If you’re just starting your business, it’s likely you’re being bombarded with all sorts of information regarding the importance of your brand identity. Great! As experienced business ourselves, we can totally vouch for the importance of a solid, unique brand identity when starting to lift your business off the ground. That said, there seems to be one huge component of branding that is rarely acknowledged in the business world, and few resources that seem to exist to ensure you get this part of your business right from the start. We want to try and change that, and so today, we’re talking about the importance of building your brand strategy before your brand identity!
First off, what exactly is a brand strategy? Simply put, your brand strategy is a cumulative blueprint of your vision as a business that is intended to help guide you in creating a brand identity that you can be confident in. It embodies your intentions, values, and everything that really sets you apart and defines you as a business. In business, having a solid brand strategy is crucial to creating a brand identity that catches on and lasts — it allows for more consistency and organization, and helps to ensure your business is always aligned with your very own identity and values as a business owner.
Now for the good stuff, here’s our personal guide to what we’ve deemed the main components of a successful brand strategy:
01 Purpose — Your purpose as a business is what truly sets you apart from your competitors; it brings into question the values and priorities that act as the foundation of what you do, as well as what it is that’s unique and alluring about your business. When it comes to defining your purpose, it’s important to maintain that yours is both functional and intentional. That is to say, you want your purpose to be easily translated into the actual actions you can take in your business, and as such, that it is clear and evident to consumers.
02 Consistency — One of the least attractive qualities of a business is inconsistency; People want to invest in products and services that they can confidently get behind — businesses whose values are clear, whose offerings align with said values, and whose habits they can keep reasonable track of. No one wants to invest in a business that regularly changes its narrative, goes ghost on socials and/or whose products and services are largely unrelated and constantly changing. Hence, when planning your brand strategy, it's crucial you sift through all the fine details of what it is you want your business to accomplish and uphold that status overtime!
03 Core Offerings — After having determined your purpose as a business, you should have a fair idea as to how you want to fulfill it. Not only is it important to note exactly which products and services you intend to provide as a means of this fulfilment, however, but it is also extremely important that you identify exactly what these products and services offer their consumers. In other words, your prospective clients should be able to easily acknowledge how investing in your products/services will add value to their lives, however that may be.
04 Ideal Clients — Now that you’ve identified what it is you and your business offer others, it’s equally if not even more important to identify who it is you intend to help through your offerings. That way you can more clearly determine the ways you want to market your business, and fine tune your products and services to ensure they truly do meet the needs of your targeted demographic.
05 Messaging — How you present your values and mission as a business is arguably the main decider between success and failure. In order to give potential clients a clear idea as to what your purpose is, how you intend to fulfill it, and why it's relevant to them, your messaging should visibly embody the other four main components of your brand just discussed. Evident in many components of your business, especially including its aesthetics and social media presence, your messaging should also be made clear far before you begin the actual process of branding. That way, you can be certain the narrative of your business is being portrayed exactly to your liking and with maximum efficiency!
And there you have it! The five most important things to consider before jumping into the process of defining your brand identity. Not only will your business itself thrive from the extra asset of a brand strategy, but trust us as fellow business owners when we say you’ll find yourself feeling so much more organized and prepared in the business world when you have one. As always, thank you so much for reading and bringing us alongside your journey in entrepreneurship — we’re so grateful for the opportunity to continually uplift our fellow business owners and see you all succeed in what you do!
Up next: Why branding is worth the investment!
