For law and financial firm owners, branding design may not necessarily be at the top of your to-do list. However, it’s an essential component of marketing to help you stand out from other firms in your industry. This post answers the question, “What is branding design?” and provides insight for knowing when you’re ready to invest in professional branding.
Introduction to Branding Design
Branding design sets the tone and identity for your entire business. It includes the visual and experiential elements that determine how someone interacting with your brand will feel, either consciously or subconsciously. If you want to stand out in your industry, it’s key to have strong and intentional branding.
Why Branding is More Than Visuals
When you think about branding, your logo is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Logos are absolutely a part of branding—but branding goes far beyond the visuals.
At Growth Story, all our branding and website design projects start with a Brand Clarity Session. Brand clarity is your strategic foundation that defines who you serve, what transformation you provide for your clients, and how you communicate your value. This strategy guides everything in your business, from the copy (or words on your site), to your logo, colors, fonts, and overall client experience.
Branding at its core determines how someone feels when they interact with your firm. Are you warm and approachable? Do you lead with professionalism and expertise? Are you more laid back and casual? Strategic branding design isn’t slapping up a logo that looks “good enough”; it’s identifying what sets you apart and showcasing that in every single brand touch point.
Signs You’re Ready for Professional Branding
If you are curious if your firm is ready to work with a professional brand strategist, here are some signs that you may want to take that next step.
1. You have DIY branding, but your firm has grown.
There’s nothing wrong with starting with DIY branding, and many businesses do. However, if you have a few clients under your belt and are ready to really stand out from your competitors, professional branding is the way to go. Working through the entire branding process won’t only result in a professional logo, but you’ll have clarity on what you say, how you show up, and how each person on your team represents the firm as a whole.
2. You’ve booked at least a few clients already.
Don’t get us wrong, you can invest in professional branding before even opening your firm. However, we typically recommend making that investment once you’ve worked with a few clients. That way, you’re more clear on your client experience and the transformation you can provide. You’ll also have useful insights into the people you do and don’t enjoy working with and the types of work you desire the most.
3. Your current clientele doesn’t represent who you really want to work with.
If your firm currently attracts clients who are difficult to work with or don’t really represent your ideal clientele, professional branding design can change that. When it’s built with strategy at the forefront, branding has the power to attract people you’d love to work with and repel the rest.
For example, if you’re a boutique law firm that wants to work with female-founded small business owners and you keep booking stuffy, male-dominated teams, that could be a branding problem. By leading with strategy, your brand tone, voice, and visuals (created by a professional) start to attract your ideal prospects.
4. You want to trademark your brand elements, such as your logo.
Considering trademarking brand elements, like your logo? In order to successfully trademark, the element has to be entirely original. Logos generated by AI tools or Canva cannot be trademarked. Instead, work with a professional brand designer to create original brand elements that are unique to your firm.
5. Your website isn’t converting as well as you’d expect.
Your firm’s website should operate as a business tool, converting visitors into prospects into booked clients. There are many ways to optimize your website for conversions, and strategic branding design is one way to encourage visitors to stay on your site longer and book a consultation. When you have this strategy in place, your copy resonates with the prospect and you become the “easy yes” to book.
6. Your current branding feels amateur and doesn’t represent your experience.
You’re an expert in your field. You pride yourself on the results you get for your clients, your hardworking and experienced team, and the firm you’ve built from the ground up.
The problem is, the branding that represents your firm just feels a bit too…beginner. That creates a disconnect for prospective clients, because they want to hire an expert who they can trust to help solve their problems. If your current branding isn’t representing your level of expertise and professionalism, you’re likely ready for professional branding.
Branding Design That Highlights Your Expertise
Are you resonating with some of these signs that you’re ready to work with a brand strategist? Congratulations, that’s a huge step to take as a professional practice owner! We can say with confidence that strategic branding design has the power to attract best-fit clients to your firm, help you stand out from similar firms in your industry, and turn your website into a business tool so you don’t have to constantly be networking.
If you’d like to learn more about starting the branding design process with a professional, book a free brand clarity consultation here with Allie, the founder of Growth Story.
FAQs about Professional Branding Design
Branding design is the core identity of your entire professional practice. It includes visual elements, such as logos, fonts, and colors, as well as your brand tone, voice, and client experience. Your branding design determines how people feel when interacting with your firm, whether that’s on a social media post, on your website, on a consultation call, or in person at a networking event.
No, you cannot trademark a logo generated on Canva or on ChatGPT. In order to trademark a logo, it must be 100% original. The best way to ensure you can trademark your logo is by working with a professional brand designer who can create it strategically from scratch.
Professional branding supports your business’s growth in a variety of ways. It makes your firm immediately recognizable, with branding visuals that are unique to you. It sets the tone for how people perceive and interact with your brand. It helps you stand out from your competitors, with a strategy that’s built just for you. Lastly, it turns your website into a business tool that converts prospects into booked clients.
While there’s no hard and fast rule for the right time to hire a brand strategist, we recommend investing in professional branding once you’ve worked with a few paying clients. That way, you’ll have a foundational knowledge of the transformation you get clients and what you do and don’t enjoy doing. That being said, some businesses decide to work with a brand strategist before even launching—and that can be valuable, too!