2022 Brand Plan | A Creative’s Guide To Branding and Marketing Your Small Business in 2022

Ready to build and grow your brand and your incredible creative business in 2022? Then we’re ready to help! Today, we’re kicking things off with our top 6 recommended strategies to focus on this year so you can brand and market your business like the creative pro that you are. 

You probably already have strategies in place that you’re using, but it’s a darn good idea to review these every now and then. Strategies, techniques and platforms all change over time, so what you were doing two years ago might no longer work quite so effectively today. 

We want to help you maximise your brand and give yourself the best possible opportunities to reach your people and make money doing what you love. If that sounds like a plan, then these 6 strategies are going to help you kick some ass and have a great year doing it!

1. Find Clarity On Your Brand

Finding clarity underpins everything we talk about when it comes to branding, and it gets more and more important by the day. 

If you haven’t already, you need to really make sure that you’ve done your brand strategy work so that you are really clear on your brand foundations: 

• What your brand is about
• Your vision and mission
• Who your audience is
• What makes you different
• Your brand voice
  

Having clarity on these things is going to help you reach the right people, make decisions, find inspiration and create content. Without it, both you and your audience are going to end up feeling a whole lot of confusion. 

So if you haven’t already or feel like you should revisit it, then our Number #1 strategy for you this year is to get your brand strategy work sorted. With the overwhelm in the online world these days, people are more and more selective about who they support and how they spend their money, so make sure you’re that person for them! 

2. Focus On Video

Video content is the way to go. It has the most engagement and conversion, and most social platforms are turning to focus on video content. Video really is what’s driving today’s content, and it’s only going to grow bigger. 

If you’re smart about it, creating video content can also be really easy! 

There’s no need to buy any new fancy equipment - you can use what you already own, like the camera on your phone. You also don’t have to start creating all your content from scratch. Instead, recreate the content you already have in video form or use it as your inspiration. 

Video is going to be the best way to grow your social media this year. It’s a great way to tell stories, connect with people, and let them see more of your amazing personality through what you create. 

3. Collaborate With Others

Collaboration and community is a hell of a lot better than competition. 

We need to band together, support each other and work together to help build and grow each other’s brands. From collaborating on projects and appearing on each other’s podcasts to collaborative social media content, there are heaps of super fun ways to collaborate with each other. 

It brings the creative community together and lets you tap into each other’s audiences - so it’s smart marketing! 

4. Get Online

The last couple of years are a great example of why sometimes, things don’t go as planned. A lot of people’s usual strategies for growing their brands and selling their work have changed or evolved over this time. 

The solution? It’s time to get yourself online. 

If you haven’t already, this could be the year for you to start an online shop to sell your work. Online marketplaces have popped up too - in fact, we have one here at Maker & Moxie where we’d love to host you! You can join our directory of makers here.

You don’t have to miss out when the real world doesn’t go as planned - there are plenty of opportunities online to sell your work and grow your brand. 

5. Diversify Your Offers

If you’re currently just selling your product or service, it might be time to think about adding some different ways that you can create income. 

This is a great way to take a little pressure off relying on the sales of your current offers. That way, if you aren’t able to sell your products in person or even post your product, you’ve still got income coming in and ways to keep reaching people. 

Here’s some ideas to get the ball rolling: 

• Start a Patreon or membership service
• Create paid content through YouTube, TikTok or other platforms
• Affiliate marketing
• Creating a course or community to share your magic with the world
  

Those are just a few examples! However you do it, it means that you’ll be prepared for any curve balls that come your way. 

6. Do All This… And Give Yourself Some Grace! 

As we’ve said, the last couple of years have been a heck of a rollercoaster. As creatives, we’ve had to rethink a lot of what we’re doing and honestly, it’s been a pretty overwhelming time. 

Just remember that you’re doing an amazing job. 

Just being a creative and sharing your work with the world is freakin’ brilliant. I’m super proud of you, and you should be too! 

Even with these strategies, know that anything you’re doing to try and get your business out into the world is wonderful, whether it gets you 5 new people, 500 new people or 5,000 new people. 

You’re doing the best you can in this weird ass world that we’re in right now, so do what you can - kick ass if you can, take a nap if you need, but make sure you give yourself some grace. 

Whatever your plans for 2022, I hope these tips have been helpful and given you some fresh ideas on how to brand and market your business. I can’t wait to see you doing your thang and making 2022 your own!