Five Ways to Gain a Competitive Edge with Brand Strategy and Design

Brand Strategy and graphic design don't always come packaged together. Designers often ignore brand strategy and brand strategists often ignore design. And here's the truth: that's a shame.

When paired together, brand strategy and graphic design make a great team. When a graphic designer takes time to understand your brand's why and your brand's voice, the results are truly incredible - you'll see the harmony between your content channels, with each one pulling leads into your marketing funnel. And when a brand strategist takes time to understand design and user experience, you'll have incredible creative direction, efficient processes, and client conversions.

Here are five instances where brand strategy and design team up for incredible results.

1. Brand Identity

Is your brand essence empowering and passionate or calm and encouraging? In design, these sets of attributes would look very different.

Before you jump into working on your brand identity, building your brand is essential. When you work with a brand strategist to define your brand's why, voice, and more, an identity designer will have a clear vision for the brand—what colors make sense, what style resonates with your audience, and more.

2. Website

Your website should be the hub of your brand. It's really the only thing you own and control these days, so make it count. A web designer should take the time to understand your brand's mission, vision, and audience. By doing so, they'll be able to turn your brand guidelines (you have those, right?) into a stunning website with calls to action that convert your audience.

3. Social Media

Social media is often the perfect blend of a brand's voice and visual identity. While a photo or graphic may stop a scroller in their tracks, the voice of the brand is what draws them in. It's what converts your audience to want to know more about you or your product. When a designer understands the brand's vision for its content beyond the pretty picture, they can create visuals that will stop a user in their endlessly scrolling tracks.

4. Email Marketing

With the right brand strategy, you'll have a clear message to your customers that will lead them further down your marketing funnel. With the right design, you'll have all of your potential customers ooh-ing and ahh-ing, reading your emails, and clicking through our website to see more of that good stuff. When you marry the two, your message will stand out among the noise of an inbox—with catchy subject lines and beautiful imagery to entice your customers.

5. Advertising

When it comes to advertising, finding harmony between visuals that stop a user in their tracks and a clear, concise message is essential. Whether it's a banner ad or full-page print ad, you want your brand messaging to work with your design to create a visually stunning ad that will clearly convey your purpose and get users to convert. And when a designer says you need to cut down your text—trust them—you need to cut down your text.

Find Someone Who Understands Both

When you hire a brand strategist who understands design and can see the big picture as well implement the details, you'll find yourself in good hands.  They'll work alongside you to make sure everything meets your brand standards. They'll keep you on track. They'll keep the guardrails on. They'll make you look (and sound) good.  And most importantly - they'll make your life easier.