When your friends like your business posts and photos, it’s a great indication that they support you and your business; but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have good branding.
Good branding is about creating a consistent image and message that resonates with your target audience, not just those who already know and like you. It’s feels nice when our mum like’s our posts, but that’s never a good indication that we are doing well.
Great branding can help attract a new audience because it helps to establish trust and credibility, as well as making it easier for potential customers to understand what your business is all about.
More importantly, good branding can differentiate your business from competitors, making it more likely that potential customers will choose your business over others.
What am I saying? Good branding is not just about likes and shares from your friends, it’s about building a consistent and recognizable image that appeals to your target audience and helps you stand out in the market.
How do we create a great brand with the strategy behind it to attract our ideal clients? Read on to find out.
Define your target audience: Understand who your ideal customer is and tailor your branding to appeal to them.
Have you ever heard the term “customer avatar”? This is an imaginary person who has all the frustrations that your business can solve and all the qualities that you love to work with.
Develop a unique value proposition: Clearly communicate what sets your business apart from the competition.
A UVP will tell that customer avatar (who is based on many real people), how you can solve their frustrations or solve a problem they have and why you do it differently to your competitors. This is about them, not you! Yes your personality sets you apart, but that is part of why you solve their problem really well.
Create a consistent visual identity: Use a consistent color scheme, quality fonts, professional logo, and design elements across all your branding materials.
Heard of a brand board? Get one! Chat with your branding designer or create your own in Canva. But you must have a clearly defined brand or you’re a tree blowing in the wind.
Your branding photography is incredibly important too, inconsistent photos, low quality photos or worse – no photos: is a quick way to show people you’re not a serious brand.
Use a consistent tone of voice: Use a consistent tone of voice in all your communications, whether they are on your website, social media, or other platforms.
Your language is as important as the fonts you use to type it. If you chat in a relaxed tone in one post but are super formal and uptight in another it’s confusing, your audience doesn’t know who they’re talking to.
Be active on social media: Use social media to connect with potential customers and showcase your brand.
Consistency is key here. Consistently be yourself. Consistently show up.
Optimize your website: Make sure your website is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and optimized for search engines.
Make sure your website fits in with your brand. Make sure it works. There’s nothing more frustrating than sending a contact form only to have no confirmation that it arrived.
Network: Attend industry events, join relevant groups, and build relationships with other businesses.
Your online visual presence is only one arm of your branding, your personal appearance and attitude is very important. Consistently show up as your authentic self and your brand will grow faster.
Encourage customer reviews: Use customer reviews to build trust and credibility.
Social credit is a very important part of your brand message, it shows potential clients who you are perceived as by your current customers. Reviews from your mates carry similar weight as reviews from your mum. Your mates are supposed to say nice things, it’s not a true reflection of your brand or quality of service/work. So get some reviews from clients who aren’t connected to you as friends.
Invest in content marketing: Create valuable content that resonates with your target audience.
What is content marketing? You’re reading it right now. I share valuable content with my audience, knowing who my ideal clients are and knowing that this content can help them to grow their brands. What kind of content can you share that will either inform or entertain your ideal clients?
Be authentic: Be true to your brand and avoid trying to be something you’re not.
The bottom line is authenticity, yes it’s such a buzz word, but there’s not really any other way to explain it. Show up as the best version of you and never try to be someone you’re not. Because the first rate version of you is better than a second rate version of anyone else.
What is keeping you from creating a strong and consistent brand?
Follow these steps and you can create a great brand that will resonate with your target audience and help you attract new customers.
And remember, building a brand is a continuous process, you should always be evaluating and adjusting your branding strategy to stay relevant and competitive.