The Difference Between a Business Strategy, Brand Strategy, and Content Strategy

Every growing brand needs three foundational strategies — a business strategy, a brand strategy, and a content strategy — and they must be built in sequence to work. But let's start with definitions first.

Unlike the military-style definition of strategy often found online, a strategy in business is simply a collection of deliberate choices for how a brand will show up in the world to achieve specific results. And there are many ways a brand must show up for its stakeholders to move a business and brand forward in the right direction. Below are three strategies that all growing brands should have:

A Business Strategy

A business strategy is part of a business plan informed by a business's business model. According to the Houston Chronicle, a business model is a “business’s rationale and plan for making a profit.” The business model answers the question, "How does a business plan to make money?" A few example business models include the following truncated list from NerdWallet and Inc Magazine:

• Subscription model

• Bundling model

• Freemium model with upgrades

• Product-to-service model

• Leasing model

• BOGO (buy one, get one or give one) model

• Franchise model

• Distribution model

• Manufacturer model

• Retailer model

• Services operating model

• Advertiser model

• Product pricing model

• Tiered pricing model

• Percent of transaction model

A business's business model should be complemented with information on two (2) of the 5Ps of marketing — product and price. What's being offered? At what cost? How will it be sold? And what will you do to make the business model profitable?

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

"Who really needs a lengthy business plan that will likely just become a forgotten file on a computer? "

You do.

It's important for successful branding and marketing when done properly.

Properly Approaching a Business Strategy

Properly means conducting market and audience research to assess a business's viability and whether its target market is large enough to meet the brand's goals. It also means ensuring a business has not only an external mission statement but also an internal one.

An internal mission statement explains how a brand plans to achieve its internal vision statement, which focuses on the brand's future growth prospects, while an external vision statement expresses the lofty, most ideal future a brand wants to create for its target audience, with the external mission statement outlining how to achieve it.

Properly also means having a full grasp of a brand's target audience profile. You should want to know as much as you can about them, as you need in-depth insights on a brand's target audience for messaging, branding, and marketing.

Now, if you don't have this information, it's easier than ever to get the information you need. Get an AI Audience Persona from Messaging Oracle™ with 140+ strategic data points and insights. Leverage an enterprise-level audience persona, backed by strategy, innovation, and creative intuition, to guide the most crucial business decisions and serve as a compass for targeted communication, optimized product development, and stronger brand loyalty.

A Brand Strategy

A brand strategy is a plan for building a brand, ideally developed before launch, that includes an audience persona and profile detailing consumer demographics, psychographics, attitudes, and behaviors, and supports a brand's business strategy.

A brand strategy also shapes a brand's messaging, content strategy, and verbal identity — mission, vision, positioning, and value statements — as well as brand strategy elements such as a brand mantra, promise, reason for existing, tagline, pillars, benefits, and elevator pitch. Elements that are used to inform a brand's personality and visual identity, such as its brand colors and typography, which in branding is influenced by the work of archetypal psychologists, like Carl Jung, expressed through brand archetypes.

There are 60 brand personalities a brand may align with.

Brand Archetypes

People Who Want to: Leave a Legacy | Be Remembered

The Outlaw—think Missy Elliott, Lil Nas X, or Stacey Abrams—desiring liberation. Also known as the Activist, Gambler, Maverick, or Reformer.

Values: Liberation, change, righteousness, independence.

The Magician — think Disney Imagineer, Lanny Smoot, Dasia Taylor, or Arlyne Simon —providing unbelievable transformations. Also known as the Alchemist, Engineer, Innovator, or Scientist.

Values: transformation, oneness, curiosity, manifesting, magical moments, self-preservation

The Hero — think Mohammad Ali, John Lewis, or Nanisca of The Woman King — inspiring others to feel empowered and succeed in reaching their ambitions. Also known as the Athlete, Liberator, Rescuer, or Warrior.

Values: mastery, courage, strength, stamina, goodness, redemption, transformation

People Who Want to: Provide Structure

The Caregiver — think Iyanla Vanzant, Supernanny Jo Frost, or JoMarie Payton — helping those in need in a motherly way. Also known as the Angel, Guardian, Healer, or Samaritan.

Values: compassion, empathy, gratitude, service, support, helping others, self-care

The Creator — think Daymond John, Dr. Dre, or Maya Angelou — providing tools, means, and ways for people to express themselves creatively. Also known as the Artist, Entrepreneur, Storyteller, or Visionary.

Values: self-expression, imagination, out-of-the-box thinking, originality, creation

The Ruler — think Beyoncé, Ketanji Brown Jackson, or James Avery — leading with authority and empowering others. Also known as the Ambassador, Judge, Patriarch, or Sovereign.

Values: rank, tradition, stability, nobility, benevolence, power, prosperity, status, success

People Who Want to: Explore Spirituality | Seek Paradise | Obtain True Freedom

The Innocent — think Halle Bailey, Skai Jackson, or Dominique Thorne (Ironheart) — brands linked to safety, positivity, and happiness, lacking ill will towards others. Also known as the Child, Dreamer, Idealist, or Muse.

Values: purity, wholesomeness, honesty, optimism, simplicity, positivity, happiness

The Sage — think Erykah Badu, Morgan Freeman, or Cornel West — providing knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to others. Also known as the Detective, Mentor, Shaman, or Translator.

Values: wisdom, intelligence, truth, clarity, expertise, information, cognitive fulfillment

The Explorer — think Will Smith, Jennifer Lewis, or Oprah Winfrey — challenging the confines of modern life to explore the depths of one's soul or the outdoors. Also known as the Adventurer, Generalist, Pioneer, or Seeker.

Values: adventure, exploration, discovery, independence, freedom, bravery

People Who Want to: Pursue Connection

The Lover — think Rihanna, Toni Braxton, or Tank — appealing to the desire for sensual pleasure, closeness, love, and affection. Also known as the Hedonist, Companion, Matchmaker, or Romantic.

Values: love, affection, indulgence, sensuality, appreciation, beauty, closeness, intimacy

The Everyman — think Charlamagne tha God, Samuel L. Jackson, or Roxane Gay — creating a welcoming atmosphere for others, driven by equality and inclusion. Also known as the Citizen, Networker, Servant, or Advocate.

Values: faithfulness, support, equality, inclusion, fellowship, togetherness, respect, fairness

The Jokester — think Janelle James, Kevin Hart, or Niecy Nash — promoting good times, ready to bring levity to life. Also known as the Clown, the Entertainer, the Provocateur, or the Shapeshifter.

Values: humor, fun, laughter, togetherness, originality, freedom of expression, play

A Content Strategy

With a brand's verbal and visual identities locked in, you can deliver a content strategy, which is not to be confused with a content marketing strategy.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, a content strategy focuses on the structural and operational foundation—the "why" and "how" of your overall content. A content marketing strategy acts as the execution plan—focusing on the "what", "where", and "who" to distribute content, attract an audience, and drive profitable business actions. 

A content strategy should successfully answer:

• Why does this content exist?

• How will content be created?

• How will content efforts be measured?

• Who will be responsible for content?

As part of your content strategy, an editorial calendar should be seriously considered, clarifying the following:

• The key message the content supports

• Media formats

• Any other information you feel is essential to track

Once completed, you should review a brand's content strategy monthly or quarterly. A well-documented content strategy not only statistically leads to better content marketing results, but also creates a more robust and streamlined content consumption experience for consumers.

Putting It All Together

As you can see, real business momentum comes from strategies that work together, each one informing and strengthening the next. When steps are skipped, growth becomes unpredictable, and a brand is left to absorb the risk because the underlying infrastructure is incomplete, undermining progress.

Think of it this way: a business strategy tells you how you'll create and capture value. A brand strategy translates that value into an identity your audience can recognize, trust, and choose. A content strategy ensures that identity shows up consistently and intentionally in everything you put into the world. Remove one, and the other two are working harder than they should, filling gaps they weren't designed to fill.

"A business strategy tells you how you'll create value. A brand strategy tells the world who you are. A content strategy ensures that message reaches the right people, consistently."

Now, when you can walk into any engagement, you can diagnose exactly where the strategy gaps are as the person who sees what others miss. That's the value of understanding not just what each strategy does, but how they work together.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a content strategy and a content marketing strategy? 

A content strategy focuses on the structural and operational foundation of your content — the "why" and "how." A content marketing strategy is the execution plan — covering the "what," "where," and "who" for distributing content, attracting an audience, and driving profitable business actions. One informs the other, but they are not the same thing.

What is a brand strategy and what does it include? 

A brand strategy is a plan for building a brand — ideally developed before launch — that supports a brand's business strategy. It shapes a brand's messaging, verbal identity, and visual identity, and includes elements such as an audience persona, mission and vision statements, brand positioning, brand voice, archetypes, pillars, tagline, and elevator pitch.

In what order should you build a business strategy, brand strategy, and content strategy? 

In that exact order. A business strategy establishes how your brand creates and captures value. A brand strategy builds the identity that communicates that value. A content strategy determines how that identity shows up consistently in everything you publish. Each one depends on the integrity of the one before it.

What is a brand archetype? 

A brand archetype is a personality framework rooted in the archetypal psychology of Carl Jung, used in branding to define how a brand shows up emotionally and relationally for its audience. There are 60 brand personalities a brand may align with, organized around core human desires — from leaving a legacy, to providing structure, to pursuing connection.