If you’re researching hiring a design agency or marketing agency, you may have heard the term brand strategist. In this post, I’ll share what a brand strategist is, how to know if your business needs one, and ways a brand strategist can help you.
What is a brand strategist?
A brand strategist evaluates a company holistically, identifies the roadblocks within the business brand, and comes up with a unique strategy to resolve them.
While brand strategy is a career all its own, this person may also come from a background of entrepreneurship, business consulting, marketing, or design.
Why should I hire a brand strategist?
Hiring a brand strategist provides an unbiased perspective and an opportunity to look at your business and brand from a bird’s eye point of view.
How do I know if I need a brand strategist?
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You are struggling to connect with the right customers
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Your business is rebranding and you want to make sure it’s done right this time
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Your business is preparing to launch a new product or service
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Your current business brand(s) are disjointed and confusing your audience
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Your messaging is unclear and confusing customers
- Your marketing efforts aren’t working and you’re not sure why
What does a brand strategist do?
How a brand strategist engages with your business can vary greatly depending on their specific offerings and your needs.
Below are some of the many ways a brand strategist can help your business.
Intensive Workshops
The first step of working with a brand strategist typically involves some type of meeting or workshop where they listen and diagnose where your brand is currently (if you have one) and what you are struggling with. These workshops can range from 2 hours to an 8-hour intensive, or possibly more.
Consulting
From here, the brand strategist will consult and advise on what changes could be made to improve your current business branding. The brand strategist will typically create a brand architecture map (this deliverable can be called many things). This document can outline and advise on things such as your brand positioning, brand architecture (logos, messaging, brand personality), buyer personas, and more. For some brand strategists, their engagement ends here and you are left with the knowledge and brand architecture map to carry out their advice.
Execution
If a brand strategist is hired to help you execute these strategies, there is a very wide range of services that may be necessary to complete the task. These can include the following:
*Depending on the person, the brand strategist may complete some of these tasks themselves, others may require additional talent.
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Brand Audit: Surveying your customers and prospects to understand how your market feels about your company’s brand experience.
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Identity Rebrand: Redesigning the look of your brand. This can include a new logo design, color palette, fonts, and other visual imagery.
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Website Redesign: If your brand undergoes an identity rebrand, a website redesign will likely be in order, as well, but the two don’t always go hand-in-hand.
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Repositioning: If there is confusion behind your brand, a reposition may be in order. This can include many things such as a name change, a new marketing campaign, collaboration, or a new product or service.
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Messaging: This can include the brand’s overall voice and personality, or it could include tweaking specific copy on landing pages, sales funnels, the website, or email campaigns.
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Marketing: Email marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising, events, sales funnels, and much more can be part of a brand strategy execution.
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Customer Service/Brand Experience: Your brand involves every part of your business and every person who works with you. It is essential that all people involved understand the overall brand mission and how to represent the brand effectively.
I hope this article was helpful in explaining the importance of a brand strategist for the success of your brand.
If you’re looking to hire a brand strategist, click here to inquire.
