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đŸ§č How to clean up critical branding mistakes small businesses often make

Freshen up your branding + social presence in 2023

Author

Gordon Simle
May 23, 2023

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Hello, and welcome back. đŸ‘‹

In a world where first impressions are everything, attention spans are 1.5 seconds, and consumers prefer businesses that remind them of their BFFs, having a fresh and consistent digital presence is crucial. The good news is, it’s easier than you think.

IN 8 MINUTES, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

  1. Don’t have an identity crisis đŸȘȘ

  2. The 5-Minute Freshen Up 💁

  3. Socialize: Be There or Be Square đŸ“±

Don’t have an identity crisis đŸȘȘ

When you started your business, you likely had some idea of how you wanted to show up for your customers and solve their problem(s). You found a problem in the market that either wasn’t being solved, wasn’t being solved well, or at least wasn’t with the customer experience you envisioned.

That vision was the very start of your brand, and your brand determines how people perceive their experience will be when working with your business. From there, some businesses continue to craft that vision and value proposition into a name, logo, tagline, and maybe even a look and feel through consistent colors, fonts, and a communication strategy.

Many businesses never made it that far, and just got to work generating revenue and servicing their customers. If this is you, no worries, that’s how many great businesses got their start. Off to the races. 🏃💹

Drake & YG running in Lamborghini

Drake & YG via GIPHY

In 2023, having a business name, phone number, some business cards, and maybe a grossly outdated website isn’t going to cut it. According to Meta, 69% of those surveyed [in their 2023 trends report] say they’d like a brand to be present in the virtual world. To clarify, that’s the metaverse, not just an online presence. 😅 Things are escalating quickly for us all.

Executive Summary:

So, what can we do today, without disrupting our businesses and blowing our rapidly shrinking budgets?

Be consistent in how your brand shows up. Everywhere.

A brand is more than just a recognizable logo and a catchy name. It's a promise to your customers about what they can expect from your business when they work with you. When you're consistent in how you show up, you build trust and credibility with your customers.

Clearly define your brand identity & brand story.

  • Define your brand identity. What are your core values? What do you want your brand to stand for or against? Once you know what your brand is all about, you can begin communicating it consistently across all channels (web, social, print)

  • Use the same branding elements everywhere. This includes your logo, colors, fonts, etc. When your branding elements are consistent, customers are more likely to recognize your brand, be confident that you’re trustworthy, and remember you when they are ready to buy

  • Whether you're writing on your website, in social media posts, or in email communications, use the same, authentic, tone of voice. This will help to create a cohesive brand experience. If you’re in an industry that can be complex and full of jargon, be careful not to alienate new customers and keep your copywriting easy to understand or include explanations in layman’s terms to bring people into the know

  • Be consistent with your messaging. This means using the same keywords, phrases, and images. When your messaging is consistent, it helps customers to understand what you're offering and why they should choose your business over your competition

  • Authentically engage with your customers where your customers are. Have fun with this. Use your business’s authentic tone of voice to provide customer support via social media platforms (Instagram and Twitter are popular for this) and educate your target market to build relationships and trust while positioning your business as the go-to

The 5-Minute Freshen Up 💁

OK, so this will probably take more than five minutes, and regardless, here are the most important items to check off your to-do list this week. ✅

  1. Identify where your business is online currently, and begin updating all profiles. This includes the profile and cover/header photos, contact information, profile descriptions, and business hours, add a call-to-action button (if applicable), and double-check any website addresses or social media account links to confirm they’re still good. Your profiles should all match when you’re done. 👯

    Pro Tip: Create a username for your Facebook Page if you haven’t already. It’s not part of the signup process like with other social platforms.

  2. Add a positioning statement to the “About Us” or “Bio” sections. Something simple that will make it crystal clear what you do and how you do it better. Here’s a formula and example from Shopify:

We offer [PRODUCT/SERVICE] for [TARGET MARKET] to [VALUE PROPOSITION]. Unlike [THE ALTERNATIVE], we [KEY DIFFERENTIATOR].

For example: We offer water bottles to help hikers stay hydrated, while reducing their carbon footprint. Unlike other water bottle brands, we plant a tree for every bottle you buy.

  1. Claim your business. Make sure your business is listed on all of the top online directories, such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, Apple Business Connect, and Bing Places for Business. This will help potential customers find you when they're searching for businesses like yours.

Are you a time-crunched solopreneur, not super tech-savvy, or have been in business for decades and don’t care about growth?

Just complete your Google Business Profile. It’s incredibly frustrating to consumers when it’s hard to tell if your business is still active, the hours are wrong, or the website link is broken or hacked. đŸ€Ź 

An added bonus would be to include a note about parking. Knowing whether you have parking available or what the best options are if you don’t can help ensure new customers give your business a shot and stop by. I can speak from personal experience on all of these. Can you tell? 😆

Maytag Guy So Fresh And So Clean meme

@maytag via GIPHY

Give yourself a hand if you’ve knocked these few steps out. 👏👏👏 

Sure, there are plenty of additional things you can do to build your brand and increase exposure, and ultimately sales, yet so many businesses haven’t completed this short list and would greatly benefit from doing so.

If you’ve had these done from the beginning, you’re a rockstar, and likely have the market share to match. đŸ€‘ Keep going and create a tagline, choose your brand colors and typography, or create your social strategy for the rest of the year ahead.

Socialize: Be There or Be Square đŸ“±

It's more important than ever for businesses to be where their customers are. And they’re on social media. More than half of the world’s population and 87% of Americans are on social. In North America, the average time spent each day on social is just over 2 hours. đŸ€Ż

Now that your profiles are cleaned up, it’s time to put those accounts to use to increase brand awareness and build trust by making your customers smarter.

Don Draper Mad Men Marketing GIF Cut To Hashtag meme

Mad Men via GIPHY

Social media is a powerful tool that can help small businesses connect with potential and current customers, build relationships, and drive sales.

Let’s break down some best practices to authentically engage with your business’s target market:

  1. Choose the right platforms. Not all social platforms are created equal. Some platforms are better suited for certain businesses than others. So it's important to choose the right platforms for your business.

For example, if you own a B2B business, LinkedIn may be the best platform for you. If you have a local B2C business, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok may be better options.

  1. Create a social strategy. Once you've chosen the right platforms, to save time and maximize your reach, you must create a strategy. This will help you to define your goals, produce content, and track your results.

A great social strategy should be simple and include the following:

  • 👀 Goals: What do you want to achieve by using social media? Do you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or provide customer service? Perhaps all of the above.

  • 🎯 Target Audience: Who are you trying to reach with your social content? Why should they pay attention to your content (i.e. what’s in it for them)?

  • đŸŽ„ Content: What kind of content will you share on social media? Will you share blog posts, images, videos, or a combination of all three?

  • 📆 Schedule: How often will you post on social media? Consistency is a MUST, so plan accordingly.

  • 📈 Measurement: How will you track the results of your efforts? You can’t improve what you don’t track!

  1. Create engaging content. Remember I mentioned 1.5-second attention spans, earlier? This is where that comes into play. Your content must be interesting, informative, and relevant to your target audience. If you decide to create video content, keep the pace moving.

These days, video is everything. Facebook and Instagram Reels and TikTok videos provide snackable content for your audience, and in turn, the algorithms reward you with additional eyeballs. If you’re hesitant to get in front of a camera, I get it, we all are. Just remember, people see you and hear you like that every day and they still like you, so don’t overthink it. 🙃

  1. Get social. Social media is all about social interaction (referred to as engagement). Respond to as many comments and questions as possible, engage with other businesses, and participate in relevant conversations. For example, if there’s a hashtag (i.e. topic) that is closely related to your business, or popular influencers in your space, leave a few thoughtful comments on posts each day to give your business additional exposure.

  2. Track your efforts. It's important to track your results so that you can see what's working and what's not. There are a variety of tools that you can use to track your social results, including Google Analytics, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social. You can use the native reporting within each platform as well for $FREE.99. Always the best price. đŸ€“

By tracking your results, you can make adjustments to your social strategy in real-time to ensure your time and money invested are moving you closer to the goals you set in the beginning.

ONWARD TOGETHER.

Everyday Insights 👀

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