Increase Brand Awareness & Skyrocket Revenue: 3 Things Every Small Business Needs
All small businesses want to increase brand awareness. But small business owners have a lot on their plate. And with that comes a lot of confusion over how to best build a brand in a way that’s streamlined, strategic, and will make predictable income.
We have developed a lot of brands over the years. And we didn’t always know what we were doing. To be honest, those beginning days of my own interior design business were a mess!
I was hearing mixed messages from all the gurus and all the online courses on what I should be focusing on- and in no particular order. And none of it flowed with the other.
My linear brain needed logic and structure.
So along the way we created the So Creative Method, our three-step process to developing and marketing a brand with predictable growth and revenue for all of our clients.
Want to know our secrets? Here’s what you’ll need to increase brand awareness:
- Build It: Brand Strategy
- Brand It: Brand Identity
- Book It: Marketing Plan
Here’s all the details!
1. Built it: Brand Strategy (Increase Brand Awareness with Clarity)
Often overlooked, brand strategy is the most important brand asset your business has.
Your brand strategy workshops help any business understand, prioritize, and focus on clear vision and a planto help them achieve their goals.
We use a combination of the StoryBrand framework and CORE Discovery to create your brand messaging, value proposition, brand attributes, and customer profiles.
Don’t know which direction to take with your brand identity?
Let your brand strategy lead the way.
Not sure what to put on your website?
Your brand strategy will fix that.
Don’t know what to put in sales emails?
Brand strategy has you covered.
How can you easily explain what you do to others that will motivate them to work with you?
You’ve got it- we figure it all out with your brand strategy.
Need a brand strategy? Here are a few options for you:
- Purchase the Building a StoryBrand book and create your messaging guide at My StoryBrand and go through the CORE Discovery yourself.
- Take the StoryBrand online course* or attend a live StoryBrand workshop in combination with Core Discovery. (*affiliate links)
- Have us do it! We’ll fly out to you and spend an entire day focusing on your brand strategy so everything else you have developed (think logo, website, marketing materials) is in alignment with your messaging, brand voice, and customer profiles. Book a call to get started.
How does a brand strategy increase brand awareness and skyrocket revenue?
People will only buy what they understand and feel connected to. And they’ll only buy things that they feel will solve their problems in an easy way.
And by repeating the same messages over and over again creating a brand people will care about, you’ll be recognized as the go-to in your niche, which will increase your brand awareness and get people talking!
2. Brand It: A Brand Identity (Increase Brand Awareness Visually)
Now that your brand strategy is clear, it’s time to conquer your brand’s visual aesthetic.
Why don’t we do this first like most creative studios?
Because we know too well the time and expense it takes to implement a brand identity without a clear vision for what your brand will ultimately become.
Once you have your brand strategy clarified, your visuals will flow from there.
We know what vibe will work for your future clients.
We understand the psychology behind your brand, which will affect color and font selection and logo design.
And all the graphics and photography that you’ll need to launch your new messaging will come from your strategy!
So now that your strategy’s all clear, let’s have some fun implementing it visually!
In short, your brand identity should be wrapped up in an organized PDF document that contains how to use your brand identity, including:
- Your logo system
- Your color system
- Your font system
- Your photography style
- Any other icons, graphics, and patterns
- How to use these assets and how not to use these assets
How does a brand identity increase brand awareness and skyrocket revenue?
Branding is the gut feeling people have about your brand.
And your brand identity will immediately influence how people feel about your brand.
And we strive for their immediate gut feeling to want to know more and take their relationship with your brand to the next level.
And your brand identity will help set you apart from competitors and make you more memorable in a saturated marketplace.
If they see you on Pinterest, and then see you on Instagram, and then catch one of your YouTube videos and they all have consistent and captivating styling, you’ll gain authority and awareness.
And people are much more likely to purchase from a brand they are aware of and feel has authority in the industry. Strategy combined with identity gives you this!
3. Book It: A Marketing Plan (Time to Make That Money)
So now you know what to say and what it’s all going to look like to captivate.
It’s time to implement!
It’s time to put this all together to create a sales funnel that sells your product and services.
Don’t panic.
I know a “marketing” sounds super intimidating, so I’m breaking it down for you into the four pieces each small business should have- but this is only the beginning.
I’m not going touch on in-person networking, local marketing, and social media in this post because each of those will depend greatly upon your business and your target audience.
But these four are your must haves.
Let’s break each piece down:
The One-Liner
Imagine this- you’re out and about at a networking event full of your dream customers!
How do you explain what you do in a way that gets people intrigued? That makes them ask for more info? For your business card? For your online schedule to book an appointment?
With a one-liner.
A one-liner is a strategic couple of sentences that we develop for our clients that gets people to notice and is included in any brand strategy workshop when working with us.
Extra Credit: You’re going to want to simplify this thing and put it on your business card, your email signature, and all your social media bios.
The Strategic Website
Not all websites are created equal.
Pretty websites don’t always sell.
But websites that sell should also be pretty. People aren’t going to buy from a janky website, no matter how great your headlines are!
This is where your messaging and style guide combine to make magic happen!
You just need to make sure that your website is clear with all of your messaging integrated and captivating will all your new branding.
Pro tip: Don’t use too many words and do go heavy on images that show your clients and customers’ success. Not sure how to write the best copy? Check out this blog post on five website copy mistakes.
An added bonus to working with the So Creative team? Most of your copy will come from your brand strategy workshop, and you have the option of adding on copy so you don’t have to write a word.
The Lead Generator
We work with our clients to develop the perfect free offer, called a lead generator or opt-in, to grow their email lists.
Not all lead generators are created equal, and not all lead generators will work for your business.
The key to creating the most effective opt-in offer is that it needs to be a true lead generator. It needs to prequalify people who are in the market for your service.
Back when I was an interior designer, I spent hours and hours, and a few hundred dollars, creating an interior design style quiz. I thought it was going to be the best opt-in ever!
And it did grow my email list. Fast. And in mass quantities.
But my list ended up being filled with non-leads.
Because everyone wants to know their interior design style but not everyone who takes a Buzzfeed type quiz wants to drop thousands on new furniture and a designer’s fee.
Be strategic with your lead generator and your list will grow with people that are interested in what you’re selling.
Thinking about working with us? We develop the idea for your lead generator during our brand strategy workshop and you’ll have option to have us design and write it for you as well.
The Email Sequence
You’ve dropped your one-liner. Which has people interested.
So they go to your website. They’re more interested but not quite ready to work with you.
They see a valuable free offer on your site. They give you their email address.
Time to sell.
That’s where your email sequence comes to play.
The number and frequency of emails you send will vary depending upon the size of the investment people will be making with you.
For instance, one of our clients sells a very low-entry $47 digital product.
We wrote a simple, five-email sequence with language pulled form her brand messaging guide to sell her product.
If you’re selling a service that is in the thousands, your email sequence could require 30 emails spread out over several months. It all depends upon how much convincing people need before they’re ready to purchase from you.
If you’d like to create your own email sequence, here are a few recommendations:
- Always use language from the messaging established in your brand strategy. These messages drive everything!
- If you sell a big ticket item, make sure that all of your emails aren’t sales emails. Provide value by linking to other free resources such as videos, blog posts, and downloads.
How does a marketing plan increase brand awareness and skyrocket revenue?
Your basic marketing plan is how you create predictable revenue.
Without it your sales will be haphazard and unpredictable.
And the most powerful brand awareness you can create is through referrals.
Deliver a great product and a great experience while working with clients that have gone through your sales funnel and your name will be spread.
Does the sound of writing all these emails make you feel like a dementor is sucking out your soul? Let’s schedule a call to discuss how we can write all of them for you!
Conclusion
Focus on creating a solid brand strategy, a captivating brand identity, and a basic marketing plans that converts.
Once all of this is done, then you can create all the blogging and social media content you like to drive traffic to your site.
Leave us a comment and let us know what you’ll be working on first!
Need some help! Schedule a call and we can discuss how So Creative can help you create a brand and website that’s looks like money and gets money making results.
