February, with its 28 days, was begging for us to do something special. So, we curated a list of 28 branding + marketing tips and shared them every day for the month of February on our social media channels. Check out the entire list here and make it your goal to put a few of these into action for your brand.
- Define your target audience. Knowing your audience allows you to identify and meet their needs. It also helps you to focus and allocate your time and money on an audience who is more likely to buy from you.
2. Create mission + value statements to guide your brand strategy.
3. Consistent messaging is key. Consistency in visual branding and messaging leads to greater brand awareness.
4. Recognize what makes you different. What’s your X-Factor? Marketing what makes your business unique from the start will drive your brand strategy. It will also help expand your customer reach. Brand identity helps the brand develop its own unique stance and differentiate itself from others in the market.
5. Make it easy for people to understand. Your brand messaging needs to be clear, relevant, and focused. Focusing your messaging will attract more high-quality customers to your business.
6. Let your brand tell a story. Customers will remember your story. Brand stories should be told with the brand persona at center stage.
7. Use mood boards to drive creative. Mood boards help to organize a project’s inspiration. They keep you consistent with the established style and aesthetic.
8. Review ROI. What’s your return on investment? Build your marketing strategy based off what’s working and what’s not.
9. Use two complementary fonts for a strong visual brand. Utilze two complementary fonts to add personality and variation. Be sure to use fonts that work together or your brand will lose credibility, value, and impact.
10. Establish a color palette for your visual brand. Just like having a mood board, establishing a color palette for your visual brand builds a foundation. This helps maintain consistency, increasing brand awareness.
11. Create a branding/style guide. A style guide is a company’s set of standards for writing, editing, formatting, and designing. It also includes your color palette and fonts.
12. Be clear about your value proposition. The ability to craft and deliver a clear value proposition will make or break your brand. Your value proposition tells your audience why they should work with you rather than your competitors, and makes the benefits of your products/services crystal clear from the start.
13. 3 C’s: consistency, clarity, and character. Communicate your brand message and values clearly using the 3 C’s.
– Consistency: Present your company the same across all marketing channels.
– Clarity: Make your brand voice and personality easily identifiable.
– Character: The personality of your brand – how you want your business to be perceived.
14. 3 P’s: promise, positioning, and performance.
– Promise: What’s the unique offering and who is it for?
– Positioning: How will you communicate your brand promise?
– Performance: How will you deliver your brand promise?
15. Brand imagery: build a library of branded custom photos. Who needs a branded photo library? Start-ups, solopreneurs, vice presidents or directors of marketing, business owners, CMOs, founders, companies that are growing and scaling, non-profits. In short, EVERYONE.
16. Ensure all touch points connect. A cohesive brand across all platforms will make customers more comfortable with your company and increase brand awareness + trust
17. Keep it simple, memorable, and versatile. A good brand will help your audience remember you when they think of your industry or establish yourself if you are a newcomer.
18. Build brand awareness – then drive leads. Brands are constantly competing for customer mindshare. Every brand wants prospective customers to consider their products and/or services over their competitors when they are in the market to buy. Driving leads starts by building brand awareness.
19. Adding networking to your branding + marketing strategy introduces you to new people and opportunities, opening up new markets and leads.
20. Use your website as your best 24/7 advertising. Aside from your social media platforms, your website is the only part of your business that’s open 24/7. It’s important that your website not only looks good but that it clearly communicates quality information.
21. Think about the brand experience for your customer – both online and off. When reviewing your marketing and/or branding strategy, the most valuable tactic is to view your brand from the customer’s POV.
22. Build your email list. Your email list is a vital part to staying top of mind with customers. This is a valuable asset for your business. Make it a priority to develop your database.
23. Use content to drive inbound leads. By creating and sharing relevant content on topics your prospective audience genuinely finds valuable, you now put your brand name along the customer’s buying journey.
24. Set a budget and develop a marketing plan. Best practices for your company include building your budget and marketing plan 6-12 months out based off trends from the previous fiscal year.
25. Use a professional, up-to-date headshot.
26. Think strategically about using social media for your brand.
27. Share your brand strategy with your team and collaborators. They are the face of your brand every day and your best brand ambassadors.
28. Stay on-brand. Be you. Be authentic.
