Ask any CEO about the importance of long-term thinking, and they’ll agree it’s crucial. Ask any CMO about the importance of brand and marketing spend and they’ll say the same. So why do many organisations fall into the trap of short-term marketing?
Rooting out complexity, especially when it comes to brand focus, is only possible by taking a strategic and structured approach. Businesses that follow this path will reap the rewards of improved productivity, customer focus and achieve a competitive advantage.
The building materials supply business is anything but usual right now. It’s more important than ever for builders’ merchants to fast-track to a fitter future with a digital marketing strategy.
To help shape your brand’s future success you need to start planning strategically. Asking the right questions isn’t just a good place to start, it’s vital.
Your most important brand strategy: action. Essentially, brand strategy comes down to two core elements: what you do, and why you are doing it.
There is a surprising fact about strategies that most organisations, large and small, have in common: they don’t have one. The sharper your strategy, the more difference you will see – especially to your profits.
When you think of a builders’ merchants, you probably don’t think of an advanced eCommerce website and digital marketing strategy. But why not? Everyone else in retail is using them.
Ironically, even people who work in branding often struggle to answer this question. That’s why, at CMDi, we have created a useful metaphor to help everyone in the built environment sector understand what is mean by a “brand”.
In its simplest form, your brand is your company’s reputation: the way it is perceived by people; specifically, by your target audience. Yet perception is anything but simple.
Builders’ merchants depend on one constant to survive: that their business continues to be the go-to supplier for builders in their area. Obvious? Yes. Easy? No.
