How to Create an Unbeatable Brand Strategy for Your Small Business
Ever feel like something in your business is missing? Maybe you have questions about the tasks you should prioritize. Maybe you wonder if your content is reaching the right crowd. Maybe you aren’t seeing the results you wanted despite working those extra long hours on your side hustle.
Can I let you in on a little secret? All of those thoughts can find their answers in a comprehensive strategy. And if you think there’s more that your brand could be achieving, it’s time to create a solid brand strategy and put it in the driver’s seat.
Real talk. Are you missing out big time by leaving your strongest tool by the wayside? Is your brand trudging forward while your straightforward action map is right there waiting in your back pocket? Have you given your business the best shot by tapping into the life-giving world of brand strategy?
It’s possible that you’ve tried strategy before, or perhaps you haven’t given it much notice, but if you aren’t getting the results you want in your business, I guarantee you that a lack of strategy is to blame.
So can you guess what today’s article is about? That’s right: brand strategy for creative entrepreneurs.
Why You Need to Start with Strategy
You might be wondering, “Is a detailed strategy really all that necessary? Can’t I just wing it, go with the flow, or keep doing what I’ve been doing? It’s working pretty well so far (usually, anyway).”
But when it comes to anything in your business, you really can’t get away from strategy. It’s what makes the gears and cogs work, and it keeps your engines from getting overheated.
Strategy is the key for creating a successful, thriving business: it gives you a thorough exploration of all possible options and routes you can take so you can choose the best one that suits your brand and dreams best. In the creative business world, the sky is the limit for ideas, goals, and tasks, so a careful combination and selection of them is what we need to aim for.
Strategy is also one of the most difficult and hard-to-grasp concepts when it comes to business. Why? Because it’s so abstract. It’s similar to “branding” and a “writing style;” both belong to the complex camp where there’s no natural step-by-step process to get from point A to point X.
These tricky topics often feel just out of reach because they require so much thought to simply comprehend their meanings. Maybe you’ve wondered, How do I develop and utilize a strategy? What exactly is branding, and how do I know when I’ve done it? How do I create a writing style that’s unique, true to me, and connects with my audience?
Strategy is a method, tool, mindset, and skill that takes time to develop and master.
To keep it simple, you can think of strategy as a way to sift through every component—and potential component—of your brand and navigate it effectively. In other words, strategy looks at everything and questions it before selecting the best pieces and putting them together to form a puzzle.
Strategy then helps to turn that puzzle into a clear map to follow. It guides you along as you weigh options, think through scenarios, and make decisions. It also leads you as you take action and execute your plan.
So it’s crucial to lean on strategy as you create and structure your plan.
Brand Strategy Elevates Your Business
Now that we’ve talked a bit about strategy in general, let’s dive into the specifics of “brand strategy.”
While you could stop at plain strategy, the branding element is the secret for small business success. Brand strategy is the sweet spot where your brand meets strategy. It might sound a bit obvious, yet so many creatives struggle in this area of entrepreneurship.
Picture your best ideas, methods, tasks, and goals mixed with your visual identity, logo, and brand experience. Together, strategy and branding come together to create a powerful plan.
Brand strategy personalizes “business strategy” in a creative way that lets you factor in all of the unique details of your business. It takes strategy to new heights to help you curate and nurture a thriving brand.
From your logo, to what type of Reels to create on Instagram, to what content to share in your weekly newsletter, brand strategy has every inch of your business covered.
It also helps you leverage your strengths instead of simply following cookie-cutter “best practices” since the options are truly endless when it comes to running an online business.
This makes it the ideal approach for creative online businesses since we often break the old norms and standard procedures to bring something fresh and original to the world. Hence the word “creative.” (Can anyone else relate? Let me know in a comment.)
Brand Strategy Impacts Creative Businesses Exponentially
While it’s possible to start and grow a creative business without putting too much thought into it, brand strategy has the power to help your business soar to heights that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.
If your business is already booming without a custom-tailored brand strategy, that is awesome. But you could take your same brand exponentially farther with one.
On the other hand, if your business is in the ditch, brand strategy can pull you out and help slingshot you onto the road to success.
Key Takeaways of Brand Strategy
Brand strategy . . .
Prevents you from missing out on something gold
Ensures you head in the best direction
Creates methods to work your way to your goals
Keeps you on the right track
Helps you get there more quickly and easily
Prevents you from getting overwhelmed
Helps you play to your strengths
Takes your personality into account
Ensures your business stands out from the crowd
Gives you a simple step-by-step action plan
Takes away all of the guesswork
Saves you countless hours of time
Helps you work smarter—not harder
Develops your business into a one-of-a-kind brand
Increases your return on investment
How to Get Started with Brand Strategy
Creating a brand strategy is a complex process and looks different for every business. I work with clients over several months to build a comprehensive and action brand strategy. These coaching calls are always the highlight of my week, and it’s so fulfilling to see creatives implement the steps in their business.
During the first phase of working with me, I send over my Base-Point Analysis Workbook where clients can get all of their thoughts down all while being guided by specific questions.
From there, we talk about current and future products and services, all of my client’s ideas and goals. The idea is to get everything out so we can see all of the possibilities and get the big picture.
If you’re interested in working with me to create a brand strategy that helps your business thrive, I would love to chat with you. Fill out the quick form on my coaching page to inquire about my availability and to set up a free consultation call. I’m excited to hear from you!
1. Start by figuring out where you are and where you want to go.
The purpose of brand strategy is to help a business reach their dream goals while also keeping the owner from feeling run ragged or overwhelmed. So I like to start with the basics.
The key is to get everything out in the open and to start with general information about your business.
For my brand strategy clients, we always start by going over some foundational information about their brand, their goals, and their ideal lifestyle since we want to find the perfect balance of all three areas.
I ask about why they decided to start their business and how well it’s currently working within their lifestyle and personal goals. We chat about what tasks come easily and which ones are more difficult.
In my Base-Point Analysis Workbook, we explore the big fears, limiting beliefs, and hangups of running a business, too. This helps us unfold all of the possibilities and areas to focus on—both hidden and obvious.
We determine my client’s ideal work schedule so we can create a strategy and plan that fits within those parameters.
2. Dive into the details to get clarity about your business, offerings, value, specialization, audience, website, marketing, and more.
As we start building her strategy, we get into the nitty-gritty about ways to improve her brand and get the best results from the time she works each week.
We explore my client’s products and services. We take a look at what ones are selling well, which ones aren’t, and how we can start increasing sales right from the start. We also take a look at other ideas for offerings and ways to diversify income in her business.
It’s important to pinpoint the value of what a client is selling, so we focus on the problems and solutions that her brand gives her audience.
We spend a lot of time in this area as we work out the details of a client’s industry, niche, and specialization. And we dive into her website, content, and marketing.
There’s so much more that we cover, and it always varies for each client since my brand strategy coaching process is custom-tailored to the unique needs of every client.
3. Build a strategy that has clear goals and daily action steps that lead you there.
Once we have a crystal clear understanding of my client’s goals, we create an easy-to-implement plan of action for her to follow. We write down a specific day-to-day task list for the next two weeks, and we also outline a tentative one for the whole month.
Since I meet with clients every two weeks over video chat, we double-down and focus on 14-day increments to prevent overwhelm. It’s also the perfect amount of time to start forming new habits. Often times, after the first few weeks, clients are already reporting back with results in their business. And it’s all thanks to their shiny, new brand strategy.
Let’s work together
Are you ready to create your brand strategy? It’s time to take your business places. Learn more about how you can work with me for brand strategy coaching.
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