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Creating content that helps people recognize and remember your business can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be!
Marketing today is all about creating content that sparks curiosity and attracts the eyes of potential clients/customers. This sounds complicated, but I'm here to break it down so it doesn't seem as stressful or confusing!
In this blog post, you'll learn:
What branding is and how it helps people remember your business
What 'creating content' actually means
How to create content without seeming 'salesy'
How to create content that builds brand recognition (plus, content ideas!)
How do you attract more eyes, but also make it easy for people to remember and recommend you? It all starts with a quality product or service. You can have the most eye catching branding, but if it doesn't clearly show the problem you solve, it's not going to convert views to customers. Before investing time creating your brand's look, start first by defining your Target Audience, as well as the top service or products you're wanting to promote.
What problems do they solve? Who is most likely to need them? Where are those people hanging out? This helps you determine the marketing channel you'll want to invest your time in. Once you know this, moving onto defining your colors, look, and feel of your brand will come easier.
What is Branding Design?
The term 'brand' comes from the Scandanavian word "brandr" which means "to burn." By the 1500s, it became common to brand cattle in order to show ownership. The purpose of branding is to 'brand' your marketing and advertising into the mind's of your audience. Branding creates a visual representation of your business, increasing the chances of someone remembering you.
Using a set color palette, font(s), and your logo consistently, is what actually builds visual brand recognition. Having a logo gives your audience something to remember you by. Not to mention it makes it so much easier to create a consistent look when creating the marketing material for your business. Whether that be social media posts, advertising, a website, or even the interior design at an in-person location. When you stick to a consistent color palette, font(s), and use your logo regularly it "brands" your business into the minds of your audience.
If you already have your branding and you're just looking for ideas of what to create and what to use, this post is just for you!
Make sure you have access to all your logo files, the color codes for your color palette, and the fonts that are specific to your brand's style. A great way to make sure you're always staying on brand is to either keep your branding board on your phone or have it printed out in your office space. This allows you to quickly glance at it to make sure everything you're creating has a consistent and cohesive look. Your branding board should include the main logo, a color palette, alternate logos, submarks, fonts, and photos that represent your brands style. Here's a few examples:
What is Content Creation?
Content creation comes in many forms, both written and/or visual. A lot of the times it's social media posts, blog posts, info graphics, email marketing campaigns – the list goes on! The purpose behind creating content is to attract the eyes of your target audience. Before you set out to create content, it's important to understand the buying phases that customers go through before they make a purchase. Keep reading to learn each of the phases!
How to do I Create Content Without Seeming 'Salesy'?
I'm a little obsessed with psychology, but specifically the psychology behind why someone actually purchases a product. There are 3 phases that we all go through before we buy a product or utilize a service, whether we're aware of it or not. Once I learned this, I was able to spot when I was getting sucked into making a purchase because of an Instagram ad! This intrigued me so much I started utilizing it in content marketing research for myself and my clients. Let's break it down:
Phase 1: Curiosity
Before we ever purchase a product, it has to spark our curiosity. Last year I kept seeing an ad for a metal lint roller thing. Over and over I saw videos of people using this lint roller on their carpets, their clothes, their old wool coats. After seeing a number of ads I was intrigued.
Phase 2: Enlightenment
What moves us into phase 2 is when we realize how the product or service is going to impact our lives for the better. When a product clearly shows it can solve the problem we have, we're so much closer to opening our wallets. After seeing videos of this lint roller thing remove hair from the carpet, and clean old wool coats in minutes, I was sucked in. At this point it was just a matter of time before I bought it.
Phase 3: Commitment
Phase 3 is when you're finally ready to buy. Generally, we like to browse or window shop before we make a commitment. We like to learn more about the item or product before we order right on the spot. When creating content, think about what will spark curiosity or what will help them see why your product or service will add value. Unless you're running an ad campaign, social media posts needs to include content that will spark curiosity or add value. If you post 5 days a week, make 4 posts that relate to those first two phases and one that relates to the 3rd. This will ensure that your content is intriguing, adds value, and doesn't seem too 'salesy'.
How to Create Content that Builds Brand Recognition
One great way to showcase how you add value is to share reviews you receive through a social media graphic. I would highly recommend using Canva for this. There are hundreds of templates to choose from, but here's a review template I thought was really pretty for this. Watch the video to see how to edit the template to match your brand's style. Keep scrolling for the written version.
Here's the template I started with:
Here's how I swapped out some of the elements so that it represents my branding better:
Canva has templates for social media posts, invoices, posters, flyers, business cards – the list goes on and on. They have a free version or a paid version that unlocks so many more design tools. Click on this link to get your first month free!
I would highly recommend the paid version. It's worth the price and plus, it's a write off for your business! One of the biggest reasons I love the paid version, is that they allow you to add your brand's colors in the brand kit section. This allows me to open a template and swap out the colors for my brand's colors. After I change the fonts to represent my brand and add my logo, it instantly represents my brand! Below is a screenshot of what it looks like to change out your brand's colors:
The paid version also gives you access to an entire library of gorgeous photos you can use for all your designs. That's how I got the mountain photo with the birds in the background. Another benefit to the paid version is the ability to resize an image. If I wanted to use this review in my Instagram story, instead of a post I would simply resize to the size of an Instagram story. Simply search the size you're looking for and click "Copy and resize":
Here's what it looks like when I resized it:
By extending the background higher and lower you'll get a perfectly sized graphic for your Instagram story:
As you can see, Canva truly makes designing content for your business so much faster and easier. If you're ready to dive into Canva and start designing content for your business, you've got nothing to lose! Click on this link to get your first month in Canva for free!
Happy designing!
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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.