Winning Brand Strategies for Startups: Quality Over Quantity
One common branding myth I encounter regularly with our health and wellness clients is this, "If it worked for them, it should work for us." Or, alternatively phrased, "We want to do this because they did it."
There is a fundamental belief that many startups have when looking at their strategic brand marketing for the first time. They believe that if larger companies found success growing using specific tactics, they should adopt those, too. But, when running a startup, you should not necessarily follow the strategies of medium to larger organizations that came before you. Be inspired. Take queues. Plant seeds down the line. But, don’t use their strategy to create yours. Don’t create a strategy because they did it. It won't work.
It might be obvious that if you’re in the 2nd grade you shouldn’t be attempting high school homework. Somehow, we lose this perspective as founding leaders. We look to the giants and those ahead of us for direction on how to proceed. I’ve done this. We’ve all done this. It’s human nature to want to learn from the best. I mean, if they built an 8-figure brand, then we should take their lessons, right?
Yes and no. But, more no than yes. Here’s why: Your season of business, target consumers, and business goals should always eclipse what everyone else is doing. Especially as a startup.
I’ve seen so many clients come to us after using the strategy playbook of much larger brands with much larger budgets, only to come up short. This inevitably fails because the execution doesn't translate or deliver for their season of business.
Your season of business should be directing your strategy, budget, hypothesis, and marketing efforts.
Don’t assume a good strategy is executing someone else's "successful" tactics wrapped in your design, voice, and product or service. A well-defined health and wellness brand strategy is driven by your specific goals, target consumers, the market at large, and the season of business. If you’re ready to create a strategic pathway to revenue and profits tailored to your specific business needs, let’s chat. Our holistic framework drives measurable results that move the needle.
Here are three key reasons you should not follow a “because they did it” brand marketing strategy:
They have deep pockets and long runways.
Larger, more funded brands with deep teams are focused on omnichannel strategies with multiple touchpoints. This is a quantity-focused strategy. And, they have the budget runway and heads to make it happen. As a startup, you likely don’t yet. Your strategic brand approach should map to your budget, resources, and expertise, not theirs.
When you try to fit their strategy on for size, the execution loses impact. While some tactics successfully span across all seasons of business, entirely focusing on these will not get you the results you need. With a smaller marketing budget that needs to work harder for you, don't underestimate the power of developing a strategic brand roadmap.
2. They don’t always get it right. What worked before might not work today.
According to the latest report from Gartner, this omnichannel approach adopted by large organizations has driven marketing budgets into the red. Beautifully, well-orchestrated, gazillion touchpoints have delivered less profit in the past three years than expected. CMOs are starting to pivot.
Sure, the context of the post-COVID economy and macroeconomic factors are one of these reasons, but equally important, consumer behavior has changed in response to the ever-present pervasive marking messages around every corner.
As marketers invest more and more, customers are engaging less and less.
Don't assume larger brands have it all figured out - they, too, are trying to find the best path to success - especially in today's market. Everyone is working to stay agile as markets do their thing, but they have longer to figure it out and recover because of their size and scale. As a startup, you have to fail forward or immediately pivot. Their definition of agile and your definition of agile are continents apart. Sometimes, you can only be as agile as your balance sheet allows. As you know, one of the top reasons startups fail is they run out of runway.
3. They have fundamentally different goals because they have customers and awareness.
Report after report shows that too many consumer touchpoints are putting consumers off. When I think as a consumer, and not a brand marketer, I agree. We’re in a state of oversaturation in the health and wellness industry. Especially with larger celebrity-driven wellness and beauty brands that have fatigued the market.
As a startup looking to build traction, more brand marketing activations are just more, not necessarily better. In the early startup days, your brand strategy should focus on meaningful connections that make a powerful impression on your target consumers so they learn how you are different and the value you deliver.
To keep your budgets in check, and build sustainable consumer connections, you should focus on delivering 1 to 2 meaningful and impactful customer experiences over eight mediocre ones.
Once you build and prove your quality consumer touchpoints, then you begin to scale what worked best and focus on quantity. Use the quality approach to learn, tweak, and develop the right messaging, positioning, and experiences that measurably move the needle. Use it as your brand strategy testing ground.
Larger brands already have an audience and customer base familiar with their value. They don’t have the burden of awareness that you do. And they have considerable consumer data to drive their decision-making process that you likely don't yet. You're not in the same place, so don't take the same strategic approach.
Conclusion
Marketing changes as consumer behavior evolves. Developing strategies relevant to current health and wellness consumer expectations, and having foresight into market and culture trends, is how you cultivate sustainable growth as a startup. It's also how you stay ahead and learn to become proactive instead of reactive.
When you’re focused on the MVP, hitting your minimum numbers, and raising the next round, don’t lose sight of tactics specific to your season of business. If you skip over insights gleaned in consumer strategy, you might meet your goals in the short term only to run out of runway a year down the line. Take the time today to get it right, measure, and iterate.
Our health and wellness marketing agency develops forward-looking brand marketing and product positioning that will get you to the next level of growth so you can build more runway and grow years down the line. Schedule a chat to learn more.
