First of all, let me explain what branding is *not* according to me:
1) it is not advertising
2) it is not agency, creative, awards
3) it is not prime time commercials
4) it is not viral social media posts
5) it is not performance marketing
At a broader level, the above list are accelerators which can amplify a good or a bad branding.
Branding is the perception that is created through..
– a great product or
– an even amazing customer experience or
– reputation
.. such that people talk positively about your brand contextually without any incentive.
More simply put – it’s an organic word of mouth.
Unless your business is growing without advertising spend, you do not have a brand. It’s that simple.
So, how will I calculate ROI on branding investments and efforts.
It’s simple:
1) are you having repeat business. This is necessary as a precursor to referral/word of mouth.
2) how much business is generated through organic word-of-mouth
Some simple indicators are:
– increasing LTV/CAC (i.e. Life time value : cost of acquiring a customer)
– reducing CAC (in a market where all kinds of marketing spend are increasing, if your CAC is reducing, it is probably due to good word of mouth)
This brings into limelight the three most important things:
1) are we creating the right product to solve the right problem?
2) are we delivering the most amazing customer experience? (compared to the positioning you created and hence the expectation that you set in the first place)
3) are we able to trigger the recall at the right time for contextual word of mouth (this is the only one which needs a little advertising!)
This has been and will continue to be the playbook of Indus Net Technologies (INT.) in years to come.
It’s no secret. We are happy to share the secret sauce publicly. It’s the execution that matters 😅
What is your way to create a superior brand? Do share your secrets!