How to build and measure your brand’s success

Your brand is the foundation of your business, influencing everything from customer perception to market share. But what exactly makes a successful brand, and how do you go about building and measuring its success?

This guide will delve into the core elements of a strong brand, explore key metrics for measuring brand health, and provide you with practical resources to build a brand that resonates with your target audience and drives success.

What is a brand?

A brand is much more than just a company logo or a product label. It's the sum of all the experiences, emotions, and perceptions that a consumer has about a particular product, service, or organization. It's the story you tell, the values you represent, and the personality you project.

Think of your brand as a living, breathing entity – a person you'd like to do business with. What are their core values? How do they communicate with others? What kind of experience do they want to leave you with?

Here's why a strong brand goes beyond the surface:

• Emotional connection: Strong brands build trust and loyalty by connecting with consumers on an emotional level. They make us feel something, whether it's happiness, security, or a sense of belonging.
• Differentiation: In a crowded marketplace, a strong brand helps you stand out from the competition. It clarifies what makes you unique and why someone should choose your product / service.

Building a strong brand

A strong brand is a powerful asset. From increased sales and market share to customer loyalty and advocacy, knowing how to successfully build and track your brand presents a strong foundation for reaching marketing and business goals.

Here are the key elements to consider:

• Identity: This is the core essence of your brand – its personality, values, and beliefs. It's the DNA that shapes everything you do, from your logo and messaging to your customer service interactions.
• Messaging: Your brand message is the story you want to tell the world. It should be clear, concise, and consistent across all your communication channels. It should also resonate with your target audience and connect with their needs and desires.
• Positioning: This is all about how you want your brand to be perceived in the marketplace. Where do you fit in compared to your competitors? What unique value proposition do you offer?
• Experience: Every touchpoint a customer has with your brand contributes to their overall experience. This includes everything from their initial interaction with your website to their post-purchase interactions.

By focusing on these core elements, you can build a strong brand that connects with your target audience, fosters trust, and drives business success.

Measuring your brand’s health

Brand health is an essential measure of a brand’s effectiveness and market presence; it’s about understanding a brand’s overall performance in the eyes of consumers and in the marketplace.

Brand health tracking involves assessing various brand health metrics to establish a complete picture of your brand’s current position and where it could improve.

The happier your customers, the stronger your brand health. If you’re delivering on your promises, you’ll perform well across brand health metrics.

Core brand health metrics include Advertising Awareness, Net Promoter Score (or Recommendation), Word of Mouth, Purchase Intent, Consideration, Customer Satisfaction, Quality, Value and more. These metrics are designed to evaluate every stage of the consumer purchase funnel, and your media and communications profile.

Measuring these metrics usually involves brand research through online surveys or questionnaires, social listening tools and qualitative research with focus groups. An effective brand health survey measures sentiments and responses from your current audience, target customers and the general population, providing insights into what they think, feel, and say about your brand.

To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of resources offering insights into how you can set your brand up for success and track and monitor its performance in today's competitive market.

From awareness and perception to customer advocacy and how to achieve it, our content library provides practical know-how, designed for marketers and brand managers ready to make a real impact. Additional resources:

• How to measure brand awareness: measuring brand awareness is essential for understanding your brand's market presence and how effectively you're reaching potential customers. In this how-to guide, we delve into how you can measure, track, and leverage brand awareness to your advantage.

• How to track your brand health: brand health tracking combines various brand health metrics to provide a comprehensive view of your overall brand performance and the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. Here we’ll explore each of the key components and how to measure them.

• Six ways to grow your brand with custom research: discover how to enhance your brand’s presence and impact. This guide covers the essentials of monitoring brand health, improving customer strategies, optimizing product performance, and applying YouGov’s Custom Research for actionable insights.

• How do you measure the value of a product placement? In this article, we’ll discuss the intricacies of product placement, from defining what it is and examining notable examples, to understanding its cost to the unique approach of measuring its value through advertising value equivalency and YouGov’s Placement Quality Scoring (PQS).

• Are in-game brand activations worth it? This article analyzes why in-game brand activations are so powerful and details best practices for planning and measuring results.

• UK best brand rankings 2024: YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings Report 2024 uncovers the top 10 and top 10 most improved brands in in the UK.

• US best brand rankings 2024: YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings Report 2024 uncovers the top 10 and top 10 most improved brands in in the US.