The 8 Phases of Branding
8 Steps to Brand Your Business
If you have a budding business or you’re in the process of rebranding and are wondering where to begin on your journey, here are the 8 phases of branding to get you started.
Phase 01: Ideation and Identity
Look over your mission (what), vision (why), value proposition (how), and ideal client (who) for your business. This is where you build a meaningful foundation for your brand.
When your brand design aligns with your vision, mission, and values, you will be communicating with your ideal clients in a clear, authentic way.
They will automatically want to work with you before they ever speak with you IRL. If you need a little help writing your meaningful mission statement, you can read this article.
It's okay if this phase takes the longest because, in our humble opinion, it is the most important. The longer you spend getting super clear on why you do what you do and who you are serving with your offerings, the easier it will be for everything else to fall into place.
And when your visual assets align with your brand identity, you will understand your brand more intimately and are less likely to want to change your design months down the road. Good branding should stand the test of time.
Phase 02: Color Palette
This is where the brand really comes to life. You can use your mission, vision, and value proposition to determine which colors reflect your identity the best. This phase involves a little intuition but you can also lean on science to help.
Color psychology tells us how different colors can make us feel.
You can check out this guide we put together explaining the meanings behind colors.
We suggest breaking your values down into 3-5 words and choosing colors that correspond with the meanings. If the colors don’t look good together, that’s okay, maybe pick one to be your main color and then choose shades of that color to compliment it and one color that opposes it on the color wheel to make it pop.
Phase 03: Web and Asset Creation
If you don't already have one, be sure to create a brand guide that explains what your brand colors, fonts, and other visual "rules" are for your brand. You can use your brand guide when working with outside designers or photographers so they can understand your brand’s visual direction.
After you have nailed down your brand identity then you can begin building out your website and visual assets. If you are working with a designer they will help you utilize your branding in your website creation. Your website, brand colors, imagery, and copywriting should all fit together in a cohesive way to tell the story of the mission, vision, and values you developed in Phase 01.
Phase 04: Branded Photography
This is the step that can elevate your brand aesthetic. Branded photography can be created by you or a hired photographer and the images should help you to tell the story you have developed in the previous steps.
Think about how you can add the colors of your brand into the imagery and reflect what your brand does.
For example, if you are a ceramic artist, it would be wise to have images of you working on your ceramics along with some images that reflect the energy of your brand such as a calm still life, or a vibrant landscape.
We recommend setting up monthly or quarterly photoshoots so that you always have something fresh to use on your website, Instagram, and any ads that you run.
Phase 05: Design
Think about your other visual assets that you use on a regular basis. Do you give slide presentations? Do you have a Facebook page that needs a banner? Anywhere you are promoting your brand or sharing information, you should have visual assets that fit in with your established branding.
A great place to create these assets is the free program, Canva, or if you are more versed in the Adobe programs, Photoshop and Illustrator will do the trick.
Phase 06: Strategy + Refine
What is the purpose behind your business? How do you stand out from others in your market? What is the overall experience that you give to your clients and your employees?
We like to use a method that involves an internal and an external practice for each value word that you chose back in Phase 01. How do you express that value externally to your clients? How do you express that value internally with your team? This is your brand strategy.
Refine your brand strategy and identity even further so that you clearly understand the essence of what you are trying to communicate and with whom. This phase will develop with time. As you begin working with clients and customers, your understanding of your mission and values will become more and more clear.
Phase 07: Marketing + Copywriting
Now that you have a clearer picture of your brand's authentic message, update your website copy and layout to reflect this. Think about your ideal client as you are fine-tuning your website. What are they looking for? How do they want to interact with you? What does their journey look like when they come to visit your site and what is the end goal? Do you want them to book a session with you or make a purchase before they leave?
Make sure you are abolishing their fears and leading them to that decision with ease and comfort.
What makes the most sense for your brand’s marketing? Are your ideal clients on Facebook or do they spend their time on TikTok? Are they searching Pinterest for the answers you can provide? Do they like to read blogs or are they more interested in Youtube videos?
Figure out what kind of content you enjoy creating and where your ideal clients are spending their time and combine these two to create a unique marketing plan. If you dislike using social media, you may want to spend your efforts focusing on creating a robust newsletter and free blog content,
Or if you are a natural at Instagram, perhaps that is where you can market your brand for the best results. Find the unique intersection between what your user needs and what brings you joy and ease. We put together an authentic social media guide to help you take this phase further:
Phase 08: Refresh
After you have been using the same assets and visuals for many months or years you may start to grow weary of the look. Every year or couple of years you can re-evaluate your design and give it a refresh.
I would not recommend doing a full rebrand unless your mission, vision, and values have changed but you can add in a new color, tweak some of your designs and just update the overall layout of your website. This will make more sense when the time comes because you will be able to see what has been working and what hasn't.
In Conclusion
If you are just starting your business or you are in the throws but feel like you could use a little guidance on the structure, refer to these 8 phases of branding to get started.
And if you need any help gaining clarity on any of these steps, you can book a free consultation call with us here:
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