Sometimes people ask us “What’s included in the brand strategy process?” because they’re not really sure if they need it or how it’s so important to their overall branding process.
Before we talk through what’s included in the brand strategy process, let’s dive into a few myths about brand strategy first…
Myth #1:
Brand strategy is just about picking the right colors.
In our opinion, it isn’t really about picking the right or wrong colors, but more about selecting the best colors. And how we determine what the best colors is not based on what’s trending right now or what your competitors are doing or even what you might personally like. Picking out the best colors for you and your business is only one small part of the brand strategy process.
Myth #2:
You (and only you) are in full control of your brand.
Unfortunately, this isn’t true. Your brand is what others say about you. It’s that gut feeling people get about your business and whether or not they can trust you. That’s why brand strategy is so important. It allows us to get clear on our values, what we promise to our clients, and what they can expect from us. If we say one thing but behave in a way that contradicts what we say, we’ll have an inconsistent brand that would make it impossible to build a brand people can trust.
Myth #3:
There’s only one right way to develop a brand.
In order to build a brand that’s unique to you, you should build a brand that’s custom to your specific business. If you’re wondering, “Hey, I need to be doing my business like them,” you’re falling into the trap of doing something that’s not aligned with your vision or just copying another business’s framework. Your brand should be unique to your message, what you offer, and your beliefs.
The Brand Strategy Process
Mission, Vision, and Purpose
The first part of our brand strategy process is getting to the root of who you are as a business, what makes your business unique, and why is should matter to people. In this part of the process, we really want to heart of your brand.
Core Values
Establishing your core values helps determine what you believe in, what your business stands for, and lets your team and your audience know what is important to your business. Your core values, in a way, are like a set of standards that develop the culture of your brand. It’s declaring what you and your business stands for.
Target Audience
Understanding your target audience is an essential part of the strategy. It helps you determine so many things about your brand: colors, services, content, tone of voice, etc. If you ever struggle on knowing what type of content to post or write about, knowing who your ideal clients will help you solve this problem.
If you want to read a little more about how to understand who your ideal customers are, read our blog post here.
Brand Positioning
Your brand message is the heart of your brand. It’s something that people connect with to decide whether or not they want to be part of your brand. When crafting your brand message, think through what you want your target audience to know, think, feel, say, and do after hearing your message? What story do you want to share? Crafting your unique message and communicating it cohesively and consistently across all your channels help people understand who you are, how you can help them, and establish trust.
Brand Messaging
Brand Positioning, in other words, is positioning your business in a way that makes it different from your competitors and why should it matter to people. Ever struggle with not knowing how to stand out? This part of the brand strategy process helps you determine exactly how…whether it’s differentiating your business through your prices, your process, your personality, beliefs…or all of the above. People travel all over the world to be part of businesses that are truly unique…and what makes your business truly unique to others similar to you is discovered through this process. Understanding how your brand will stand out will help position your business to outlast others businesses similar to yours.
Knowing the brand strategy process is great and all, but the magic happens when you combine it with creativity and build a roadmap that gives you actionable steps on how to implement it into your brand!
Grab our free 4-part branding roadmap, How to Build a Brand.
Until next time,
Happy Branding!
