Whether you are an emerging or established business, building your brand awareness needs to be front and centre in your marketing.
Want the recipe for building a memorable brand that effortlessly draws people in like bees to a hive.
Begin with heartfelt values. Add your actual voice – sound like the caring, approachable, skilful human you are. Stir in a generous handful of captivating visuals that show you’re trustworthy, interesting, and here to make a difference. Top with crystal-clear product and service descriptions that convince your ideal customers you have exactly what they need to make life easier and more fulfilling and enjoyable.
4 fabulous ways to make your business stand out and be utterly unforgettable
1. Brand Voice
How do you 'sound' to your customers? Do lovely, genuine you shine through in text and video? This is not about performing as some starrier pretend version of you. It's about showing up as you are, using the clear, conversational language you use with colleagues, customers and often with friends and family. If you're naturally funny and outgoing, stick with that. If your hard wiring tends towards serious and shy, that's perfectly fine, too.
Top tip for a clear, consistent brand voice
Decide how you want to come across – friendly, funky, formal(ish), etc. and express that side of you in a way that fits your values (more on those in a minute.) Think about the words and phrases you use naturally to describe things you like or tricky things.
Use those words in your posts and videos, and your customers will associate them with your brand.
Example: Regular readers of this newsletter will be familiar with 'gosh-wow,' making marketing magic and the occasional kick-ass.'
SEMrush's hefty but handy how-to-find-your-voice guide is packed with examples and excellent advice.
2. Brand values
what do you stand for? How does this define the way you run your business, take care of your team, relate to customers, and make, market, package, and distribute your goods or services?
Top tip for defining your brand values
Decide what drives you and how this might make you different from your competitors, this will help you build your brand awareness!
Example: Community building is a core brand value for me. So many of my clients come from the not-for-profit sector or run small businesses dedicated to making the world fairer, greener and kinder. That value alone doesn't make me unusual. But part of my secret sauce comes from using my management experience in keeping lean NFPS afloat to help my marketing clients solve structural business problems that are holding them back.
This blog looks at how outdoor clothing company Patagonia and cosmetics company Sephora showcase their brand value on Instagram
3. Brand visuals
How wow-worthy (et voilà a Laura-ism in action 😁) are your visuals?
Do you need to be (or hire) a graphic design wizard and a photographer to create outstanding images for your website and social media? Yes, no, maybe.
Yes, for high-quality, professional images of you and your team for About pages and elsewhere.
No, for natural, impromptu snaps and videos for socials – contrary to popular misconception, social media viewers connect to unpolished images of you at work or play.
Maybe for header images for blogs, newsletters, LinkedIn, etc., but these don't have to cost an arm and a leg. There are loads of wonderful free when you credit the photographer image libraries. I like Unsplash.
Top tip for creating brand visuals
Whenever you source or make your images, make sure they showcase your brand's vibe and values. If you DYI some or all of your visuals, Canva has a solidly practical guide to using 'visual hierarchy' (a fancy term for how humans process the information on a page.)
4. Very clear product or service descriptions
Are the difference-making superpowers of what you do or make immediately obvious?
Top tip for creating crystal clear descriptions
Sidestep the 'spruiking features over benefits' trap. Don't fall for focusing first on your service or product features - what it does. Of course, they matter, but start by spruiking the benefits – the problem it solves, the pleasure it brings.
Example: A hot handful of irresistible, ready-to-go marketing campaigns is a feature of my Build Marketing Momentum program.
The benefit? Peace of mind – no zero stress around setting up and scheduling the campaign, no worrying about target audiences and timing that's taken care of.
Want more on separating features from benefits? HubSpot has a helpful guide.
Need help to get your brand voice, values, and visuals in shape?
