3 Ways To Nail Down Your Brand Message

November 14, 2022

There are a whole lot of theories and how-to guides out there about inspiring more connection with your ideal clients. Perhaps you’ve tried one (or ten) of them… but you’re still struggling to consistently connect with the people you dream of working with. Don’t worry, friend—I’ve seen this time and time again with my sweet branding clients, and there IS a solution! When it comes to consistently and relationally connecting with ideal clients, you might be missing a clear, strategic brand message. 

But what exactly is a brand message?

Your brand message (and how you use it) boils down to how consumers relate to your brand, connect with it, and, ultimately, buy into it. A strong brand message will help you generate a quality connection with your dreamy ideal clients, so your brand can do the most for you and your business. 

When you first start to think about your brand story or brand message, though, it can feel a bit abstract. And as a result, you may not know where to start. But that’s where I come in, friend! 😉

Today, I’m here to demystify brand messaging with three easy-to-follow ways you can gain clarity around your brand story. Let’s get straight to it, shall we?

3 STEPS TO CLARIFYING YOUR BRAND MESSAGE

One of my go-to resources on this topic is the book Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller. This book is such an easy read that can yield big results for your business! It’s action-based and filled with practical prompts to help you create implementable steps for your own brand. You truly walk away from this read with a head full of knowledge and a notebook full of wisdom. Then, you can translate it all into powerful website copy, strategic social media messaging, and so much more.

For the overachievers among us, I encourage you to order this book and dive into it ASAP!

Now, without further ado, let’s demystify the idea of brand messaging in 3 simple steps!

1. POSITION YOUR IDEAL CLIENT AS THE HERO OF YOUR BRAND STORY

Let me be real with you, friend: you should not be in the spotlight of your brand’s story.

Your work, your services and products, exist to serve your ideal clients.

When a potential client or customer comes in contact with your brand story—whether through your website, social media, or any other platform—they should immediately be able to see themselves. This establishes trust and credibility, showing that you understand them and that you are, thus, equipped to meet their needs.

Think about a time you decided to invest in someone. Perhaps it was a photographer, a coach, or even a podcast you chose to listen to (your time is an investment, too!). When making the decision, you were more drawn to brands that saw you where you were in your journey, right?

Brands quickly catch our attention and gain our trust when they speak directly to our struggles and show that their offering can help us move forward with the clarity and purpose we’re seeking.

On the flip side: when you land on someone’s website and it’s all about them and their experiences, you’re more likely to lose interest and look elsewhere. If there’s no room for you in their story, you aren’t going to spend much time making it fit you.

ACTION STEPS: Update your brand’s messaging to speak directly to your ideal client. You want to talk to one individual person. Speak to their needs, their struggles, their hopes and dreams. Show them that you understand where they are and that you’re capable of taking them where they want to go. Think about your differentiators as a creative. What are the things that uniquely equip you to serve your clients? Be sure to show those off!

2. ESTABLISH YOURSELF AS THE EXPERT

So you’ve put your clients at the front and center of your story. Does that mean you don’t have a role at all anymore…? Of course not!

As much your potential clients ought to see themselves in the spotlight of your story, they also need to see exactly where YOU fit into THEIR story.

Our story doesn’t need two heroes. So instead of competing with your client for the spotlight, you want to position yourself as the expert who can come alongside them, helping them navigate their journey toward success.

If you look at my branding page, you’ll see that I speak first to my ideal client; she is the hero of my brand story. As you continue scrolling, you’ll see how I then position myself as the guide to help along her branding journey. This creates the foundation for a relationship with my clients where their specific pain points are seen, heard, and valued. Once that’s established, they can then see clearly how I have the skills, knowledge, and experience to meet them right where they are and help them achieve their definition of success.

ACTION STEPS: Once you’ve established your ideal client as the hero of your brand story, then take your experience, knowledge, and the results you’ve been able to deliver for past clients, and use those insights to express that you are equipped and qualified to guide them on their journey.

3. EMPOWER YOUR IDEAL CLIENT TO REACH THEIR GOALS—AND IDENTIFY JUST HOW YOUR WORK CAN HELP THEM GET THERE

In his book Expert Secrets, author Russell Brunson talks about identifying how our work empowers our ideal clients to move forward with clarity.

He has this action he likes to call “throwing rocks at your ideal client’s enemies.” I absolutely love visualizing the business owner as a guide, helping their clients navigate their journey. It’s almost like stepping in front of your ideal client—who is the hero of your story, of course!—and throwing rocks at whatever is standing in their way of achieving greatness. What a powerful way to think about serving our clients!

Now, let’s take translate this approach to your messaging. While each client is certainly unique, there are also going to be common pain points standing in each of your clients’ ways.

Personally, a lot of my clients’ pain points revolve around the ideas that:

  1. the brand they have is not the brand of their dreams,
  2. their current brand no longer looks or feels or sounds authentically like them, or
  3. their current brand was not built strategically or from the heart.

Each of these obstacles stands in the way of my clients consistently connecting with their ideal client. And, as a result, their businesses struggle to grow the way they have potential to. With that in mind, I use blog posts, sales pages, and even Instagram captions to let my ideal client know that I see where they’re struggling, and, together, we can throw metaphorical rocks at all those obstacles, allowing them to move forward in a more purpose-filled, heartfelt direction by crafting an authentic and strategic visual brand and strategy for their biz.

ACTION STEP: Identify your ideal client’s biggest obstacles, and start throwing rocks at them! Hype your clients up, letting them know that they CAN and WILL achieve all their beautiful dreams. And assure them that you, as the expert, have the tools, experience, resources, and knowledge to guide them through the journey to where they dream of going.

ARE YOU READY TO TRANSLATE YOUR BRAND MESSAGE INTO VISUAL DESIGN?

Let’s face it: our world is communicating more and more visually by the day. So how do you take all of this messaging work and translate it to a visual language that your ideal clients will be able to quickly identify with and feel connected to?

That’s right where I come in, friend 🙂

If you’re longing for a visual brand that effectively communicates your carefully-crafted brand message, then I’d love to chat with you! I specialize in crafting elevated visual brands that enable you to connect authentically with your ideal clients, and it would be an absolute joy to work with you. I’m currently booking custom brand design and strategy projects for 2023, and I have a handful of openings available head here to share more about your business and your vision and how I can help, and I’ll be in touch with the next steps. 

GET IN TOUCH TO TAKE YOUR BRAND TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

P.S. Did you enjoy today’s post or have you found value in another resource that I have shared in the past? You can head here to buy me a coffee, and I would be so honored by your support! I am so thankful you are here, and always cheering you on from Waco!

  1. Rebecca says:

    I’ve been trying to write a new About page for a couple of days and ended up laying it aside because it was feeling forced and disconnected from who I really am and what I’m trying to do.
    But then, I found this article and thank goodness, because this was exactly what I needed to read to inspire an authentic, heartfelt brand story to pour out. I’m so excited to edit it and get it posted on my blog in the next couple of days.
    Thank you so much!
    Rebecca

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My name is Bonnie – I’m a brand designer, strategist, and writer which all adds up to one eclectic conglomeration of qualities that enables me to serve you well! Past clients have dubbed me "the Joanna Gaines of brand design," and I've had more than a few call me a dream maker, a game changer, and a design wizard (my Harry Potter-loving heart didn't hate that one, let me tell you!). At the end of the day, I'm a big-hearted creative who will get teary-eyed as you share the heart behind your business; who will lose sleep over the perfect font pairings and color selections to bring your brand to life visually; and who will work tirelessly to empower, encourage, and equip you to share your work with the world intentionally. 

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