How To Create A Brand Experience
Photography by Charuk Studios
More often than not, branding can seem like a foreign phrase to business owners and consumers alike. Everyone seems to want it, but not many people tend to really know or understand what it is.
It’s a common misconception that your brand is something as simple as your logo, color palette or website. While these are all key elements that modern businesses should have, the actual art of branding is much more elusive than that.
Branding isn’t anything tangible that you can touch or see, it’s the groundwork + intentions you define for your business before you do anything else. Branding is something that you feel.
It’s the immediate attraction that captivates your senses when you spot a product in your favorite color. It’s the overwhelming excitement you can hardly contain when the latest must-have cosmetic craze arrives at your doorstep, beautifully packaged and begging for you to show it off. It’s the desire for name-brand products over their generic counterparts—no matter how similar they may be—just because you resonate with the ideals & people behind the brand.
I honestly believe you can be successful in any business if you truly understand how to make the most of your brand experience and learn how to market it efficiently.
Wondering how *exactly* you can begin to understand the art of creating a brand experience that converts as much as it captivates? Let’s start with the basics now, shall we?
the four things you need to master to create your brand experience:
1. Your brand story
Want to know how you can create a brand experience that’s 100% unique to you + resonates with the audience you want to serve? Start with a deep dive on your past, present, and future. When I work with my clients on creating brand experiences of their own, we kick things off with a deep dive on brand discovery so I can fully understand why they started, where they’re at now, and where they want to be.
You’ll especially want to think about the unique value you have to offer your audience. There are always going to be a million other people out there who offer similar services and/or products, but no one will ever be able to do what you do, exactly like you.
Consider even the tiniest details that make you unique. Do you only use eco-friendly processes? Is spirituality a key part of your work-flow? Are gold tools + accents a part of your signature style? Is your workspace covered in pink from ceiling to floor ? Okay, now I’m just talking about myself, I’ll stop—but you get the point ;)
2. Your Identity
For the sake of ensuring you really, really get it...I’m going to repeat myself again: your brand goes so much deeper than your logo and your visual identity should prove that. If you don’t have have your target audience, mission statement, or a mood board as yet, get started on creating that—stat. Not only will defining these key components of your experience make building your business easier, it will allow the creation of your identity to be that much more intentional as well.
From your unique aesthetic, curated to evoke emotion & appeal to the senses, to your signature color palette that helps build awareness of the experience you’re creating, to unique font pairings that become apart of your brand family and increase your cohesion, down to a logo that says exactly who you are with tactful design—your brand identity should be as consistent as it is strategic.
3. Your Messaging
What’s your story and how do you plan to tell it? A gorgeous aesthetic will draw people in but the way you describe it is what will keep them around. Consider your brand as a living, breathing energy, and yes—it does have a voice.
When I help my clients develop their own unique brand voice, we personify it by keeping their targeted audience at top of mind. What will resonate, build trust, and feel like second nature to them? Once your brand voice is set in stone, creating verbiage for the many platforms you flaunt your brand will become that much more effortless.
It’s so important to craft your messaging in a way that speaks directly to your target audiences deepest desires, dreams, and vulnerable moments so you can foster a connection that will have the right people thinking “are you in my head right now?!”
4. Your Marketing
The first step to understanding how to market your biz efficiently? Shake the consumer mindset (this is the lens you look through when you’re being sold to) and shift into producer mode (this means you’re mindfully prepared to do the selling).
You can start with tangible marketing pieces, like your product packaging, promotional flyers, or business cards. In this day & age it’s extremely important not to ignore the virtual side of marketing, i.e. your website experience + social media presence. Don’t forget your brand photography—your visuals paired with your messaging are what will bring your marketing strategy all together!
You’ll know you’re marketing mindfully & strategically when you’re able to consistently create content that inspires, resonates, provides value, and authentically depicts your brand story + the results you provide.
Having confidence in these 4 elements serves as a powerful foundation for the way your business shows up in the world. Need support with any of the above? Let’s work together.
