How to Use Branding to Get Your Ideal Clients

How you brand yourself may be one of the most important parts of being a profitable motion designer. There are so many ways to go about it though. Do you brand yourself as a studio? Should you show more of your personality on social media? What about a logo? How do you stand out from the crowd? Today’s guest is going to help us answer all these questions.

About Hollie Arnett

Hollie Arnett is a branding coach and strategist. She specializes in helping creatives brand their passion so that they can build a business that allows them to do the thing that they love. 

The Central Elements of Any Good Brand

Hollie boils effective branding down to three main elements. The first is clarity. Both you and your audience need to be clear on what you do and who you target.

Next is creativity. You need something to help you stand out as you convey your messaging. Lastly, you need consistency. Being consistent with your messaging will help people remember and recognize you. 

The Best Branding is Simple Branding

Creating a logo for yourself may seem intuitive for a motion designer. However, it’s not always a simple task. Hollie suggests considering whether or not you even need a logo. If it’s holding you back, skip it altogether. Or, just use your name in a font you like. Ultimately, your brand is much more than a logo.

To effectively build a recognizable personal brand, Hollie recommends keeping it simple and recognizable. Just a few core colours and fonts along with some patterns and photos should help get your core message and identity across. Keeping this consistent across all the channels you use will keep you recognizable and memorable.

How can you use branding to convey your identity as a creative? Leave a comment on the episode page!

What do you struggle with the most when identifying your brand? Leave a comment on the episode page!

In this episode

• The three core elements of branding as a creative [2:00]
• Tips for identifying your purpose and values [6:45]
• Considerations for designing your own logo [11:20]
• The most important parts of building a personal brand [13:30]
• Effectively using social media to promote your brand [17:28]
• What a differentiator is and how to come up with one [20:45]
• The strategy that goes behind branding [24:28]

Quotes

“The whole point of personal branding is to be known for what you do and for people to remember you and recognize you. It’s important to know what is the thing that I want to be known for and what do I want people to think of when they think of me.” [4:53]

“What you’re doing is not just motion graphics. What you’re doing is probably a lot deeper than that.” [9:55]

“When you’re first starting, I think it’s fine not to niche down. If you’re just starting as a motion designer, maybe you do want to try a bunch of stuff and you want to work with a lot of different people and try a lot of different styles before you do niche down. That’s totally cool and you’ll just niche further as you go.” [23:06]

Key Takeaways

Having clarity on what you do and who you want to work for is the first step to branding. Once you know this, you can approach how you want to best convey it with your brand. Putting a clear message about who you are out there will naturally attract the right clients for you.

People want to know what you do, but they also want to relate to you. Present an emotional appeal in your branding. Make it clear how you can help your clients bring their message to life beyond just motion design to achieve something aligned with your mutual values.

Links

Find Hollie Arnett online

Follow Hollie on YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Brand Your Passion Podcast

Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold

Chris Do – YouTube

Learn Brand Strategy with Melinda Livsey

Creative Strategy and the Business of Design by Douglas Davis

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