I keep hearing over and over, people trust people, not brands. And with customers growing weary of advertising pushes from social media, word of mouth marketing is at an all time high.
If you’re part of the great resignation or a struggling business owner who wants more sales and leads, it’s good to keep in mind that they may not care about your logo, or your fancy name and want to know how you can help them.
So where do you start when it comes to branding YOU and your business?
Here are 3 simple steps to getting started:
What Do You Want to be Known for?
Declaring what your business is good at doing over and over again like a broken record is key. Yes, you will get sick of saying it but trust me, don’t ever stop saying it.
Do you have a simple way to describe what your business does? Do you know what problem your business solves for your customers?
Starting out, I knew that I loved marketing and social media. When I started out, I told people I was a social media marketing consultant but I didn’t really explain why a company needed it so I developed a one sentence statement (or tagline) that was, “I help business owners stand out on social media so they can get back to doing what they love, running their business.”
When I added coaching to my list of services, it morphed into, “I help business owners go from chaos to calm with their marketing through programs.
Where to implement: Introductions at networking events, your social media messaging, your website, video intros. The sky's the limit!
Know Your Ideal Customer
I often say that you can’t be everything to everyone but you don’t necessarily need to nail it down to specifics.
When I first started out, I took everyone's business I could to keep the lights on. Yes, that was a mistake but it taught me pretty quickly that I didn’t enjoy working with teams or too many hands in the marketing either. What I did find was I loved being an extension of someone’s growing business where I could guide them and when they needed input. With the teams I worked with in the past, I didn’t feel like an expert but when I worked directly with the owner, they trusted me and gave me autonomy.
I was always one step ahead of the owner because I was the authority on social media.
My ideal social media strategy client was one whom I could be their marketing wing woman. I didn’t need to get specific, but it did weed out larger companies.
What to do? Sit down and think about who you enjoy working with and what you don’t enjoy doing. You may not have all the answers today but it’s a start and yes, it will change.
Consistently Serving Your Audience
Once you’ve narrowed down your ideal client, you’ll want to know how your service solves the problems in their life or business.
I knew that I wanted to work with small business owners who needed social media marketing help in Bend, Oregon so I asked those business owners some questions about where they struggled with marketing their business, operational questions about pricing and presented them with solutions.
My goal? To be the go-to for social media marketing in Bend, Oregon.
This meant I had to show those business owners tips and tricks through content on my website, social media and presentations at networking. I was the person to ask for advice.
Now, did I often feel like I wasn’t worthy of that? Heck, yeah BUT I had to keep in mind, “I only need to be one step ahead” and that made a world of difference.
What to do next? Sit down with your dream client and get into their head THEN develop a consistent marketing plan for your website and social media that reflect you as the authority in your industry.