Your branding is the bread and butter of your business. It’s the culmination of the why, the who, and the what—why you do what you do, who you serve, and what it does for them. Branding is far more than just a pretty color palette or a cool logo. Your branding should speak to your ideal client. Without proper branding, you can’t have proper marketing. Branding is what people remember you by; it’s your unique identifier in a market with an abundance of options. Your branding should tell a story. It’s the first thing your ideal client notices when they land on any of your platforms. So why isn’t your branding targeting your ideal client? Perhaps it lacks intentional thought and design, or maybe it’s outdated and doesn’t speak to your business’s growth. All these signs point to your branding requiring an intentional update.
You can create a bespoke, timeless brand with the proper thought and curation behind branding elements. People regularly think branding needs to be updated every X years. But the truth is, with the right elements and intentional thought behind it, you can create a brand that lasts forever. So why isn’t your branding doing that now? It could be for a few reasons. Perhaps your brand followed a trend that’s no longer relevant. Or maybe you created your branding without proper market research or hiring a professional. Branding, like most aspects of your business, should be an investment. You want to create something timeless, recognizable, and unique to you, your brand, and your client.
5 Questions to Discover if Your Branding is Targeting Your Ideal Client
Do you know WHO your ideal client is?
This is the most critical question you need to have a clear and concise answer to when it comes to creating, launching, and running a successful business. WHO is your target client? When you come to La.Rue, it’s evident through branding and exact copy our target audience is women entrepreneurs. Knowing exactly who you’re targeting is step one. When describing your ideal client, give them a story. What do they do on the weekends? How much money do they make? Where do they live? What do they do for work? When you know who your client is, you know how to target them.
When you write down the Qualities of your Ideal client, does your branding match that personality?
Your branding should have a personality. When I go through a client onboarding, I do an exercise with each client to list possible “brand buzz words” so I can match their vocabulary and vision when creating their new branding. Things like “elegance, modern sophisticated, warm, bright, clean, etc.” Making a list of personality traits for your ideal client and matching them to your branding will help determine if your branding is working.
Does your branding align with your mission?
Your branding needs to match your mission, values, and services. Does it match what product or service you offer? How will your ideal client connect to it if your branding doesn’t align with what it represents? Here’s an example of how the two would connect if you’re confused. Think of a luxury dental company. If this brand promises an “experience” when coming to the dentist and offering specialty services, your branding isn’t going to be bright colors or “corporate.” Luxury branding is soft, elegant, and refined.
Does your branding match your ideal client’s level of investment?
Branding needs to represent price points. Most people can look at branding and immediately recognize the investment required. Think of two makeup brands. One is an affordable drug store makeup brand, versus the branding for a high-end luxury brand like Charlotte Tilbury. It has nothing to do with the time or dedication spent on branding but WHO you’re appealing to. An affordable brand will often use muted or natural colors, heavily leaning on black and white, plastic packaging (yes, the packaging is a part of branding), and a more generic logo. Whereas with a luxury makeup brand, you’re looking at elegant and expensive packaging, a logo that requires a more intricate design, and a color palette that infuses more cool tones. Your branding needs to speak to your price point. Your ideal client is less likely to invest when the two don’t align.
How does your branding speak to your future growth?
This isn’t something we always think of when branding our business, specifically if we’re in the early stages. But it is absolutely something that should be at the top of our mind when we’re creating our branding. You should always put yourself in a position to expect growth. Your branding should represent where you are now and where you expect your brand to grow, which speaks to the timeless aspect we all hope for in our branding.
If Your Branding Isn’t Targeting Your Ideal Client
If you answered no, or a variation of that to any of these questions, then your branding isn’t serving you or your ideal client. Your branding should be an investment. When you take the time to design and create a brand intentionally, it speaks to the level of delivery you offer your clients. If you’re interested in updating your branding, please visit our services page at the La.Rue Creative Studio to see how we can serve you and your brand. Want to learn more about entrepreneurship and design? Visit the entrepreneurship portion of the blog to read past articles on the topic.
