I'm Giving You My Brand Strategy Framework

A friend of mine is reimagining the future of her company. Like founders I worked with when I was consulting, her business has steadily persisted for years without marketing programs or a brand strategy. It’s been all word of mouth and stellar services.

But, at some point, that’s not enough.

Conditions change, goals change, the expectations of the buyers change.

Today, even word of mouth only leads people to check you out. They still need to find something to check out. And that requires a cohesive brand experience — website, educational content, engaging social, well-placed ads, email to keep you top of mind. Where does one start?

It’s a lot if you don’t have a marketing team. It’s a lot if you do. Because even when you have sales running strong, undeniable product-market fit, and an amazing product team churning out those improvements….you hit a ceiling. You start to see things fragmenting.

So, I told my friend I’d give her the questions I ask in a brand strategy interview.

My secret to relaunching a brand, or developing a cohesive brand story that all the different players can get behind, has always been this interview.

For a solopreneur, it’s easy — one 90-minute call and I have what I need. For the founder or CEO already dealing with multiple teams, it’s a little more involved. Conversations need to happen, 1-to-1, with as many people as possible; from every team.

The truth is, the magic of this process is often in the push-back. And that’s pretty impossible to do alone.

I ask a lot of follow-up questions. I push people to define things they’ve avoided getting clear about. I push against assumptions because I can tell the difference between what you want to be true — about your customer, your business, the landscape you’re operating in — and what you’d see with a beginner’s mind.

Still, I’m giving you my brand strategy framework.

These are the questions I ask in every brand story interview. (You can also download a PDF of the questions here.) If you’re feeling like you and your team(s) aren’t speaking the same language, something isn’t clicking with your ideal customers, or your growth has stalled out, block of some time (at least 45min if not longer) and give these questions a try.