You may have heard it a million times before, but your brand is truly the most important component of your business. Developing a brand activation plan that is effective, engaging, and consistent is no easy feat. Although there is no cookie-cutter method to use to create a powerful brand, we break down everything you need to know while developing a brand activation plan for your tech firm.
Dive Deep
You have to start small, and slowly work towards the bigger picture by combining every little component. Before you can get close to developing your tech brand activation plan, you must dive deep into your brand to figure out what makes you, well you. What inspired your tech firm? What are your core values? What drives you to be a part of the tech industry? Essentially, you should be able to answer any and every hard-hitting question that could come your way. If you don’t know the core of your tech firm, how can you expect your customers to figure it out? Perhaps you saw inconsistencies in your niche field and thought up a cheaper, more sustainable option – highlight that in your brand activation plan. Dive deep into your brand’s identity, and make sure that it is reflected in your overall strategy.
Another crucial piece of your brand identity’s puzzle is your core values. You know what inspires your tech firm, but what are the driving values behind it? Do you value reliability and precision? Or perhaps you value knowledge and consistency? Chances are, it’s all four and then some! Defining your brand’s core values from the start is essential to being able to consistently integrate them throughout your brand activation and beyond. Your core values are the foundation that holds your brand activation plan up, so you want to make sure you nail them down correctly and integrate them consistently. Having haphazard, inconsistent core values will devalue your brand significantly by giving your customers the impression that you do not truly know what is going on within your brand. If you cannot give current and potential customers a brand experience that is pleasant and engaging, then you should not even bother. Having inconsistent core values within your brand activation plan can do more harm than good, which is why enlisting the advice and assistance of a branding firm with niche tech industry experience can come in handy.
Choose Your Team Wisely
A successful brand activation plan cannot be developed alone, which is why it is essential to build your team with careful intention. Whether you have an internal marketing team that handles everything or a team of leaders that facilitates outsourcing marketing materials, whoever is handling your brand activation plan must be able to work collaboratively, deliver consistent results, and be prepared to think outside the box. The team structure of every tech firm is different, and whether you have a more casual work culture or a more formal one, teamwork must come first. Knowledge is power, but your team should be well rounded. The more diverse your team’s knowledge is, the more diverse your ideas and opportunities will be as a result.
We know that developing a brand activation plan for your tech firm can be difficult, and being able to see it through to the execution, analysis, and optimization stages requires dedication, knowledge, and of course – teamwork. Hiring a branding firm to handle your brand activation planning, execution, and beyond can help take the stress off you and can guarantee that you have an expertly constructed strategy in place. However, not all brand activation plans are created equal, which is why you should still take care when searching for the right branding agency. You should be prepared to get a clear picture of who they are and what they have to offer your tech firm, and you should also be prepared to give them the details on your company as well. The key to success is hiring a branding firm that understands your brand from start to finish and is willing to adapt to your changing needs as you grow.
Know Your Market
You cannot successfully launch your brand activation plan without knowing who your target audience is. If you have no idea who your audience is, or worse you incorrectly identify your audience, any and every branding effort you attempt to make is going to miss the mark. In order to hit the target every time, you must know who you are targeting – who are you speaking to? What type of consumer is using your technology? What need do your products solve? Chances are you are a B2B company, which means you are not targeting individuals, but rather other companies that could have a wide range of needs. You should be able to identify what industries you serve, in what capacity, and what they are looking to you for.
Once you have identified your audience, you need to get to know their communication styles so that you can speak their language. You could have the perfect brand activation plan that appeals perfectly to your audience, but if you do not deliver it correctly, you risk missing the mark and being worse off than where you started. There are many benefits to being in touch with your target audience and having an appropriate brand activation plan requires knowing how to speak to them. Once again, this is where bringing in a specialist to help can serve you well. Niche branding agencies have the knowledge and tools to effectively identify and engage your correct audience, and have the experience to keep your strategies up to date as your audience evolves and grows.
Size Up the Competition
In order to enter the game with your brand activation plan, you need to get a clear understanding of your competitors. What do they excel at? What do they offer to your audiences? How are they executing their brand? This is important for two key reasons: to avoid copying their brand and to make sure your efforts are original and, well, better. Sizing up the competition is a great way to not only see what everyone else is doing, but also allows you to see what has been done before and maybe did not work. This allows you to get straight to the point with your strategy and reduces the amount of “trial and error” that you have to go through. Your brand activation plan, and brand in general, should be relevant to your market and unique enough to stand out. It does not stop there though, you need to be able to keep their attention and engagement once you have caught their eye, and basically prove that you do tech better than the rest. If everyone is claiming to be the best, how are your customers supposed to know who is genuine? Hint: by the additional branding components and content. Hitting the market with a brand activation plan that has been carefully cross referenced and compared to the competition to ensure originality is far more successful than introducing your brand as one of the many similar tech firms that all do the same thing.
Bottom Line: Take Your Time
Rome was not built in a day, and neither are brand activation plans. The key to a successful brand activation plan is patience and commitment. You must dedicate yourself to understanding your brand on the deepest, most personal level and work from the ground up to devise a strategy that works towards your goals. This can become quite time-consuming, especially for new tech firms that are trying to get every single other component of the company up and running. Most tech firms choose to outsource their brand activation plan to an experienced branding agency that has the knowledge and tools to effectively market in the technology industry. Hiring a branding agency to handle your brand activation plan can take the stress of you and your team, so that you can focus on your products and customers. A half-effort brand will result in half-effort results – getting your brand activation plan right from the start will save you substantial time and money in the long run.
About Millennium Agency
Millennium Agency is a nationally recognized, top woman led B2B branding, positioning, and digital marketing firm who knows how to create value that emotionally influences your customer’s buying decision, giving you the competitive advantage. As your trusted partner in B2B software technology and manufacturing, we provide the branding and positioning framework that make an impact – so you can focus on what you do best – run your business successfully. With offices in Boston and New Hampshire, and a worldwide presence, the professionals at Millennium Agency would like to learn more about your business. Visit www.mill.agency or book time here.
