The Blog
7 Things You Need to Know Before You Hire a Brand Strategist *whispers* It has nothing to do with a mood board
photo by rawpixel.com
Right now, you do everything and your #1 strategy is simply to keep your business alive.
Spending most of your time in Facebook groups, fiddling around with Instagram’s feed and expecting Pinterest to explode your website traffic overnight is proving to be a path you’re not willing to commit to.
There’s got to be a better way to get clients and grow your biz beyond survival stage!
You'll need a cohesive brand that represents not only your services & info products but who you are, your message and what makes your brand unmistakable.
You just realized, you've been winging it this whole time and don't truly have a brand strategy in place. Nothing that accurately reflects the passion for your business at least.
Growing beyond where it is --is your next logical step.
Simplifying interactions with clients throughout the buying process, how to handle difficult ones, mastering the art of charging premium prices and creating systems to productize your service.
It's all information overload.
You're holding out for a hope & a prayer to finally create passive income products and more hands-off time. But what happens, if you don't get your brand strategy together, a sound marketing plan in place and a design others would kill for?
It becomes even more difficult to find the right kind of clients, your digital product’s dream is deferred and that family vacation you promise you’d devote your time and undivided attention --off the table.
Before you hire a Branding Strategist here's what to expect (no mood board required).
1. They Have Receipts (Proof)
Don’t allow smoke & mirrors of the internet cloud your judgment.
Theses raving testimonials you see on their site could have been written by a friend. It’s really easy to say how awesome the service is but having case studies, raises the playing field.
Hire someone with real live case studies and before & after’s of successful outcomes. A confident strategist may even offer to let you contact previous customers on their experience working with them.
They’re usually the ones who’ve proven themselves time again, working with other creative businesses.
You want to look for someone that understands your market and has experienced it before. Someone with a strong background in working with not-for-profits --may not be a good fit for you.
2. They Drink Their Own Kool-Aid
If you go on their social media channels and they lack consistency in tone, look and style. Dead giveaway, they lack the capability to transform your brand too.
Basically, they should look the part or --what are we doing here??
In terms of following the fads, the magenta, confetti, and that illegible calligraphy font, NOPE. Smart strategist don’t follow fads. Flawless brand strategy and design is timeless. If you see this, exit stage left!
You want to locate a company that provides all 3 services: branding, marketing & design to move forward. This is rare but not impossible. *waves*
A Brand Strategists that specializes in marketing and visual execution will ensure consistency throughout.
Last word of caution! Designers that say “I can design your brand”...please speed walk your way to the nearest exit. Your brand is your reputation, and cannot be styled like an outfit of the day.
3. They Don’t Claim To Be The Holy Grail But Have Holy Water
You can luck up and find a brand strategist that does all 3: branding, marketing & design equally well.
In same cases, you may find a strategist that works with a team.
This means the strategist is aware of their strengths and weaknesses but most importantly, dedicated to providing you with the best service.
They work with the best of the best to provide top notch service all across the board.
They work with graphic & web designers, developers, copywriters, etc. to provide you with a well-rounded brand experience.
Aka Holy Water.