6 Written Ways to Improve Your Marketing
Welcome back to Part 2 of my 3-part series on how to "Create More Consistency" in your business through branding. Your brand = how people think and feel about your business. Last time in Part 1, we looked at 8 visual ways to make your business more memorable - and this week, we'll look at written ways to do that.
Here's today's story --
6 WRITTEN WAYS TO BRING MORE CONSISTENCY TO YOUR MARKETING
Think about how you talk about your business to your clients, your leads, your referral partners, your friends and family... are you telling an easy-to-understand and connected story? Do these audiences all know what you do?
This is the heart of getting your story straight. You've got to know the story and who you are telling it to in each instance - before anything. And the more you can use the same language and phrasing, the easier it'll be for people to understand what you do and REMEMBER IT.
Here are 6 written ways to get your business story straight and use it consistently in your marketing.
Write down your story AND the story of what you're actually doing: Too often, people launch into marketing their business and they don't stop to consider three critical things: 1) what's your story and how does that factor into what you do, 2) who is your target audience, and 3) what problems do you solve for them. You've got to know these three things COLD and in a way a 3rd grader would understand them. So if you aren't there yet, get out a pen and paper or a Word doc and answer these 3 questions before moving forward. Getting consistent means knowing what to get consistent with.
Create and Use a Tagline: Many business owners skip the step of coming up with a tagline but it's a great and overlooked way to have an easy to repeat message that'll add consistency to everything you do when you use it! A tagline is a short phrase that tells more of your business's story and how it helps others. When you use it repeatedly verbally and in your written marketing, it reinforces your story, adds more clarity to an abstract logo and/or name, and makes your business a lot more memorable. (Learn more about creating a tagline for your business right here).
Share More Story in Your Email Signature: Your email signature is a great, easy and indirect way to communicate things to your clients and collaborators. Consider adding a "Did you know?" section and including a fun fact like - "Did you know? I have a free monthly workshop on branding called Branding with Annie. Get a free ticket here!"
Brainstorm a Brand Word Bank and Use it For More Consistent Blogging, Ads, and More: For my branding clients, I write a brand word bank to draw from for those times that you want to sound consistent with your business voice but don't want to hire a writer. By choosing a bank to pull from, you can easily use the same voice and words throughout what you're writing - allowing people to better remember and engage with you and what you do. (Learn how to create brand story attributes like this on your own here).
Switch your About Me page to the 1st Person voice: If you're a solopreneur and your "About Me" page is in the third person narrative aka it reads like "Annie Franceschi blah blah blah" - switch to 1st person. Your "About Me" page is one place people are meeting you for the first time - create an instant connection by using "I" instead of the formal 3rd person tone. For businesses with more than 1 employee, consider switching to "we" for a more personal and direct address.
Create your 30-second Elevator Pitch and Use it Consistently: Nail down how you talk about what you do when you're given 30 seconds to make a formal introduction.
In Part 3: A few more ways to make your marketing more consistent.
Besides what you do visually and in written ways, what else can you do present your business more consistently? I'll be back with Part 3 on the Wednesday post-Thanksgiving to dive in and wrap up this series with a few more tips.
In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday with friends and family!
