It is every marketing department’s dream to have that “aha” moment and realize what your marketing strategy has been missing. In reality, these moments very rarely come from sheer luck and are much more likely to be the result of careful reflection on curated research data. So when we talk about untapped brand potential, we aren’t just talking about taking a shot at a new branding strategy for the hell of it. Identifying untapped potential can be accomplished through the careful usage of cutting edge brand positioning research tools, customer experience management, and more.
Today, we will review how to identify brand weaknesses as a gateway to potential strengths, identifying untapped markets for growth, and how to utilize market research to create a plan of action which will improve overall brand strength.
Identifying Brand Weakness as Potential Opportunity
As with many things in life and in business, the greatest untapped potential stems from existing weaknesses. The first step towards identifying potential brand opportunities is often identifying your brand’s weaknesses. Brand potential can be found in unexpected places. A mistake that many marketing professionals make is to enter this process with assumptions that may or may not align with reality. To avoid this self-bias, try to hunt for brand weaknesses/opportunities with an open mind. Methods of finding brand weakness include:
- Talking to unsatisfied customers. If anyone is an expert on what your products, services, or branding efforts are missing, it is likely your customers who have either left you or have expressed dissatisfaction. This can be accomplished by reading through negative online reviews, conducting interviews, and more.
- Measure brand metric realities vs. brand projections. Every strong branding strategy should come packaged with projections for different metrics. Struggling to close sales but getting higher than expected click rates? Your site might be the problem. Have high conversion rates but low traffic? Perhaps low brand awareness or SEO concerns are to blame.
- Perform a competitive assessment. Something can only be considered weak if it is weaker than another thing which is strong. Your brand’s weaknesses can also be thought of as areas where you are losing to the competition. Competitive assessments should always be included in a fully fledged brand analysis.
Untapped Markets and Potential for Brand Growth
Today’s market is as volatile as ever. We don’t necessarily mean volatile in the sense of stock market volatility as much as customer patterns and breakneck industry shifts. To keep up with this reality, successful marketers should always be on the lookout for untapped markets as they rise and fall. Consider the now often mocked “millennials are killing the _____ industry” articles. While these may have moved into the realm of self-parody, the concept is true. Consumer behaviors are both killing and creating entire industries at a record breaking pace. Here are a few ways to identify untapped markets and therefore untapped brand potential:
Perform comprehensive market analyses to identify customer behavior. The sheer amount of data in the marketing world today can be overwhelming. The key here is to perform comprehensive market research with the specific goal of identifying untapped markets.
Read up on industry trends. Relying on market analyses is great, but it can sometimes lead to overlooking the old fashioned methods of reading industry newsletters, online journals, or even just keeping up with social media trends. Awareness and action create a cycle of customer behavior. Ignoring what your potential customers are talking about is an untapped potential in and of itself.
Begin with your current business model and identify where you are missing potential customers. This might almost sound like restating the problem, and perhaps it is. Yet the exercise of finding your existing customers and comparing that information to the overall market can give a rough idea of where potential customers are being missed.
Turning Untapped Market Potential Into Sales
Of course none of this information will do your business any good without actionable takeaways. Identifying untapped brand potential is step one in a process of using brand metrics to promote brand growth. Brand growth is ultimately a way to convert more potential customers into sales. For example, if your brand positioning research reveals that your customers go with the competition because of their perceived higher quality, future branding materials can be adjusted to focus on the product itself rather than the lifestyle.
Another example might be a shoe company with superior products but inferior brand perception. If your sneakers outperform the competition on the court but underperform the competition on social media, that is leaving sales on the table. Turning to influencers, amping up social media marketing campaigns, or even making alterations to brand personality are all options here.
Clock Tower Insight Marketing Research Tools for Brand Growth
At Clock Tower Insight, we turn data into business solutions. By maximizing brand positioning, CX management, moments of influence, and more, we help build our clients brands in the short and long term. Clock Tower Insight believes that happy customers equal a happy business. We work closely with clients to tailor their brand from top to bottom in order to maximize positive image, exposure, and sales.
To learn more about how we may be able to help your business grow, read about our 15 plus years of focused experience working with brands such as Starbucks, Kraft, McDonald’s, and much more.