Your brand is like a cake, there a so many uniquely chosen ingredients that go into making it taste and look a particular way and we need to get that recipe JUST RIGHT to really get that connection with your ideal client and see some amazing results. Some of the well-known brand elements (or ingredients) are logo, colour palette and of course – your business name. Who wants to hear about them again right? So here are 3 less known but ESSENTIAL brand ingredients that I want you to start considering and implementing from today.

1. Tone of voice

The way in which you communicate with your audience through words or speech. For example, what you say when you greet your client, how you respond to DM’s, what is written on your website? All of these things matter because they say something about who your business is and what people can expect from you.

In practice, this might look like:

If your brand is more formal/serious  you might say/write: “We are honored to have you here”

If your brand is more informal/relaxed then you might say: “We are so so happy to have you here, woohoo!”

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT YOUR TONE OF VOICE:

+ How important is grammar?

+ How do we speak, formal or informal?

+ Are we humorous or serious?

+ Do we sound youthful or mature?

Consider Aesop and Glossier, two brands in the beauty space with very different vibes. Aesop has a more heritage vibe, some could say they are a little serious. In contrast to Glossier who is youthful and fun. Take a look at the difference in their tone of voice in these extracts taken from their website:

Aesop – “A sincere interest in intelligent and sustainable design extends to every aspect of Aesop’s workings.”

Glossier – “We work to create magical experiences for our customers. We strive to earn our community’s trust, and to bring them joy, with each decision we make.”

Top tips:

1. Write down common phrases in your brand tone of voice. For example, write down what you would say to greet a client, write down how you respond to availability requests, write down how you would introduce yourself as the owner of your business, and the way that you describe what it is that you do. Create a list of key phrases that can be read in your brand tone of voice and make sure that this list is distributed to anyone that is working with you (social media managers, team members etc)

2. Imagery style

In the day and age of content, images are everything, and the well-known saying is true “A picture says 1000 words” – so what do you want your pictures to say? The answer to this will look differently depending on your brand but the important thing is that we aren’t choosing random images to use within our brand, we are being intentional about the images we choose. We want to be considering:

• How are we editing these images? Our editing style or filters need to be consistent.
• What type of imagery do we use? Do we show faces or not, from what angle do we take images, do we have accessories in the shot or a blank background, are they fun and chaotic or are they calm and orderly?
• What do these images look like as an overall feel on your social media feed or website? They should have a cohesive feel and visual style so that they complement each other and help confirm what your brand is about to whoever is looking at them.

Top tips: Create a mood board on Pinterest or take screenshots of images you see online and analyze what it is that differentiates and makes this style of photo what it is- what sort of lighting are they using, and what is the crop like? Write down notes on this and try to recreate it. Remember, you won’t nail your imagery style straight away but practice makes perfect!

3. Branded experience strategy

Customers go through an experience with your brand from the moment they first become aware of you to when they are actually with you, experiencing your service or using your product and then during that ongoing relationship. We want this journey to feel cohesive and intentional at every touch point so that our clients know what to expect and feel engaged throughout. If we aren’t creating a branded experience strategy we are missing out on so many opportunities to make our clients feel good and get them excited about buying from us.

When creating a branded experience strategy you might consider the following;

• How do our clients find out about us? Teaming up with particular influencers or advertising in certain places SAYS something about who you are as a business.
• What do they see, smell and hear when they are with us?
• What is important to them when we finish working together?
• What would be the most enjoyable way for them to keep in touch with us?

There is no right or wrong answer to these questions, a good or bad branded experience is how closely we do or do not meet our client’s needs and every client group has different needs (which is why it’s essential to know your target audience, but that’s another blog for another day!)

Want to start making sure that your brand ingredients are on point?

I’d love to invite you to join Brand Creator – my DIY branding club where you’ll become confident and empowered to make the best branding decisions for your business.

www.sugarbranded.com/brandcreator