Jen A. Miller Consulting

Tag: branding

How To Turn Your “Cute Idea” Into A Booming Brand
11 Essential Elements That Can Make or Break Your Brand

Last week I was sitting around a circle with a group of other women entrepreneurs. Most of us there were solopreneurs, a handful a dynamic team of two. We had been asked to share what the biggest challenge has been in building our businesses.

One woman raised her hand and shared that her friends couldn’t seem to take her business seriously.

They thought it was a “cute idea” but wondered when she would get back to a real job.

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A round of head nods passed around the circle. It seemed we’d all been on the receiving end of commentary of that sort.

Deciding to build a business is an enormous undertaking. The sheer task of creating something from nothing requires nothing short of brute strength and determination. So why is it that despite their best efforts, many new business owners find that they’re being met with doubt and aren’t being seen as a “real business”?

From what I’ve experienced, the distinction comes down to the fundamental building blocks that are put in place during the birth of an idea. They’re the not-so-sexy steps that come ahead of choosing a name, creating a logo, and building out a website. To reference an admittedly overused analogy, think of those things as the tip of the iceberg. It’s what everyone sees. Yet, the bulk of your brand, the thing that keeps it afloat is hidden beneath the surface.

I wanted to put together this post to shed light on those essential elements that generally lie hidden but ultimately can make or break your brand. These are the things that set you up for long-term success, differentiate your business from everyone else’s, allow you to cultivate a community and give a greater purpose to your work. If you look across the board and the brands that really stand out, create a buzz, and ultimately find success, you can find each of these essential elements in place.

11 Essential Elements That Turn A “Cute Idea” into a Booming Brand

Clear Brand Message

Your brand message is the clear, concise articulation of what service or product you offer, who it’s for, and how it is unique. Think about it as your elevator pitch. It’s your response to the question, “what do you do?” or, “what is (insert name of your brand)?”.

A well-written message can be a powerful tool for bringing focus and clarity to your business. It’s also what is going to make you memorable and referrable.

Likewise, an unclear message will not only leave you feeling confused but also your audience. And remember this, if you confuse people, you lose people.

How to use it
- As your social media bio
- The meta description for your website aka the words that show up in search results
- The key message at the top of your website’s homepage
- Any public facing bios (guest posts, interviews, speaking engagements)
Compelling Brand Story

Your brand story explains how your brand originated and plays a critical role in helping you to attract your ideal customers and establish a trusting relationship with them. It gives context to where your idea came from, how you brought it to life, and most importantly explains why your brand exists.

When you share your story it humanizes your brand and gives people something they can relate to. When you have a great story to tell it can also help create word of mouth sharing with your customers. It can even be the thing that captures the attention of the media and lands you amazing press.

How to use it:
- An “About” page on your website
- In your media or press kit
- Write it into your brand book
- In the content your brand creates (blog post, video, social media)
Rock Solid Values

Your brand values are the deeply held beliefs and principles by which your company operates. They serve as a moral guide and a framework for how you run your business. Your values make it clear to your team, your customers, and your partners what you care most about.

Establishing a set of rock solid values will give you a framework against which to assess whether or not something is the right thing to do. Deciding whether or not you to need to invest in sustainable packaging? If being eco-friendly is a core value then you’ll be assured it’s the right move.

Strong values will also help you form deeper bonds with your customers. In fact, 64% of people cite shared values as the main reason they have a relationship with a brand. Beyond attracting loyal customers, a clearly established set of values is going to help attract the right people to join your team which becomes important as your team grows.

How to use them:
- Share them on your website
- Include them on your hiring page or in job descriptions
- To help you decide on packaging materials
- To guide who you choose to partner with
- When figuring out which causes to support
Purpose Driven Mission

Your brand mission explains your brand’s reason for being. It answers the question “why does your brand exists?”. We write our brand mission statement in order to inspire everyone around our brand to drive toward the same goal, not matter what their role is – team member, partner, or customer.

Your mission statement will guide the activities your brand engages in beyond selling products whether its philanthropic endeavors, support for a specific cause, or the way you do business.

Sharing it with your customers will help them understand how their support for your brand aligns with their personal values. Similarly, sharing it with your team and partners will help them see the bigger picture their work contributes to.

How to use it:
- On your website
- To align your brand with a charitable cause
- To develop a natural extension of your online brand into workshops or live events
Empowering Vision

What is your ultimate dream for your business? What is it that you’re aspiring to? The answer to those questions is your brand vision. It should feel aspirational and serve as a true source of inspiration for your team.

Your brand vision is your long-term goal born out of your “big why” or underlying motivation. It sets the long-term strategy for your brand and serves as your guiding light or north star.

Everything that your brand does should get you a step closer to fulfilling your vision. If it doesn’t, you should question why you are doing it.

How to use it:
- Unlike your brand mission statement, your vision statement does not necessarily need to be outward facing (though it can be). The primary function of a vision statement is to inspire your team and the best way to do that is to keep it front and center.
Life-like Customer Personas

Your target customers are the ones who you believe your product or service is best suited for. They are the people who you want to buy from you and who you are going to focus all of your efforts finding, attracting, and keeping loyal to your brand.

Customer personas are a way of bringing to life your ideal customer by turning them into a fictional character that represents who they are. You might also hear these referred to as buyer personas or custom avatars. The idea is the same. They are a way of turning data points into something that feels human.

Creating customer personas will help you stay rooted in who you’re serving and how to best connect with and serve them.

How to use them:
- To help you determine which services/products to sell
- When evaluating where to set your prices
- To inspire the development of your brand’s visual style
- To inform the content you create (what you share and where you share it)
- When deciding who your brand should partner work with
- When setting up audiences for paid marketing campaigns
Brand Personality Pillars

Think of your brand personality as the way your brand would think, speak, and behave if she were a person. Your brand personality pillars are the keywords that describe your brand’s most recognizable traits – for instance, quirky, sophisticated, adventurous, bold, or witty.

We want to remember that people don’t fall in love with brands because of what they sell. They fall in love with what a brand promises to do for them and how that brand makes them feel.

Your brand personality is what your customers will connect with and gravitate to.

How to use them:
- Provide the structure for deciding how your brand does and doesn’t act
- Guide the development of your brand style (colors, fonts, visuals)
- How you talk to your customers through your website copy, emails & social captions
Brand Mood Board

A brand mood board is a collection of visuals that bring to life your brand’s personality. You can build them IRL or create them online. Either way, the point of creating a mood board is to capture the essence of your brand.

Your mood board becomes the jumping off point for the development of your visual identity – colors, typography, logos, and images. It’s going to help you visualize what you like and what makes sense so that when it comes time to make your final choices it’s much easier to decide.

How to use it:
- Ultimately your mood board will guide the design for things like your website, social media posts, product packaging, and collateral.
Brand Voice Guidelines

Your brand voice is not just what you say but how you say it. Just like your own voice, it is built from the combination of your words, known sayings, grammar, inflection and even accent.

Your brand voice will not only play a critical role in bringing out your brand’s personality but it will also establish a relationship with your customers and can even help to build a sense of community between them.

In your business, your brand voice comes through in every way you communicate with your customers. This includes everything from your product names and descriptions to email and blog copy.

Consider your brand voice when writing:
- Copy for your website
- Blog posts
- Email newsletters
- Social media captions
- Advertising taglines
- Slogans for merchandise
- Copy for your packaging
Brand Style Guide

When it comes to styling your brand, your logo, colors, fonts, graphics, and photography all play a role in establishing what your business stands for in the hearts and minds of the world. These elements work together to exemplify your brand purpose, communicate who your brand is for, and show off your brand personality.

Developing a cohesive style is what is going to enable you to develop a brand that authentically represents who you are. Knowing how to use that style consistently across all of your branding is what is going to allow you to create a business that is distinct and memorable.

A brand style guide is one-page sheet that serves as a quick reference for the core elements of your brand identity so you can keep everything looking cohesive.

How to use it:
- When developing your brand website
- Putting together a brand photoshoot
- Creation of branded collateral
- Development of product packaging
- Designing graphics for social media and advertising
Brand Book

A brand book, sometimes called brand guidelines or a style guide, is a set of guidelines that explain who your brand is, what it’s all about, and how it should be brought to life. Think of it as the one stop shop for all the strategic & tactical guidelines for all aspects of your brand

Your brand book will become your go-to source for everything related to your brand. It should guide your strategy and inform all creative executions. It should become the single source of truth and reference whenever you find yourself asking, ‘is this on brand?’.

One of the keys to developing a brand that stands out and is memorable is to create a consistent experience wherever you customers find your brand. Having a brand book will help you to keep everything looking, feeling, and sounding cohesive toa s your business grows.

How to use it:
- Guide your decision making as the visionary of your brand
- Onboard new team members or partners
- Inspire creative work from designers, photographers, copywriters, and others
- Develop “on-brand” activations with partners and influencers
Where do we go from here?

If you’ve read this post you might be feeling slightly overwhelmed. There are a lot of pieces that need to work together in order to create a super solid foundation upon which your brand can grow.

The truth is trying to tackle everything on your own can be downright intimidating. But here’s the thing, you don’t have to do it all alone! Building your brand should be fun. And, when you know what to do, the whole process can actually feel really easy and empowering.

If you would like a hand building your brand then I want to invite you to join me at Brand Camp. Brand Camp is a 6-week program that teaches women how to build wildly successful brands they are ridiculously proud of while bringing them into community with other bossbabes. We’ll go from idea to execution to turn your passion into the profitable brand you’ve been dreaming of.

You can find all of the sweet deets at Brandcampcourse.com.
June 25, 2018
4 Real Reasons Your Brand Is Failing
A hard look at why your brand isn’t taking off like you’d imagined

Here’s a real question for you. What were some of the biggest fears you had around launching your brand? Maybe they’re even fears you currently have as you prepare for that launch.

Do any of these sound familiar?
- I’m afraid no one will care or pay attention.
- I’m afraid my products/services won’t sell.
- I’m afraid of what people will think.
If everyone reading this was in a room together I’m sure 99% of hands would be in the air. Because let’s face it, these are all things that we should fear. After all, we put so much work into bringing our dreams to life, we sure as heck want to see our brands to succeed.

So what do we do when some of those fears actually start to become our realities? Do we throw in the towel and call it quits? I sure hope not! Instead, we can take a good honest look at where we might have missed the marks.

I’ve worked with many brands in my career and have seen some common patterns emerge. In this post, I’m sharing 4 of the top reasons that your brand might not be taking off like you like, and how to start diagnosing the problems.

Alright, let’s get to it!

1. It’s not clear what your brand does

When you are building your brand one of the most important questions you’ll need to answer is, “what do you do?”. It seems deceptively simple. Yet so many new business owners get it wrong.

Your response should address these three questions:
- What primary product or service do you sell?
- Who is the perfect customer for this product or service?
- Why is your product or service the perfect one for them?
Let’s take a look at a few examples:
- Glossier: Glossier makes easy-to-use skincare and makeup that form the backbone to a cool girl’s unique beauty routine.
- Lunya: Lunya creates effortless & comfortable sleepwear built for function & flattery for today’s modern woman.
- Brit + Co: Brit+ Co is a media company that inspires, educates and entertains real women with a creative spirit.
Can you see how each these examples provides a clear response to the three questions we outlined? They’re incredibly focused and that’s what makes them work.

So how can you tell if your brand is confusing people? Here are three things to investigate:
- Search result description. Type your brand name into Google. Now, read the description that shows up for your website. Does it clearly answer the question, “what do you do?” or, have you neglected to format this into a response that is immediately understandable.
- Brand name. Consider the name you’ve chosen for your brand. Is it descriptive of what your brand does? If not, have you written a thoughtful strapline to accompany it and provide more context? For instance, Coolhaus: Awesome Ice Creams.
- Word choice. Ask a close friend who knows your business to describe what you do. Are the words she uses the same that you use? You want to remember that your customers aren’t going to be as familiar with your industry lingo as you are. So rather than trying to impress them with fancy words, explain what you do in the words they would use.
2. Your brand website looks wack

When someone learns about your brand one of the first things they will do is Google it. Honestly, it’s just become human nature at this point. People will want to look you up and see what you’re all about. What they find, well, that is going to set the tone for how positively they perceive your brand.

First things first, yes your brand should have a website – and no, a Facebook page does not count. Beyond that, let’s take a look at a few mistakes you might be making that can seriously throw off your game:
- Your pictures are… meh. People form a first impression within seconds of landing on your brand’s website. That big image you have at the top of your homepage, it matters more than you think. The pictures on your website need to look professional meaning they are well composed, properly lit, and hi-res. Stock photos are fine but you’ll want to invest in ones that actually fit your branding.
- You lack style. Open up your website. Is there a clear color scheme to it? When someone thinks of your brand does a signature color even come to mind? How about your fonts? Have you developed a clean fonts system with specific choices for things like headlines, body copy, and buttons? Or are you simply using whatever the default was in your website’s theme? It’s important to put thought into your appearance if you want to be perceived as a brand to be taken seriously.
- Your domain isn’t your brand name. At a bare minimum, your website needs a unique domain. WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify or anything akin to this should not be in your website’s address. Period. The very best case is that your website URL (www.brandname.com) matches your brand name. If that domain is not available, you want to get as close to it as possible.
- You haven’t changed the favicon. A favicon is the tiny image that appears when you open up a new tab in Chrome or another browser. Your website builder (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, etc…) will default to their logo. That looks amateur. To elevate your brand, make sure you have switched this to a favicon version of your own logo.
Think of it like this, your website is your brand’s online home. It’s a place for you to welcome people and invite them in to get to know you. You wouldn’t want guests coming over to your real home if you had dishes in the sink, dirty laundry strewn about, and garbage piling up. You also wouldn’t give them the wrong address and expect them to magically find where you live. The space principles apply to your brand’s home.

3. Your brand’s Instagram feed is all over the place

Instagram provides another place beyond our website for customers to connect with us. It’s grown into a critical platform for engaging fans and building a community. In fact, research has shown that consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand they follow on social media than from one they do not.

For many brands, Instagram is the platform of choice attracting the attention of their ideal audience. That means we have to treat it like a true extension of our brand and not simply as a nice place to post.

If you find that you’re failing to grow your following or get engagement from the fans that are there, here are a few reasons that might be behind it:
- No clear color scheme. Your feed needs to look cohesive. When you look at your grid (e.g. the 9 images that show at any given time) they need to almost blend into one complete picture. The way that you achieve this look is by developing a clear style to your images. You should only be posting images that are in your brand colors and you want to use the same filter or editing steps across all.
- Inconsistent content. You need to give your customers a reason to follow you. They need to have a general idea of what kinds of content that you are going to post. You shouldn’t be sharing an inspirational quote one day, a photo of your dog the next, and a picture of an event flyer the day after. It makes your feed look inconsistent and messy. Instead, you want to choose 3 – 5 key themes to post around that are relevant to your brand and to your customers.
- Generic captions. While it’s your images that will pull people in, it’s your captions that will get them talking. This space should be used to give context to the image, to show off your brand personality, and to create a conversation with your customers. You have to think beyond “Happy Friday!” “On sale now!” and “#summer #yay”. Put thought and purpose into what you write.
- Promotion overload. Your feed is not your storefront. I repeat, your feed is not your storefront. People don’t want to be hit over the head with sales. That is not a reason for them to follow you. Follow the 80/20 rule. Share posts that are entertaining, educational, or inspirational 80% of the time and reserve your product, promotion, and announcement posts for the remaining 20 %.
4. You aren’t focusing on your customer

Have you heard that the best way to get people talking is to let them talk about themselves? It’s an important notion to not only bear in mind when walking into a party but also when building your brand. You want your focus to be on your customers, not yourself. They will tell you so much if you only take the time to listen to what they have to say.

It’s my bet that this isn’t the first time you’ve been told that it’s important to know who your customers are. You also probably already know that it’s important to take the time to get to know them. Given that, why might you feel like you are still struggling to really connect with them? Here are a few reasons that might be the culprit behind the chasm:
- Your website copy talks about features vs. benefits. Features focus on what your brand has to offer. Authentic textures, original designs, great taste, *special ingredient* — these are examples of features. Benefits on the other hand focus on what your customer has to gain. Increased energy, reduced anxiety, better health, a clear conscious — these are examples of benefits. While you may care about the former, your customers care about the latter.
- You use lingo and language they don’t understand. Drop the jargon. Your customers don’t get it nor do they care. You are deeply rooted in your industry and have learned every nuance. Your customer has not. Talk to them in a way they’ll understand.
- You don’t understand their real pain point/desires. The products and services you offer have to offer a solution to a real problem or pain point your customer has. To take that even further, you need to talk to them about why and how it addresses that pain point and offers them their desired solution. Your copy can’t just tout great benefits. Those benefits have to be the ones your customers actually care about.
- Your images don’t feature your customers. It’s much easier to become what we can see. You want to depict your perfect customer in the images you use on your website, social media feeds, and collateral. It’s going to help them understand that your brand is for someone like them.
On to you…

Do any of these reasons hit the mark for you? Which ones do you think are the reason your brand isn’t taking off like you’d like? Any other theories you’d add? Let me know in the comments below!
June 18, 2018
How to Improve Your Brand in 10 Minutes

5 steps you can take in 10 minutes or less that will have a huge impact on your brand

Many of you share my desire to want to own something of your own creation – to have a business built around something you absolutely love to do. Either you are on that journey now or you are preparing to start on it.

The excitement of bringing our ideas to life can be enough to fuel us forward. Yet, once we get going it’s not long before obstacles cross our path and threaten to hold us back. For instance, how many have you have had the thought, “how the heck am I going to stand out and start attracting customers??”.

The answer is your brand

Here’s what I want you to take away from this post – The difference between getting lost in the shuffle and standing out in the crowd is your BRAND. Your brand is what makes you uniquely irresistible to the people who you’re the best set to serve.

When we talk about your brand, we’re talking about more than just a cute logo or pretty pictures. The simplest way to think about it is that a brand is the combination of all of the tangible and intangible assets of your business. It’s the products or services you sell, your visual identity, the content you produce, and the stories you tell. Even the people you work with are a part of your brand.

The culmination of all of these things establishes what your business stands for in your soon-to-be-customers’ hearts (how they feel) and minds (how they think). It’s this mindset that will cause them to choose you over someone else.

So the question now is, how do we go about building a brand that gives our customers all of those good feels?

Here’s our plan…

Building your brand is not something that happens overnight. However, there are steps you can start to take today that will have a big impact on how well your business is received. Even better? They don’t take a ton of time to do. Music to your ears, am I right?

So, are you ready for ‘em? Let’s go!

1: Really get to know your customers

Building a brand is about creating a community with the people we serve. That means getting to know them as friends, not just as a set of stats about their age, gender, and income. What are their deepest desires? What keeps them up at night?

It might seem obvious, but people want to buy from brands they know, like, and trust. Just like in real life, when we don’t take the time to get to know someone it’s hard to invest our confidence in them.

We’ve all been on the receiving end of bad marketing at some point. When we really know our customers our communication with them will feel genuine. Rather than pushing people away by trying to sell them, your customers will come to you because they’ll know you’re there to serve them. яндекс

10-minute action item:

Look up and join 5 Facebook groups that you believe your target customers would belong to. Once there, spend time reading through the discussions. Make note of what questions and concerns are being raised. This will help you learn how you can be of service in the best way possible.

2: Talk about how you help people not what you sell

There’s a common pattern you’ll find in great marketing. They talk to you about the benefits you get from using a product and not about the product itself. “Fall asleep faster, dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less, hair with twice the shine”.

People buy end results, not the things that get them there. What do your customers really need from you? More fun, less guilt, more energy, fewer concerns? When you talk to them about how you are going to help them achieve those things they will feel like you are on the same team.

Remember it’s not about you, it’s about your customers. Instead of telling people how great, faster, smarter your product is, tell them why or how those things are going to be good for them.

10-minute action item:

Go to your website’s homepage and read the copy. Are you telling your customers about what your brand does or how it can help them? If the former, rewrite the copy to talk about the bigger benefits and see how that helps turn website browsers into buyers.

3: Let your personality shine through

Brand building is a two-way street. We need to get to know our customers but we also need to let them get to know us. Your brand like any person should have a personality. You should be able to describe to someone what they like, how they talk, and the quirky things they do.

What are the words people would use to describe your brand? Is that person someone your customers would want to know in real life? Until they can get to know you they’ll have a hard time wanting to work with you.

10-minute action item:

Imagine your brand has been invited to be the keynote speaker at a big event. What would her bio in the event brochure read? Take time to write that down. Consider how she would be introduced, what her outstanding qualities are, and what things people have come to know and love about her. Use this bio when writing copy and creating images for your brand. Ask yourself, is this something she would say or post?

4: Spend the extra time and money on your branding

As human beings, we’re prone to make decisions on subliminal cues or “unconscious bias” as the author Malcolm Gladwell puts it. In fact, research has shown that we make an initial judgment in as fast as 8 seconds. This means we need to make an awesome first impression any time someone encounters our brand.

Creating that awesome first impression begins with your brand design. Great branding can help create an immediate sense of trust and authority while poor branding can detract from even the best products.

What does your brand design say about you? Are you creating an amazing first impression or do you have some work to do? It’s worth investing in getting help to make sure you knock this out of the park.

10-minute action item:

Look at your brand and ask yourself, “Am I proud of the way I am showing up?”. If the answer is no, ask yourself, “What 3 things could I improve to create a stronger first impression?”. If you aren’t comfortable fixing things yourself, head to Fiverr and find a freelancer who can help you make some quick improvements.

5: Show up consistently online

Think about well-known brands like Starbucks, Apple, and Target. Their branding is the same in their stores as it is on their website and every other place you’ll find them. The consistency creates credibility and also helps you remember them. The same is true for your brand.

In fact, brands that show up consistently are 3 to 4 times are more likely to experience brand visibility. (Lucidpress)

It can get tempting to mix things up especially when it comes to colors and visuals but save that creativity for another place. When you aren’t consistent you risk confusing your customers and losing their trust.

10-minute action item:

Conduct a quick audit of your brand website and social media feeds. Do you use the same brand name in your URL and handles? Do you use the same logo in each place? Are your colors and font consistent? A very big part of having beautiful branding simply comes down to be consistent.

On to you…

Which of these steps are you going to take in your brand? What follow up questions can I help answer? Let me know in the comments below! And, if you want even more tips, get a hold of my brand building cheatsheet. It outlines the steps that will help you bring your brand to life in the best way possible.

June 11, 2018
How to Craft a Compelling Brand Message [FREE Training!]
Learn how to clarify your brand positioning & craft a powerful brand pitch

This FREE 3 part training series will teach you how to figure out exactly what kind of brand you want to build and communicate your brand message with confidence.

Have you been struggling with how to answer the “what do you do” question in a way that’s more compelling than the generic response? It can be totally uncomfortable right?

Knowing how to communicate what your brand does can be challenging, especially when you’re not quite sure yourself.

In this free training you will receive three videos which will teach you:
- How to get super clear about exactly what kind of brand you want to build
- A 4-step process for honing in on your brand’s unique positioning
- My foolproof formula for communicating what your brand does, who it is for, and what makes it extra special
- The #1 secret to building a brand that is distinct & memorable
- 2 places you absolutely must use your elevator pitch in order to attract your ideal audience
Let’s get personal for a sec..

When I finally decided to jump off the corporate train to launch my own brand I knew a few things had to be absolutely true. First, I needed to be able to simply and clearly explain what my brand was all about in a way that people would immediately understand, remember, and tell their friends about. Second, I needed to be really intentional about who my people were, the audience I wanted to serve. Third, I need a compelling story that people could connect with and get behind. And fourth, my brand needed to look damn good while I was doing it.

Here’s the other thing. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do all of those things at once. Nope. I was going to have to take it one step at a time. And, that very first step was going to be figuring out exactly what kind of brand I wanted to build.

So, I invested time in doing just that. I spent time reflecting on what signature products & services I wanted to sell. Took time to get to know the audience I wanted to serve. And, worked with a business coach to help me see what my special gifts were and how I could use those to my advantage.

Easy? Nah. Worth it? Heck Yes!

I wish I could say the process was quick and easy but I couldn’t lie to you like that. It was a process of trial & error, testing & refining. What I can say is that the work was 100% worth it. Once things finally clicked for me and I was able to clearly tell others about my brand everything else started to almost magically fall into place.

Clients lined up, guest speaking opportunities rolled in, sponsored travel became a real thing, and I was actually getting paid to create content that helped the women entrepreneurs I wanted to serve. Woohoo!

Your shortcut to a clear brand message>>

Now here’s the thing. I want you to experience this same magic. I want you feeling totally amazing about your brand and proud to tell others all about it. And, since I’ve found my way there, I want to offer you a shortcut.

I created this free training series to give you a blueprint for figuring out your unique positioning and nailing your brand message. It’s meant to take away the feeling of overwhelm and get you to feeling awesome about your brand.

The videos are quick and actionable. One will be delivered into your inbox each day for three days to help you take it step by step. Plus, you‘ll get bonus worksheets along the way so you can start putting the lessons into practice asap.

I want you to remember that when it comes to building your brand, you do not have to do it all alone. That’s why I’m here.

So, what do you say? Take my hand and let’s land your brand.

Click below to jump in!
May 28, 2018
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