If I were to hop on your website or your social media for 10 seconds would I know exactly who you are? Would I know what you sold and who you sold it to? Getting that clear in your brand is hard. It takes a lot of questions and processing to really get granular and simple when explaining who you are. But you want to know a secret? Having a brand profile will be the difference of building your dream business or just running something on the side.
The very first thing I do with a new client is to work with them on their brand and client profiles. It’s important stuff. You have to know who you are, what you do, and who you do it for specifically. None of this, “I do it all”. Customers want experts. You don’t go to the plumber asking them to take care of your electrical. And you don’t ask your electrician to fix your car problems. The same is true for whatever industry you’re in- yoga studio, boutique, blogger, etc. Your customers come to you for a reason. Know what that exact reason is and build off of it.
One of the hardest parts of defining your brand is simplifying it enough that even a child can understand what you do. As Donald Miller at Story Brand says “When you confuse, you lose,” and he’s right. Break it down to the most basic thing that you do. I am a marketing consultant and photographer. That’s what I do. I’m don’t go into fancy details or give myself titles that no one understands. I love calling myself a storyteller but when you need help with your marketing you aren’t googling “Storyteller” you are googling “marketing consultant”. That’s the difference. Use language that’s simple and gets to the point. Don’t make your customers guess what you do because they won’t, they’ll just go find someone else who does what they need. Of course, identifying who you are as a brand is more than just simply putting what you do. It’s also understanding the feeling you want to give people when they walk away, the look of your brand on all platforms, and clearly recognizing your voice and how you want to speak to your customers. Here are a few questions I like to ask clients about who their brand is:
- In the simplest terms, what do you do?
- What pain do you solve?
- Are you bright and cheerful, dark and moody?
- What is your tone of voice? Are you funny, sarcastic, inspirational, educational, spiritual?
- What are your brand colors and would I know them just by looking at your website or social?
- What feeling do you want your customers to have after they purchase from you?
If you want to see the full formula I use with a new client to see exactly who they are so I can understand how to help with their marketing, download my Brand Profile here! It’s free and will help you creates one-liner that you can use over and over again. It’s perfect as your elevator pitch or for the new header of your website. However you use it, having this clarity on your brand will make marketing it so much easier.
