Big brands are different than the rest of us.
It’s not just their big budgets and large staffs. It’s their tenacious adherence to a brand style.
Consistent presentation of their brand with every email they send, every social media message they share, and every post on their blog means we form a cohesive, trustworthy image of who they are and what they represent.
Luckily, we can do the same thing with our businesses. Tools like the Constant Contact email editor put the power of branding in our own hands.
But with great power comes great responsibility, as the saying goes. So how can we brand our businesses so that — even if they’re small — they look big?
Why “doing your own thing” is a bad idea
Big companies have teams of people who implement their marketing. What if everyone did their own thing?
- Eduardo’s favorite color is green, so all his emails are done in shades of chartreuse, emerald, and forest green
- Vicky likes the goth look, so her emails feature black backgrounds, stark white type, and red accents.
- Roberta loves florescent colors, so the emails she puts together are nice and bright
Of course this doesn’t work.
At best, it’s a waste of valuable time because each employee is reinventing the wheel.
At worst, it causes brand confusion for the recipient, because each piece looks different from the one before.
Instead, big brands develop a style they identify as something that will resonate with the ideal customer they’d like to reach. Then they ensure everyone on the team uses that style consistently.
For us small business owners, it’s easier. If you’re the person who puts together your emails, you just have to be consistent from email to email. If there are several people creating them, you can develop templates that are visually related, and ask the team to use only those templates for emails they create.
How can you find your style?
Developing your brand style isn’t a task that you have to assign to an outside firm. It’s a matter of developing your message, then deciding how to translate that message into a visual representation of your business.
Start by thinking about your ideal customer. Don’t try to appeal to everyone: decide who your very best customers are, and target your emails toward them.
Once you know who you’re aiming for, you can develop colors, fonts, and images that will appeal to them.
That’s easier said than done, but here are a few guidelines:
When choosing your colors, think about the colors your prospects already like. Don’t think about your favorites, think about theirs. One way to discover what they like is to look at the consumer goods they already purchase and pick up color inspiration there.
Look for images that speak to your ideal customer. Different styles of images will work for your ideal customer depending on their age group, gender, and culture. For example, young mothers may enjoy images of family and children. Retired folks might enjoy images that evoke relaxation and new horizons. Athletes will enjoy images of people in motion.
Use a consistent visual style. In addition to using a template with set colors and fonts, use a consistent email header that says who you are and what you do. Remember, yours is just one of the many emails they receive, and a uniform look will help them remember your company and what you offer.
Stick with it, even when you’re bored. I tell my clients that right around the time they’re bored to tears with their visual brand, that’s when their ideal customer is just starting to remember it. So stay the course, even if you’re itching to change: especially if you’re itching to change!
You can do it
Remember, it’s not the job of your prospects to remember your offering: it’s your job to remind them, consistently over time. So pick a style and start implementing it now. That’s what the big brands do, and you can do it, too!
Love the part about don’t change just because you’re bored; even though I tire of presenting the same message over and over, I’m always amazed at how many times people have to get it before they actually “get it”!
It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it, Cindy? You feel like you’re repeating yourself and becoming annoying, but that’s the point where it’s just starting to sink in.
So true…especially in our at-need service business (home care and hospice), a business that nobody even WANTS to think about until they’re forced to because of a crisis situation…many times, months and years after they have been exposed to our messages!
This is a great reminder for every small business – it’s not about you, it’s about them.
I’ll admit that I’ve been spoiled with the majority of my graphic design customers. They’ve let me go free with whatever design I LIKED without giving me a lot of feedback. However, now that I’m getting into the blogging side of the world, I’m discovering that if I take some time and find out WHAT my customer wants and WHY they want it, I can achieve some solid and long lasting relationships.
Thanks again Pamela. I’m looking forward to reading more from you on Constant Contact.
Great observation, Colleen: a little extra time upfront pays off!
It sure does.
Thanks for the info.. I never thought about keeping the same header but it makes sense to me now. Should we change around the body of the message or keep it the same?
Hi Judy!
For branding purposes, I recommend you use the same fonts and colors in your email body and just change the words for each issue. That way each email looks like it comes from the same organization, and your reader recognizes it in the split second it takes them to open it.
i was using different fonts for each article but someone suggested i use the same fonts all through the email. it looks much better and is much more consistent. i really like it better now. i was afraid people would get bored but i realize that i have a “look” that is consistent month after month. so i guess that is like my brand, right?
Consistent fonts help define your visual brand. I’m glad it worked for you!
Hi Pamela,
Your suggestion on choosing colours is interesting. Another way to choosing colours is to use those of your business brand.
This will greatly increase brand recognition as it will reinforce the brand colours in the mind of your customers, clients and prospects.
As colour triggers an emotional response why not do it with your own brand colours. After all they would have been picked to elicit the right emotional response to attract your ideal client.
Hi Karen,
You’re absolutely right: if you already have brand colors, use those in your emails so all your marketing materials look consistent.
I wrote that tip for people who don’t have a brand already so they’d have an idea of how to get started.
We have used all those useful tips with our Mondays are Awesome email blast and the orders are coming in. We started 6 months ago and people at the different functions that we are attending will tell us “I got your Mondays are Awesome, we enjoy getting them.
Persistent,Consistent, Systematic post these three words right above your desk.
That’s great to hear, Dale. Thanks for letting me know about your success!