Hey, fellow creative! In today’s post, we’re going to talk through how you can recognize the ROI of strategic branding so that you can figure out whether or not your brand is currently living up to your expectations and sending you the kinds of dreamy opportunities that you deserve to experience!

In the decade that I have been a brand designer and strategist, I’ve had countless conversations with entrepreneurs, small business owners, and creatives who are wondering how exactly to tell whether or not their brand is doing the heavy lifting that it can. 

If that sounds like something that would serve you well and if you have been wondering exactly how to assess whether or not your visual brand is generating the kind of impact that it can have, then today’s post is for you! Keep scrolling for more!

The ROI of Strategic Branding

Just the other day I was having a conversation with a potential client who asked a fantastic question! She wanted to know what kind of success stories my custom branding clients were experiencing. (And I love that she asked this question! I think that finding the right service provider for you involves looking into case studies and past testimonials from their clients to understand–in someone else’s words–what it’s really like to work with them.)

I was able to share with her the track record that I’ve established for myself using my signature brand strategy process with my custom clients. I’ve seen time and time again that my clients are celebrating big wins like:

• Doubling, tripling, or quadrupling their rates.
• Filling their project calendars with ideal clients
• Raising their rates to command premium prices for their work.

On top of that, they’re able to celebrate so many new opportunities like pivoting to reach a higher-end audience, getting into the world of online education, or commanding the stage as they step into a new season as an expert speaker! And these are just a few examples of some of the wins that my clients are experiencing as a direct result of the work that we do together. 

INVESTING IN A PROFESSIONAL FOR STRATEGIC BRANDING

I think it’s important to recognize that working with a talented strategist and designer should help you to experience similar results. When you are strategically branding your business there should be a clear, consistent, and measurable return on that investment. Because, let’s be honest, investing in your brand is an investment.

Once you have outgrown the DIY season of design, it’s important to partner with a strategist and designer who can capture your vision and can equip you with the visuals and the tools you need to reach your goals. That usually comes with a high amount of investment, but that’s for good reason! 

When you’re partnering with an expert strategist and designer, you are ensuring that you are going to walk through a time-tested approach that delivers results. You’ll be able to assess what kind of return you can expect when you are looking to connect with a designer to help you through your branding journey or your rebranding journey. 

YOUR DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

I think it’s important to have a conversation about what success looks like for you. In this context:

• Do you want to raise your rates?
• Are you looking to pivot to reach a new audience or a more specific audience?
• Have you thought about branching into a new offering?
• Do you want to experience a specific increase in inquiries or sales?

Having thought through what success looks like for you, can help to inform your designer what the objectives of this project are so that together you can focus on creating the visuals and the strategy guidelines that will align with that direction.

THE B IS FOR BONNIE DESIGN® APPROACH

Although I can’t speak to other designers’ processes, let me pull back the curtain a bit to share with you what this process looks like for my business and how that’s impacted my own clients. When we look at the ROI of strategic branding, the outcome is going to be different for every business.

I think it’s important to mention that although as a strategist and designer, I can hand you the tools that you need in order to experience your definition of success, it’s ultimately up to you to follow through to use those tools to generate the results that you want to see. What this has looked like for my own clients ranges based on their unique businesses and their unique goals, but here are some common wins that my strategic branding process helps my clients to experience. 

CHARGING PREMIUM RATES FOR YOUR SERVICE

When I joined forces with the incredible Nicole at Vision Events, she was in an exciting season of growth within her wedding and event planning business based in North Carolina. She knew that the expertise that she brought to every project, event, and wedding that she took on warranted a higher level of investment from her clients.

But, she knew that the brand that she was previously working with did not command the amount of intention, professionalism, and quality that she hoped to reflect in her pricing. When she reached out to me about rebranding, our primary objective was to position her as an expert wedding and event planner in her area, and one who offered a relationship-centered planning and design approach so that we could qualify the kinds of clients and couples that would be reaching out and working with her. 

We focused on creating a polished, elevated visual brand that would inspire the kind of trust and offer the kind of overall vibe that aligned with the higher price point that she wanted to charge. As a result, she was able to not only dramatically raise her rates, but also consistently connect with the ideal couples that she was dreaming of working with.

REACHING A SPECFIC CLIENTELE

When we look at the work that I did with my former client, Cori, of Cori Cook Floral Design, we focused on nailing down who her ideal clients were so that she could, like Nicole, focus on charging a premium price for her floral design services, but also, so that she could connect with a higher end kind of clientele. 

She wanted to work with couples planning luxury weddings, so she knew that she needed a brand that conveyed that overall experience. In her own words…

“My old brand was very outdated and while my work as a designer had progressed over the years, the look of my website, logo, and branding was holding me back from getting the clients I knew I was ready for because it felt immature and outdated.”

Together we focused on creating an elevated visual identity that would position her as a trustworthy, polished, and professional floral designer that her luxury clients were looking for. 

“My investment into working with Bonnie paid off literally within day of launching.“

Within 48 hours of launch, she booked a celebrity client. Not only that, but she also raised her starting price point to $25,000 so she made her investment back within actual days of launching! 

That’s the kind of clarity that strategic branding offers. When you understand not just who your ideal clients are, but how your services provide a clear level of value or a specific transformation, you’re able to change the way that you’re communicating with your potential clients to inspire more connection, more trust, and to more effectively say why they should work with you. 

Cori is such a great example of that in practice. She not only took the work that we did and ran with it, but she was able to then use the strategy work that we did, the visual identity we created, and the custom website we created in order to connect with the incredible kinds of clients that she was longing to serve.

INCREASING SALES

Maybe you are content with your current price point. Perhaps you have already dialed in on the kinds of incredible ideal clients that you want to work with. But, you might be more interested in increasing the number of sales that you are experiencing! Here’s what strategic branding can do for you in this specific instance. 

A few years ago when I partnered up with the wonderful Hannah of Hannah Smith photography, we put our heads together to create a fun, joyful, and fresh visual identity. After we walked through my strategic branding process and we launched not only her custom visual identity, but also her new Showit 5 website, Hannah was able to share that she booked an ideal client within 24 hours of launch and her own words.

“I booked an ideal client one day after launching! I can’t blame that on coincidence!”

You see, friend, when you focus on building a brand from a clear place of strategy, it not only influences the design decisions that your designer will make, but also influences the positioning, the messaging, and as a result, the connection that you can create.

CLEAR & EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

If you’re in a season where you’re not experiencing consistent sales, but you know that your service is top notch, that tells me that there could be something about your positioning or your messaging that isn’t aligned for you. 

Earlier this year, I have had the joy of working with another incredibly talented wedding and portrait photographer named Julia. Although, I am not able to share her gorgeous brand with you just yet, stay tuned – we’re still polishing up a few finishing touches!

The work, confidence, clarity, and cohesive action she gained working with me has proved immensely valuable to her. Julia booked $35k+ of client work in just two weeks based on the confidence, clarity, and cohesive action she gained working with me. Imagine what she’ll make when we launch her new site! If we look at that data another way, she booked 75% of her inquiries in less than a month! All because of the clarity she experienced after walking through my brand strategy process. 

THE POWER IN STRATEGICALLY DESIGNED BRANDS

Julia experienced this phenomenal amount of success and, friend, that is the power of strategic branding! She has already made back her investment in working with me and then some, because knowing how to clearly and effectively communicate who she is, what she does, and the value that it provides to her ideal clients, enables her to show up on discovery calls with more clarity, more confidence, and more potential for connection. All of that really creates an energy that your ideal clients will respond to. 

I know that these are just a few examples of how powerful strategically designed brands can be for your creative business! I hope that this starts to paint a picture for you of what kinds of results I want you to start to expect when you brand (or rebrand) your business for the first time!

ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES WITH STRATEGIC BRANDING

If you are prepping to create a logo and a visual identity that looks, feels, and sounds like you, that’s amazing. And if that’s how you’re defining success within your branding project in this season, I love that for you! But, if it would also serve you and your business well to think about some other goals that would help impact your business’s bottom line, then I encourage you to use this short list as an example of what can be possible.

If you want dive a little bit deeper into understanding some of the opportunities that are available to you when you choose to brand your business strategically, then head on over to the podcast to listen to this episode. If you’re curious about whether or not your brand is really measuring up for you and you want a little bit more context for that self-assessment than that episode is worth checking out! 

ARE YOU READY TO FOR STRATEGIC BRANDING?

Friend, I’m hopeful that today’s post helps to paint a picture of possibility for you and your brand. And if you’ve been reading through this and you’re feeling the pull to strategically rebrand your creative business in order to consistently connect with your ideal clients, charge the premium rates that you deserve, and position yourself as the expert that you are, I would love to chat with you. I’m currently booking custom brand design and strategy projects for 2023, and I have a handful of openings available head here to share more about your business and your vision and how I can help, and I’ll be in touch with the next steps. 

GET IN TOUCH TO TAKE YOUR BRAND TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

P.S. Did you enjoy today’s post or have you found value in another resource that I have shared in the past? You can head here to buy me a coffee, and I would be so honored by your support! I am so thankful you are here, and always cheering you on from Waco!