Your business brand might start with a logo, but where to from there?
In last month’s article I wrote about embracing your business’ story to help kick your PR goals. In it we explored a few key ways to tap into what makes your journey – and your business – unique, to help develop interesting PR angles. Now let’s build on that concept and consider how to build and refine your brand messaging and how you communicate it.
Your business branding might start with a killer logo, but where to from there? My best advice is to get back to basics. Consider what your brand really stands for. Who is your business? Who’s your audience and what are their needs? What’s your style, your tone of voice? What’s your personality as a business? Clarify these and you’ll not only strengthen your brand’s messaging and voice, you’ll also maximise your chances of gaining the attention your business wants this year.
Start early, follow through
The new year is a great time to be refining your brand’s messaging. What worked well last year? What didn’t? What did you learn from your customers? Your staff? What insights of your own did you draw from the year? January is also a practical time to reassess your company’s mission, vision, and values.
But don’t stop there. Great businesses identify a problem and provide a real solution that makes positive change. Take a step back and look at your business in the simplest terms. Why did you start it? What real-world problem were you trying to solve, and for who?
Are your mission and your messaging aligned? To build and maintain a strong brand identity, you need consistency through all of your communication materials, from your website to your marketing and public relations materials, investor decks, and social media, throughout the year.
Keep it simple, stupid (KISS)
You might know your business inside out and be the best at what you do. But if you aren’t able to communicate that effectively, you’re not going to get the attention you want or that your brand deserves. Whether you’re pitching to the media, for new business, or talking to key stakeholders, potential investors, or even addressing your team, it’s those first few seconds that matter. Make them count.
Business owners and marketers often get caught up in technical jargon or industry terminology/acronyms because they live and breathe the business every day. Communicating your value proposition in micro-seconds is no easy task, but one of the best ways to approach it is to rethink your messaging framework.
Don’t be afraid to use simple language to describe what your business does and (more importantly) what problem it is solving. Don’t just talk about what you do or how you’re different, focus on how you’re making a difference. How is your business helping others in a way that is new, unique or disruptive?
Benefits build connections
Many businesses talk in broad brushstrokes, like ‘we’re the leading xyz” or ‘we’re #1 in our category’. Terms like these are great, and I am not saying don’t use them, but think about your competitors. They’re likely saying the same thing. What really sets you apart from them?
You don’t need to downplay or ignore any amazing in-house technology or solution that is driving your business forward. It’s more about finding ways to describe the benefits of that technology to the end user so that it creates a relatable connection with them.
For example when The PR Hub client, FoodByUs, a wholesale food and alcohol supplier platform, launched a new tech feature called ‘Add your own supplier’, we were able to capture their customers’ and the media’s attention by talking to the problems it was solving and the benefits customers would enjoy, rather than focusing solely on the tech features.
Building meaningful connections that inspire loyalty and drive customers to action is more difficult than ever. But if you can nail your value proposition and make it your new year’s resolution to embed that through all of your communications materials, I guarantee you’ll enjoy not only more customers, but also more media coverage in 2023!