Recently, I sat down with a new client for a branding consult. She came to me because her business coach said she needed it.
But she said, “What the hell is a branding person?” Good Question. Let’s break it down.
Most people think that a logo is your brand. It’s only part of it.
“So, is your logo your brand? This is a great question (and likely another blog post). Branding is bigger than your logo. So, yes, your logo is part of your brand. But, it isn’t the only way your brand is expressed.” Rhonda Negard
What is branding?
You’re now entering the subjective zone. You’ll find as many answers to this question as you find branding consultants.
Although the etymology of branding is varied, we can all imagine a rancher using a hot iron to brand his livestock. Each ranch had a distinct logo that made a permanent impression.
Though originally intended to distinguish ownership, the logo (or brand mark) reflected on the Ranch, whether good or bad. We’ve all seen Yellowstone at this point so this image should be seared in your mind.
In many ways, branding is the connection of your sensual experiences to your company. People remember how they feel about you (affinity) and that is reflected back on the brand in the form of loyalty — and buying power.
Affinity leads to loyalty. Loyalty leads to sales. This is why branding matters. It’s about building relationships and affiliating those emotions with a representation of you — a logo mark.
“Branding is the persona your business has consisting of logo, colors, and reputation which all affect and reflect consumer affinity and loyalty.” Bridget Willard
“Branding is the practice of creating the look and ‘feel’ of your brand. Brand marketing is the practice of establishing your image, voice, and persona which identifies and differentiates you from your competitors.” Robert Nissenbaum (kayak instructor and recovering marketer)
What is a Branding Person?
A branding person is usually a graphic designer who creates both the brand design and your brand standards document. Brand standards include your logo, brand mark, color palette, fonts and font pairings, and usage standards, as well as your tagline and editorial tone. A good branding person always includes a brand mark you can use on social media.
Monitoring online mentions is a lot easier with Alertmouse and Google Alerts, as well as to identity protection and reputation management software like brandyourself.com.
If you need a brand standards document, I recommend the following people, Jayman Pandya and Rhonda Negard. Allan Peters, Chris Do, and Sun Yi (all on Instagram) would also be excellent choices if time and budget allow.
A branding consultant advises you about marketing strategy and tactics. They’re often a third-party vendor that works with your Director of Marketing.
What’s My Elevator Pitch for Branding?
While venting on Facebook back in 2018 about my elevator pitch I got a few suggestions. One of them was from Chris Lema.
“Hi I’m Bridget Willard and I help companies with their online brand and reputation management by taking care of both social media monitoring and posting. I help your online brand by reinforcing your differentiated value on the social channels that are right for your business and your prospects.”
A branding person is someone who understands the voice and tonality that you would like to project to the public. A branding person emulates that voice, replicates that voice, and protects it.
A branding person may even be a guide to your own self-awareness, helping you figure out what really is important to you and what values you’d like to elevate.
Branding Evolves — Just Like You
The thing is, not unlike humans, my business and my brand has grown. I no longer just help any random small business with their brand through social media management. In fact, I really don’t describe myself as a “social media manager.”
Social media managers write and publish content that is approved by the Marketing Manager or Director of Marketing. My business is way beyond the scope of a typical “social media manager.”
I’m a marketer who uses specific social media channels (X/LinkedIn) for a specific purpose (branding for SaaS products). That is quite a mouthful.
Technically my tagline is still: “Your Voice. Your Power. Your Brand.” And when I promoted social media as a branding move, it made sense that I wrote: “A branding person helps your business find its voice to harness your power, to elevate your brand. It’s that simple.”
I help SaaS brands grow with consistent Twitter/X + Content and have been doing so since 2015. If I were to be more niche, I could say “products,” but since I’m not in San Francisco, I hesitate to use the techbro term: GTM.
Why do you need a branding consultant?
A branding person is more like a counselor in my view. Their job is to help you dig out of you the essence of your passion. You’re too close to your business and you’re too close to your SaaS product to properly position yourself.
You’ve talked to too many founders, used too many AI tools, and tweeted too many build in public tweets. You’re not your own customer. You’re too educated. You have lost objectivity. You may have lost focus.
This is why many business coaches suggest meeting with a branding person. A brand is a persona — an organic, living thing. It needs life. A branding person gives your persona life. And life needs to be protected.
And that’s why you as a founder posting on Twitter/X isn’t enough. Your product, your brand, needs its own account. You want people to fall in love with your product, you know people will be talking about it, and you definitely want to book those demos.
One thing I should add is that any product announcements should originate from the brand’s X/Twitter account and then be shared by the founder/C-Suite/employees. You use your combined social capital to promote the brand.
You’re building a product to sell, yes? So the X account is a brand asset just like your website. You want a healthy account to go with that sale.
This is why you have to let go of your creation, just a bit, and hire that SaaS Marketer who will help you get in front of the right people, not just blow up a viral tweet.
Can’t you just wing it?
Can you wing it? Sure. But most businesses eventually discover that inconsistent branding costs more than investing in a strategy from the beginning. Time is not on your side when you’re building your SaaS brand, especially with everyone vibe coding the latest thing.
Founders who wing it are likely to fall prey to trending hashtags and memes. I mean, really, should your FinTech product really be doing memes? You’re trying to get people to trust you, not laugh at the people who climbed the Empire State Building to propose marriage.
What’s your next step?
AI is helping other founders launch quicker, but that doesn’t mean they’ll have sticking power. This is your opportunity to create a brand, not just a product.
Let’s get a consultation booked and get you going in the right direction.
This article was edited on July 4, 2026. Happy 250th Birthday, America!