Where does branding sit on the priority list?
Things are going well in your business. Clients are coming to you and most of the time they’re a great fit. But you’ve become clearer on your direction and have started making tweaks: what’s included in your offering, creating new packages, increasing your pricing, tightening up your messaging and really getting clear on your niche and the clients you want to work with.
So you’re ready to ramp things up and feel confident in moving your business up a level. You know there’s a list of things you’d love to do to really push your business forwards - updating or getting a new website, getting a new photoshoot done, updating your branding, get some PR, do some advertising, create social content, get help with copywriting or maybe some personal development to help you really step into that next level.
But all these things require investment. Even though business is going well, you’re not going to throw a load of cash at all these things in one go. It’s a journey to go through building on what you have and moving to the next step.
I’m here to talk about branding and where that fits into the picture.
Branding is often seen as the ‘nice to have’. The thing that doesn’t really matter that much. The cherry on the top. The sprinkle of glitter that makes everything look a little more sparkly. But it’s much more than that and plays an important roll in shaping lots of other things going on in your business.
If you do it too soon, you may end up with branding that then doesn’t feel quite right as you work through other things.
Leave it too late and you’ll find yourself going back to things that need to be more inline with your brand and the vision you have to move it forwards.
A great example is brand photoshoots. It’s happened before when I have had clients come to work with me who have just had photoshoots and have then gone on to look at their branding. As we go through the branding process we get really clear on what your brand is all about, the impression you’re trying to make and importantly who to.
As part of bringing this together visually we look at your imagery style. Often that will include bringing in some of your brand colours. If you’ve already had a photoshoot you’ll likely be left with with imagery that’s not quite as you would like.
And although you’ve probably got a set of lovely new images, how long are they going to last as you launch your new branding. If you did the branding first it will give your photoshoot direction and your photoshoot investment will last a lot longer.
I’ve had many photographers say how useful they find the brand book that I put together as it really shows them the vision for the brand they’re creating imagery for.
You’re likely going to want to increase your visibility so that people can see your business at its next level. That may involve speaking opportunities or securing PR in the press or online.
When you show up and do your talk or get seen in a magazine, what’s the end goal? I’d guess you want people to come and check you out and see what you can do for them. Well if you’re showing up talking about your business as it moves forwards and those potential clients search out your website and socials what are they going to see?
Will they see a visual representation of your business from 6 or 12 months ago? Or will they see a visual representation of where you are now and where you’re heading? If you get your branding updated before you increase your visibility then everything is in order and there’s no confusion as to who you are.
The last thing you want is for someone to land on your socials or your website and not get the same impression and end up with things feeling disconnected.
Charlie Neary is a marketing consultant specialising in social media, PR and content creation. She says,
“I always recommend sorting out socials and your website before pitching for an article as it’s the first place the editor or feature writer will look after reading your pitch.”
So the same goes for even securing the article or speaker post in the first place.
On the other side of the coin, if you’re looking to invest in something that’s going to help make the branding process easier then you should absolutely do that first. Maybe you’re looking to invest in a business coach to help you plan your next steps or shape your packages. Maybe it’s someone who is going to help you do some research on your industry or your ideal client.
Getting these kinds of things in place first will make the branding process easier and you will create something that feels more aligned.
Branding plays a part in setting the direction for many things. There’s a lot of foundation work that goes into the branding process. We look at things like your values, what’s different about you, what kind of impression you want to make, what your vision for the future is and who you really want to attract.
Going through the branding process helps you get clear on your actual brand and what you’re looking to achieve. Your brand runs through everything you do and every decision you make in your business so think about where it would best fit in the timeline for you.
SO, WHAT ORDER SHOULD YOU BE DOING THINGS THEN?
There is no one size fits all approach to the order in which to do things. This will be different for each business, where they’re at, what they already have and the changes they’re looking to make.
As a guide, try to think about the role that branding will play in each element you’re looking to invest in and consider whether your branding will help shape it and give it direction. Or is it something that will put you in a better place to do the branding work?
If you’re unsure of your next steps in elevating your brand then I can help you map things out on my free 15 minute ‘Elevate your Brand’ calls:
If you’re a service based business (think coaches, mentors, wedding and hospitality professionals), who wants to attract higher paying clients, but needs help elevating their brand in order to do that then I’d love to invite you to a free, 15-minute Elevate Your Brand Call to look at your plan of how you can elevate your brand.
On this quick call, we’ll:
1. Take a look at your current branding to see what is/isn’t working
2. Look at the clients you’re currently attracting and whether they’re the ones you want more of and the role your branding is playing
3. Tap into your vision for the future and look at how your brand fits into that
4. Develop a 3-Step Plan so you know what actions are going to have the biggest impact for you in order to elevate your brand and attract higher paying clients