You may feel like branding is a never-ending work task, like laundry or dishes. And you would be right. There is always something you can add to your branding and marketing or something you can go back and improve upon. 

Not everyone has access to a brand strategist at all times, so we wanted to put together 4 tips to help you make some DIY improvements to your branding. 

Brand Tip #1 Discover Your Ideal Client

The first step to getting major traction from your branding is figuring out who your ideal client is. When you can focus on who you’re specifically trying to reach, everything falls into place so much easier. Visuals, messaging, customer service, social media and more become obvious instead of a struggle.

Business owners are often hesitant to get laser-focused on their ideal customer because they are concerned that it may turn away potential clients. Our single biggest piece of advice is to not worry about it! It’s better (and easier) to catch one salmon than 100 goldfish. 

The work to onboard and the work to advertise is much easier with fewer, better clients. You want to be catching salmon all the time. When your brand starts working for you, you will see more and more salmon coming through the door. How great would it be to work with your favourite client every single day?

Brand Tip #2 Be Consistent

You know who your target market is, you have a brand look, voice, and mission and everything is in place. Now stick to it! Keep your fonts the same, keep your colours the same, keep your photography the same and keep your voice the same.

It’s like muscle memory for your clients. Customers need 5-7 impressions to remember your business. Every time you switch up the look or voice you are resetting that number back to zero. 

It can also reflect poorly on your business. Have you ever had a fabulous experience at a business or restaurant only to go back and it be not so great? How disappointing was that? Did you go back again?

Branding can have the same effect whether it’s something visual, in the messaging or even a policy from head office. 

Brand Tip #3 Get It Out in The World

Get your brand out frequently. How you do one thing is how you do everything. I hate to admit it, but an ugly brand put out often will be far more effective than a beautiful brand that is hidden away. 

The frequency and how you get your brand out into the world will look different for every business, so don’t be too intimidated early on. 

You can always start slow and ramp up — in fact, we recommend it! If you’ve never posted on social media before, start with once a week. If you’ve never sent out newsletters before, start quarterly. You also don’t want to open the floodgates on your poor clients who perhaps hadn’t heard much from you before and now you’re inundating them with stuff! 

This gives you lots of flexibility to see what’s working and what the response is. This gives you the opportunity to figure out where your clients are the most responsive. Do they love TikTok or email newsletters? 

Brand Tip #4 Do Something No One Else is Doing

While some might argue that everything has already been done, there are still unique ideas out there for your industry. Thinking outside the box is the best way to supercharge your brand. 

Are your competitors exclusively advertising on social media? Send out a mail-out coupon, or host an in-store event. Do your competitors send birthday cards? no? Do it then! 

Vehicle wraps, promo products, giveaways, client exclusives, membership programs and more can be unique to your niche. Figure out a creative way to do something that no one else is and use it to gain exposure and visibility.

To get the most out of your branding, you will find the sweet spot where your effort and return on investment will line up. So, step one is to start, then find that spot and don’t stop! It’s okay to test out different things and make tweaks. 

Make sure you are giving your endeavours enough time to come to fruition, especially in terms of blogging and social media. Remember it takes a certain number of impressions for people to recognize you. 

Need Some Extra Help?

If you need some more direction on your brand, check out our brand audit! This fantastic report gives you guidance on where to put your time and energy into your ever-evolving brand.