A Simple Exercise to Revamp a Tired Brand
Transcript:
The number one marketing mistake is a lack of a clear, cohesive brand and message. And in my experience working with my clients, the second marketing mistake is focusing on product versus your customer. Let me give you an example of the second mistake first, and then we’ll dive into the first one.
I’ve been working with a startup and gave the owner the following homework:
Go deeper into the problems you solve even before they buy your consulting or container and designs.
I then asked him this question:
What kind of person do they want to be after working with you? What are they telling their friends?
If you’ve been in marketing for any length of time, you see that we are addressing the pain point and the desire point. The desire point or what’s called aspiration is even more powerful than the pain point. I always encourage my clients to focus on that more or at least combine the two. Let me give you his answer to the first question:
“The whole idea I have is to offer a unique solution for space utilizing used shipping containers that the purchaser/customer/ friend/ client is fully confident coming to my company to design and build based off of listening to the needs and wants knowing that the end product will exceed all expectations. The structure is already there it is just filling the space and having the resources to fill the space in a creative unique way.”
Can you see what’s missing? Let me give you the next answer to question number two:
“After a completed project working and building a relationship with the end user, they are more than ecstatic with the customer service and attention to detail I would love to share a complete time laps build of their communicated and designed container plan weather it be a coffee shop, an off grid cabin, or a man cave/ she shed in the back yard. They will have a heart full of joy with zero regrets of their money well spent for the product they received. The individual social media advertisement that I will receive from this will be a true blessing and will be super grateful for the new relationships that will come from each project.”
Both answers are product focused versus customer focused. When you simply focus on the product, you are vulnerable to price-shopping meaning people will do business with you only if you’re the cheapest. What are the pain points and aspirations of his potential customers?
Desire to have an affordable getaway with family
Desire to go on vacation but the cost is prohibitive but with this solution, the customer can spend more time with family doing fun things for less money
The business owner that can’t afford nor wants a huge building with all the overhead
Flexibility and freedom
Independence
Adventure
The entrepreneur that has a business dream that will only be possible using his product
The pain point is the inner problem/s that you solve, and the desire is who your client wants to be after using your product or service. If you flesh these out your customer’s pain points and desires, you will have a brand message that will speak directly to them and create customers that are willing to pay more because you get them!
Let’s go inside the mind of my clients that need my online presence service:
They know they should have a social media strategy and beautiful website, but feel overwhelmed on where to start
They lack technical experience
They are busy running a business, which is their passion not managing their online presence
They feel the pressure of everyone telling them they need to do it but just don’t want to
They desire someone they can hire to do it all for them but they must be affordable for a small business’s shoe-string budget
They want to make more money and tend to be skeptical that social media will really work
Social media is a mystery and will take too much time to figure out
How do you do it in a way that brings more customers through the door
So all of my branding, whether for in-person local clients or for those who purchase my course to do it themselves, I have those pain points and desires in the messaging. Where did I get all of that? Some is my experience in teaching computers for 22 years. Others were from repeated requests from my clients. And the rest was actually talking to small business owners and solopreneurs.
Look at your current brand messaging and ask yourself, “Does this speak directly to my client/customer or is it product focused?” People do NOT buy products. They buy benefits.
a simple pinterest exercise
The first part of this podcast addressed the messaging quite a bit and will solve the number one marketing mistakes I mentioned. But branding also includes the “look and feel” of your brand, the experience you want them to have.
For our topic today, I’m not going to go into the physical presence you provide to your customers from the time they pull into your parking lot through the experience with your staff to your decor and feel to leaving your establishment. That needs to be top-notch. And, most importantly, it must reflect your online brand. Having a stellar site and then a shoddy physical site creates cognitive dissonance, which is very simply confusion.
But, for now, I want to focus on your online presence and give you a simple exercise to help you uncover your brand colors, fonts, and textures that will create the “feel” you want your potential customers and clients to experience.
Here are the steps:
Create a Pinterest board titled “Brand”
Keep it within 15-20 images (you might start with a lot more but narrow it down in the end)
Pin about 5 pins that fit into these categories: colors, fonts, textures/patterns
Shoot for consistency meaning by the time you’re done, you will feel the “feel”
Light and airy
Dark and moody
Bright and cheery
Clean and minimalistic
Vintage and old-fashioned
You can use your own pictures that fit within the feel of your Pinterest board
I have ALL of my clients do this. One of my clients who seemed reluctant to do it was thrilled by the time she was done. She actually had a lot of fun. But here’s what it did. It revealed that her current branding was way, way, way off even her colors and fonts. She has a brand personality called, “The Innocent.” It’s a throwback to simpler times plus she loves the Art Deco period. Her colors were muted but still colorful. Her fonts were classic and simple. So we’re revamping her brand.
That’s what these exercises do. A brand is more than colors and fonts. It’s a feeling. It’s a reflection of who YOU are. And most get it wrong thinking they can just throw together those things and bring in the profits! No, you have to spend a little time getting it clear and cohesive.
Once you’re done with this exercise, you will design all of your graphics, videos, website, printed materials, everything with these colors, fonts, and feel.
Take it to the next level
If you want to really establish a top-notch, influential brand, take a few assessments and use that information for your branding, marketing, and online and in-person presence.
Brand Personality Quiz. This is the first step. I developed this quiz so you can get an idea of your personality as a starting point. I suggest doing this before the Pinterest exercise. Click here.
Fascination Advantage. This one reveals how others see you versus how you see yourself and the world. If you tap into your Fascination Advantage, you will be in your zone in both your brand and interacting with your clients as well as finding your tribe! howtofascinate.com
DISC Assessment. This one will show you…you. This is important because your personality is going to have two opposites. Knowing this will help you interact with those opposites better in both branding and customer interactions. I use tonyrobbins.com/disc
Introvert Flavor. If you’re an introvert, you need to take this quiz because it will show you how you interact with others, your strengths, and your weaknesses. There are many, many intropreneurs. This quiz will encourage you and make it plain that you can be a phenomenal business owner and make a profit! Click here!
summary
Branding is like putting together a puzzle. And, if you think about it, you are the biggest puzzle piece. Your brand is going to be, again, a reflection of who you are. Unfortunately, many of us don’t even know who we are much less who our clients and customers are. Use these techniques and assessments to create a complete picture of your brand!
