Updated from March 8, 2019
Branding your business online
is a very important aspect of your business.
Branding is the experience your customers have with your company or something I heard.. it’s what they say about you when you leave the room. Not quite as nice as the first explanation.
Your company’s brand represents your market identity; who you are, what you do, what kind of quality you provide, your reputation for trustworthiness, and more. It’s not what you probably think it is. It’s so much more than a pretty site and a logo.
When you think of the word Branding, it likely brings to mind something about ownership. Like the cowboys who used to brand their cattle. But it’s so much more than just that…!
You want to attract the right type of clients or customers to your business. You want to stand out and have a message that resonates with your ideal client, but it’s even more than that…!
TV ‘s Popular “The Voice” shows experts in the field of singing – judging newcomers’ singing abilities. They don’t face the new singer. Instead, they turn their chairs away so as not to see who the singers are.
If the voice they hear is, in their expert opinion, extraordinary, the judges vote. Not only the voice but it was the uniqueness and heart that they heard that made all the difference.
It was a certain “something”, call it the WOW factor, and it all came thru in their unique voice.
Online you must also project your own uniqueness and show heart to stand out and be a winner, just like contestants on the Voice. So how do you go about showing your own voice?
You want to speak from the heart and represent the authentic you. Not your company, it is YOU that people will be attracted to. The message that will resonate with your ideal client should have that WOW factor as mentioned before, with the Voice.
You want your ideal customer to feel as though you are talking directly to them. This is your brand strategy. And the only way to do so is by being VERY SPECIFIC on how you want your brand to feel. This is the message that resonates with your ideal client. What they feel about YOU is branding.
This evokes the feelings and emotions that your ideal client wants to feel and it hits on your ideal client’s deepest desires. So what do you need online to achieve all of this?
Your website, your hub that everything is directed to. Your home on the net. All your social media is directed to this site.
Offline it is the website url that is on your business cards
and advertising media and the fact that you meet a
prospective client face to face. Online however…
Branding Your Site or Your Business Brand
The objectives a good brand:
- The message clearly delivered
- Your credibility and that of your company
- Connects with target prospects emotionally
Motivates the buyer to buy
Your Website
I recommend a WordPress.org hosted website with a blog on your own domain name. It’s your business so treat it like a professional business. Using your own name for the domain is a good idea too. I have a board on Pinterest called Branding You First.
I had a new client recently who wanted to transfer her free site on Wix to a WordPress site. <(See the article I wrote on types of sites to use.) These steps are what I recommending to her.
Installation
After installation First I installed plugins – I have used them for several years on my 3 blogs that I have had.
Next asked her to fill out some content on at least three pages.
Home, About and Contact. Any others can be added later on.
Content can be a landing page, blog, social media posts, to find a specific solution to a problem or need, the average person visits a site once, to many times. With the content installed, we then tried different themes. Some themes are Premiere themes with better design and have their own support or free WordPress themes. Added some pictures and the site is up. But…
Branding is more than just a visual representation of your business. It’s the personality that supplies the WOW factor, it is truly the message. When someone lands on your site or landing page, blog article, even your social media posts, what you say to them leaves them feeling that you are competent to help them solve their problems or meet their needs.
The message, -what you are saying must strike an emotional cord, leaving them feeling that you are that WOW person and that you understand and truly identify with them.
Your message is now what defines you and that is what people are looking for in you to help them with their problem. You must build the foundation of your business if you skip this and start with only the strategies that are not tied to a brand or message, you will end up chasing the techniques which will not support your business in the long run.
To Dig Deeper
What is your main objective ( it can only be one)
* More Money
* More Exposure
* More Traffic
There are strategy steps that go with each of these choices.
Choose only ONE OBJECTIVE at a time and I will create a solid campaign around it. Next we determine the next step, after some stats comparisons, ROI and evaluation. Rinse and repeat or switch gears to attack a different objective.
Example – More Traffic
Define what “Traffic” means for this campaign.
No strategy to handle more traffic doesn’t make sense.
(Clicks to a site/Landing Pages, Social Community Building, Seats at an Event, etc)
What ACTION do you want to take?
(Optin to a List, Make a Purchase, Attend an Event/Promo ( Live or Virtual)
Get a Coupon/Redeem Promo, Join a Community, Share – Tell a Friend.
What will happen once you have taken the action?
(Follow up with email marketing campaigns, SMS text messages, phone calls mailings, etc)
Go from concept to completion then evaluate the results.
You’re a business and your goal is building a tribe of people who are able, willing and ready to buy from you or are willing to introduce you their audience because they know like and trust you. KLT.
How you go about branding your business really matters to your reputation and your bottom line.
Recommended reading, another article of mine on Branding
I offer without obligation or commitment 20 mins of my time to learn more about you and your business. Visit my site’s contact page to access my calendar and schedule your 1-on-1 time with me. Happy to help!
About Kathryn Maclean-Racicot http://www.facebook.com/marketingofflineonline
A Social Media Campaign specialist using Facebook, Twitter Pinterest Inatagram using resources such as: Monthly Recurring Income – http://bit.ly/2LE6MXU and a multitude of courses on many different topics here at – https://bit.ly/2EAZMMv
