7 Useful Tools for Brand Strategists
By Levina Kusumadjaja
Being a brand strategist can be really tough.
It’s hard to just do everything all on your own—running your business, growing your business, dealing with clients, networking and fostering relationships in the communities that you are a part of, volunteer work, taking care of family, spending time with friends, keeping up with all those Netflix series... You get it. It’s a busy life and sometimes it can get overwhelming.
That’s why I love having tools around. Now before you stop reading and close this tab on your browser, just hear me out first. I also hate learning new apps. Technology isn’t exactly my best friend. But along my journey, I discovered apps and tools that were easy to use and really helpful for me to manage my work, collaborate with my team, and stay inspired as a strategist and creative. So today, allow me to share 7 tools that are extremely helpful for you brand strategists out there:
1. Miro:
Miro is basically an online whiteboard. If you have an actual whiteboard and offline meetings, then you won’t need Miro. But for most of us who are probably doing this online, Miro is a great alternative. I think Miro is perfect for brainstorming sessions and it gives you the feeling of being free to explore ideas, versus if you were brainstorming with like Google Docs or something similar.
2. Notion:
Okay, I super love Notion! I have basically moved my entire life to Notion. It’s a great app for collaboration, for building to-do-lists, for keeping track of projects, and also for managing content.
3. Keynote:
https://www.apple.com/keynote/
I think Keynote is super clean, super easy—you don’t have to be a designer to be savvy at Keynote. I use Keynote a lot, especially for my strategy workshop templates. It helps you keep track of your notes and gives a level of structure to your conversation, plus a great medium for presentations.
4. Calendly:
If you have worked with clients from various different timezones, you will know the pain of trying to arrange an appointment with 3 people from all over the world. So, I love how Calendly saves the hassle of asking, “What time is it now at your place?”, and then count the time difference, and all of that.
5. Loom
I don’t necessarily use Loom, but I know most of my friends who are brand strategists use Loom to brief their team, share feedback, or even to introduce themselves to new clients. If you’re not a writer, this might be your favorite one yet.
6. Post-its
Yes, actual post-its. The ones that you can peel and stick somewhere else. If you’re a strategist, you need to have post-its because it helps you arrange your ideas and structure your thinking process. If you don’t like to handwrite anything, maybe just use stickies app.
7. Journal
Again, I’m not talking about an app called Journal. I’m talking about an old school journal. If you’re super tech-y and you just want to keep everything digital, you can use Notion or Evernote or whatever note-taking app you have. But the point is: journal your thoughts as you go about your day.
Write down what you’ve learned, jot down things that inspire you, and list down what lights a bulb in your mind after a call or strategy workshop with a client. You never know when those golden nuggets will be useful.
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Well, there you have it! Which one would you like to try first? I really hope these tools will help you as much as they have helped me.
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!