Category: Brand

Entrepreneur’s guide to marketing: A 60-minute strategy

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

So, you’ve got a cool idea for a business or product? Great! You’ve been out there talking to people and getting your hustle on? Amazing! Validated your product-market fit? Incredible!

But… Don’t have a website with clear messaging? Not sure how to jumpstart your growth journey? You can’t possibly talk one-on-one to all of your customers. Need to up your online presence? That’s where your marketing strategy comes in, and it doesn’t need to take you months to write. Start with the basics, build and optimise.

This article will take you through a simplified entrepreneur’s marketing strategy for any new business looking to gain more awareness and drive conversions for your new great idea!

Let’s dive in.

The 60-minute entrepreneur’s marketing strategy

Download the lean marketing strategy template.

1. Define your brand vision, mission and values.

Every successful business starts with a clear understanding of its core brand values, mission, and vision. This foundation sets the tone for your brand and helps you align your marketing efforts with your business’s purpose. Take a few minutes to reflect on what your brand stands for, what it aims to achieve, and the values that guide it. 

Complete these sentences: 

Vision statement 

I see a future where [your target audience] no longer experiences [pain point] and they are free to [make the change you help them with].

Mission statement

I want to help [target audience] to [make a change] by offering them [your product or service]. 

Values

List things that your brand is and is not under the headings:

We are / We are not

Use verbs (action words) to describe how you want to behave and achieve your vision and mission. 

Extra for experts – try these templates to dig deeper

Brand vision worksheet | For teams

Bring clarity to your brand vision by taking your team through this simple exercise. Download the brand vision worksheet.

Brand purpose worksheet

Brand purpose worksheet | For entrepreneurs

Build confidence as a small business owner by discovering your brand purpose. Download the brand purpose worksheet.

2. Define your ideal customers

Understanding your target audience is crucial for effective marketing. Create detailed customer personas that encompass their demographics, behaviours, pain points, and aspirations. This will help you tailor your marketing efforts to resonate with the people most likely to benefit from your product or service.

Demographics of your target audience:

Their biggest pain points / challenges:

Their goals and aspirations:

Dig deeper with this persona template:

A simple marketing persona template to help you define your target audience and improve your brand positioning and messaging.

3. Define your positioning statement – how you are going to stand out from the competition

Your positioning statement is your unique value proposition. It should articulate how you plan to stand out from the competition and why customers should choose your brand. Keep it concise and impactful so that it instantly communicates what makes your business special.

List your top 3 competitors:

What are their strengths and weaknesses:

How are you different and better than your competitors:

Dig deeper with this competitor analysis template

A simple 6-step guide, this competitor analysis template will help you work through the overwhelming task of competitor research and help you position your brand for more growth.

4. Decide on your growth channels

Identify the platforms and channels where your target audience spends their time. It could be social media, search engines, email marketing, or even niche forums. Choose the channels that are most likely to yield the best results for your specific business.

List the top 4 places your audience will be:

5. Build your funnels / growth loops

Funnels and growth loops are essential for converting potential customers into actual customers. Design a clear path that takes your audience from awareness to interest, and ultimately to action (e.g., making a purchase). Implement strategies to retain and upsell existing customers to achieve sustainable growth.

Create a plan for how your audience will find out about you. How you will convince them of your value. And how you will call them to action to make a purchase.

6. Promote your business with relevant and valuable content

Create content that speaks directly to your target audience. Your content should provide value, address their pain points, and highlight how your product or service can help. Distribute this content through the channels you’ve chosen in step 4. Consistency and quality are key.

Create 4 key messages in each of the following stages of your funnel and run test campaigns to see which has the most impact. 

Awareness – Highlight pain point and educate your audience on your solution.

Consideration – offer proof that your solution works to solve pain point. (eg. testimonials). Why should they trust you?

Conversion – call then to action and make it easy for customers to purchase. 

After the test, take the unsuccessful ones out and test again with new messaging. Rinse and repeat until you find what works.

Entrepreneur’s marketing strategy – on a page

Creating a one-pager that encapsulates your marketing strategy, highlighting key points, goals, and action items will serve as a quick reference and a way to keep you focused and your team aligned with your vision.

In just 60 minutes, you’ve defined your brand, identified your ideal customers, crafted a unique positioning statement, chosen your growth channels, built your funnels, created compelling content, and documented this on a one-pager for easy reference. 

With this strategy in place, you’re well on your way to boosting your brand awareness and driving conversions for your fantastic idea. Get ready to watch your business grow!

Need help working through these steps?

Book a free brand consultation to get extra help.

Book now for free
Jillian Whitmore

Brand authenticity and why is matters

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

In a world of make-believe and AI-generated content, it’s harder than ever to truly tap into the authenticity of your brand, let alone yourself. Yes, our mums told us we were special, but if we’re all special how do we stand out from the crowd? How do we build new connections with people when we want to earn their trust, gain their preference and keep them coming back? There’s only one way you should be doing this – and that’s with authenticity. 

Brand authenticity has become more than just a buzzword, it’s a defining factor for success. Whether you’re a small business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or a recent marketing graduate, understanding the importance of authenticity in your brand is crucial. 

In this article, we’ll explore what authenticity truly means, why it’s vital for your business, and how to build an authentic brand that resonates with your audience.

What is authenticity?

Authenticity, in the context of your brand, means staying true to your core values, beliefs, and promises. It’s about being genuine, transparent, and consistent in your business practices. When your brand is authentic, it reflects the essence of who you are and what you stand for. 

It’s the difference between doing something for the sake of earning money versus doing something that truly aligns with your brand vision. Which is easier said than done.

Why is brand authenticity important?

1. People should know who they are doing business with:

Customers want to connect with the face behind the brand. When your business exudes authenticity, it’s easier for people to understand and relate to your mission and vision. This humanizes your brand and fosters trust. 

2. Build trust with people: 

Trust is the foundation of long-lasting customer relationships. Authenticity is the key to building and maintaining trust. People are more likely to engage with and remain loyal to a brand they trust.

3. People will tell others about you:

Satisfied customers become brand advocates. When they experience an authentic connection with your business, they’re more likely to share their positive experiences with friends, family, and online communities. Word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable.

4. It helps you grow organically for a long time: 

In an era of ever-changing trends, chasing quick profits can lead to short-lived success. On the other hand, authentic businesses focus on their unique purpose, addressing real problems and providing value. This long-term perspective allows you to grow steadily, rather than seeking fleeting gains.

How to build an authentic brand?

1. Define who your brand is and what it stands for:

Start by identifying your brand’s core values and mission. What do you want to achieve, and what principles guide your decisions? This foundational Brand Marketing Strategy will be your North Star.

2. Align your business activity with this purpose: 

Every business decision should be measured against your brand’s purpose (vision). Create a culture within your organisation that encourages questioning if a decision aligns with your values and mission.

3. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes:

Empathy is a powerful tool. Continuously consider how your customers perceive your brand. Be honest, and transparent, and ensure your actions match your words. Remember, customers are excellent lie detectors, if they sense you are not telling the truth they are more likely to tell people about it. 

People are more likely to tell their friends about a bad experience than about a good one.

For every bad review or customer you lose, make sure you understand their experience and put in place better systems or processes to make sure it doesn’t happen again. 

4. Learn from your mistakes: 

It’s impossible to please everyone all the time. When you encounter negative feedback or lose a customer, take it as an opportunity to improve. Listen, learn, and adapt. By doing so, you demonstrate your commitment to growth and authenticity.

5. Don’t be afraid to be yourself:

Authenticity should start with you. Share your story, your passions, your vulnerabilities, and your strengths. When people can connect with the human side of your brand, trust is nurtured. Be approachable and relatable.

How to find your brand authenticity

1. Soul-searching:

Begin by asking yourself what inspired you to start your business. What values and principles guide your decisions? Your brand’s authenticity often mirrors your personal values. For example, brands like Ecostore are driven by values of sustainability and eco-friendliness. By emphasising natural ingredients, responsible packaging, and a commitment to reducing their environmental footprint, these brands appeal to consumers who also value sustainability and ethical practices.

2. Customer feedback: 

Pay close attention to what your customers are saying. Their comments and suggestions can help you refine your brand’s identity and offerings to align with their needs better. Build a system for capturing customer feedback, you can do this through surveys, interviews or automated NPS software. Put time aside each month to review the feedback and implement improvements to your offering. Don’t forget to thank your customers for their feedback, they are doing you a favour by sharing their opinion. 

3. Competitor analysis:

Study your competitors to identify gaps in the market and areas where you can stand out authentically. This market research will help you position your brand uniquely. If 12 brands are offering the same product or service, what makes yours special and unique? Yes, all software has the benefit of ‘saving you time’ but what is it about you that makes your software unique? Lean on your authenticity and brand purpose, and give your customers a reason to choose you over the competition. 

Brand authenticity isn’t just a trendy concept – it’s a business imperative. By staying true to your values, consistently delivering on your promises, and engaging with your audience authentically, you can build a brand that people not only trust but also passionately advocate for. In the long run, authenticity will be your greatest asset on your journey to business success.

Need help to define your brand vision?

Book a free brand consultation to clarify your brand and start building it confidently with authenticity.

Book now for free
Jillian Whitmore

How to create marketing personas that actually work

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

Personas are one of the most important tools in your business’s tool kit. They outline who your customers are, their challenges, desires and goals, this is incredibly important because after all, without your customers, you wouldn’t have a business. Yet even as a crucial business instrument, it’s common for small businesses to have only created them during their draft business planning stage but haven’t looked at them since.

A survey conducted by Keap found that only 29% of small businesses use buyer personas to guide their marketing efforts. The survey also found that the majority of small business owners struggle to identify their target audience and understand their needs and preferences.

My marketing ears bleed when I hear this! Let’s work through this together.

What is a marketing persona? 

Marketing personas, also known as buyer personas or customer avatars, are fictional representations of your ideal customers. They help give you a deeper understanding of your target audience by identifying their needs, interests, preferences, and behaviours. 

There are many different formulas to create personas, however they all follow a fairly similar structure. Creating a persona and locking it in a drawer will not help your business, you’ll need to actually use the information within it to help guide your business. 

A good persona can outline a positioning strategy for how your business can solve more of your target market’s problems. You can do this through testing and improving your marketing messaging, by developing better solutions or by building different product offerings that can better serve your customers and offer new revenue streams for your business.

Here’s a guide for creating effective marketing personas

Define your target audience: 

Start by defining the demographics of your target audience, such as age, gender, location, education level, income, etc. You can use customer data, market research, or social media analytics to gather this information.

Conduct research:

Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to gather more information about your target audience. This can include surveys, focus groups, interviews, social media listening, and website analytics. Use this data to identify patterns and trends that can help you create more accurate personas.

Identify pain points and goals: 

Identify the pain points, challenges, and goals of your target audience. This will help you understand their motivations and what drives them to make a purchase. You can gather this information through surveys or interviews.

Create personas: 

Based on the data you’ve collected, create a list of fictional personas that represent your target audience. Each persona should have a name, age, job title, and a brief summary of their background, goals, challenges, and interests. Use visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, to bring your personas to life. 

Create at least three personas who are most important to your business, these can be the purchase decision makers or the influencers of those decisions. Pick your top three and explore their challenges, desires and goals.

Note in each one what they are influenced by, are they likely to be convinced by their friends or children to make a purchase, or are they making the purchase on behalf of their business?

Download this free marketing persona template.

Marketing persona template

Download this free template and start defining your target audience today. Includes instructions and an example persona.

Download marketing persona template

Use personas for marketing: 

Once you have created your personas, use them to inform your marketing strategy. Create content, ads, and messaging that speak directly to the needs and interests of each persona. Use their pain points and goals to create targeted campaigns that resonate with them. 

Draw on the language and words they use to describe their challenges, speaking in a language they understand. They will recognise that you understand their challenges and therefore likely have a good solution for them. 

Note where they ‘hang out’ and where they learn new information. Are there certain websites or social media platforms where they spend a large portion of their time? This could be news sites, Tiktok, Medium or LinkedIn. They could also be part of Facebook groups or community groups where you can target your advertising strategy to these audiences. 

Update personas regularly: 

Your target audience will likely change over time, so it’s important to update your personas regularly. Keep an eye on market trends and customer feedback to ensure your personas remain accurate and relevant. It is recommended you update your personas at least once a year, or more often if there are significant shifts in your industry. Keeping your personas up to date will help you keep a competitive advantage in your market.

In conclusion, marketing personas can help you create more effective marketing campaigns by identifying the needs and interests of your target audience. By following these steps, you can create personas that accurately represent your target audience and help you achieve your business growth goals.

More marketing tools to grow your business

What is brand positioning

Brand positioning is the strategic steps you take to create a positive perception of your business in the minds of your customers. 

How to conduct a competitor analysis

A simple 6-step guide for small business owners to conduct a competitor analysis to inform a positioning strategy.

The ultimate guide to building trust with customers through consistent branding

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

Building trust with customers is essential to the success of any business, and consistent branding is one of the most effective ways to establish that trust. When customers see a consistent and cohesive brand identity across all touchpoints, they feel confident in their decision to do business with that company. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the various ways you can use consistent branding to build trust with your customers.

Develop a clear brand voice and message

The first step to building trust with customers through branding is to develop a clear and consistent brand voice and message. Your brand voice is the tone and personality you use when communicating with your audience, and your brand message is the core idea or value that your brand represents.

When you have a clear brand voice and message, it helps customers understand what your brand stands for and what they can expect when doing business with you. This consistency helps build trust over time and establishes a strong foundation for your brand.

Use consistent visual elements

Visual consistency is another crucial aspect of building trust with customers. Your brand’s visual elements, such as your logo, colour scheme, typography, and imagery, should be consistent across all touchpoints, from your website to your social media channels to your packaging.

When customers see the same visual elements repeatedly, it reinforces your brand identity and makes your business more memorable. It also conveys a sense of professionalism and attention to detail, which can further establish trust with your audience.

Provide a consistent customer experience

Consistent branding doesn’t just apply to your visual identity; it also applies to the overall customer experience you provide. Your customers should have a consistent experience when interacting with your business, whether they’re visiting your physical store or browsing your website.

This means ensuring that your customer service is consistently excellent, your products or services are consistently high quality, and your brand values are consistently reflected in all aspects of the customer experience.

Be authentic and transparent

Authenticity and transparency are critical to building trust with customers. Your brand should be authentic in its messaging, values, and voice, and you should be transparent about your business practices and processes.

When customers feel that your brand is authentic and transparent, it creates a sense of honesty and openness that can help build trust and loyalty over time.

Maintain consistency over time

Finally, it’s essential to maintain consistency over time. Consistent branding is not a one-time effort but a long-term commitment to building a strong and recognizable brand identity.

This means regularly assessing your branding efforts and making adjustments as necessary to ensure consistency across all touchpoints. It also means investing in ongoing efforts to reinforce your brand identity, such as creating consistent content, updating your visual identity as needed, and staying up-to-date with industry trends and best practices.

In conclusion, consistent branding is a powerful tool for building trust with customers. By developing a clear brand voice and message, using consistent visual elements, providing a consistent customer experience, being authentic and transparent, and maintaining consistency over time, you can establish a strong and recognizable brand identity that inspires trust and loyalty among your audience. 

Don’t just take my word for it though, look at your favourite trusted brands and see if they tick all of these boxes. 

More resources to help you build trust in your brand

Brand consistency and why it matters

Consistency is key when it comes to building a brand that lasts. Learn more about brand consistency and why it matters.

Brand marketing strategy

Build business growth by developing a brand marketing strategy. Gain consistency, clarity and collaboration across your business.

Brand consistency and why it matters

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

Consistency is key when it comes to building a brand that lasts. And I’m not just talking about posting the occasional cute Instagram pic or updating your website once in a blue moon. No, no, no. I mean staying true to your brand values, messaging, and visual identity across all your touchpoints – from your business cards to your social media channels to your email signatures.

Now, I get it. You’re a small business owner. You have a million things to juggle, and branding might not be at the top of your to-do list. But here’s the tea: a strong and consistent brand can be a game-changer for your business. Don’t believe me? Let me give you some examples.

Consistency breeds familiarity

You want your customers to recognize your brand no matter where they see it. Think about some of the most successful brands out there – Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike. Their logos and slogans are so iconic and recognizable that you can spot them from a mile away. And that’s not by accident. It’s because they’ve consistently used the same branding elements across all their channels for decades.

But what about small businesses? Let’s say you’re a local bakery. You want your regulars to be able to spot your storefront from down the block. You want them to recognize your branding on your packaging, your website, and your social media. Consistency across all those touchpoints builds trust with your customers and keeps your brand top of mind.

Consistency makes your brand look more professional

If your branding is all over the place, with different fonts, colors, and messaging on every platform, it’s going to look amateurish. And let’s be real – customers aren’t going to take you seriously if your brand looks like it was thrown together in five minutes. 

On the other hand, if you have a consistent brand identity that looks polished and professional, customers will perceive your business as more trustworthy and reliable. Plus, it shows that you’re putting in the effort to make your business look its best.

Another consideration is keeping your brand up to date and relevant with your target audience, customers might not be so responsive to a brand that is so old that it’s now come back into fashion as ‘retro’. However, it is important to remain consistent with your roots and the soul of your brand. Rebranding can breathe new life into your image while holding true to your origins and brand equity you may have gained.

Consistency helps you stand out in a crowded market

Let’s say you’re a small online boutique selling handmade jewelry. There are hundreds – if not thousands – of other businesses doing the exact same thing. So how do you differentiate yourself? By having a unique and consistent brand identity that sets you apart from the competition.

Maybe you have a signature colour scheme that you use across all your branding. Maybe you have a quirky tagline that shows off your brand’s personality. Whatever it is, having a consistent and memorable brand identity helps you stand out in a sea of similar businesses.

So, what’s the bottom line here? Consistency matters

It’s not enough to have a cool logo or a catchy slogan. Your brand needs to be consistent across all your channels if you want to build trust with your customers, look professional, and stand out in a crowded market.

And here’s the thing – it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start by defining your brand values and messaging. Then, choose a visual identity that reflects those values and stick with it across all your touchpoints. Use the same fonts, colours, and imagery on your website, social media, packaging, and any other branding materials you use.

It might take some effort and planning upfront, but trust me – it’ll be worth it in the long run. Your brand will be stronger, more memorable, and more recognisable. And that, my friend, is a recipe for success.

More resources to help you build and grow a consistent brand

How to conduct a competitor analysis

A simple 6-step guide for small business owners to conduct a competitor analysis to inform a positioning strategy.

Brand marketing strategy

Build business growth by developing a brand marketing strategy. Gain consistency, clarity and collaboration across your business.

How to build confidence as a small business owner

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

What is confidence? 

Confidence is a state of mind. It’s the feeling of power and being in control of a situation. That’s why if you’re doing something new for the first time, like starting your own business, you may feel less confident and less in control. 

We’ve all met those people who seem to effortlessly ooze confidence, but when you ask them what makes them so confident all the time, their answer is often a surprise – “It’s a switch, I’m not always like this.” 

So, how do you find the ‘confidence switch’ when it comes to managing your new business and making decisions? Doing power poses and optimistic thinking will only get you so far, this article shares some practical exercises you can do to build confidence as a small business owner.

The best way to build confidence as a small business owner is to find your purpose.

Download the brand purpose worksheet.

New business owner challenges

It takes a certain amount of gumption to start your own business, it can be incredibly nerve racking and overwhelming. Especially if you have thrown in the towel on your day job and your new business is the basket holding all of your eggs.

From managing finances, staff, brand and growth marketing, product development to customer satisfaction and retention. There’s a lot to think about and a lot of decisions to make, and if you’ve never owned a business before then all these decisions will be new.

Tips for helping you build confidence

There are some common tips to building confidence as a business owner such as:

  • Get a mentor to give you some trusted advice.
  • Meet with experts to ensure you are doing the right thing (legally and ethically)
  • Fail fast and learn from your mistakes.
  • Hire people to fill the gaps in your knowledge.
  • Get a positive support system in place.
  • Recognise your stress levels and build resilience. 

However, the best tool in your owner’s tool box should be your purpose.

Define the purpose of your business to build confidence

Define the purpose or the reason you created your business. This often stems from a place of passion and drive. Maybe you’ve discovered a niche in the market from your own experience or maybe you just love what you do and want to share it with other people.

Finding your brand Ikigai is a great first step to giving your business a defined purpose, it will encourage you, motivate you, and remind you of the big picture.

What is brand ikigai? 

Ikigai is a Japanese framework for finding your purpose and meaning for life. It’s a tool you can use to find that special something that will sustain your motivation. Not only can it be applied to yourself as an individual, think about your businesses Ikigai, your brand purpose. Why does your business exist? What purpose does it serve that can be a sustainable driver?

Brand ikigai

Finding your brand purpose

Defining your purpose will keep you focused on building a truly authentic brand. Consider each of these questions deeply and reflect on your reasons for starting your business. 

  • What do you love doing?
  • What are you good at?
  • What does the world need?
  • What can you be paid for?

You should start to see a central purpose arising, define it clearly as something you will remember. Carry the thought of it with you as you face the many challenges of owning a small business.

Purpose driven confidence

When you are knee-deep in difficult decisions, look at your brand purpose and remember why all the hard work is worth it. Ask yourself how each decision can be in service to your purpose and meaning in life.

Act with confidence in knowing that the decisions you make today are for the greater purpose of your brand.

Brand purpose worksheet
Download the brand purpose worksheet

Brand marketing strategy

Posted on by Jillian Whitmore

What is brand marketing?

Brand marketing is a long-term plan for a business to position itself in the market as the preferred option among buyers. A brand marketing strategy is about how your business connects with your audience emotionally and humanly.

Marketing is, after all – human – it’s about connecting a product or service with those who are in need of or want it. It’s about telling the story of how your solution can provide the change your customer desires. Why people should buy your product and the reason to fall in love with your brand and feel aligned with your purpose. 

Your brand is more than just your logo and your advertising, it’s the soul of your company and the north star to every decision you make. For small business owners looking to create love for their brand, this simple framework will help you to develop a brand marketing strategy. We call it a Brand Playbook.

What is a Brand Playbook?

A Brand Playbook is a guiding document that aids consistency, collaboration and clarity across your business. It is a living, breathing document that helps you make strategic decisions about your business, your marketing and your overall vision for the future. It’s a bit like your business bible, you and the people who work for you have to believe in it.

When considering how to build an authentic brand, everyone on your team should be singing from the same song book. Because when you don’t, your customers get confused about who they are doing business with and they second guess their decision to part with their money. Consistent brand building creates trust from your customers which leads to your greater share of the market. Keep reading to learn more about how to build your brand marketing strategy consistently and authentically.

Components of a Brand Playbook

There are four main components of a Brand Playbook that you should consider carefully and define clearly before diving into any marketing or business decision, these are your vision, mission, position and behaviour. Without a Brand Playbook as your north star, how do you make strategic business decisions with confidence? Gut feelings can only get you so far, and not everyone in the business will have access to your gut! 

Every small business owner or entrepreneur will tell you – to scale your business, you cannot do it alone. With this brand marketing strategy your team will be empowered to make decisions with confidence.

Vision
Mission
Position
Behaviour

Let’s break each of these down in detail:

Vision

A brand vision is a statement that describes why your company exists.

Guiding

Your vision will act as your company’s north star. When reviewing the past quarter of activity of your business, you should hold up your vision statement and ask – ‘What progress have we made in achieving our brand vision?’ It should hold your business accountable for what it sets out to do and be a tool at decision-making time. When considering who to hire, who to partner with and what services or product to develop, they should all strongly align with your brand vision.

Inspirational

Your vision should inspire customers to want to do business with you and your staff to want to work for you. It should be something that people can align with and feel something towards. Your brand vision should give your staff a purpose and a reason to jump out of bed in the morning – they should be able to believe in what they are doing and feel like they are making the difference you set out to make.

Lofty

Your vision should be aspirational, almost to the point where you wonder if you’re dreaming. You should aim high and make it something that will change the world in a significant way. It should be something that will sustain your company vision for a long time. Don’t make it something that can be achieved within the next 3 years. Think of a purpose that will be big enough to allow your company to grow long into the future. Once you have created a powerful vision statement you can then shorten it down into a memorable slogan.

Examples of vision statements: 

Create your own brand vision

How to create a vision statement

Start by gathering your team, get in a room and invite the founders of the company, learn their story and document the businesses origins. Don’t be a hero and write it yourself, get as many opinions and eyes on it. Simon Sinek’s Start with why is a great read to get you in the right frame of mind.

  • Why does your company exist?
  • Why are you driven by your goal?
  • Why do you seek to change the world?
  • What is your goal for a future state? 
  • What vision of the future do you have? 
  • What change do you want to see in the world? 
  • What difference do you want to make?
Download brand vision worksheet

Run a brand vision workshop with your team.

Book brand consultant

Mission

A brand mission defines who you serve (your market) and what you do (your products and services).

Defining these two things as your mission statement will give your team direction and focus. As part of this focus you should have a solid understanding of the problems your customers face and the value your products and services bring to them. It’ll help make your product and services better and your messaging clearer.

Personas

Define who you serve. Create target personas and think about their demographics, psychographics, and influences. Understand their pain points, desires and challenges. There are often different motivators for a B2C customer than a B2B customer. Consider the buyer journey and the decision making process. At the end of the day you are marketing to humans, you must understand them to be able to serve them.

Market research

Now you have identified who you are targeting, it’s a good idea to validate your efforts by ensuring your target market is large enough. Make sure you gather research from valid sources and go and speak to as many real humans as you possibly can. You may find that this exercise informs and enhances your personas and can help you develop better products and services and target the right people for marketing campaigns.

Define what you do

This may change as you refine your products and services to better serve your market. It’s a crucial step to not only give your team a clear direction on what they work on every day, but to inform your customers on what exactly you can do for them. What are you selling? Sometimes marketing messaging can be so focused about the benefit that they forget to mention what they are actually selling.

Position

To strongly position your brand you need to be aware of market competitors. You should have an understanding of the competitor landscape to not only measure your market share but to understand how your customer might compare your solution to a competitor’s. Learn what other businesses do by conducting competitor research. Use this knowledge to market your offering more effectively than the competition. 

Competitor analysis

Most small businesses have never researched their competitors which is an alarming discovery for most. Oftentimes they are too scared to look outside the walls of their company and would rather not know who they are competing with.

“Many businesses find themselves wrong-footed, not because they did something wrong, but because they failed to anticipate changes in the market.” Source: Qualtrics

Simple competitor research can be done by searching online for similar solutions in your market. Be brave, do your research, understand what’s out there and then build a strategy to offer something better to the market.

Perceptual maps

Once you have identified who your biggest competitors are it’s a useful exercise to develop perceptual maps. A perceptual map is a visual representation of where your brand sits in the minds of your customers in comparison to other solutions in the market. The key here is not to use your biassed opinion, but to gather real feedback from customers in the market. Understand what’s most important to them when they are considering your solution. This will help you differentiate your unique selling proposition (USP).

Branding

The biggest confusion out there is making an assumption that ‘brand’ is just the logo and the font of your business. Brand is about the soul and meaning of your business. Your branding on the other hand, is about the visual elements that become the visual identifier for people to associate a certain feeling for your brand when they see your branding. There are a few things to consider when creating your branding and positioning its visual elements in the market.

  • Make sure your branding is unique to your competitors. Stand out from the crowd.
  • Think about colour psychology in relation to how you want your customers to feel.
  • Choose colours and visual elements that are harmonious and not jarring.
  • Get input from your customers, what aesthetics do they like?
  • Hire a graphic designer to help develop your branding guidelines.

Stick to your brand guidelines

Brand Managers will tell you that sticking to your guidelines is one of the most important rules for building a brand. Sticking to brand guidelines is not just about using consistent language and messaging, it’s also about creating recognition of your solution through the branding applied. The more people who associate your logo or your brand colours with your solution the more recognition, brand awareness and brand love you can gain.

Behaviour

Brand behaviour or brand values are a set of guiding principles for how you behave with people in the market. It’s how you make them feel, how you talk to them, and how you build relationships with them. This is where your brand can come to life.

Brand values

Brand values are often the boring, corporate list of words that don’t mean anything to anyone. You know the ones, integrity, excellence, innovation, blah, blah, blah. Your values should be meaningful, they should be actionable (verbs), and they should be developed with your team’s input not from the business owner alone. 

Authenticity is a key part of building a brand and growing your audience. However, when you have defined a specific set of values to work towards, it can be difficult to come across as authentic, especially if you have had to ‘tell’ your staff how to act. 

Actions

There are tactics to make this easier and it starts with clarity, and ensuring you are hiring the right kind of people who align with the values you have defined. You cannot simply tell your staff to be ‘innovative’ and expect them to understand what you mean. Make sure your values are ingrained in the way you do business. For example, if you want to create a culture of innovation, give your staff the creative space and permission to think wildly about a problem.

Software company Atlassian has done an incredible job of building a culture of innovation. Likewise if you want to create a culture of ‘integrity’, make sure you are setting a good example of what that means. Reward your staff for ‘living and breathing’ the brand values to encourage the same behaviour from the rest of your team. 

Relationships

Relationships are a key part of business growth, but humans are messy and it can be difficult to create a consistent experience for customers when multiple members of your team are involved in delivering the solution. Think about the customer journey and the experience you want them to have with your brand. How do they feel when they speak to different members of your team? Do they feel like those people are giving them the same experience?

HubSpot does a great job of creating a company we love, by making every touchpoint feel the same. You feel from every sales rep, onboarding specialist and customer support staff that they truly want you to succeed. It should feel like they are on your team and rooting for you. You walk away from an interaction with them having ‘felt’ like you know them and appreciate the culture they have as a company, and it makes you fall a little bit in love with their brand.

Personality and tone

Define your brand language guidelines to describe how you want your brand to sound. Is it cheeky? Is it formal? Do you have a mascot or character that helps bring your brand to life? Make a list of do’s and don’ts with examples of written copy for each. Define the words you use and the meaning they have. Again, think about how you want your customers to feel when reading or hearing your words and tone. What emotions do you want them to associate with your brand?

Defining the personality and tone of your brand is equally as important as the visual branding guideline. Your brand language guidelines will allow your staff members to individually produce consistent work that sounds like your brand. By having these guidelines in place you will be able to build trust with your customers and meet their expectations at every touchpoint.

Next steps

So there you have it – a guide on how to develop a brand marketing strategy. Next comes the fun part, putting it into practice and using it to grow your business, consistently and authentically.

Use your Brand Playbook when making key strategic decisions about your business. As your north star, it can guide you towards your purpose, allowing you to make business decisions with confidence. Start building your playbook today!

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