Create A Simple Brand Strategy In 7 Steps
Why is it important to have a brand strategy?
We all started our businesses so that we could have more freedom and do work that we enjoy, while possibly making the world just a tiny bit of a better place.
Then we get into the online space, and we might’ve had somewhat of a clear vision at first, but eventually, between comparing ourselves, consuming way to much content and trying to stay original, we kind of lose ourselves.
A coach of mine recently said “It’s not about being original. All the information is already out there, so it’s really hard to find a new, original idea that hasn’t been said before. But what we can be is unique.”
All you have to do is be yourself and convey the information in your unique way.
Your brand strategy summarises who you are, what you do, why you do it, who you do it for and why people should care. When you have these elements clear in your mind, it’ll create an irresistible brand because you’ll know exactly who you’re speaking to, and how you can help them.
7 Simple Steps to go from “Branding, huh?” to “Branding, duh”
In order to create a true blueprint that’ll make showing up easy and attracting clients effortless, you need to go through a process of figuring out these 7 steps.
When you truly figure out these questions, not only will you attract more clients, you’ll also feel so much more confident in the way you show up and the role you want to play in your clients’ journey.
So let’s get into it, shall we?
Step One: Know your Why
The first step to figuring out your brand strategy is knowing your Why. The author and speaker Simon Sinek says that “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. This might sound a little confusing, but to make it simple, the reason you do what you do is because you believe in something. You believe that there’s a better way. And what you do (your product or service) simply proves what you believe in.
Ask yourself:
Who are you?
Why did you start your business?
What do you want to change in the world?
Why is your work of the highest service to the world?
Step Two: Know Your What
Your next step is to think about what it is that you actually do. What do you enjoy talking about and what pillars will you base your business around?
Use your previous answers to figure out what change you want to see in the world, and what skills you have that you can use to make that change.
These are important questions to ask yourself so that you can build an irresistible offer for your ideal client. But we’ll get to that in the next step.
Ask yourself:
What do you do?
What do you talk about / teaching / do?
What do you offer?
Step Three: Know Your Who
Who do you want to help? You cannot possibly resonate with every single person on this planet. So how do you find the people that you do want to resonate with?
This is where we define your ideal audience.
You want to get at specific as you can when defining your audience so that when they see you online, they immediately identify with what you are saying. You want to know where they are now, their current problems, and where they would like to be, their goals and desires.
The goal of this exercise is to be able to say “Hey, I’ve been where you are, and I know how to get where you want to go, let me help you”.
The easiest way to do this is to picture one person.
Ask yourself:
Who are you talking to?
What are their interests, hobbies, values and habits?
What problems is are they facing? What pains them, what are they constantly thinking about?
What desires does your ideal client have? What are their ultimate goals?
These questions allow you to craft a better message and tell your audience why should they care about your solution.
Step Four: Know Your How
Now that you know where your ideal client currently is, and where they would like to be, it’s time to plug in your solution.
How can you take them from where they currently are to where they would like to be?
Your solution is what your business is based around, your niche. Two people could have similar audiences, where their problems and goals are similar but have two different niches. And THAT is what makes you unique!
The particular combinations of skills that make up your solution to help people get from A to B is what makes you unique.
So ask yourself, “what skills do I have and how can I combine them into a unique combination”?
Ask yourself:
What skills do I have that could support my main topic?
How am I solving my ideal client’s problem?
What is my method or framework? What steps make up my solution?
What are other people in my industry using as their unique combination of skills? Use this as inspiration to craft your own.
Step Five: Know Your Positioning
Now it’s time to go figure out how to make your offer a no-brainer for your ideal client. How can you make your product or service their first choice over an alternative offer in the market?
To properly position your product, you need to go back to your target audience. If they are university students, they’ll be attracted to a different “vibe” than stay-at-home moms.
Ask yourself:
What words does your target audience use? What words speak to them and their situation?
What words don’t they use and should be avoided?
What energy do you bring to the table?
For example: Are you bubbly or calm? Are you very feminine or more of a tomboy? Are you outgoing or more introverted?
This is where you can define your brand personality, a few core traits that make up your brand’s personality.
You can also define your brand values here.
Make sure the vibe you create for your brand matches yours. The more you can bring your own personality and values into your personal brand, the easier it’ll be for you to actually show up.
Step Six: Know Your Visuals
Creating the visuals can only be done once you’ve gained clarity on the previous steps. Without that clarity, you’ll try things out, not knowing why and not having any guidelines to measure whether it worked or not.
A crucial part of your visuals is the photos that you use on your website and social media. Photos are one of the most effective ways to quickly communicate the vibe of your brand.
You can really have some fun integrating your personality and values into your photos. And you can also include your brand colours that you chose to make the photos more tailored to your brand.
If one of your values is freedom, you may choose to shoot part of your photos on beach, surrounded by palm trees, sipping on coconut water, with a flowy and casual outfit.
Depending on your particular skill set, you can integrate different elements into your photos. Create a vision board of your ideal client’s goals and desires, and how they want to feel. This gives you great insight and helps you craft images that will actually speak to them.
Ask yourself:
What colours will best represent my vibe?
How does my ideal client envision their dream life?
Create the vision board and use it as inspiration to create your own content.
Step Seven: Know Your Messaging
This is where the magic happens. This is where you combine all the info from the previous steps with your unique story and create a message that represents you, and most importantly speaks to your audience and tells them why your solution is key to reaching their goals.
Your messaging needs to be done in a way that feels good and authentic to you. How can you talk about yourself and the value you provide in a way that makes you a no-brainer investment to potential clients? Your messaging should contain your why, your what and your how.
Ask yourself:
What parts of your story and experiences taught you what you know today?
Why do you believe your solution to be the perfect vehicle to bring your client from their problem to their desires?
And now what?
Great! You’ve just accomplished one of the hardest parts when it comes to building a personal brand online.
Now that you’ve uncovered all this information and gotten really clear on the value that you can provide and for who, it’s time to put these elements into practice.
The next step is to figure out a content strategy that incorporates these elements and that works best for you to build your brand. Part of creating a good content strategy is to figure out what format your ideal client prefers (written, audio, video) and what platforms they spend most of their time on (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, etc.).
Another thing to figure out is your customer journey: how do they find you, how can you build a relationship with them and how can you convert them into paying clients?
Hopefully you were able to gain some clarity and you crafted your magnetic brand to start attracting those dream clients!
If you have any questions or need help getting started, get in touch with me on Instagram by sending me a DM, I’d love to help you gain more clarity!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi there, I’m Dorothea!
I am a personal branding photographer and mentor for ambitious female entrepreneurs, who are ready to take their business and life to the next level.
My mission is to help my clients highlight their uniqueness so that they can stand out in the online space, and start attracting those dream clients.
My wish is to help my clients create a business that is aligned with their values, so they can do work they love and have the freedom to live the life they’ve always dreamed of.
