A few months ago I had a client come on board with a specific goal in mind. She was leaving her corporate job and starting her online business. She needed to replace her income within 3 months.
Together we developed a brand and marketing strategy that focused on her ideal client, brand design, consistency and the future of her business. This strategy has helped her to replace her income and bring in consistent leads.
With her permission, I am sharing the steps we took to build her business to the place that it is today. I hope this encourages you to see the benefits of a good brand and marketing strategy in your business.
This is what my client had to say: “I invested in a brand right at the beginning of my business journey. I’d seen at previous companies the costs of not investing in a clear brand: it makes building recognition, trust and clarity that much harder. You have to work twice as hard to build your reputation because people don’t immediately recognise you, your content and your value.”
So how did we manage to do this for her? Let’s get into the steps we took.
STEP ONE: Brand and Marketing Strategy
When my client came to me to have her brand developed we started with her strategy which entailed these specific topics:
- Her ideal client
- Her brand voice and personality
- Her marketing strategy
- Her future goals for the business
We had a few online strategy sessions which not only helped us gain clarity and direction on these topics above but also helped me understand my client, her passions and her personality. Together, the strategy and relationship building assisted me to envision her brand design and how I could portray these values and personality traits into a brand that not only represented her but also attracted her ideal clients. We tried getting as specific as possible with regards to these topics in order to get the best results.
STEP TWO: The Visual Strategy
1. Full Brand Development
Once we had clarity around the strategy, I went to the drawing board and designed everything that she needed now and in the future to create consistency throughout her business.
We developed:
- Logo variations that ensure versatility in her brand but allow for consistency (read here about different logos and why they are important).
- A simple but strong color palette that helps us with designs and sourcing images that aligned with these colours.
- A primary and secondary font.
- Patterns, textures and elements to round off the brand.
All of these brand elements ensure that if designs need to be created in the future, there are elements to use.
2. Stationery and Website development:
Once the brand was finalised we could start with the fun stuff! We designed stationery (business cards, letterhead and email signature) that made the use of her brand colours, fonts and elements. This gave them all a consistent look and feel.
We then went on to develop a website that also reflected her new brand. Here we had to source images that aligned with her brand. Her color palette has soft pinks and blue hues in it and therefore the images we sourced have similar colors.
When developing and designing a business’ stationery and website with the same colours, fonts and imagery, we create recognition amongst our followers. For example, if a potential client sees her business card and visits her website afterwards, they will immediately know that they are on the right website because they have a consistent look and feel.
3. Social Media Graphic Principles
Putting together brand principles to follow while creating your social media designs are wonderful for saving time and acts as your brand consistency check-list.
What are graphic principles?
Graphic principles are a set of rules that are specifically generated to create consistent visual designs for your brand.
By creating these guidelines for my client, I ensured that there is a consistent feel throughout her social media profiles and content.
Then, we took it a step further:
We allocated each color in her color palette to different sections of her business:
- The blue represents her blog posts.
- The lighter pinks represent topics that help her connect with her audience, like questions and statements.
- The darker pinks represented inspirational quotes from other leaders and herself.
What happens when we go in-depth with these principles?
Our audience not only recognises our brand each time we post content, but they also start to associate each color with the different topics that are being discussed. Therefore, if you know the blue posts are blogs and you always find value in reading that specific person’s blog, you will be looking out for this blue and recognising what it represents.
STEP THREE: Consistency
There are two types of consistencies when it comes to brand and marketing. The one is aimed at your brand and the other at your marketing. In order for us to generate more leads, we need to incorporate both of these consistencies in our business.
1. Brand and design consistency:
When we speak about brand consistency we are speaking about the visual designs. We create consistent designs by using the same colour palette, fonts and imagery. This helps you to create recognition in and amongst your followers. As soon as they see your visual content, they will recognise you and your business.
This is exactly what we were able to do for my Client. By using her brand board as a guide and generating design principles for her, we have been able to create consistent designs on the following platforms:
- Her website and blog posts
- Facebook (on her page as well as both her group and third-party groups)
- Pinterest (featured images from her blog posts are re-purposed for Pinterest pins)
- Her podcast
2. Marketing consistently:
When we speak about consistency in marketing we are referring to showing up consistently with valuable content. The more consistent we are with our online posts, the more we stay ‘top of mind’ with our potential clients. We all lead very busy lives and your service or product may not be your clients’ top priority. Therefore, staying in contact with them, nurturing them and being consistent helps you to become a top priority for them because they start understanding why your product or service would change their life.
Through my social media management service, I have been able to help my client post consistently on all of the above-mentioned platforms. This has helped her to have more time for the stuff she loves doing while simultaneously building her online reputation, generating new leads and ultimately contributing to the success of her business.
We were also able to combine these two consistencies by posting similar content with similar colors for each type of content, on the same days of the week. For instance, we post new inspirational quotes on a Monday, new blog posts on a Thursday and fun questions on a Friday. This also means that her audience looks out for her blog posts or fun posts and are ready to connect and engage with her online.
My client says, “Each time you talk to the world – online or in-person – they need to remember the value you brought before and add on the value that you are bringing right now. My brand is strong visually and is tied to my vision for my business, my ideal client and the passion I bring to what I do. It has helped me build an audience that trusts me far faster than the businesses I’ve previously worked for have done.”
So, as you can see, with the right brand strategy for your business you are able to create content that connects with your audience, build your online reputation, generate more leads and ultimately build a successful business.
Do you want to learn more about my process and get valuable tips and tricks to improve your marketing and attract your ideal clients consistently?
Join the conversations in my ‘Market with Confidence’ Facebook group
