Your online content is constantly up against that of your competition. You know you must remain driven and strategic about your digital marketing to push your business in the right direction.
On top of optimizing your copy, you’re interested in how to make your brand stand out. But you’re not quite sure how to make it happen.
It’s the question most business owners in a competitive industry ask at some point…How to make your brand stand out?
What Is A Brand?
First, what is a brand? Everybody has their own definition. We’ve even gathered a few of our favorite definitions (see below). But being the Texan company we are, let’s look at cows. To identify that a cow is yours, you brand them with your specific mark. Everyone around you knows your branding. Likewise in marketing, you are leaving your mark so that everyone around you knows who you are.
“A brand is the identity and story of a company that makes it stand out from competitors that sell similar products or services. The goal of branding is to earn space in the minds of the target audience and become their preferred option for doing business.”
Hubspot
“Branding is the process of creating a distinct identity for a business in the minds of your target audience and the general population. At its core, branding consists of a company’s name and logo, visual identity design, mission, values, and tone of voice. Your brand is also determined by the quality and uniqueness of your products, the customer service experience you provide, and even your pricing strategy.”
Shopify
“A brand is any distinctive feature like a name, term, design, or symbol that identifies goods or services.”
American Marketing Association
But what does a brand consist of? It includes visual marks (i.e. logos, imagery, photos), messaging, voice, and even experience. It breathes who you are to the world.
What Noise Are Brands Experiencing?
But there’s something that’s impacting brands, in our opinion, negatively. Let’s dive into what to look out for so that you can protect yourself.
The Invasion Of AI
AI has made a widespread invasion in the digital world – particularly impacting marketing. While there are plenty of places to use AI efficiently and effectively, it’s when we aren’t careful that our brands will see a negative impact. How so? Here’s what we’ve seen:
- Increase of vagueness and formulaic copy that you can spot from a mile away
- Decrease of authentic messaging (and therefore, no deep emotional connections)
- Increase of lower-value content on social media or email
- Increase of questioning whether an offer is valuable and high quality
Political Turmoil
As our brand, we stay faaaaaaarrr away from politics. So far, the last time I really watched any news was the first week of the pandemic in 2020…4 years ago. But regardless of where you stand, you can agree that we are in a politically turbulent time. And it’s even more volatile with it being an election year. So how does that relate to marketing and branding?
Brands that need to address politics do so.
But likewise, brands that do not need to be in politics, stay out of them.
There may be certain things in the political sphere that impact your business directly. Go ahead and address those. There may be conversations that your target audience really cares about. Join the conversation.
Not quite sure where to draw the line? If you don’t know what to say on a given topic, the best option is to stay out of it until you know.
Cultural Polarizations
Politics, meet culture. This age isn’t the first decade to experience massive cultural polarizations. But with our access to information and platforms, it’s becoming a potentially dangerous environment – even for the most innocent.
Some brands need to step on the line and speak out. Be prepared to respond to opposing critics.
Other brands don’t have to have an opinion, and it impacts what they do.
The biggest thing that we’ve noticed is there is very little forgiveness in the digital realm. Simply be prepared to respond with grace and patience.
How To Make Your Brand Stand Out
Now that we’ve addressed all the difficult topics that may negatively impact your brand (phew!), let’s get into how to make your brand stand out to result in amazing results.
Be Authentic
First things first…Authenticity will always win. That’s why Google has indirectly woven “authenticity” in their SEO framework – E-E-A-T.
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness.
So how do you be authentic as a brand? You make sure that every single asset of your brand is aligned with one another. It’s what’s on your website, social media, and email. It’s the experience your clients have with your offer. And it’s your team and their ability to connect.
“Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart, and feet – thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing – consistently. This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust.”
Lance Secretan
For example, FocusCopy has a lot of coffee influences in our brand. This started because I could spend all day, talking with entrepreneurs about their businesses over a cup of coffee. I believe that’s one simple way to connect and make the world move forward. Beyond our marketing where coffee is apparent, you’ll experience our “sales calls” where we’ll brainstorm how to improve your business (even if it has nothing to do with copywriting).
We get into the tough conversations of burnout and purpose and balance. We acknowledge that life happens, babies need you, dogs bark at inopportune times, and business still happens. While we’re by no means perfect, we do believe that we exude authenticity in our brand.
Be Vulnerable
In tandem with authenticity, vulnerability will also help make your brand stand out. One of my friends and branding expert, Mac Ryan Creative Studio got vulnerable recently and we loved it. Not because it was about a lesson learned. But because they were brave enough to share what they learned.
“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.”
Brené Brown
In short, Haley Ryan did things that she believed she should do in 2023. But that’s not what she felt was honest to her brand and who she wanted to be. This is a powerful post that resulted in more conversation with her brand.
Communicate Value
You also need to communicate value. You aren’t selling your offer. You’re selling the transformation your offer provides. The easiest way to find the value is to ask the question so what?
Take your features, and find the benefits of them. Then ask so what? 2-3 times. Then measure whatever you land on against what your audience cares about. Do they align? Does your audience actually care about the value you’re communicating? Or do they value something entirely different?
Understand Your Audience
Your customer is the most important person in your brand. Therefore, you need to understand them deeply. What drives them? What challenges are they facing? How are they overcoming their pain points? How do they measure success? When you know your audience well, you create deeper relationships – ultimately making your brand stand out.
Stay In Your Lane
Last but not least…Stay in your lane. It’s so easy to jump on soap boxes because you’re passionate about them. But that may not be aligned with your brand. That’s why the creation of content pillars is so important. They provide the “bumpers” for you to stay inside of.
What are content pillars? They are overarching categories that you speak on in your marketing. Our pillars, our example, are copywriting, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Anything outside of that holds no place in our marketing.
When you step outside of your lane, you cause major confusion and break up the continuity of your relationship with your target audience.
Branding FAQs
Have questions about branding and how to make your brand stand out? Look no further.
If you have additional questions, contact us here.
What Branding Statements Should Every Company Have?
We always encourage your company to have the following branding statements:
- One-liner company description
- Company bio/description
- Tagline
- Mission statement
- Vision statement
- Unique selling proposition
- Value proposition
What Should You Include In A Brand Guide?
You should include the following in a brand guide:
- Visual identity (logos, icons, imagery, etc.)
- Brand voice guidelines (tone, phrases, rules, etc.)
- Core messaging (descriptions, value propositions, unique selling propositions, etc.)
- Customer profiles
Want to build a brand voice guide? Let’s chat about how our framework makes it easier for you to build your marketing messages.
How Do You Make A Brand Memorable?
As we’ve discussed in this blog, 5 things make a brand memorable. That includes being authentic, being vulnerable, communicating value, understanding your audience, and staying in your lane.
How Does Branding Impact Marketing?
Marketing is the coffee machine. It’s an engine that drives lead generation and nurtures relationships with your target audience. Branding is the exact coffee beans you put into the machine to brew your perfect cup of coffee. It’s the additives (or exclusions) of half and half, sugar, or flavors. Your branding influences how your audience receives your overall marketing.
Effective Branding Starts With The Right Messaging
Before you apply design to capture your brand, you need to know who your brand is. And that starts with developing the core messaging around who you are and what value you provide to your audience. Start the conversation to build your branding foundation today.
