Have you spent months or years honing your brand to reach your target audience with little to no increase in web traffic, leads or sales? I have some good news. No one cares about your brand! As a branding specialist it's not easy to say those words but they are true. Your clients do not care about your brand guidelines, brand personality, brand messaging, brand color schemes, brand mood boards, etc. It may seem a harsh reality, but their main concern is what you can deliver and how it will benefit them or their cause. How your business will save the day for your clients or customers must be the focus of your brand identity.
Branding and messaging does matter, but not in the way we are tempted to think. While the audience doesn't care so much about a company's quirks and cool factor, they do care what that company can do for them. When we formulate our brands we must keep human nature in mind. It is natural for our audience to think of their own needs, their family's needs, their survival, and success first. So as you are creating or recreating your messaging, logo, website, and brand, the focus should be on communicating how you will help save the day for your audience. Now you are speaking their language.
Let me use a recent client as an example. I recently worked with https://www.dunbardentistrypc.com, a local dental practice, to update their logo, branding, photography and website. Dunbar Dentistry is a cutting edge dental practice with amazing doctors, lovely staff, the latest technology, and incredible reviews on google so, of course, we included those details on the website. However, it's very tempting to put all of that front and foremost on the website, but if we had done so, our messaging would be all about... well, ourselves. Remember our customers don't care so much about us. While those accomplishments are important, we must focus on our client's needs first. By putting ourselves in the patient's position we can relate to their needs, what they'd want from a dentist and how they'd want to feel after receiving their dental care. As a dental patient, the ultimate goal is to have a healthy smile that we can enjoy and be proud of and, of course, to avoid pain. All the other details are things we would expect. The key messaging for Dunbar Dentistry is not about Dunbar Dentistry, but rather about the patient. The tagline "Enjoy Your Healthy Smile" is focused on the patient, not the practice. With the messaging focused on the patient's needs and concerns, the audience is excited to engage the call to action because they are now assured we understand and will solve their problem.
You may not be a dentist but you can apply this to your business, organization or non-profit. How do you save the day and help your clients and customers avoid some sort of “pain"? Incorporate this solution into your brand messages and future tweaks to your website. Keep in mind that your audience is trying to find out what you can do for them. Tell them how you can help save their day and help them avoid "pain". Follow up with a call to action and you will soon see your audience happily decide to buy now, call now, schedule an appointment, donate or whatever your call to action may be. How you will help save the day and eliminate pain points for your clients is what should define your brand. By clearly communicating this message to your clients they will naturally identify you as the solution to their need and the sales will soar.
Christen Quakenbush is the founder of www.quakenbushdesign.com and has a passion for Building Brands that Sell through clear messaging and multi-channel marketing.