toward body positivity and not judging a book by its cover, we are unfortunately not quite ‘there’ yet. Many people online will still judge a company by how its brand is executed and immediately decide if they want to work with that company or not. First impressions are incredibly persuasive. Branding today is not just a logo and a font choice anymore. It’s how your logo is applied consis- tently across your business cards, brochures, social media graphics and website. It’s the type of writing ‘voice’ you have for your company coming across as you want it on all platforms. Consistency in your brand is especially apparent in how often you’re showing up online; if you’re posting in your blog randomly through the year, you won’t be bringing in an audience that keeps coming back for more. SO, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO TO SHOW UP CONSISTENTLY? • Have a brand strategy in place for how you will show up as a company culture online and in person. • Have a brand style guide available to everyone for how your collateral and social media graphics are designed. • Have a style guide created for the copywrit- ing you want for your brand. • Hire an assistant for showing up in social media regularly. • Have an inbound content strategy set up to be producing content regularly. When I’m working with a client, I help them to develop a brand strategy and style guide so their team can implement their branding appro- priately, but this kind of consistency shows up in all major brands. When you walk into an Apple store anywhere, you know there will be someone to greet you at the door and direct you further into the store. It’s written into their store policy where employees should always be standing to help. It’s strength- ened by the free genius bar analysis they offer. It’s present in the consistently high-quality com- puters they build. It builds trust without anyone ever having to ask for you to trust them.
It’s hard to determine how a brand you envy became so well known, but I would wager that a huge part of it came from powerful in-person connections. # 7 – MAKE YOUR CUSTOMERS FEEL GOOD This may seem obvious, but you would be shocked at the number of companies who are not taking the time to figure out how they want their audience to feel after coming in contact with their brand. As I was mentioning earlier, your brand is a sum of the relationship that you have with your cus- tomers. Like any healthy relationship, you want to make them feel good about their interactions with you. Think back to the last time you were at a party and how a gathering of people seemed to grav- itate around one person in the room. What was it that was so magnetic about that particular person? Chances are they were genuinely friendly, inviting, and positive. How can you take that same kind of magnetic energy and put it back into your brand? There are countless ways to do this through what you write, what you say, and ultimately, how you treat people. A great example of this tactic is when Pepsi launched its new tagline back in 2019, ‘for the love of it.’ Right away you get a sense of how this brand wants to influence how you feel. PepsiCo global marketing Senior VP Roberto Rios says, “For the Love of It’ is our rallying cry, proudly saying to go all in for the things you love.” Think about how you can make your customers feel their best. Is it adding an extra touchpoint to your sales process? Or maybe it’s something big like hosting a conference each year? Perhaps even sending out a ‘get started’ kit to new clients will ease the on-boarding process and improve their experience working with you. These are just seven tactics that top brands use, but there are more out there that may work better for your brand. I want to invite every one of you
# 6 – PUT IN SOME FACE TIME And no, I don’t mean the FaceTime app. As I’ve said before in this article, bringing authenticity into your brand in 2021 is about bringing yourself into your brand. Meeting someone in person, now this is hard to due with the current COVID-19 restrictions, but it is an invaluable way to make a strong and lasting impression on them. Seeing a photo of you on Instagram is in no way the same as meeting at an event, while social distancing, and sharing a story or a joke with people you want to be working with. Take some time each month to list out the events that you can attend. Bonus if those events have the people you want to be working with but try not to let that limit you. Think about the kinds of connections that will get you referrals. What kind of brands would you love to collaborate with? Who would you like to get a guest post with?
to think about how you can nurture your relation- ships with your customers all year long and if you need some help feel free to give me a call as I would be more than happy to help you with the process. ~ Brittany Pickrem is a brand designer for 6 and 7-figure leaders and changemakers across the globe. Brittany provides leaders with a world- class brand strategy and style from their website to their wardrobe.
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JANUARY 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JANUARY 2021
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