At Ignitely, we don’t pretend to be marketers. In fact, we’re so keen to stay in our own lane of brand strategy, that we work with a trusted marketing strategist to create solid plans for our brand & website customers to get more eyeballs on their site and brand awareness throughout the channels that count.
But what we do know is how integral a solid marketing foundation is to spreading the word about your new brand and ultimately encouraging clicks to your website and booking buttons. Because you can have the most beautiful brand and website in the world, but if your marketing isn’t up to scratch, it’s just a waste of precious dollars.
So.. how do we make sure your brand is doing the hard work for you and engaging with the right people?
Strategy, strategy & more strategy
You could create a nice logo yourself through ChatGPT. Pick a colour palette and a font and voila you’re ready to go. Right? Wrong.
For your brand to truly resonate with the people you want to work with more, it needs to resonate. And how do we resonate with your ideal client? We get to know them. This is where integral strategic elements come into play. When we create a brand strategy that links with a marketing strategy – we do a deep dive into your dream client. Where do they hang out? What problems do they have that you can solve? How do communicate with them in a meaningful way? What drives their purchasing decisions – emotion / cost-efficiency / values / integrity? Then once we know your client like the back of our hand, we create a strategy that speaks directly to them. We do this through tone of voice, eliciting emotion through connecting words. We use visual communication – not just a logo, an entire visual system that is highly recognisable and speaks only to your ideal client. Then we figure out through your marketing plan where these people are most likely to consume – socials, blogs, emails, website, traditional media. And we create a content plan to speak on these channels in a way that will actually get their attention.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
When we work with a marketing strategist, we’re using what we know about your brand and customers to speak and show on the right channels, the ones that are going to get you the most ROI. There’s no point slogging it out posting 3 times a week on Instagram if your perfect client is more likely to hang out in Facebook groups. And there’s no point posting inspirational quotes if your audience is more likely to enjoy useful and practical tips to help them. These are all the strategic pieces of your brand & marketing puzzle that need to be researched and planned out in order for you to get the most out of your branding.
With the advent of Google AI and LLMs (Long-Language Models like ChatGPT and Claude), we’re seeing less clicks on websites through the traditional blue links and more prompt-like search. If your marketing plan consists only of organic SEO in a traditional sense, you’re likely going to suffer as a result of quickly-changing technology. Instead, your business needs to have a holistic marketing and brand awareness plan that doesn’t rely solely on on lead generation channel like SEO. Although we go through a few things you can do to make sure your SEO is set up for the future here.
Essentially we’re all about working smarter, not harder. And a well thought-out brand & marketing strategy will act as a blueprint on how to connect with your clients, meaning each piece of content, each email, each touchpoint will drive more sales and result in less time-wasting on channels that don’t actually help grow your business.
Still confused about the difference between brand strategy, marketing & visual identity?
We like to think of brand strategy as the DNA of your brand. Without DNA, your expression of traits, appearance, voice and personality are baseless. The DNA is what makes you you. And what makes your brand…your brand!
Brand Strategy = The DNA
This is your brand’s genetic code. It determines everything: how you show up, speak, and behave. One tiny tweak in strategy can change how your brand feels and who it attracts. Get this right, and the rest flows naturally.
Visual Identity = Expression of traits
Your visuals – like voice, body language, eye shape, freckles, gait, or even how you smile – are all outcomes of your DNA. They’re what people first notice and remember, what may attract them to you. And just like humans, no two brands express themselves in the same way, even if they’re made of similar stuff.
Website / digital marketing = The full personality in motion
This is your brand out in the world, interacting, communicating, connecting. When the strategy (DNA) and visuals are aligned, it feels consistent, authentic and appealing to the right people. It’s not just about looking pretty — it’s about making sense at every level. Digital marketing that doesn’t have a solid DNA will seem off, inconsistent and won’t connect with the right people.
If you go straight to the Expression or Personality part (i.e. create a logo in Canva that looks exactly like the rest, or start posting on Insta without any kind of foundation) clients will notice this lack of DNA – the lack of foundation that makes you you. Work on your brand’s DNA and everything else will be easy, inevitable, consistent!
TL;DR
When it comes to brand & marketing, both work together to make sure you connect with the right people in the right places. By having a solid marketing & brand strategy, your brand DNA is solidified and things like posting, blogging & creation of promotional materials becomes easy. A holistic strategy will make sure you’re not relying on one lead generation channel (like SEO) so when Google or Insta or any other money-making platform change things up, you have the rest of your strategic items to rely on.
