How Strategic Branding and Effective Business Systems Work Together in Growing Your Business
Growing your business the way you want takes more than just setting up systems and having some cool automations. It takes intentionality in how you do every single thing in your business. Every move you make needs to consider your business goals and how you want to be perceived by your audience.
By combining strategic branding and effective business systems, you set your business up for success and ensure that your audience knows who you are, what you stand for, and that they can expect the exact same experience with you at every step of their work with you.
To help me talk about the concept of brand strategy and how it relates to building business systems, I interviewed Jamie Cox to get insights from a brand strategist on how brand strategy and identity affects your business in more ways than just the visuals.
This blog post will incorporate Jamie’s answers to my questions along with my own commentary and insight on what we discussed. If you’d like to see the full interview, you can view it here.
Sign up for my newsletter, Business & Balance, and get my blog posts to your inbox every Wednesday along with my best ideas on all things systems, delegation, and spending more time doing what you love.
Strategic Branding Isn’t Just Pretty Fonts — It’s the Whole Experience
Even if you know what strategy is and are familiar with making strategic decisions in your business, you may still be curious what exactly brand strategy and identity are. I know I was.
Let’s start with some definitions.
What is Brand Strategy and Identity?
Brand Strategy
Brand strategy is your long-term plan for how you will communicate to the world your:
Vision
Goals
Mission
What you stand for
What your business does
Who you are
Brand Identity
Brand identity is how people recognize you and includes:
Your visuals
Your logo
Your colors
Your fonts
Your language
Your voice
Your tone
Your word choice
What Does Jamie Say About Strategic Branding?
Personally, I really like Jamie’s definition of brand, which she says is not necessarily unique, but how she likes to frame it for her clients: brand is “what people say about us when we aren’t in the room.”
So yes, brand is your colors and fonts and what makes your business visibly memorable, but it’s also what you say, how you make people feel, what people remember about you, and how people talk about you.
Therefore, strategic branding requires thinking about how you show up in every single part of your business. It requires planning how you will “shape the narrative” around your business so that people are repeating your message when you’re not around.
Effective Business Systems Require Brand Strategy Decisions
I recently completed a Systems Launched CRM set-up in Moxie (affiliate link) for a client. I take a more holistic approach to operations and make sure that your clients are feeling seen and heard at every step of the way. A huge part of this Systems Launched project was that my client have automated emails be sent to her leads and clients.
So naturally, I asked my client for examples of emails she had sent to her clients, what language she tends to use, if her tone tends to be more formal or informal, so that I could replicate that experience. I asked her about her brand and how she shows up for her clients to create a larger picture of how she would interact with her clients so I could incorporate that into her Moxie build.
I wanted her clients to have the same experience with their emails and client portal that I created as they would on a call with my client.
“Brand Gives You a Filter for Decision Making”
Jamie agrees that strategic branding must include considerations on how you will create your business systems and vice versa. “When you know your values, personality, and purpose, you’re better equipped to build systems that reflect that.”
When building your systems, every decision you make needs to be aware of how it will be perceived by the user (and this can include your team!). A system that works but gives your clients or team the “ick” isn’t really aligned or doing you any favors.
By creating your systems through the lens of strategic branding, you ensure that your brand and backend are aligned and that the message you want to convey shines through at every step and opportunity. When your systems and brand are in alignment, your business becomes significantly stronger.
Where the Disconnect in Brand and Operations Alignment Shows Up First
Just like anything, when your systems are not aligned with your brand strategy, it’s either blatantly obvious, or can take some time to parse out.
Your systems and operations are what really make you stand out in the business world. If your backend doesn’t reflect your image and messaging, you risk losing your authority and the trust of those who interact with you.
What I See As the Business Manager When Systems Do Not Align with Brand Strategy
You cannot have effective systems without having strategic branding.
Your clients (or team members) are the first to notice the gaps. Where you see inconsistencies and need for more efficiency, they see slow response times, inconsistent workflows, or confusing onboarding which completely rids you of all credibility.
When I audit your business, I might see:
Booking or calendaring systems with no reminders
Or you have reminders, but they are VERY BASIC
Sales pages and funnels that are on point, but an intake form on tech from the 90s that feels like it might an absolute scam
A fun and relatable brand voice on social media, but emails to your clients that sound like they were copied and pasted from a bro-marketer
Team members who can’t tell potential clients what you do
Automations that feel robotic and make your clients feel like you don’t care about them and just want them for the paycheck
“Messy operations, delayed timelines, and unclear communication are all brand touchpoints that a lot of folks flub. And when touchpoints are misaligned with your client’s expectations, they quietly chip away at trust.”
How to Ensure Your Brand Shows Up As You’re Building Business Systems
Brand sets the tone—how you want to be experienced. Ops makes sure that experience is delivered consistently.
When you’re ready to build effective business systems built using strategic branding, you need to be intentional and consider how you want to show up every single step of the way.
Steps to Align Your Brand and Operations
Step 1: Audit Your Brand
Consider how you’re showing up in all the places you are showing up. Is your message clear and cohesive? Are you conveying what you’re trying to say?
If you aren’t quite sure, Jamie offers a FREE 5-minute brand audit where she’ll give you plenty of small things to work on to get your brand on point.
Step 2: Audit Your Systems
Think about your client journey. What happens from the first contact you make with a lead to the moment they become your client to the time you deliver their project or service.
What does that look like? What does it sound like? How does it make clients feel? How does it make your team feel?
What can be made more efficient? What can be more personalized? What can be automated?
Want an OBM’s eyes on your systems? I offer a Free Business Efficiency Audit where I’ll tell you a minimum of 3 things to delegate, automate, or get rid of to maximize your business efficiency and help you reach your goals faster.
Step 3: Plan, Build, and Test
Start by planning the experience you want people to have when they interact with you and your business.
Then plan out how you will integrate those things into your business. For example, some of my automated emails have videos for potential clients to watch in the time between when they book a Sales Call to the time we actually meet.
Next, start building your systems. I recommend tackling one at a time to not get overwhelmed. Consider the look and feel of each technology you are using and the process included in the system you are building. Be intentional with your strategic branding to incorporate your brand as much as you can to ensure it will give off the vibe you’re looking for.
Last, and possibly most importantly, test out each system before making it live to the world. I even recommend having a couple of friends or business besties test out any workflows or systems before you implement them in your business to make sure they are aligned with your brand.
Final Thoughts
Want Your Clients to Adore You? Align Your Brand and Your Ops
“Remember, brand is all about what people say about you when you aren’t in the room.” And every little thing you do and say affects what people think about you and remember about you.
By aligning your strategic branding and effective business systems, you can have the kind of business that delivers what it promises every single time. And you’ll know you’ve done it because your clients (and team!) will be happier and feel your presence every step of the way.
And you don’t have to do it alone. Jamie and I are here to support you in your journey.
Get Jamie’s newsletter for all things brand and get my newsletter for all things operations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the brand strategy?
Brand strategy is a business’s plan for how they will manage their brand in the long-term. It includes considering a brand’s values, identity, purpose, and messaging (including the vision and mission) to make sure the business or brand is showing up the same way everywhere they can be found.
Learn more about brand strategy here.
What is a strategic brand?
A strategic brand is one following the plan of it’s brand strategy. It includes the day-to-day actions that make the strategy come to life.
Read more on brand strategy vs strategic brand here.
What is a good business system?
A good business system depends on how you define good and what you want from a system. For the businesses that I work with, the most important thing about a good system is that it supports them in their business exactly how they want to be supported.
If you want heavy automations, great! If you don’t, great! Taking what’s important to you and creating a system that helps your business run more smoothly while being true to who you are is the perfect business system for you.
What is an example of a good business system?
Again, the term good is subjective as what works for me and my clients may not be what works for you and yours. And what works for small businesses does not work for large businesses.
For examples of systems all businesses should consider building in their business, read this blog post.
The best example of a good business system is one that works well and serves it’s purpose.
Related Blog Posts
Related Resources & Tips
Who is Jamie Cox?
Jamie R Cox is a brand and marketing strategist who helps B2B service providers get off the marketing hamster wheel so they can build a brand that excites the right people (their clients!) and repels the wrong ones (their haters). She’s on a mission to make B2B brands less boring and helps her clients define a clear brand vision that lets them bring their whole selves to their business. Jamie, her husband, and a rescue pup named Snoop live in Nashville, Tennessee.
