We care a lot about strong and meaningful brands. That’s why we put together a free checklist to help you build a successful brand from scratch! If you haven’t downloaded the checklist yet, scroll to the bottom and grab your copy. In the meantime, here are the deets…
BRAND FUNDAMENTALS
1. BRAND MISSION
Write your mission statement. Do some soul-searching for your business and figure out what your core mission is. Identifying why you serve your audience every day will help you stay on track in your business. A clear mission will keep you going.
2. BRAND STORY
Share your journey. Go behind the scenes of your business. Share moments of your business that you know will connect your audience and serve them in a new way.
3. BRAND VALUES
Determine what you believe as a business. Setting core values will communicate what you believe as a business and how your company works together toward the shared vision. Always stay true to the values of your business, and be super clear on what you stand for as a brand.
4. BRAND BOUNDARIES
Define opportunities that you will say yes and no to. It’s important that you continue to differentiate yourself in your industry, and saying yes to everything might lessen your impact. Creating boundaries for your business will help you determine when to say no to something that doesn’t align with your brand.
5. BRAND MESSAGE
Identify your core offering and write your brand message. Identify your core service and sharpen the language used in your content to help visitors relate to your brand. You can inspire, persuade, motivate, and ultimately turn your audience into die-hard clients with the right brand messaging.
6. BRAND LANGUAGE
Write a list of words that sound like your brand. Brand language is how you communicate with your audience. Your brand should communicate a clear message that your ideal audience can easily understand and relate to. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. Every brand voice is unique and will attract people who will resonate with you.
7. BRAND PERSONALITY
Identify your brand’s characteristics. Giving your brand a persona will help you gain clarity when building out the rest of your brand. Your brand personality should reflect a positive character and attract an audience that can authentically connect and relate to you.
8. BRAND KEYWORDS
List your brand keywords for SEO. Take your Google Ranking to the next level! Make a list of keywords that you can use throughout your copy, file names, headings, descriptions, etc. These words are what your brand identifies with the most and how your audience will ultimately discover you.
BRAND STRATEGY
9. BUSINESS NICHE
Specify your industry and expertise. Narrowing down your business to one specific niche will help you stay ahead of the game in your industry. Not only will you become an expert, but you will also have a clear focus when researching, creating products, and marketing to your target audience.
10. TARGET AUDIENCE
Identify your ideal customer or client. Getting a clear understanding of your target audience and what they need from you will allow you to better serve them. Find out what their biggest struggles are and which platforms they’re most active on so you can discover the best way to connect with them.
11. COMMUNITY
Connect and engage with a community that inspires you. Make friends with complete strangers on the Internet. Engaging with your audience and building genuine relationships are crucial for your brand’s success. Take time to respond to comments on social media and blog posts. Join groups and comment on threads where you can offer a little bit of value.
12. COMPETITORS
Identify and differentiate yourself from your competitors. Identify the competitors in your industry and identify what makes you different. Learning from your competitors is also a great way to stay ahead of the game, but don’t get too distracted looking into someone else’s lane.
BRAND DESIGN
13. MOOD BOARD
Create your mood board. A mood board is a collection of imagery that reflects your brand. Think of this as your north star and reference this mood board to get a quick, clear vision of your brand’s aesthetic and feel.
14. LOGO DESIGN
Design your logo or hire a designer. Many different elements make up your brand, and your logo is only one of them. Keep your logo clean and concise using no more than 3 fonts and 3 colors. Simplicity is ALWAYS best. Hiring a professional designer will save you time and money, and the results will be worth it. Designing it yourself or purchasing a pre-made logo may not be the best option if you seek to take your brand to the next level. A creative, designer-quality logo will help guide the vision of your brand.
15. BRAND FONTS
Purchase your font licenses. Fonts come in all different personalities, so it’s important to select fonts that stay true to you. Explore endless fonts and choose your typography to set the tone for your brand. Select two or three fonts to purchase, and use them consistently throughout your website, social media graphics, and other branding materials.
16. BRAND COLORS
Choose your color palette. Colors have an effect on how you make your audience feel. Your brand should reflect a specific style and make your audience feel a certain way. Choose a color palette that plays to the emotions and supports the personality you want to portray.
17. WEBSITE THEME
Design your own theme. You need a beautiful, professional platform that will help turn leads into genuine customers or clients. Your website is one of your most significant assets and can make or break a business. Depending on your budget and experience, you should invest in a web designer to create a completely custom website or purchase a theme and build it yourself.
18. BRAND SIGNATURE
Style your email signature. Update your email signature with your new profile photos, logo, and a call to action. Sending regular emails will be much more effective in establishing trust and driving traffic to your website or recent post.
BRAND ASSETS
19. WEBSITE HOSTING + DOMAIN
Purchase and set up your hosting plan and custom domain. Secure the URL for your business website. Owning your own branded domain will establish credibility for your business. A domain and hosting plan is mandatory to get your website up and running.
20. BUSINESS EMAIL
Set up your inbox. Create a business email to keep track of all your business-related messages. Organize a separate inbox for special inquiries, support requests, or team members.
21. BUSINESS CARDS
Design and order your business cards. Handing out your business card is a great form of marketing. Attend social events and connect with as many people as possible. Keep them on hand always – you never know who you might run into one day. An effective business card design always has a clear call to action.
22. BRAND PHOTOGRAPHY
Curate a photo collection. Hire a professional photographer to take brand photos or search for commercial-free stock photos online. Having a collection of photos that relate to your branding will help you stay consistent as you expand your brand across all mediums. This is perfect for establishing an Instagram theme, adding photos to your website or using them in your marketing graphic. Great photography will help take your brand to the next level.
23. PROFESSIONAL HEADSHOTS
Take your headshots and update your profile photos. Use a professional headshot to identify the face behind your brand. This photo is virtually anywhere you have an account online. This is what people look at on social media to see if you’re a real person. Photos of yourself will humanize your brand.
BRAND CONTENT
24. WEBSITE CONTENT
Outline your pages and write your content. Your website content is one of those things that might take the longest. Remember to keep things simple. If you have the budget for it, hire a professional copywriter and provide clear direction on your brand direction.
25. BLOG POSTS
Strategize your post content and create a blogging schedule. Determine what types of posts you’ll write and how often you will publish new posts. Start off with as many as you can realistically handle, and then gradually adjust your schedule depending on your time and the audience’s expectation. A blog strategy sets the pace for your brand, letting your audience know when they can expect to see new content from you.
26. NEWSLETTER
Create an email list and freebie offer. Choose a newsletter provider to collect email addresses for your blog or business. An email list is a direct channel to your audience where you have full permission to promote your business and stay connected. Create a newsletter template that fits your brand.
27. SOCIAL MEDIA
Choose your social media platform(s) and create a strategy Social media is an effective tool for your brand strategy. Lock in your social media profiles and work on growing a following of genuine people for your business. Your platforms of choice should be where your audience appears the most. The more you show up, the more likely you’ll get noticed.
RECAP
The Ultimate Branding Checklist helps ensure that you include all essential parts of a branding strategy as you prepare your business for growth, attract more customers, and differentiate your brand from the competition!
NEXT STEPS
Download the Free Ultimate Branding Checklist if you haven’t done so already! Link to access the list and other free resources is below.
And as always, The Indigo District is committed to helping fiercely passionate entrepreneurs transform into bold brand leaders. See how we can help here and learn about our process.
