Future-proof your brand: Essential steps for the new year
The start of a new year is always an exciting time. It’s the perfect opportunity to take a step back and assess your current business strategies, what is working, and what isn’t working and to make a plan going forward for the new year. One of the best ways to set yourself up for success this year is by taking the time to prep your brand so that it’s ready to meet the demands of the coming year. Here are some tips on how to get started:
Assess your target market
The most important thing you can do when prepping your brand for the new year is to focus on your target market and existing customer base.
Ask yourself questions:
Who are they? What do they need? What are their pain points?
Whilst you may know “who” your customers are, has that definition changed at all since the start of last year?
Do you serve a different customer type better or have had better outcomes?
Do you enjoy working with a certain type of customer more?
You should also ask yourself how you can tailor your products or services in order to better meet your customers needs. By understanding who your customers are and what they want, you will be able to make changes and adjustments that will help ensure that you remain competitive.
Review your brand strategy
Next take some time to review your current brand strategy and goals in order to determine what areas could use improvement.
Identify what has changed since the last review. Take note of any changes that have occurred in the market, consumer preferences and expectations, or any other external factors that may affect your brand strategy.
Assess whether your business goals and objectives are still relevant. Consider whether the objectives laid out in your brand strategy still reflect the direction you are taking your business and what you want to achieve and if they are still applicable given any changes that have occurred since the last review.
Analyse which tactics need adjusting or replacing. Take a look at which tactics have been successful and which could use some additional attention or revising based on last years data and any trends that have emerged since the last review.
Don’t have a brand strategy? Get in touch with Gem Media.
Review any data analytics
Data analytics are essential when it comes to assessing performance metrics and understanding customer behaviour patterns.
There are numerous tools available (such as Google Analytics) which provide valuable insights about web traffic, conversions rates, user engagement, etc., all of which can be used to inform decisions about product development or marketing efforts going forward.
Additionally, social media analytics such as Instagram Insights offer data about user demographics, follower growth rate, interactions with posts, etc., which can be used to inform marketing campaigns across various platforms.
Frequently monitoring your data helps you to stay ahead of the curve of any industry trends or competitors’ strategies and will give you valuable insights into how to stay ahead of the game and be prepared for changes in the market.
If you don’t have any data to review or do not know where to start, start with what were the common questions customers or prospective customers would repetitively ask you?
Develop your brand strategy
Once you have identified your target audience, reviewed your brand strategy and assessed your data, it’s time to develop your strategy for meeting those needs.
From the trend analysis you did in the previous step, what are some of the trends you found?
Can you see any patterns with what was asked?
Take some time to come up with ideas about how you can potentially fill those gaps in knowledge with education, a product, or with advertising.
Identify any opportunities for growth. Brainstorm new ideas for how you can diversify or expand your brand presence in the market to differentiate your business from others in the same industry and stand out from the competition.
Knowing how to differentiate your brand from your competitors with allow you to make more strategic investments in marketing activities that differentiate you from the competition is essential for standing out from the crowd.
Research any trends in technology or design that could help improve your product or service offering and look into any potential partnerships or collaborations that could give you an edge over competitors.
Additionally, consider whether any pricing structures need to be adjusted, or if there is anything else that could be done to optimise the customer experience.
Make a plan for your new brand strategy.
Assign new tasks or prioritise existing ones as needed to take action on any changes you want or need to make to align with your new objectives. Set clear goals around new tasks that should be completed, assign them accordingly among team members if you have any, and provide deadlines for completion so everyone is on track with the work.
Make sure all stakeholders involved are on board with the revised plan - this will differ for each business but could involve your operations manager, graphic designer, developer, marketing executive etc. depending on what work needs to be done and what you can do yourself.
Once you've identified areas for improvement, make sure to communicate those changes to everyone involved in order to ensure everyone is working towards achieving the same vision for success in the future.
Prepping your brand for the new year doesn't have to be complicated—it just requires some thoughtful planning and strategising on your part. By focusing on understanding who your customers are and what their needs are, developing an effective strategy based on those insights, and utilising data analytics tools wherever possible—you'll be setting yourself up for success in the coming year. With these few simple steps, you’ll be able to maximise profitability while providing customers with an excellent service experience throughout the coming year.
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