There’s a little word being tossed around the design industry called “strategy”, and often heard as “brand strategy”. I’ve seen it treated in the same way as “authentic” or “balance”. You hear that your business needs it and there are lots of designers and coaches who claim that they can help you find the answers to it, but the actual word has become so overused that it’s hard to decipher what it really means.

I’m going to take a firm stance here and say something that not all designers agree with: yes, your small business does need brand strategy. The level of strategy that you need and invest in will depend entirely on the designer or brand strategist you choose to work with, as well as the package you invest in.
If you’re curious about what brand strategy might look like for you and your business, feel free to contact me for a free consultation here.

So, what is brand strategy?

Here’s a technical definition:

According to Bynder, a branding strategy (a.k.a. brand development strategy) is the long-term plan to achieve a series of long-term goals that ultimately result in the identification and preference of your brand by consumers. A successful branding strategy encompasses the brand’s mission, its promises to its customers, and how these are communicated. 

Here’s a definition that I think is a little more digestible for small business entrepreneurs: brand strategy is your roadmap to creating branding and marketing that actually connects with your ideal audience. 

In short, brand strategy is the blueprint for the marketing and design house that you’re building. This is why I get so frustrated when I hear designers tell potential clients that they don’t need brand strategy. 
Brand strategy can include some or all of the following:

• Your ideal/target audience 
• Your business mission, vision, purpose, and values
• Your brand voice (this shows up well in copywriting) and can include more like taglines, brand keywords, and more
• Your brand aesthetic 
• Your brand archetype (this helps describe the theme or vibe of your brand)
• Brand guidelines
• Brand visuals like logos, patterns, icons, your website, templates, and more

Who needs brand strategy?

Everyone who is rebranding or considering new branding. It’s as simple as that. Now, I 100% understand why some designers might tell potential clients that they don’t need brand strategy. It can be expensive, time consuming, and some business owners simply don’t care about it. But we’ll get into some ways that you can move the needle with your business’s brand strategy at all points in business and all budgets.

I feel that as a brand designer with a strategy background, it’s my job to at least encourage you to think about it. Otherwise, I’d be like a contractor who starts building a house without a blueprint.

What are objections to investing in strategic branding?

1. Your business may be so new that you aren’t really sure who your target audience is, or what your ultimate business goals are. This is valid, and one of the reasons why I don’t recommend business owners invest in custom branding until they’re 2-3 or more years in business.
   
   There are always exceptions, but instead of investing in custom branding during your first year of business, which will likely cost you $5000+, I would focus on investing in an intensive, like a VIP Day. It helps to make sure you’re working with a strategically-minded designer so that you’re still getting some strategy bang for your buck. Start with that, then return to a more in-depth strategy when your business is more established.
   
2. In-depth branding takes time. It can be a 2+ month commitment with some designers and brand strategists. It’s really good that it takes time, so if you have a few months to wait, I would recommend investing in a branding package that includes brand strategy. If you’re in a rush, you can work with a designer to figure out how to still get some brand strategy done through an intensive.
   
3. It can cost a lot of money. CultMethod has an excellent breakdown of the cost of branding. This breakdown goes over approximately what you can expect to pay for the quality you can expect to receive. This does include the actual design behind branding, too. With some designers, you’ll find that it’s either required or encouraged to invest in both brand strategy and branding design together.
   
   Ultimately, it’s more effective to go through the brand strategy process with the same person or agency who will also design your business’s logos and other brand assets. Whether you work with a designer who offers no brand strategy or a designer who offers in-depth strategy, you should typically expect to spend at least $2,000 USD on your branding and, as CultMethod describes, the cost can go up from there.
   
4. You think it doesn’t matter. I can show you pie graphs and articles all day to describe why brand strategy does in fact matter, but here are some quick points.
   
   For creative small business owners like wedding vendors, photographers, and small product shops, here are the biggest benefits:
   
   1. It helps you connect with your dream clients through focused marketing. When you’ve built a roadmap, you’re suddenly more clear on who your business is and who you’re talking to. And that makes the dating game of marketing so much easier.
      
   2. It elevates the work that your designer will create. Because you’ve really refined your strategy, your designer will have more direction and can design brand assets that will actually help you reach your goals.
      
   3. It helps you avoid shiny-object syndrome. When a small business owner, it can be easy to get distracted by all the possibilities available to us. It will help you get clear on what your business needs and how to work toward that.
      
   4. It helps create brand consistency. Whether your business is just you and one contractor or you have 100+ employees, it’s important for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to your brand voice. Strategy really helps hone this in.

So you’re ready for a rebrand and want to be strategic? What to do?

If you’re very new to business and/or don’t have any money to invest in branding… start by reading Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller (pssst, this isn’t an affiliate link. I just think it’s a really good book for understanding brand strategy better).

If you have $350 and just want some feedback on your branding… you can reach out and book a branding audit. I’ll walk through your branding and help you to determine ways to improve both your strategy and design.

If you have $2,000 – $3,500 but don’t have months to wait on brand strategy… reach out to me about a VIP Design Day or Branding in a Week. During either of these intensives, we focus solely on your business’s branding and can build a light brand strategy framework. We’ll at least determine your brand’s values, vision, and target audience during the intensive. I don’t believe in designing a logo without any brand strategy foundation.

If you’re ready to invest $4,000 or more into your branding… reach out to me about a custom branding project. A custom project will vary from $4,000 to $10,000+ depending on the amount of strategy and assets that we focus on. I offer a free brand consultation before we work together so that I can help you determine a package that will work best for you, your budget, and your business.