Developing authentic brands and creating real connection with clients and customers is a process. It requires knowing who you are, defining your business intentions, committing to your values, and understanding your distinct community of customers. There is no “greenwashing,” “bait and switch,” or “story spinning” here. You get to be yourself, and it’s my job to get to know you.
The Voyage to Yourself
(and/or Your Business)
It’s relatively easy to tick off the boxes of the ‘by default’ marketing practices that promise successful brands. While some of these best practice strategies are relevant to being in flow with culture and how people relate, connect, and make choices, it’s important to clarify how your business is different, and be real. Understanding how your authentic voice and the needs of your customer community intersect is your baseline for authentic connection.
When working with clients, my intention is to become a steward for your brand, so that we can reflect your authentic intentions out to your community through design, messaging, and promotional communications.
If knowing who you are and who your customers are is journey, the following Codes of Conduct are the tools to make the path for your authentic business.
Consistency & Intentionality
Cohesive brands build trust and visibility. Whatever feel or tone your band conveys, cohesive design and consistent messaging creates recognition for your existing customer community, and a feeling of trust from potential communities. When my clients have the instinct to shake things up in the brand I ask a lot of questions, not to discourage, but to understand where the urge is coming from, and to bring intentionality to that shift. Guiding clients through thoughtful approach to brand shifts, changes, name changes, and how these roll out and ripple out are a few of the long-view insights that sustain good brand stewardship. It’s necessary to grow and shift. As brands develop, I help business owners and organizations think through all the details involved in order to reduce or eliminate process issues and customer confusion or frustration.
Honesty & Transparency
No one likes the feeling of being aware that they are being targeted as a consumer. Most people prefer to be considered as humans. It seems ridiculous to even write that sentence! But, the reality is, in marketing, people can easily be reduced to numbers and trends can be touted as “you musts” in order to succeed. That’s the dark side of promotion, but here we try to stay in the light. Understanding the value that your products, services, or offerings bring to your customer community inspires authentic connection with less emphasis on ‘selling.’ This value message will be embedded into visuals, messaging, and the way you approach communication with customers. Discovering authentic voice for your business, and reflecting that out to your community, will engender engagement and loyalty.
Keep It Simple
Word clutter and visual confusion diminishes impact. Too many bolded words, fonts, competing messages, and non-guided actions are common mistakes I see from DIY-ers. I fully support the world of DIY, and I’m always here with fresh eyes, ready to help with refinement if you need it. For those of you managing content for your own websites, email campaigns, and print promos, the following simplification model can help make communication for products, services, and long reads more effective.
Know Your Story & Simplify
For increased engagement, keep the message, visuals, and action simple and clear. Our culture is inundated with information, digitally and in the real world. You can stand out by applying the “less is more” rule. The key to “less is more” is clearly communicating the one message you want to relate right now. Rather than putting as much information possible in promotions, think of your communication as spacious experiences (whether motivating, creative, energizing, or relaxing) that leave your readers following little breadcrumbs to the big dinner of engagement. If you do need to relay more than a single message, think about creating hierarchy by prioritizing one story, and allowing the reader to scan over 2 to 4 additional sub-stories.
Keep your voice strong, your values up front, and remember (and continue to discover) who your community is. You have a relationship with your customers, so you can guide them with ease. You don’t have to “sell,” but you do have to make it clear how they can participate, buy, or sign up. Imagine that you have all the space and time in the world to bring them along on your voyage—that spacious feeling will come through in your visuals and messaging. Be authentic in how you share the story of your business, services, and products. The more ease and clarity people feel, the more people want to be part of that experience in a healthy and genuine way.