4 Ways a DIY Brand Design Can Affect Your Customers Poorly
I know what this stage feels like. You have big business plans and want to dive in as quickly as possible! You are gathering all of this information about how to build a powerhouse brand. The info is exciting, but also daunting, and above all is… abundant. To put it nicely. There is certainly advice to be sorted, decisions to be made, and more to learn at every turn.
Even during this phase of info from every direction, I hope you’ll let me add my two cents. Because, these two cents will make you money in the long-run. This advice is paramount as you start to give your new brand the best possible opportunity to succeed. And that advice is…
Hire a great brand designer.
Now, you may be thinking this step is something you can invest in down the road, once you’ve gained some traction. I understand that mindset, I truly do. So much so that I have some options for you coming soon (more on that later in this post.)
Or maybe you know someone who knows some who can cut you a deal on a brand design. They don’t specialize in your industry, but… the price tag is enticing!
Or perhaps you are coming to the table with a natural eye for design, or even some experience. So a DIY brand design it doesn’t feel like a bad idea.
But still I say, hire a great brand designer. And do it now.
Those skills and resources can absolutely come in handy when building your business. But the goal of this post goes beyond the obvious. Of course, branding needs to be built on tried and true principles of design that may not be familiar to an untrained eye. The notes below include pitfalls even amateur designers can fall into when trying to DIY their branding.
During this great information influx, I will be straight forward. It takes more than good taste and a love for Canva. There are many reasons why hiring a professional brand designer is vital early-on in the process of building a successful brand. Today, I want to focus on how avoiding investing in a professional brand can affect your customers poorly –
If You Don't Invest Properly in Your Branding...
Your Branding May Be Based on Your Personal Taste Instead of Your Target Audience
As I write about here, strong design is founded in strategy. Though most brand designers come prepared with their own unique style, they are also governed by that strategy and adaptable to the needs of your unique target customer base. For example, I embrace a feminine design style in my client work. But how that foundation translates to each of my client’s is fluid. You can read more about that here.
When DIYing your own brand design, it is easy to be swayed by your personal taste. One of my goals is to build a brand you feel aligned with personally. However, ultimately I want your dream customers to feel the most aligned. That is what will attract business properly.
You May Feel The Need to Tweak Your DIY Brand Design Often, Which Will Impact Brand Consistency and Recognizability
You are much more likely to absolutely love your brand design if an outside eye created it for you, after collaborating on inspiration you are obsessed with. It will not be limited by your design skills and lack of experienced branding knowledge. When you invest in professional branding, it is much more likely to be something you stick with. That is because you and your customers are fully aligned with it.
Much of the power of design lies in the subconscious effect it has. For example, changing up the design of your brand assets too often can not only leave your customers confused. It can also impact their trust in your brand. Inconsistency gives the feeling that you don’t trust strongly in your own brand direction. That makes it harder for customers to trust your brand too, whether they realize that or not.
Start your business off with a recognizable brand, created to set you apart from the competition. These recognizable design elements will become part of the Visual Brand Guide I create for your business. You can learn more about what is included in that guide, and the impact those elements will have on your customers, in this previous post.
Your Potential Customers May Realize You Don't Invest in Your Business the Same Way You are Asking Them to Invest in Themselves
A DIY brand can be easy to spot and that impacts your credibility. Or even if they can’t detect you DIYed your branding, you cannot authentically ask potential customers to fully invest knowing you are cutting corners in your own important areas behind the scenes.
No matter what type of products and services you offer, it will be much easier for people to invest their money when they see you are putting your money where your mouth is too.
A DIY Brand Design Will Take Up Your Time, Which is Better Spent in Your Areas of Expertise
Let’s say you’ve gone down this list and you feel unswayed so far. Perhaps you have enough design experience in your back pocket to strategize and produce a beautiful brand guide. Or you are the queen of consistency and know what you want.
But, you still aren’t the most up-to-date expert. Your time is focused on brand design, but you are not the most efficient person to get the job done. So the process will eat up your extra time ravenously, leaving you nothing but crumbs of time to do every other part of growing a business.
Handing off the branding to a professional will leave you time, energy, and motivation to spend your time on your areas of expertise. Creating the best impact on your brand, and on your customers.
So is My Only Option to Hire a Brand Designer?
By now I hope I’ve convinced you that your best option is to hire a professional brand designer. If you are ready to take that step, or at least gather more information about that step, click here to contact me.
That being said, I do understand that even after grasping the reasons above why it is worth it, that hiring a brand designer is a big step. I see you. Because of that, I am currently elbows deep working on a new toolkit that may be the perfect transition if your business is still getting up and running. This tool, which will be launching in 2023, is a way to build your DIY brand while avoiding all of the pitfalls above. I can’t say too much yet, but follow along on IG to hear more soon!
