Latest / Marketing For Tradies / The Importance of Brand Strategy Before Designing a Website

Transcript

The Importance of Brand Strategy Before Designing a Website · Marketing For Tradies

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Designing a website without a brand strategy is kind of like getting in the car, trying to get to a destination that you've never been before, and then just hoping for the best.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: People think about brand, they usually think about the logo.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a part of your brand identity, but it isn't everything that creates a really good brand strategy.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: When it comes to marketing your business, you want to have something that helps you stand out from the market.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: You need to find something that's going to differentiate you.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: This really comes into your brand positioning.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Websites That Convert, the podcast where your website stops being a liability and transforms into your greatest asset.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Shannon, and I'm going to guide you through the strategies and insights you need to build a website that not only attracts but converts.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive in.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about branding.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now we don't market ourselves as a branding agency as such, but it's actually a big part of what we do because branding, the way that your business looks and feels online, really sets the foundation for everything you do to design and develop a high-converting website.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: We recently had a client come to us who had been getting a website created for the past few months with another agency, and unfortunately, it just really wasn't hitting the mark.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: They just couldn't get it to look and feel the way that he wanted it to look and feel, or the vision that he had.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: The reason that it wasn't working and it wasn't hitting the mark was because they hadn't set a good brand strategy out before designing and developing the website.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Designing a website without a brand strategy is kind of like getting in the car, trying to get to a destination that you've never been before, and then just hoping for the best.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know what's going to happen in that situation, you're going to end up taking a few wrong turns.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: You may take maybe double or triple the amount of time to get to where you're wanting to go if you ever make it at all.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So when we have a website client come on, we always do a brand strategy in the beginning.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so in this episode, I'm going to talk you through what a brand strategy is, why you need it, and some things to start thinking about if you're looking to get a website done soon so that you can come in with a good idea of how you want your business to look and feel when a customer or potential customer interacts with your brand online.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: When people think about brand, they usually think about the logo.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a part of your brand identity, but it isn't everything that creates a really good brand strategy.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So your brand strategy is your brand identity, which is the way that your business looks.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: So this is your logo, your colours, your fonts, everything that people can see.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you go to a website, it's using a certain type of font, like I said, or certain colours, social media and all of other marketing collaterals should be using the same fonts and colours.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then your brand positioning is things like your messaging.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: So this comes across in your copy on a website.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So when people are reading the words and the offers that you have, and the way that you're trying to connect with a certain type of target market, as well as your value proposition, so what problems you're actually solving.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: These aren't things that people can see, or they maybe they can see it in terms of like reading the copy, but it's really about the way that they're feeling when they're interacting with your brand and giving them that understanding of what it is that you actually do.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, there are a lot of businesses that don't have a brand strategy, they don't have a consistent brand identity and consistent brand positioning.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens in this situation is like my recent client who came on board, they try and do things in their business and their marketing and it just doesn't hit the mark completely because there isn't that really good foundation of what it is that you want your business to look like and the way that you want it to feel.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: But as well as that, it creates inconsistencies and confusion with your target market.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact is that if people are confused, they're not going to trust you, and people don't trust you, then they're not going to buy from you.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, in order to create a brand strategy or some things to start thinking about if it's something that you feel that you need, well, the first thing is to understand your market.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, who is it that you're trying to serve?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the demographics of these people, like where they live, their age, just those basic things about them, but also what problems and challenges that they're facing.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So these two things will help you understand a little bit more deeper who you're actually trying to target.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And remember that your branding and your brand strategy, your brand identity and your brand positioning is all about how you're connecting with the market.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you do want it to be something that you like, and it's really important to create something that you're proud of.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: But when it comes down to it, it really is about how effective it is in connecting with the people you want to attract into your business.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: So get to know who it is that you're trying to target, understand the kind of businesses they're already interacting with, the basic information about them, like their demographics, but also their problems, challenges, and pain points.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So you can tailor your branding, your brand identity, and your brand positioning to what it is that they enjoy interacting with.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing you can do when creating or trying to develop a brand strategy is to establish a unique selling point.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: So when it comes to marketing your business, you want to have something that helps you stand out from the market.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: So every single industry has hundreds or thousands of competitors.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to find something that's going to differentiate you.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: This really comes into your brand positioning, but look at what everyone else is doing, look at what you're doing, and find something that you can kind of pinpoint to say this is something that we do different or we do better.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't have to be this grand, elaborate thing.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: It may just be something simple like you're the most reliable business in the market, you offer a specific type of service, you have something that's just unique compared to everyone else, or you do something better.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: So find this thing, and that will be your unique selling point or your differentiating factor, and then we'll use that as a part of your brand positioning and how we're kind of positioning you and your business with your website if it's something that you're getting created.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: The third thing I'd recommend if you don't have a brand strategy and you want to get a website created is make sure that you choose to work with someone who can help you with this side of things.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: So when we have a client come on board, it isn't always that we're creating branding from scratch and they don't have anything and we need to start all over again.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, the majority of people that we work with already have a logo and maybe some colours or things like that, but we get all these pieces and create this brand strategy so that there's consistency in all of your marketing and so that when the website gets created, there's this really good foundation in terms of the way that your business is going to look and feel online.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, because a lot of people will interact with your website, whether they're ready to buy or they're just curious about what you offer, making sure that your brand is consistent across all marketing channels, especially your website and social media, is going to establish more trust and credibility with your market.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And in turn, this is going to result in more sales and authority for your business.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So in this episode, I've talked about why you need branding, especially if you're getting a website created, what brand strategy, brand identity, and brand positioning is, and what you can do if you don't have a brand strategy right now and making sure that you have one or get one created as a part of your website design process.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope this has been helpful in understanding more about branding and why you need it for your business.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Websites That Convert.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you found value in this episode, please give us a five star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Follow us on all social media, and if you're a service based business owner that's looking to double their website conversions, book a call with my team using the link below.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you in the next episode.