Jen A. Miller Consulting

Author: Jen A. Miller

5 Powerful Tips That Will Grow Your Social Media Following
This post is going to take you through 5 tips to grow your brand’s social media following stat.

What does it take for a girl to get some attention around here??

On social media that is.

You post and you post and you post. And all for what? Crickets. Sometimes you feel like screaming “Is anybody out there? Is ANYONE listening? Does anybody care??

Girl we have ALL been there.

Somewhere between MySpace and Snapchat it seems social media has become a sport. One where we’ve all signed up to pour out our blood, sweat, and tears in order to “win” a few likes, comments, and followers.

Is the stress and effort really worth all that?

No… and yes.

No to the stress. Because most of us are posting pretty pictures and witty Tweets. This shouldn’t be cause for an aneurysm.

But Yes to the effort. There’s no place better than social media to cultivate and grow your community. You can reach people all over the world from the comfort of your couch while making connections you would never otherwise have made. It’s a beautiful thing, really.

So how do we cut the stress and focus our efforts in order to get the results and grow the social media following we all crave? That’s what we’re diving into in this post. Go ahead and download your free tip sheet here.

Ready? Let’s hit it.

Prioritize

Trying to be everywhere all of the time can be enough to drive you crazy! And the truth is, it’s just not necessary . Not to mention, it’s not the best use of your time.

Here’s why.

First of all, there’s a heck of a lot of people on social media. 2.8 billion to be exact. That’s one out of every 3 people in the world!. Woah.

However, we know that not all of these people are potential customers. Is your brand only for women? Boom. There goes 50% of that 2.8 million right there.

The point is, we don’t need to reach everybody. We only need to worry about reaching our target audience. We also know that not everyone is spending their time online in the same way. So go ahead, breathe that sigh of relief. Instead of spreading yourself thin, focus on growing the 1 – 2 channels that are most important to your target customers.

If you haven’t figured that out quite yet, stop here and read this post. It will teach you how to figure out who your customers are plus there is a free customer persona template which will come in handy.

If you’ve made it that far and still have questions about where you should focus your energy check out this infographic from Social Media today. It will show you the stats on the average users across the most popular platforms.

The second reason that focusing your efforts is important is because growth doesn’t come without effort. This isn’t a set it and forget it kind of game. It’s a roll up your sleeves and get all in kind of commitment. Which leads us to tip # 2.

Be consistent

Our friend Brittney said it best- you want it, you gotta work. Tip #1 was all about finding the party and making sure we show up to it. But showing up once isn’t enough to be memorable. We need to show up every time.

Those of us who consider Millennials to be our target (and really, don’t most of us?) need to be especially prudent in our efforts. Millennials are hit with more than 5,000 Marketing messages a day. That’s a new message about every 20 seconds. That’s so much contact that most of us aren’t even aware that it’s happening.

Catch that? We tune out most messages that fly our way. We have to. What does that mean for your brand? Well, if you aren’t reaching out to your customers on the reg, you’re going to get lost in the social shuffle.

There is no easy way around it. When you’re ready to get serious about growing your social media following you need to be prepared to post consistently.

And just how often is often enough? Well this infographic from Co-Schedule breaks it all down.

They also share a case study that cites one bran growing their Facebook reach by 69% just by increasing how frequently they posted.

As an added benefit, posting everyday will create a deeper sense of loyalty from your customers. That means they’re more likely to keep buying from you than bail for another brand.

I have a feeling your next question is, what should I be posting? Which brings us to Tip #3.

Post original content

Much of what gets shared across our social channels is content that is reposted and repurposed. Meaning, one person created it and then someone shared it. Then someone else shared it. Until finally through enough sharing it ended up in your feed.

Guess who’s benefitting from all of those shares? It’s the person who originally created and posted that piece of content. Every time their original work is passed along, they get their brand in front of more people. And if the content is worth sharing then it’s likely going to entice people to click through and check out the person or brand who created it.

Wouldn’t you like to be that to be you?

There is an art & science to finding the perfect mix of original vs. curated content to post on social media. While, it seems everyone has their own point of view they all agree on one thing. Part of that mix should include high quality original content.

Not only does high quality content get shared which gives your brand more exposure, it also increases consumer trust and purchases.

Source

And, trust in a brand’s content is 3x more important to consumers making purchase decisions than trust in their employees. (Source)

What do I mean by “original content”? It can be anything – pictures, graphics, videos, infographics, you name it. There are two route here. First, share the long form content you create (blog posts, e-books, guides) in short snackable sound bites. For instance, pulling out a quote or stat and turning it into a graphic. Second, you can reimagine soPmeone else’s content and create something original. Take for example a trending story that you turn into a video or an infographic you create from an interesting new study.

And if you think you’re not the creative type, you don’t get to pull that excuse. Tools like Canva and a brand book make it easier than ever to fake your graphic design genius.

Let’s go back to that sharing bit. Don’t expect it to happen without a little push. If you’ve gone through the effort to create the content, you want to make sure it get seen. And this brings us to Tip #4.

Engage

The work doesn’t end when you hit send. When you publish a post to social media you want to give it a little push to make sure it gets noticed.

Take Facebook. 75% of your post’s engagement will happens within the first 5 hours . And, on Instagram, it’s well known that gaining likes and comments quickly will help get your post filtered into more followers’ feeds.

All of this to say that you only have a short window of time to draw attention to your post so you want to do whatever you can to make the most of it.

There are several popularized tricks to help do this like tagging people, using hashtags, publishing at the right times. But at the end of the day, the one that works that blows them all out of the water is to follow ‘The Golden Rule’. That is to say, treat others like you want to be treated.

Identify 10 -20 influencers and/or brands in your niche. Follow them on the platforms where you have chosen to focus your efforts. Then make sure you are alerted of new posts by:
- Twitter: adding these brands to a list.
- Instagram: turning on notifications.
- Facebook: adding the brand pages to your shortcuts menu
You want to dish out likes and thoughtful comments to this group on the daily. The aim here is three-fold. First, you’re vying to capture their attention with the hope that they will show you some love back. Second, you want to capture the attention of everyone else who is liking and commenting on their content so that they’re intrigued enough to check you out. And third, you’re building up currency to reach out and ask for a collaboration where they give you a shoutout.

Social media is about building relationships and community. The more people you can pull into your network the faster you will grow your social media following.

So let’s talk about collaboration.

Collaborate

Growing your brand’s social media followers doesn’t have to be a one woman mission. Actually, you’ll have a lot more fun and success if you get help. And the kind of help I’m talking about is collaborations.

Partner up with other business owners and influencers and help one another out! By working together you can grow your reach by introducing each to the other’s audience. It’s also good for you.

Something as simple as tagging another user in your post has shown to increase your posts’ engagement rate by 56%. Now how is that for easy?

Beyond shoutouts you can join forces to co-create original content, hosts contests, and giveaways. The real trick to making this work is to find partners who share a similar audience. They should be interested to learn more about you and what you have to offer.

If you’re not sure where to find these partners a great place to look is on Facebook groups – for instance the Toast Meets Jam Fam page. Here you can find others who are in your same boat and looking to pair up.

In Conclusion

Social media can be an incredible way to grow your brand. And while there’s a lot that goes into building up your social media following, the real secret is to work smarter not harder.

What tips do you have to share? Leave them in a comment below!
June 23, 2017
What you need to know about creating content that converts
Crickets. It’s the sound we all fear the most. You create something you feel great about and then receive little traffic, few likes, and no additional sales.

When you sit down to create you’re hit with a blank screen and no idea what words or images to fill it with. Most brand owners wouldn’t also consider themselves to be professional content creators. Yet, here you are, tasked to write emails, blogs, create social media posts, and design advertising for your brand. And that’s just the start. It’s enough to dig up the biggest doubts in anyone.

Here’s the good news.

Creating content for your brand doesn’t have to be a guessing game. In order to connect with your customers, the secret is to know how to deliver them the right message at the right time in the right place. This is what’s going to convert them from might-be buyers into raving fans. And, with the right system in place, you’ll know exactly how to do this.

Download this free Content that Converts template, and I’ll talk you through how to use it in this post. By the end, you’ll have a system and a tool to help you create content that gets traffic, comments, shares, and most importantly sales for your brand – without having to be a professional writer or saleswoman.

Sound good? Let’s do this thing.

4 Steps to Creating Content that Converts

1) Decide who the heck you’re trying to reach

First things first, you need to know who you’re trying to reach. There are a lot of people in the world but quite honestly, we don’t care about most of them – at least when it comes to our brands. We care about connecting with the right people and that group is going to be a lot more niche. You might have heard this referred to as identifying your target market or target customers.

The reason we need to take this step first is because it’s going to influence how we write and communicate. Think about it. In life, we generally don’t talk the same way to every person. For instance, if your best friend asks how you’re doing you’ll probably share different information than what you would share if your grandma asked the same question. You modify what you communicate in order to appeal to the person with whom you’re talking.

Now let’s apply that concept to a business scenario.

Let’s say you sell kits that teach people how to knit. Your target customers are empty-nest moms who want to learn a new hobby. You want to appeal to their nurturing side and make knitting something fun and not intimidating to try. But what if your target customers were young men who wanted to build small businesses around knitted items? In that case, you would want to appeal to their business side and talk about your kits as a way to make money. See how your communication changes depending on who you want to reach?

I’m not going to into much more detail here. However, if you need help figuring out who your target customers are, I definitely recommend reading this post.

2) Know what to say and when to say it

Once you’ve determined who your target customers are the next step is to segment them by the kind of relationship they have with you.

Not all customers are the same. Some customers haven’t yet discovered you. Others are long time loyalists. And most will fall somewhere in between. This spectrum is often referred to as the customer decision journey. It’s the series of stages your customers go through in their decision to buy from you and the questions and concerns they face along the way. Your goal is to know what to say to your customers at each stage in order to answer those questions and alleviate those concerns so that they can continue on their journey.

This is where that system and tools I promised earlier come into play. So let’s talk through what to do.

First, I need you to download this template.

Ok, open your template and look across the top.

Here you’ll find written 5 of the most common stages consumer go through in their journey. Below is a brief explanation of each.
1. Awareness: Do your customers even know your brand exists?
2. Consideration: Who else are your customers considering buying from?
3. Purchase: Are your customers convinced to buy from you?
4. Referral: Do they have a reason to tell other people about you?
5. Fan: Is there a reason to keep your customers coming back?
Below each explanation is a goal. Remember, the aim of your content is to push people along in their journey so that they not only become customers but also advocates of your brand. The goal at every stage is to get them to the next step.

Under the goal statements you’ll find an area to write in customer insights. This where you write out the questions and concerns you believe your customers face at every stage that prevent them from moving forward. You’ll find examples in the template but go ahead and write in the insights specific to your brand.

Next you’ll find an opportunity to write your response. This is what you need to communicate in order to answer the questions and alleviate the concerns you’ve identified.

3) Choose where to say it

Great so now you’ve figured out who you want to talk to and what they need to hear from you. The next step is to decide where you are going reach out to them.

If we really start to think about it, there are a endless ways we can communicate with our customers. We have social media, email, blogs, video, and our packaging just to rattle of a few.

For that reason, and to keep things from getting overwhelming, we’re going to pick out the ones we want to use and decide how we want to use them. Our system and tool are going to help us do this.

Let’s go back to our templates.

You’ll find the next row is labeled channels. Here you want to write down the places where you want to communicate with your customers at each stage.

Looking at your awareness column as an example, ask yourself, where can I tell people about my brand who have never heard of me before? This means you don’t have their email address, they aren’t following you on social media, and they haven’t yet made it to your website.

However, they might find you through paid ads like Facebook ads, places like Pinterest where you don’t have to be a follower to see someone’s pins, and press articles. For that reason, these are good channels to put in that column.

Once you’ve completed the exercise for the awareness column go ahead and repeat it for every stage.

4) Ok, time to go ahead and say it!

At this point, you’re ready to brainstorm actual content ideas. You’ll find a place to do this in the last row of your template. Your ideas should address the questions and concerns you identified earlier and suit the channels where the messages will be delivered.

Congratulations! What you’ve just figured out is how to most effectively communicate to convert your customers! From here you’re ready to produce and publish your content.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, we all have the ability to be great content creators. The key thing to keep in mind is it’s actually not about us at all. It’s about our customers. The best thing we can do is to get to know them and anticipate their needs. Then when we decide to reach out to them we know exactly the right thing to say.

And if you remember nothing else, at least remember this – Right message, right time, right place.

Now off to you! What questions can I help answer? Drop ‘em below.

A toast to you,

Jen
June 19, 2017
The MOST important thing you can do for your brand right now

4 Proven Strategies to Help You Build Brand Awareness

Let’s talk for a minute about what it means to build brand awareness.

40 million images are posted to Instagram each day and over 10,000 include the Starbucks logo.

The Starbucks brand also happens to be one of the most recognized in the world.

Coincidence? Probably not.

Take a look at this photo and tell me what stands out:

No matter where you encounter Starbucks, the experience is always the same. It doesn’t matter if you are in Australia or Austin, Texas. Buying coffee from a shop, a grocery store, or online. Drinking out of a paper cup or ceramic mug. In every situation, you will find the same, recognizable Starbucks. Same logo, same colors, same name.

When it comes to building brand awareness, consistency is everything.

Not only do consumers expect it:

90% of consumers expect the customer experience to be consistent every time they interact with a brand.

They need it in order to build trust with your brand:

It takes an average of 5-7 brand impressions before someone will recognize your brand.

Over two thirds of millennials site brand recognition as the most important driver of brand loyalty.

The reason I raise this example is because far too often I see up-and-coming brands making the mistake of not delivering a consistent experience. And, they don’t see how much it is hurting their business.

I’ve talked a little about this before but, consistency will not only help grow your brand awareness but it will convert onlookers into customers.

Does it take more effort? Yes. Is it worth it? YES!

Which is why today, we’re going to talk about 4 strategies for delivering a consistent brand experience. It’s also why I created this free downloadable checklistof places you need to make sure are consistently branded.

Let’s get to it.

Strategy 1: Design an adaptable logo

You want to use your logo everywhere your brand shows up. But that doesn’t mean that every situation is going to be the same. Sometimes you’ll be presented with challenges like limited space or opposing background colors. For this reason, you want to have adaptations of your logo that can suit these different scenarios.

Let’s take a look at Dropbox:

Dropbox’s primary logo uses the brand name and mark in blue against a white backdrop. However, they allow for the colors to be reversed when the logo is placed on a darker background. They also have variations that can be used when space is tight.

With your brand logo, it’s advisable to follow Dropbox’s lead. Make sure you have versions that can work for all scenarios so that you don’t find yourself hacking together a solution on the fly.

Strategy 2: Snag your social handles

To the absolute best of your ability you want to have the same handle across all social media sites where your brand has a presence. To go a step further, ideally, that handle matches your brand name and your website URL exactly. If you can nail this, it will make it so much easier for your customers to find you and alleviate any confusion about whether or not it’s the *real you*.

See how Stitch Fix has done it:

Everywhere the brand shows up it goes by the Stitch Fix name. So no matter if you are searching on Google or on social media, the likelihood of finding them is high.

If you haven’t yet named your brand my recommendation is to search Google and all social media sites to see if any names you’re considering are open. Once you’ve decided, snag the handles so that you have them when you’re ready.

If you already have a brand name and the matching social media handle is available you have a couple of options. First, you can reach out to the person who has it. If they don’t use it much they might be willing to turn it over. Alternatively, you can choose a variation that closely resembles your brand name (for instance adding “the” to the beginning or a descriptor word to the end). Then use that handle across all social platforms.

Strategy 3: Write a snappy pitch

When someone searches for and ultimately finds your brand, they want verification that they’ve ended up in the right place. You can give them that assurance by writing a short introduction that explains who your brand is and what it does. Once you’ve written your line, use it wherever you have the opportunity to create a bio for your brand.

Lola does a great job of this:

See how they use the same line as the description that shows up in search as well as the line across all of their social media bios?

Strategy 4: Create a brand book

A brand book is a tool that documents the essential elements of your brand. It’s where you communicate your brand colors, fonts, and visual identity. It’s also a place you can note your brand tone of voice and personality.

Take a look at these pages from Barre & Soul’s brand book:

By documenting these choices you create a guide that everyone who touches your brand can work from. It will ensure that everyone from your team, to external hires, to partners knows how to bring your brand to life in a consistent manner.

In my opinion, it is very hard to grow and scale a brand without having created your brand book. If you need help getting started, I’d highly recommend checking out the Jammin’ Brand Book.

To Wrap it up…

We started this post by talking about Starbucks and the fact that Instagram has over 10,000 images with their logo. Now imagine if Starbucks had decided that delivering the same experience each and every time wasn’t such a big deal? What if their logo sometimes used a mermaid but other times a coffee cup? If they sometimes called themselves Starbucks and other times The Howard Schultz company?

Those 10,000 Instagram images wouldn’t be nearly as powerful. Starbucks would fail to deliver the consistent experience their customers expect. Even more so, they wouldn’t benefit from the repetition that earns customers’ trust.

Luckily for them, this isn’t the case. Actually, let’s take luck out of the mix. This isn’t about luck. It’s about putting in the work.

So yes, creating a consistent brand experience may take a bit more effort… a bit more due diligence… a bit more commitment … but it’s all worth it. And, dare I say, it’s the most important thing you can do to build brand awareness right now.

What part of growing your brand awareness is the most challenging for you? What questions haven’t I answered? Let me know!

June 12, 2017
3 super simple tips to find your authentic brand voice

How do I find my brand voice? Am I just being a copycat of other people’s styles I admire?

Who has ever found themselves asking these questions?

I can fess up to saying that I have. In fact, I can remember one particular instance when these questions were screaming inside my head. So, before we go any further, I’d like to share a quick story.

Marie Forleo is one of the women I most admire. I love watching her videos on Marie TV and tune into any podcast interview where she’s the guest. All of that to say, Marie’s voice is in my head… a lot.

When I first started the Toast Meets Jam Youtube channel, I created a series of videos tackling the most popular questions I was hearing from this community. I titled of the videos “How to Create a Business & a Life that You Love”. It wasn’t long before someone called me out for copying Marie. “Create a Business & a Life that You Love” is her signature saying.

Ugh. Are you SERIOUS?? I had borrowed her brand voice without even realizing it.

Imitation might be the highest form of flattery but it wasn’t what I’d wanted to do in this case. I was trying to find my own voice, not copy someone else.

Now here’s the thing, finding the Toast Meets Jam voice wasn’t something that happened overnight. In fact, it’s still something I am working on. But through this process I have figured out a few tips that have made the process easier. Today I want to share three of those with you:

Tip 1: Think of your brand as a person

Every brand has a personality and that personality influences how your brand communicates. So, try thinking of your brand has a person. If you knew her what would she be like? What words would you use to describe her? Is she curious? Does she have a certain Southern charm or New York confidence? Remember those Mac vs. PC commercials? They are a prime example of differing brand personalities at play.

Next, think about what kind of relationship you want your brand to have with your customers and followers. Do you want them to see your brand as a friend? The kind who makes them laugh? Fills them with inspiration? Always tells them the hard truth? Or do you want your customers to see your brand more as a mentor or teacher?

(Tip: If you haven’t yet read this post, now would be a good time)

The answers to these questions will help you figure out the best tone to use when writing for your brand. If you want to be a friend, your tone will be more conversational. Likewise, if you want to establish yourself as the expert change your tone would be more formal.

As you’re going through this process, I want you to go ahead and write down all the words that come to mind. Once you have them all on paper, go back through and pick out the 5 words that best describe your brand’s personality. These will serve as the pillar words which will guide your brand voice. For instance your words might be something like: fun, friendly, charming, curious, and good natured.

I’ve also found that it can be helpful to create a “this, not that” list. For instance, my brand voice is fun but not immature. Make sense?

Tip 2: Read your writing out loud

This is a simple but effective trick. After you’ve written copy for your brand, read it out loud. How does it sound? Natural or forced?

When you’re writing for your brand, it should sound in line with how you would talk to your followers and customers if you met them at a party.

If you want a great example to reference, pop on over to Melyssa Griffin’s blog. I love her writing style. When you read her writing, you actually feel like she’s having a conversation with you. Just take a look at this example will ya?

Now take a look at your writing. Would you really use all of those big fancy words? Or, do you need to think about putting away the Thesaurus and getting more human!

Tip 3: Coin signature words or sayings

Girlboss wasn’t a word we used until Sophia Amorusa made it so. “Badass” wasn’t being thrown around until Jen Sincero came along. And, “As if” will always remind us of Cher from Clueless.

Each of these is an example of a signature word. They become associated with a brand and embody its personality. The Girlboss brand voice for instance is strong, feminist, and unabashed. When you hear the word, these are the traits that come to mind.

As you’re writing for your brand, think about what words or sayings you can own. These can truly be a powerful way to bring your brand voice to life.

Over to you…

Alrighty, those are my 3 top tips for finding your authentic brand voice. What tips do you have to share?

A toast to you,

Jen

June 5, 2017
20 Branding Examples to Inspire your Brand

This post will give you a simple roadmap plus loads of branding examples to help you nail your branding

You’ve heard that great branding is important for your business. In fact, you’ve probably heard it from me. But what does great branding look like and how do you know if you’ve nailed it? If you’re not a designer yourself, figuring this out can sometimes feel out of your league. How are you supposed to know what to do?

I get it. I’m not a designer either.

What I do know is that there are a few core elements that make up any great brand design. Knowing what these are and what role they play is your first step. From there, the best thing to do is look around. There are some brands out there that are really rocking in certain areas. We can look at what they’re doing and learn how to apply their best practices to our businesses.

To help you figure out how to nail your branding, I’ve put together a list of 4 essential elements you need to consider. To top it off, I’m giving you 5 examples of brands that are masters in each of the areas. So, here you have it, a simple roadmap to great branding and 20 examples to guide you.

Color

Color plays an incredibly important role in your branding. In fact, 85% of consumers cite color as the number one reason they buy a particular product (source). When selecting our brand colors we need to consider the different emotions and characteristics associated with them. Blue, for instance, is often associated with feelings of trust and security while red tends to be associated with power and passion. The colors you choose should give your customers a feel for your personality and the way you want your brand to make them feel.

Color also plays a helpful role in making our brands recognizable and memorable. One study reported that color increased brand recognition by as much as 80% (Source). The key is to pick a signature color that really stands out.

Here are 5 brands who have mastered the technique:

DRYBAR

Drybar has three primary brand colors: white, grey, and yellow. It’s the yellow that is their signature. In fact, they’ve given it a name: buttercup.

THE HONEST COMPANY

The Honest Company uses a bright color palette that is attractive to its target audience of moms. And, their signature blue creates a sense of trust and reflects their brand name.

SUGARFINA

Sugarfina’s blue boxes can’t be mistaken. The color pops and makes the packaging and the brand memorable.

GLOSSIER

Glossier pink is a thing. The brand has adopted the color which appeals to their female target and also gives the brand a signature on and off the shelf.

SOULCYCLE

Like Drybar, Soulcycle has adopted a relatively simple color palette. Their use of yellow on everything from their bikes, to their logos, to their walls though is what makes the brand stand out.

Fonts/ Typography

Just like color, each font carries a unique personality. Fonts can exhibit a feeling of elegance, tradition, modernity, creativity, and even nostalgia. Many fonts even carry historic or cultural contexts that gives them a deeper level of meaning. Recall classic fonts like Times New Roman, Comic Sans, and Impact and I’m certain each will evoke a different feeling.

Your selection of fonts plays a big role in bringing out your brand’s identity. You want to make choices that reflect your personality however this should not be the only consideration. You also want to ensure your font selections are legible and flexible enough to be used consistently.

Here are 5 brands who are using typography the right way:

JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS

Jeni’s logo looks as if Jeni signed it herself and the font on her pints is reminiscent of a handwritten note. The combination gives you the feeling that the pints are personal and homemade. It’s not by chance, this is exactly what the brand wants you to feel.

THE FLEX COMPANY

Flex creates period products with the aim is to elevate the experience. Their choice of fonts does just that. The combination of clean lines and script is decidedly sophisticated.

THE JUNGALOW

Without knowing anything else about the company, you get a great sense of what The Jungalow is about just by looking at their logo. The organic textures and slightly messy font let you know that the brand is free-spirited.

SPRINKLES

Sprinkles script and sans serif font is a perfect pairing. The script gives charm and delight to the logo while the sans serif creates balance and can be used everywhere from their website to their cupcakes.

HEDLEY & BENNETT

Hedley & Bennett nails it with the emphasis on their & in their typographic logo. It turns the symbol into an icon that the brand is able to use to subtly brand their products.

Visuals

Your brand visuals are the images that you use in all of your brand materials including your website, social media, and advertising. They are a powerful tool for bringing to life your brand identity. For that reason, your visual style should reflect the same personality evoked through your choice of colors and fonts.

Beautiful visuals can also play a critical role in capturing and keeping the attention of your customers. You want to develop a unique style that connects with them and tells them something about your brand.

Take a look at how these 5 brands are using visuals to show rather than just tell their customers what they’re about:

OUTDOOR VOICES

Outdoor Voices wants you to get outside and do something with someone. For them, it’s not about performance or competition but rather recreation. This idea is embodied in their visuals which show a diverse group of people, in action, doing the things they love together.

S’WELL

S’well has a mission to rid the world of plastic water bottles. They want you to bring your S’well bottle with you wherever you go. Their visuals support the idea by showing off S’well bottles in all sorts of scenarios.

LAUREL & WOLF

Laurel & Wolf wants to make the luxury of an interior designer available to everyone. Though they’ve democratized the service they still want to maintain the high-end appeal. Their visuals help them do just that.

AWAY

Away wants you to get out and explore. Their visuals don’t just depict their product. They inspire you to take them with you on a great adventure.

SAKARA

Sakara wants to help you feel lighter and brighter. That same idea comes through loud and clear when you look at their bright, white, visual style.

Language

How you communicate with your customers is just as important as what you communicate. The right selection of colors, fonts, and visuals will fall short if not pulled together with the right message.

Your choice of words not only help bring out your brand’s personality but also establish the type of relationship you have with your customers. It can even help to build a sense of community between them.

Take a look at how these 5 brands have unified their design through an identifiable brand language:

DRAPER JAMES

Reese Witherspoon’s brand Draper James is all about honoring her Southern Heritage. The language she uses purposefully has a distinctive Southern charm that really draws out the brand’s personality.

GIRLBOSS

GirlBoss, the movement created by NastyGal founder Sophia Amoruso is all about empowering women. The language they use drives that forward with a strong feminist tone.

THE SKIMM

The Skimm wants to make it easier for you to live smarter. That’s why they deliver the facts to their audience in a language they actually understand and care about – including in a lot of pop-culture references.

BAN.DŌ

Ban.dō is a lifestyle brand that is serious about fun. It’s not hard to believe them when you see the catchy phrases they use across their products and the relatable tone they use on their website.

DARLING MAGAZINE

Darling is a media platform that wants to share the art of being a woman. Their modern manifesto makes that clear. As does the way they title the women they profile with names like The Confidant, The Dreamer, and The Explorer.

Branding Wrap Up

You don’t have to be a designer to know how to think like one. When you’re planning the branding for your business start with your colors, fonts, visuals, and language. Consider how the four will play off one another and how together they can best bring to life your brand personality. Not sure what that is? Start with this free guide and you’ll be ready to rock ‘n roll.

Which brand’s design do you admire the most? Do you have any you’d add to the list? Comment below to let me know!

A toast to you,

Jen

May 29, 2017