What is a brand strategy and why do you need it?

How many times have you tweaked your logo or changed the colors on your website, only to feel like something is still off?

You are unsure of what to do and feeling overwhelmed by all the things. But tweaking your brand design (again) won’t solve the problem. And you’re actually just avoiding the hard work by spending time on this instead. (Trust me, you’re not the only one!)

If you’re feeling confused and stuck trying to grow your business, it’s not because the colors of your brand aren’t just right. You probably don’t have a clear enough brand strategy as a foundation for marketing and growing your business, and it’s not your fault.

Even though this is one of the most important steps in building a brand, understanding what a brand strategy is and why you need it can be a bit unclear. So let’s break it down.

What is a brand strategy?

A brand strategy is like having a long-term plan to become the coolest and most successful brand out there. It’s all about knowing how, what, where, when, and who to talk to when it comes to spreading your brand message.

But it’s not just about talking the talk. A well-defined brand strategy creates this magical connection with customers, making them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And you know what that means? Higher brand equity.

Now, here’s the good part. Your brand strategy isn’t just some fancy thing on paper that you never look at again. It’s the boss of your entire business. It influences every decision, from market research to figuring out your target audience. It even helps you map out the customer journey, find your unique position in the market, and develop a killer voice and personality.

Having an effective brand strategy is like having your own personal guru telling you what to do. It sets guidelines for everything you do in your business, from your actions to the content you create. It’s like having a GPS for all things branded in your world.

If it’s done right, your brand strategy can be your secret weapon, guiding you through the crazy world of business.

Here are 4 pillars of a fully developed brand strategy:

The heart of your brand: the why, how, and what of your brand
Your zone of genius: finding the gap and your key differentiator
Your people: who you are serving and how you do it
Your story: what you’re saying to them and how you say it

Why you need to start with the strategy

I see so many business owners who are struggling to market and grow their business. They feel like they are doing it all and taking the right steps but aren’t seeing the needle move towards growth. And when I took a closer look at why so many were struggling, I saw a common thread – they weren’t focusing on the right thing.

Instead of thinking about the purpose of their brand and what they are actually trying to achieve, most business owners start with the design because it’s more fun to focus on the pretty stuff.

But here’s some tough love: You can’t market anything well until you know what it is you’re trying to market.

It doesn’t do any good to invest time and/or money into a brand or website design unless you have taken the time to fully develop a clear brand strategy. Otherwise, your brand and website won’t work as well and you’ll end up having to go back and tweak it again and again.

That’s why I recommend starting with the brand strategy first.

By approaching your marketing with a strategic foundation, you are more likely to get the results you need and in turn, grow your business. Any marketing tactic will work well if it is executed with the right strategy behind it.

You can’t just copy and paste the surface-level side of a marketing technique and expect it to work. You need to have the right depth behind it so it makes sense and you are reaching the right person with it.

By defining this foundational strategy for your business, you will be able to better understand and communicate your message to the right person. You’ll have a guide for the rest of your business growth, marketing, and decisions that will keep you on track instead of wavering inconsistently once you learn this process.

You’ll be able to repeat this over and over in your business for even more clarity as you grow your business (and it can be applied to each of your offerings as well as when you shift, pivot, or evolve in your business).

The industry is teaching you the wrong way

I don’t blame you for focusing on the look of your brand first. I think the industry is leading you in the wrong direction.

Instead of putting more emphasis on the strategy and building out your brand from there, the industry tends to put more emphasis on the design of your brand leaving you to hope and pray your marketing efforts will work and your pretty logo will get you by.

But when you take this approach, you end up with an inconsistent brand and confusing messaging. You’ll change your fonts and colors with the latest trends, and your messaging will be all over the place because you don’t have a grounded strategy to pull it all together.

That’s why I believe we should approach it the other way around – by establishing your strategy first so it can guide the rest of your brand and marketing and be much more effective.

How to jumpstart your strategy

I know it can feel a little overwhelming to have to nail down all of those things for your brand strategy, but once you do you will have so much confidence and clarity in growing your business.

You’ll know, without a doubt, who you are serving, what results you are providing for them, and how to communicate with them. Every time you write an email, schedule a social media post or start a conversation with someone about your brand, you’ll know what to say and be able to stay focused for more growth.

The best way to jumpstart your strategy is by answering these 3 questions (which are the core part of the overall brand strategy):

Who does your business serve? Knowing exactly who you’re speaking to will help you understand what you need to communicate about your brand to convert them to a paying customer.
What results or transformation do you provide? What is the core result or transformation that you are trying to provide people?
How do you provide those results? How do you package up your results into a product or service that people can buy to get those results?

Even if it feels like too much to tackle or a struggle to get it out of your head, the key is to start with this. Before you try to build your email list, make another lead magnet, spend money on paid ads, hire a copywriter or designer, or create a new website, figure out your brand strategy. You owe it to yourself and your business to spend time working through this first and the rest will fall into place more naturally.

Recap

There is an immense value that comes from establishing the foundation of your brand before you get too far into everything else. While you can build a brand without a clear strategy, you will do it haphazardly, feel scattered and inconsistent, and struggle every step of the way – even if you are getting good sales and income. But with a brand strategy in place, you’ll be able to clearly and confidently grow a brand that is wildly successful and widely known without doubting yourself every step of the way. You’ll have your own blueprint for building your brand based on a foundation that is tailored for your business.

Take Action

Now that you know what a brand strategy is and that you need to have one for your business, it’s time to make it happen. And lucky for you, I’ve got just the thing to help you do that. The Brand Strategy Blueprint course was created to walk you through developing your brand strategy – minus the headaches and endless googling. It breaks down the process into easy, bite-sized pieces so that you can make sense of all the thoughts in your head and put them into an organized strategy that will propel your business forward.