“Just let me have the logo and be on my way”... eh, nope.
Regardless of your offering, if you want to do the right thing by your customer you will be looking to get them where they want to be in the fastest and best route possible. Fastest AND best.
I have seen this a few too many times…
They’ve got the name, love what they do and everyone is telling them to go for it. They even lie in bed at night awake imagining how wonderful it’s going to be and just can’t wait to get there. The only thing between them and launching their business is a logo. They also might have loads of time to fix mistakes and money to pour into misled marketing exercises {I’ve even watched big corporate companies do this - it’s heartbreaking}.
To get to where you want to be - whatever that looks like - as fast and efficiently as possible and have longevity, is going to take some planning upfront. But the idea is that you do it once and you do it right - which means you won’t be feeling around in the dark not knowing what to do with your business and wasting precious time and money undoing bad decisions {do you know the saying “a stitch in time, saves nine”?}.
We also have a responsibility to encourage mindful consumption; that is not just giving it the hard sell but understanding our business and our customers needs and finding how best we can serve them, building long term, meaningful relationships. That is impossible without some forethought, and this is where strategy comes in.
The purpose of a Brand Strategy isn’t to get a logo, it’s to set the foundations for your business. So what do you get out of it and what goes into it?
The Clock is Ticking
Probably the most valuable asset you have is your time. Even those focused on financial results are usually simply looking to buy more time. So you need to get to a position where you’re not wasting it and that is done through clarity and process.
If you know what you need to be doing and have the tools to be able to do it then it doesn’t matter if you can only dedicate a few hours a week to your business, you will be making moves towards improving it. In fact, the more time poor you are, the more vital it is that you don’t spend your time floundering.
Ultimately your Brand Strategy will give you all the information you need to input into any number of processes, from writing your business plan, pitching to investors or creating content for your community.
There are incredible resources available to help you grow your business but without this information applying them correctly is virtually impossible. If you take, for example, the process I use for clients to generate their social media content… With the conclusions we draw from the Brand Strategy we can easily generate upwards of 20 high value content ideas within an hour. If you’ve ever struggled - like most of us - over what to write for a post then you’ll know how useful that is! The outcome is that you have maximised your time and without compromising on your communications.
Who, who, who?
As part of The Founding Formula, I expect everyone to go through the strategy workshop. It’s so vital and valuable that it's non-negotiable.
It’s broken up into three sections; who you are, who they are and who ‘it’ is. Within those we work through three exercises, each culminating in a statement which will feed into your business.
Who You Are - this is the heart of your business, its spiritual centre. It’s made up of the brand purpose, values and vision. When complete, this section becomes your compass and it will keep you on track even when life throws you a curveball.
You will look to it when making any decisions that affect your brand - from what products or services to sell to what partners to work with. The statement we create in this section will also be used throughout your marketing and any time you have to talk about your business. They will be powerful and compelling and will be the reason your community will love you.
Who They Are - here we look at who you are serving. Gone are the days of building a business focused entirely on profits; with greater choice, people have learnt they want a more meaningful and deeper relationship with brands, which is a good thing because ultimately you will have a community to know you are right for them. The focus is on bringing the right brand and right consumer together.
The only way to do that is by having a clear understanding of who your customer/client is, going beyond why they might need your offering and looking at them as a whole person and how you can help them achieve goals and progress. Then you can begin to answer their needs and build the Know, Like Trust factor.
Who It Is - yup ‘who’ your brand is. The final part is bringing all you’ve discovered together and crafting a persona for your brand. As I’ve said before, we are looking to build genuine connections and for that you need to have a personality. Even if you yourself are the unique selling point, you want to create a brand personality which allows you to have distance and perimeters. In creating a personality, you and your staff can channel your brand when representing it. You will be clear on its likes and dislikes, how it sounds when it talks and its point of view and you’ll be able to communicate that.
Start As You Mean to Go On
There’s no right or wrong measure of success, it’s whatever you want it to be, and you can take as long as you need, it’s your journey. But starting off on the right footing is going to give you the best chance to get there, to keep you motivated and not feel overwhelmed.
Build your business from the ground up and start with good, strong foundations - then it’s only a matter of time.
