What Is Brand Strategy? And Why Does Your Website Need It?

You’d be amazed how many strong opinions come out of the woodwork when it’s time to redesign a website.

The homepage needs more personality. The photography feels a bit flat. Somebody’s found a website they love and wants to know if we can make ours look a little more like that.

And rightly so. You want your website to look the part.

But ask everyone to explain what makes the business special, who they’re trying to attract and why people should care, and you might find yourself sitting through a rather awkward silence.

Makes choosing the right shade of blue seem like a walk in the park, doesn’t it?

And that’s usually a sign that something needs sorting before anyone gets too attached to the design.

That something is brand strategy.

What is brand strategy?

Brand strategy is the long-term plan for how your business wants to be seen, remembered and chosen.

It gets to the bottom of who your customers are, what matters to them and what makes you worth choosing over the competition.

Once everyone’s clear on that, your website, branding and marketing have a much stronger foundation.

Because even the fanciest website in the world isn’t going to rescue a business that can’t explain why people should care.

What does a brand strategy include?

Every business is different, but a good brand strategy should answer five questions.

1. Who are we actually talking to?

“Everyone” is usually a good place to start narrowing things down.

Understanding your customers means going beyond their age, location or job title and getting into what makes them tick.

What are they trying to achieve? What makes them nervous about buying? Why might they choose you over somebody else?

Knowing how old your customers are is handy. Knowing what keeps them awake at night? That’s where things get interesting.

2. Why should anyone choose us?

Ask ten businesses what makes them different and we’d bet at least eight mention customer service. The other two will probably throw in something about quality and experience for good measure.

And while those are all great things to offer, they’re not exactly helping you stand out.

Brand positioning is about giving people a proper reason to choose you over everyone else.

Maybe you’ve got specialist knowledge, an unusual way of doing things or a knack for solving problems your competitors wouldn’t touch. Whatever it is, that’s the interesting stuff.

And if you’ve got the evidence to back it up, even better.

3. What do we want to be known for?

Most businesses don’t wake up one morning and decide to make their messaging confusing. It happens gradually.

A new service gets added here, a different audience gets targeted there, somebody writes a new paragraph for the homepage.

Five years later, the website is trying to be all things to all people. Brand strategy helps you get back to what you actually want to be known for.

Sometimes that means giving something more attention. Sometimes it means being brave enough to leave something out.

4. How should we sound and look?

There’s no rule that says every business needs to be funny, loud or bursting with personality.

Sometimes being calm, reassuring and straight to the point is exactly what your customers want.

A financial consultancy and a craft beer brand probably shouldn’t sound like they share the same copywriter. Although judging by some websites, you’d be forgiven for thinking they do.

Brand strategy helps you work out how your business should look, sound and behave, giving your brand identity a bit more to work with than everyone’s favourite fonts and colours.

5. Where are we trying to go?

Your brand should reflect where your business is heading, not just where it’s been.

Maybe you’re going after bigger clients, breaking into a new market or trying to shake off a reputation you’ve outgrown.

Whatever the ambition, your brand needs to keep up.

Because spending thousands on a new brand only to realise it belongs to the old version of your business would be a bit of a kick in the teeth.

Do you need brand strategy before a new website?

In most cases, yes. But that doesn’t mean you need to tear up your entire brand and start again. Sometimes a brand refresh makes more sense than a full rebrand.

If you already know who you’re talking to, what makes you different and how you want to come across, a bit of strategic fine-tuning might do the trick.

But if you ask five people in the business what makes you worth choosing and get five completely different answers, there’s probably a conversation worth having before anyone starts designing the homepage.

Your strategy influences some fundamental website decisions:

• Navigation: What information should visitors find first?
• Messaging: What do people need to understand straight away?
• Design: What impression should the business create?
• User experience: How should different audiences move through the site?
• Calls to action: What should visitors do next?

Otherwise, website decisions become a bit of a free-for-all. Everyone’s got their favourite colours, fonts and layouts, but nobody’s quite sure what message they’re trying to get across.

Not the most productive way to spend a Tuesday.

How do we approach brand strategy at Giant Peach?

We start by getting to know the business properly.

Our brand strategy workshops explore your audience, ambitions, competitors and what gives people a reason to choose you.

We challenge assumptions, bring different perspectives together and turn what we learn into clearer positioning, messaging and creative direction.

Take Pasture for Life.

Its brand had two jobs: represent a membership organisation for farmers and industry professionals, while also creating a certification mark that shoppers could recognise on food packaging.

That distinction shaped the identity we developed and how the website communicated with different audiences.

The thinking came first. The design followed.

Brand strategy FAQs

What’s the difference between brand strategy and branding?

Brand strategy is where you figure out who you’re talking to, what makes you different and why anyone should choose you.

Branding is where all that thinking gets dressed up and introduced to the world, through your logo, colours, website, messaging and everything else people associate with your business.

Can you redesign a website without rebranding?

Absolutely. If your brand is still doing its job, there’s no need to throw the whole thing out just because your website’s looking a bit tired. Sometimes the website simply needs to catch up.

Does a small business need brand strategy?

Yes. You don’t have to be a household name to benefit from a bit of strategic thinking. Whether you’re a one-person operation or a growing team, knowing what makes you different and who you’re trying to attract makes everything else easier.

Especially when you’re working with a marketing budget that doesn’t have quite as many zeros as you’d like.

Before you redesign, know what you’re trying to say

A new website can make a business look sharper, feel more credible and give customers a much better experience.

But it can’t make unclear positioning disappear.

So before you get carried away with layouts, typography and whether the homepage needs another animation, get the thinking straight.

Give people a reason to choose you.

Then give them a website that makes that reason impossible to miss.

Give your brand some direction