Brand Clarity: What It Is & How To Find It
My humble opinion? Brand Clarity is the *most* important thing you can do for your business. It’s a crucial first step in every branding project I do, and for good reason – it’s the very foundation of your visuals (and so many other parts of your business, too!). So today let’s dig into the concept of Brand Clarity, why it’s the cornerstone of authentic business growth, and what steps you can take to find it.
In this articleWhat is Brand Clarity?
Core Components of Brand Clarity
Brand Clarity vs. Brand Strategy
How to Find Brand Clarity
If you’re like me (or any of the people I work with), your business isn’t just a means to support yourself. It’s a labor of love. Your passion. It’s your way of helping others or putting some good into this world. You might even consider it your purpose or your calling in life… or even a form of your dharma.
So when it comes time to turn what we love into a business – to monetize it and use it as a way to support ourselves financially – things can get a little tricky. Suddenly we’re asked to market ourselves. To sell our services. To create content that entices people to buy. And it all starts to feel a little… icky.
I’m here to say that it doesn’t have to feel that way. Building your brand, growing your business, and selling your products or services isn’t about using sales funnels, cold pitches, scarcity hooks, or other sketchy marketing tactics… it’s about being really clear on who you are. It’s about being clear on what you offer and the impact it has on people’s lives. In short, it’s all about Brand Clarity.
What is Brand Clarity?
People who run an aligned, purpose-driven business usually shy away from traditional marketing, and for good reason. The last few decades of marketing have felt gross, disingenuous, and straight up manipulative. That’s no secret! But if you ask me, it’s time we shift the narrative. It’s time we understand that we aren’t for everyone and instead we build connections with our ideal clients. It’s time we stop manipulating people into buying and instead we speak in a way that supports our community.
For the kinds of businesses I work with – creatives, purpose-driven brands, and wellness pros – Brand Clarity is a guiding light. It’s the “north star” that keeps you on track when you get pulled off center. Like your tried-and-true practices and daily rituals, it’s what you come back time and time again when the road gets rough.
Brand Clarity is here to remind us what we stand for. Who we serve. And why the work we do is so, so important. It’s the grounds upon which a heartfelt, labor-of-love business is built. All the beautiful graphics and brand style will come later… but first, we need to build a solid foundation.
Brand Clarity vs. Brand Strategy
Two similar terms that some might say are interchangeable! You’ll find a lot of designers and other folks out there who offer something called “brand strategy,” which can sometimes be nearly identical to what I call Brand Clarity. But in my humble opinion, there’s an important distinction to be made here.
Brand strategy is like a roadmap to grow your business. Generally speaking, a strategy is a method, plan, or set of tactics used to achieve a specific goal. It’s an integrated set of actionable items that help your business grow. For example:
you want to grow your instagram community, so you hire a social media strategist to tell you what to post and when.
you want to grow your email list, so you hire a strategist to help you create three different lead magnets and promote them each.
you want to drive more traffic to your website, so you hire an SEO strategist to do keyword research and implement their findings into your headings and blog posts.
Let me be clear and say that there is nothing wrong with strategy – it’s an important tool of its own! But there’s some nuance to make clear.
Where brand strategy is about how, Brand Clarity is about why. It’s something you need before you decide on any techniques or methods to grow your business. Brand Clarity asks why you do what you do in the first place. It gives you a deep sense of connection to your work. It infuses meaning, personality, and depth into your brand. And this is what I offer as part of every branding project I do.
Core Components of Brand Clarity
Now that we have a high-level understanding of Brand Clarity, let’s dig into the specifics. Here’s a few of the key components of Brand Clarity and a short explanation of each.
Your Brand Personality
The word “brand” is synonymous with reputation. And just like people have reputations, so too does your brand. With that in mind, consider the personality traits of your brand have… bold and confident? Humble and understated?
Your Special Magic
What sets you apart from your peers (others who offer something similar to you, also known as “competitors”)? Why would something choose to work with you, or to buy your product, over something else? What are you known for?
Your Ideal Client
Demographic are a good start but we want to go deeper. What does your client value? What’s their personality like? What’s important in their lives?
Your Brand Impact
Thinking of your ideal client, what’s the transformation they undergo when working with you? What challenges do they initially face, and what emotions do they experience after the transformation?
Your Purpose
Your purpose is the reason your business exists at all, beyond making money. It can be helpful to consider the journey your ideal client undergoes when they work with you. What’s the transformation they might experience? On an individual local, or global level, how can you work change the world?
Your Messaging
How you speak to your ideal client is important, and will set the tone for all your marketing materials – your website, your email newsletters, blog posts, social posts, and more! Do you speak in a way that’s approachable? Do you use a lot of slang or do you speak more formally? What’s the vibe or the tone of the words you use?
Your Aesthetic
This is the visual tone of your brand – and it’s where a picture of your visual brand begins to emerge. Before considering the colors, fonts, and other details, I invite you to start with the feeling. What vibe do you want to convey through your brand? What gut reaction or first impression do you want to create with your ideal clients? Start there, and then begin to develop a moodboard to support those key feelings.
How You Can Find Brand Clarity
Uncovering your own Brand Clarity is a process of reflection, deep thought, journaling, even meditation! The best way is to give yourself time and space to think deeply. Set aside an hour or two on a quiet morning. Brew a cup of tea and open your journal. Focus on one topic at a time, and free-write whatever comes to mind. (And know that if you are working with a designer, they will often help you through this process!)
Brand Clarity isn’t always easy to find, especially when you’re just starting out. In the beginning, you might not have the experience to know the answers deeply. You might still be refining your offers, uncovering your aesthetic, and exploring the clients you work best with. And that’s OK! Start with what you can, and know that Brand Clarity is a process. Over time, as your business grows and you gain insight and experience, Brand Clarity will come easier. You may not need to spend a week thinking about it – you may just know the answers, because you’ve already gone through the process of what works!
I truly believe that when you have a solid foundation of Brand Clarity, marketing becomes easier. You understand the people who will benefit most from what you offer. You know exactly how to speak to your ideal client. You can talk about the impact of your work because you know people who have truly seen results. You can write email newsletters, craft words for your website, create social media posts, and so much more… you can share your work with authenticity and authority. And if you ask me, that’s a solid foundation for growing, building, and nurturing a business you love.
Free DownloadGet Started on Your Own Brand Clarity with my Essential Brand Foundations Workbook
I want to make it easy for you to start finding your own Brand Clarity, no matter where you are in your business journey. I’ve created this step-by-step workbook to help you start contemplating the most essential components of Brand Clarity.
This workbook is a simplified version of what I offer one-on-one with my clients. You’ll find 37 pages of lessons, exercises, and journaling prompts to help you uncover the foundational aspects of Brand Clarity and learn to apply it to your own business. This work is *so* important for any kind of business, so don’t wait to get started. Just sign up below to download this workbook now!
