In light of Covid-19 when it feels like the world is upside down, we’re taking everything one day at a time. We aren’t as confident as we would like to be about what tomorrow will bring. During this time of uncertainty, it is important to anchor our businesses firmly in a brand that will continue to grow and thrive. A brand that will provide the confidence that we might lack in ourselves right now. So, today, I’m giving you my tips for branding for tomorrow.
Know Your Brand Values
When re-branding, it is important to not build your brand for where you stand today. It is crucial to build it for where you want to be down the road. A brand built intentionally will be nimble and optimized for future growth. When you step back and look at the big vision of your business, how do you see this evolution happening?
The basis of all of this is knowing your brand values, as well as the overall vision for your business. You can’t build a meaningful brand that will move you forward if you don’t know where you are going. Your very first step is sitting down and writing a vision for your business and the values you want your brand to hold. Starting there will ensure you always know where you want to go, as well as holding true to what’s most important. These values are so firm that they will not grow weak when things get tough.
Know Who Your Ideal Client Is
Are you an interior designer that no longer wants to be seen as “the budget decorator?” Your re-brand needs to begin with knowing what the differences are between your current clients vs. your ideal client. For example, your current client may be someone who is redoing one room at a time and wants to repurpose old furniture. This is great, unless your ideal client is someone that will hire you on the front end for their whole home new build. You can’t move from one type of client to another by just wishing.
Another example would be if you’re a photographer that starts out doing a little bit of everything to fill sessions but you really wants to niche down to only photographing intimate, destination elopements. Your re-brand needs to begin with knowing who that new client is that you are trying to reach, not the clients you are serving today. How can you re-organize your portfolio to emphasize the work you’ve done that fits into your new niche? What are these new ideal clients feeling that you can address in your copy? How can you tweak your services to provide something specifically for them?
Once you have a solid new brand pulling in ideal clients, you will feel so much more confident. However, those first steps require bravery and taking firm steps on shaky ground.
Know Where Your Brand is Going
So, now you know your ideal client and the service you want to provide, but don’t stop there! Your vision should be bigger than you. This is a time for your big, scary dreams to come to the front line. Do you want to open a retail location one day? How well does your brand repurpose for retail? Does your business name and logo have that kind of flexibility? How could you build your brand today that could support future packaging design? Analyze your website and ask those same questions. Could it handle an e-commerce component that could weave into the current brand so that you can sell online easily? These are just a handful of questions you need to ask yourself to get your business where you want it to be.
Bring It All Together Seamlessly
So, let’s say you’re wanting to move into more of an interior design influencer role. Your dream is that your clientele is made up of other interior design firms. These firms will look to you for how to best run a business, as well as tell them what the next trend on the horizon will be. If that’s the case, then you should focus on building your digital home in a standout website and social media feed. Do both speak to each other seamlessly in one voice? If not, it’s time to mesh these platforms and let your brand voice be clear and concise.
As creative entrepreneurs, we are big thinkers. We have larger than life visions for the future. If your new brand perfectly reflects where you sit today, it will be outdated way too soon (and why waste that money??). Your brand should be aspirational and make you feel a little uncomfortable. If you aren’t forward-thinking in your branding, then you are giving yourself permission to stand still in your business and what good does that do? Don’t sell yourself short here!!
You’re not pulling this vision out of thin air. You should have a strategic goal for where your business is going, and your brand is just one step in the plan to actually get you there. You’re absolutely not creating a false representation of yourself. You’re building the future of your brand so that it can catch up to your dreams. You’re currently in the middle of your journey, and looking ahead will get you to your goal faster.
Stand Out In the Crowd
The businesses that continue to grow and stand out amidst chaos (like Covid-19) are the ones that are using this uncertain time to think to the future. How can they grow and adapt and serve clients better? Hope and confidence are essential in times like these. As a business, choose to be a light in the darkness, and a solution to your clients’ problems. Instead of hoarding toilet paper, let’s focus on where we want our brands to go so that when Covid-19 is behind us, we are standing on firm ground.
