It’s spring, its a new season and all this “new” has inspired you or your team to get your brand a facelift or finally brand yourself all together. You got inspired, realized you need to make a change and now its time to get creative, call the agency or designer and get to work. We have all heard it a million times, “create a consistent brand and provide your audience with beautiful images and make sure you are telling a story that people will love.” I mean – heck – we say it all the time. But what if we told you there is more? What if a logo and website was merely the icing on the branding cake and what if telling a great story had more to do with promise, passion, and purpose?

For a while people thought that building a great brand meant creating a new or improved look. And don’t get us wrong, we love helping stellar brands revamp their imagery and communicate the right message. We are big believers that visuals are one of the most important communication tools we use today. BUT before any of that can take place there is some digging that needs to happen, some soul searching so to speak. So what is this big branding mistake??

We are talking about creating a brand solely based around your visuals. Essentially this big mistake is creating a look for your business without ever developing that internal story. You know, all the intangible parts of your brand – the things that really make you, you. It is what shapes your culture, positions your business; its your message, your reason for being, the values you hold, and the passion you have. When we begin to unpack all of these intangible parts of your brand story, we can then create visuals that communicate the depth of who you are.

This is so important because communicating the essence of who you are will connect with your people. Your audience (your future customers) are searching to connect with something real, something that makes them feel, something that inspires them, and something that aligns with their values. They want to belong to a community that invites them to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

So maybe you are reading this and thinking – “Wow yes, this is what is missing from my brand.” That is OKAY – you are not alone, you have time, and you can communicate a great brand story that marries all of this internal branding information with stunning, cohesive and compelling visuals.

This can seem a bit overwhelming at first – so where do you even start?

1. First – Identify the touch points that are currently communicating your brand message. The key touch points for many brands tend to be website, social media, print, storefront, and staff.
2. Next – Analyze your identified touch points. Are they each effectively communicating your brand message? Are you connecting as much as you would like to be with your target audience?
3. Finally – Ask. If you are not satisfied with your brand communication, ask yourself if your internal brand infrastructure has been thoroughly built out. If it has – then maybe you need to tweak your implementation. If the internal brand story has not been developed, then that’s the best place to start.

Do you need help figuring out who you are and how to communicate it? We thrive on helping business owners just like you create brands that WIN. Fill out our questionnaire on our website or simply shoot us an email. We would love to hear from you and guide you through this process!

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words by hailey – brand strategist