What order should you approach your branding?
In the world of branding and getting your business ducks lined up in a row, a question many people ask is: “What order should I do things in?
When it comes to branding specifically, there are a few different ways to approach it. It will come down to your budget, timeline, capacity and overall business goal or vision.
If you’re just starting out as a business owner and looking to launch your new product or service, there are two ways I’d consider:
Brand Strategy > Visual Brand Identity > Copywriting > Brand Photography > Website Design
Brand Strategy > Brand Photography > Visual Brand Identity > Copywriting > Website Design
The first option is the most typical timeline and order. It ensures you have a good solid foundation of understanding your business vision and getting strategy sorted before jumping into the design side of things. You can either do this on your own or with a brand strategist.
Another option is that most brand designers (including myself) will incorporate a level of brand strategy into the visual identity process. So if you have no idea where to start, a good designer can help you with that through a detailed questionnaire and series of conversations. However it is also really helpful if you come with an understanding of your end goal, who you are trying to reach and what makes you stand out or unique as a business.
If you are really clear on your brand strategy, a designer can take that to the next level when it comes to building the visual identity and brand. If you are ready to invest upfront, a brand strategist can help you save hours of time and thousands of dollars to make sure you’re headed on the right track from day one and don’t end up needing to re-do everything later on.
There is no right answer but consider what approach fits you and your goals best.
For most people I work with (small to medium business owners), a good understanding of brand strategy at the start really helps but it is also very common to evolve along the way as you begin to learn more about your customers and even what you enjoy offering. So in that case, it’s more important to have a starting point that has a level of intentional branding and then be prepared to adjust it over time.
For a business that is refreshing its entire brand, a deeper level of strategy is needed to make sure the relaunch of the new look is entirely aligned with the goals and target audience. This is where teaming up with a copywriter to ensure brand messaging is on point across everything from website to socials is also beneficial.
Brand Strategy > Visual Brand Identity + Copywriting > Brand Photography > Website Design
From here, you will know the exact style of photos to capture your brand look and can book in a photographer that aligns with that. The reason for getting all your strategy, visual branding, messaging and photography done before the website design? The website will end up pulling all those elements together to create the icing on the cake and you want to make sure you’re not wasting your time going back and forth to get everything and avoid a whole heap of revisions later. Get all that you need beforehand so when it comes to the website build, it will come together so easily and beautifully while being incredibly strategic and on brand.
Like all things, various budgets come into play and so if you can’t invest in a good copywriter or photographer before your website design, make sure to do your research to DIY really well. There are a lot of incredible resources out there if you’re willing to learn but the trade off is your time! If going down this route, I would recommend coming back to invest in a professional touch once you have the ability to invest back into your business.
And if you want help nailing your visual brand identity for your business whether you’re starting out in business or in need of a refresh, I’d love to help.