Hi Team!
This might seem dramatic.
But I've created everything you need to do, in the right order, to create foundations for your small business brand in 2023.
There's a huge amount of misinformation and 'influencers' out there who sell the dream without having the experience or information to actually help your business.
Sure their tiktok went viral.
But how did that translate into sales?
Yeah, they booked hundreds of warm lead calls with a cold email. But how many thousands ghosted them?
It makes you skeptical.
And more frustratingly for me... ruins the trust businesses have with consultants and agencies.
So here it is. My 10 years of brand management, marketing and content strategy, rolled up into an infographic.
Okay, so that was overwhelming right?
Here it is broken down.
Audit Your Marketing to Date.
Audits can take many forms. But in basic terms, the first thing you need to do is audit and analyse what you (or your business) have done to date.
You are looking for patterns and any correlations between sales and marketing. That may be seasonal peaks and troughs or it might be high engagement on a 'random' Top of funnel video (trust me, its never random!)
Delve deep into the history.
- What is your current marketing landscape? What has worked in the past?
- What is your budget or ideal % spend on outreach/ ROAS/ ROI?
- What do your ideal customers engage with?
- What are your competitors doing right? Or wrong?
- What are your audiences pain points?
- What businesses do you align with?
- What do your current customers say about you?
- What platforms and tactics are you currently using? How do they perform?
Understand Your Brand Strategy
Brand strategy is split into two areas. Substance and Positioning.
- Substance
Within your Brand Substance you are looking at understanding you brand Purpose, Mission, Vision and Values. You can also detail your CSR objectives and Relationships here.
I add CSR and relations early on in the brand process to avoid it becoming a tactic rather than a part of your purpose. This helps you avoid issues like 'green-washing'.
- Positioning
Your Brand Positioning includes research and understanding of your customers/audience, your competitors and anything that is 'attention taking' as well as your pricing strategy and differentiation.
Brand Expression
Brand expression is usually where businesses start. They completely miss out the previous steps which make this step akin to throwing shit up a wall and seeing what sticks.
But if you are good marketeer or business owner and have followed my previous steps, then this bit is exciting and pretty easy!
This isn't an exhaustive list, but it will help you get started on building your brand persona and visual identity...