Have you ever researched into your industry competitors or are you avoiding it like the plague? 👀
Now this isn’t for comparison sake! Your business is INCREDIBLE and you should never compare where other businesses are at to the point it’s leading you to imposter syndrome.
Been there. 🙋
But what we can learn from out competitors is what to avoid. I use this strategy every time with my branding clients during the brand strategy phase.
what the hell even is brand strategy?
If you’ve ever looked into investing in brand design, it’s likely you’ve heard brand designers throw around the phrase “brand strategy”.
But, what the hell even is brand strategy?!
Brand Strategy the research-based strategy that brand designers use to make your business stand apart from the rest of your competitors & help become the leading brand in that industry.
→ 📖 READ this blog post on Brand Strategy to go more in-depth!
Figure out who your competitors are
Go to Instagram & search for keywords in your industry. This could be your job title, your services, etc.
You’ll want to search through all of them! That way you can see what the industry standard is when it comes to branding.
Now it’s time to examine the heck out of those industry competitors! You’ll likely start to notice some trends happening when it comes to branding. AVOID THEM. Even if ya love what your competitors are doing, think about why.
It could be just a personal choice on why you like it. But, when it comes to your brand identity, it’s gotta be backed by brand strategy.
Here are a couple of questions you’ll want to ask yourself:
- What colors are over-used?
- What’s the tone of their brand messaging?
- What fonts are over-used?
- Which brands attract you & why?
- Which brands do you dislike & why?
- What social media platforms are they on?
- Who are they targeting?
Use this knowledge to your advantage!
Now that you know the common trends, you may re-examine your vision for your brand.
As a brand designer, it’s my job to make sure we don’t make your brand identity blend in with everyone else in your industry.
We want to design something unique to you and your business & they best way to do that is knowing your competition.
If you still feel stuck, don’t worry, we cover this all in your branding project 😉
