What Should My Brand Strategy Include?

You paid someone for a "brand strategy," and a few weeks later, the files land in your inbox: a logo, four color swatches, and the names of two fonts. You're SO excited, so you open Canva to make your very first post with your shiny new brand, and then you just sit there staring at those four colors, thinking, okay... which one goes where? There's no guide telling you what any of it is for, what to say, or how you're supposed to sound, so you end up right back at square one frustrated and a little exhausted.

I've been there myself. When I built the very first website for my family's photography venue, I made a logo, picked some colors and fonts, and then had to figure out everything else while I was building, and the whole time I kept thinking, it would be SO nice to know all of this first. That feeling is a big part of why my Brand Foundation exists. So before you pay anyone for a brand strategy, here's what it should ACTUALLY include.

First, we have to clear your brain.

A real brand strategy starts with your messaging and positioning, before anyone touches a color or a font. That's who you are, what you do, who you're for, why someone should pick you over the business down the road, and how you should sound and feel online. Nobody visiting your website will ever see this part directly, but they'll FEEL it in every caption, every headline, and every About page.

This part should be written FOR you. If someone hands you a long questionnaire, lets you do all the thinking, and calls that strategy, you've basically paid them to ask you questions. I write my clients' messaging and positioning, so there's no homework and no blank page to stare at.

Then comes your visual identity, with the instructions.

Once you're clear, your logo, colors, and fonts can finally say something. A good brand strategy gives you your colors with their names and hex codes (the exact code that keeps a color looking the same everywhere), plus which color goes where.

It gives you your fonts and what each one is for, like headers versus body text, and it gives you more than one version of your logo, including smaller icons for places like your profile picture. If a designer hands you a single JPG and calls it a day, RUN. Here's what you should get when you pay for a logo, if you want the full rundown.

The explaining is the part you're really paying for.

Four colors with no instructions turn into four colors you use however you feel like that day, and nobody can recognize a brand that looks different every week.

When someone tells you this one is for backgrounds, this one is for titles, and this font is for headings, your website, your social media, and your flyers all start to look like the same business, even when someone else makes them. That's how people start to recognize you, trust you, and remember you.

The same goes for your words. You might be thinking, I already know how to talk about my business, and you DO! But nobody else knows how to talk like you yet, so it has to be written down for your web designer, your social media manager, or whoever is posting for you on a busy Friday.

Green Heart Enterprises is a great example, because we kept their visual identity (people already recognized it) and rebuilt their messaging so they finally stopped sounding like every other contractor (read their case study here).

What's inside MY Brand Foundation.

My Brand Foundation comes as a PDF guide that's usually about six pages long, and every page explains itself. Right after the cover comes your messaging and positioning strategy, because that's the MOST important part. Next is a page with your four to six colors, their names, and their hex codes, followed by a page that shows exactly how and where to use each one.

After that comes your typography page, with three fonts and what each one is for (headers, body text, and subtitles or pull quotes). Then there's your logo page, with your primary logo, a secondary logo like a wordmark or a badge, and usually four icons, depending on what your brand needs. If we're designing business cards too, you'll get an extra page for those, and all of it lands in one guide you can hand to anyone you hire later.

Ask these questions before you pay anyone:

• Will you write my messaging and positioning for me, or will I be filling out a questionnaire and writing it myself?

• Will you show me how to use each color and font, or just send me the files?

• How many versions of my logo will I get, and where do I use each one?

• And will everything be in one guide I can hand to anyone I hire later?

A good designer will be EXCITED to answer every one of these, because they want you to know exactly what you're getting. And if you're not quite ready to pay for any of it yet (no shame in that), here's how to start building your brand on a limited budget.

So, are you ready to clear your brain?

My Brand Foundation is $500, and it's done in seven days. You fill out my onboarding form, I build your messaging, positioning, and visual identity, and once you approve everything, your brand guide lands right in your inbox. If paying all at once is tough, we can split it into a deposit up front and a second invoice after.

It's the foundation your website, your social media, and everything else gets built on, so your online presence works FOR you and attracts more of the right people while you focus on other things. No more staring at four colors in Canva wondering where they go. Ready to get it handled?

Start your inquiry here →