Step #1: Know Yourself

Getting to know YOU, Getting to know all about YOU…

You eat, breathe, sleep and sweat your business. It’s such a part of you, and you a part of it that it can be hard as heck to take a step back and really develop an objective brand strategy.

But, your company’s brand exists whether you’ve put thoughtful effort into framing it, or not. Your brand is in the hearts and minds of your customer. Your brand is their perception. And your opportunity lies in the framing of that perception.

So brand strategy is important. Emphasis on strategy. If you have a strategy, you can avoid random acts of marketing that only waste your precious marketing dollars. If you have a strategy, you can effectively say the right things in the right way to the right people at the right time. The results? Stronger brand recognition. More of the right people through your door.

In order to build a solid brand strategy you have to get at the heart of why you do what you do. The why is your promise; the why gets to the root of your brand’s emotional appeal. As author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek says customers, “buy why you do what you do, not how you do it.”

So, It’s time to get to know…you.

Reconnect with your why.

Start by looking at the mission, values, character, and culture of your company. Do you know what they are? Do you know what you want them to be? Do you have a company mission and vision statement?

Now, how do you want to be perceived? What emotions do you want your company to elicit from your current and prospective customers?

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? How might you turn your weaknesses into strengths?

What are the benefits you provide to your customer? How do you make their lives better? What are their problems, and how do you solve them?

See where we’re going? Dig deep.

Conduct a brand audit. Self assess. Understand what you’re putting out there.

Brand audit? Here’s the skinny: Gather up every communications piece your company puts into the market, and spread it all out on a conference room table. Print out the homepage of your website, a copy of your online newsletter or blog post, phone scripts, and your email signature. Pull out all of your brochures, stationary, envelopes, letters, postcards, etc. Spread them out, give them a good look, and ask yourself these questions:

Are your materials visually consistent?
Same logo across the board? Same color palette? Because they should be.

Are your materials verbally consistent?
What’s your overarching message? Are you saying the same things on your website that you’re saying in your newsletter and brochures? Because you should be.

How professional do you look and sound at every client touch point?
Is your logo fuzzy on your flyers? Do you have typos in your copy?

Now connect the why with what you’re putting out there.

You want to be sure that what you’re putting into the market is completely aligned with the mission, values, character, and culture of your company. Communicate the promise that you deliver. Do you look and sound as professional, capable and remarkable as you are? Are you proactively framing the conversation about your company and shaping those desired perceptions or are you simply reacting?

Be honest, be brutal.

This type of exercise may seem cumbersome and time consuming, but think of it as an important investment in your company. Build morale and camaraderie by creating buy-in as you get team members involved in the branding process. Your people will have different and often surprising perspectives about the brand.

We find that this exercise helps companies connect back to their mission and what’s most important. They have fun rediscovering their why and and takes them out of the day-to-day and inspires. It also provides the foundation for their organization’s brand strategy.

Get to know yourself – we mean REALLY get to know yourself – and you’ll be on your way toward better branding.