s the blueprint for your company that allows you to understand who the brand is, why the brand exists, how to connect with your customers, and how to stand out from the competition. An effective brand strategy builds brand equity, recognition, and trust—leading customers to purchase, become brand loyalists, and refer you to others. Brand strategy is also the north star for making business decisions, and choosing opportunities that align with your goals, purpose and positioning, instead of reacting to new ideas that could lead you down the wrong path.
What if we also need visual identity?
No problem! I can bring on talented, trusted partners to manage the visual identity portion of our engagement.
How long does a brand strategy engagement take?
The timeline often depends on the availability of your marketing team, internal stakeholders, and customers, and my current client load, but most projects last between 6-8 weeks.
What types of companies do you work with?
My brand strategy services are best suited for small healthcare companies in home health, digital health, health and wellness, healthcare engagement, employee benefits, provider groups, including concierge medicine practices, and healthcare marketing firms.
What do we need to do before we start?
I’ll ask to review relevant, existing content and collateral. I’ll also need a list of your internal stakeholders and customers, but I’ll take the lead with scheduling our meetings, interviews, and workshops.
What do we need to do before we start?
I’ll ask to review relevant, existing content and collateral. I’ll also need a list of your internal stakeholders and customers, but I’ll take the lead with scheduling our meetings, interviews, and workshops.
How much does brand strategy cost?
Brand strategy engagements cost between $3,000-$6,000 depending on scope.
Can you send us examples?
Yes, please send me an email to request a sample.
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