Branding, Marketing and Design Videos & How-Tos

Frequently Asked Branding Questions

Brand strategy is so much more than a logo, and a logo is just one part of brand strategy! A company with a great logo and no brand strategy is like a house with a freshly painted door, and then opening that door to find a complete mess inside. A logo is really just one piece of the puzzle. 

A logo is one component, but a brand strategy goes well beyond that. It lays out a plan for your brand and your marketing - who do you want to see your brand, how are you going to show it to them, and what about your brand will make them take notice. Think about your brand strategy like you would any other piece of your business plan - it has multiple layers and multiple steps to implement over time. Your brand strategy is just as intricate. 

When you see a business without a brand strategy, you’ll recognize it immediately. When you see a business that you know does great work, but they’re marketing themselves poorly, recycling old materials all the time, and doing nothing to stand out - it’s because they have not paid any attention to their brand strategy. 

A brand strategy serves as the rule book to give your marketing a sense of purpose and direction. Marketing for its own sake does little to help your business, and can just become ‘noise’ in an already crowded marketplace. A brand strategy lays out how you’re going to stand out from the crowd, and sets long term goals that will help use marketing to grow your business.

Think about the difference between ‘what you do’ and ‘who you are.’ Marketing is something your business does, and it’s important for growth and customer acquisition. Marketing done well, though, is part of your branding - it’s the ‘who you are’ of your business.

Your brand is more than just what you write on your blog, or what you post on Instagram. Your brand is the personality of your business - what your business values, what it hopes to accomplish, who you are looking to help, and why you do the work that you do. Marketing is the promotional element; branding is at the core of who you are as a business.

Many people confuse branding and design, and that’s understandable because they operate in a similar space. Great design is an element of great branding, and we know it when we see it. Our eyes appreciate when design is done well, and when it’s not then we definitely notice. 

Branding is the intention behind your design, and design can help communicate your packaging. Think of the hidden arrow in the FedEx logo - you may not have noticed it at first, but it intentionally shows you that FedEx is going places. You can use design - whether it’s of your logo, your website, your packaging, etc. - to help attract key demographics and to really teach current and potential customers and clients what’s important about your brand. 

No matter what you do for work today, you’re doing it in a crowded marketplace. Branding is what helps you not only stand out from the crowd, but it’s what helps you to make an impression on those who do see your content. Branding helps you use that recognition from an engaged audience to build upon for your larger marketing strategy - when you do great work, and position yourself as a leader in your branding, people will follow.

At the end of each year it’s worth having a look at your marketing campaigns and strategies overall. This reflection allows you to see what worked, what didn’t, and what you might want to do differently in the coming year.

After the two-year mark, you’ll likely want to look at giving your brand even a mini refresh, if not a full one, within the coming year. Imagine living in a new house for three years - paint gets chipped, floors get scuffed, furniture is scratched, and it no longer looks as exciting without a little refresh. The same is true for your brand.

It’s a professional brand strategist’s job to see what you don’t. When you’re too close to the brand, there’s a lot that you won’t be able to see, and then you’re left wondering why everything that you’ve put so much work into isn’t taking off.

A professional strategist offers that fresh perspective. They have an expert’s sense of the market - what’s on trend, and what is working well for your competitors. They can come to the table with a sense of creativity and ideas that are far beyond your expertise. You’re experts in your business; let them be experts at strategy. 

This is a complicated one. Your content needs to have some variety, in that if you keep posting the same thing over and over and over again then you’re going to have a hard time engaging new followers. There is a lot of room for creativity.

However, your content SHOULD have a similar aesthetic in that it should be recognizable as your brand. There’s a reason that internationally-known brands (think UPS) stick with one or two main colors and build around them. Incorporating the colors of your brand, and your logo, are going to help viewers recognize it as your own.

Digital marketing is an art, not an exact science, and anyone who tells you the latter should set off some red flags! However, there are things that can help you judge whether you’re working with an expert.

Look at samples of the person’s past work, and read their client reviews as well. Ask about what sort of past success they’ve had with clients, and if they can show you metrics. Ask to speak with past clients if you can, to get a sense of how they work and what they’re like to work with. Find someone who takes the time to understand YOUR business, and your goals for growth.

Lastly, find someone who you like working with! Even if the person is excellent, if you’re butting heads then sometimes it just isn’t a match. The right strategist may suggest things out of your comfort zone, but when they do you’ll know that they’re coming from the place of someone who cares about your success.  

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