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3 Things You Need to Know BEFORE You Hire Someone to do Your Branding
Updated: Mar 13
Every business owner knows that it's important to invest in their brand.
But when it comes down to hiring help to get all the pieces set up, you might run into a few unexpected surprises like...
Realizing that setting up a brand is a multi-person job that requires a you to hire and coordinate between various professionals to get the job done — such as brand strategists, brand designers, brand photographers, copywriters, website designers, and social media managers
Not knowing exactly what pieces you need for your brand, or what order you should get things set up
Having a hard time communicating with your contractor(s) about what you want your brand to actually look like... since you might not be very clear about this yourself 🤫
STILL seeing inconsistencies in your branding after investing a bunch of time and money because you had to hire different professionals to get everything set up
And the laundry list goes on... but I think you get my point.
Because the sad truth is...
Most people walk around with "patchwork" branding where all of the bits and pieces look great, but they don't really fit together. Your website and social media look like they belong to 2 different companies, and there seems to be no method to the madness with your visual styling.
The reason why this happens is because most people don't have a clear vision of what they want for their brand BEFORE they go out and hire professionals to help them get all the pieces set up.
This is also the reason why most people stop halfway through branding engagements — it's because they realize part way through that nothing their designer creates for them feels "right", and it's because there was no clear vision to begin with. You're basically shooting in the dark while burning through precious time and resources.
So then where do you begin if the professionals you're hiring can't help you find that clarity you need to get started?
It all starts with getting a good handle on your brand strategy!
Brand strategy is just a fancy word that refers to the "big picture" of your brand, and understanding how all of the pieces connect and support one another.
It covers everything from your brand identity and messaging to visuals and execution strategy. It answers questions such as:
"What is my brand?"
"What does that look like?"
"How does my brand connect with my audience?"
"Where do people come in contact with my brand?"
"What's the impression that I'm trying to leave?"
... and more!
While getting a good brand strategy set up can cost you an arm and a leg (and in some cases... maybe even your soul 😬), there are a few core pillars in every brand strategy that I'm excited to be sharing with you today!
So if you're feeling "fuzzy" with your branding and aren't sure what the next steps would be for you to get your brand set up, this blog post is for you.
Pillar #1: You need to know exactly WHO your audience is as well as WHAT you're offering to them!
Knowing who your people are helps you understand WHERE you can find them, WHAT they need to be hearing from you, and HOW you can be positioning your brand as the perfect fit.
There are SO many brands out there that look great on the outside, but aren't getting the results they're looking for because the way they're presenting themself isn't a match to the people they're looking to attract.
The clearer you are on who your target audience is, the easier you'll find the answers to questions such as:
What's the angle of your messaging?
Are your offers appropriate for the need you're trying to meet?
How should you design your visuals to catch these peoples' attention?
Where do you need to be positioning your brand to increase your chances of catching more of these people?
Pillar #2: You need to have a clear vision of what you want your brand to be like
This is the BIG question that gives most business owners sweaty armpits when they meet with their first brand designer and realize that they don't know what to say about their brand.
"I don't know, just make me something that looks good." — is usually the default answer that I've heard many times before.
The best way to avoid this is to get clear on your brand identity! This means getting clear on your brand's personality, values and mission.
Think of building your brand identity like creating a character for a novel. The best characters are the ones who have an epic backstory, a strong personality, a goal that they're striving for, and ultimately... they have depth that makes you want to connect with them.
So the more built-out your brand identity is, the easier your conversations will be with the contractors you hire to create the pieces for your brand!
Pillar #3: You need to know what your brand touchpoints are
This last pillar is closely connected with the first one (i.e. knowing your audience). Knowing who your people are gives you insight on where you need to be positioning yourself (both online and offline) to increase the points of contact people have with your brand... and how to make sure each of those points are consistent.
A brand touchpoint can be anything from a social media post to your Zoom background. Any place your brand comes in contact with your customers is considered a touchpoint!
What your brand touchpoints are will be highly dependant on a few things:
Where your audience hangs out
What your marketing strategy is
What your customer journey looks like
The ultimate goal is to make sure your customers have the SAME experience across every touchpoint, whether that's on social media or on a Zoom call!
And there you have it!
These are just general guidelines for creating an effective brand strategy for yourself, but even just implementing these 3 things can take you a long way!
If you're looking for some additional support with this but don't want to break the bank to get a full brand strategy set up, I offer an epic, 2-hour brand strategy intensive called "The Brandstorm" that covers everything in this blog post (and more)... for a fraction of the time and cost it takes to get a full brand strategy set up.
After 2 hours, you'll walk away with:
Clarity on what your brand is, who your customers are, and what touchpoints you need to set up to create a consistent, end-to-end brand experience
An understanding of what your next steps are (and what you need to do) to get your brand set up
The confidence to navigate through big brand decisions by yourself without worrying that you’ll “break something”
A recording of our Zoom session
Your own Brand Playbook (~30 slides of awesomeness) containing ALL of the gold nuggets from our session (that you can use as guidelines to create your own brand assets OR pass on to future contractors who need to understand your brand identity)
So if you're tired of all the guesswork and want to get clarity on your brand before you decide make any big investments... hit the button below to book yourself a quick call with me to see if The Brandstorm is right for you!👇