Ruminating on your true brand

Bovine references are inevitable. Not because the modern marketing of giant corporations sees its audience as cattle that need to be herded into their stores to buy their products.

If you look online for the definition of a brand, you will find a lot of fluff about marketing and brand identity and recognition and the sort. Instead, dig deeper into the Germanic origins of the word. Now that's a hot topic right there. Literally.

So moving forward, excuse the cow jokes, as I teach you how to leave a long-lasting mark on your audience using your red-hot, fiery brand.

When talking about branding, it is very common for people to think about logos, color schemes, and flashy visuals. As such, assume that graphic designers should develop brands. I wouldn't look further than the graphic designers themselves to perpetuate this idea. Sadly, they found out that framing themselves as branding specialists helps them command bigger checks.

But can you blame them?

Take me, for example, I call myself a digital marketing strategist. I'm an ideas man, I can't do your designs, I can't develop your websites. But I can tell you how others should be doing them for you. But you wouldn't want that to be my first impression, would you?

Instead, I attached myself to the word "Strategy". Who doesn't like strategy, and who wouldn't like me? Probably those who sat through their first free consultation with me think I can hash out a whole custom strategy for them in one session.

I'm the guy with the plan, I will draw your roadmap for you. That is my brand.

At this point, some disambiguation is in order.

Making sense of Branding jargon

Recently, I revealed my secret identity (read more about it here). I am in fact, the Batman of marketing. And I am here to save the day and punch a few bad guys. Calling them bad guys might be a stretch, they're more like desperate hustlers using confusion to sell you services you don't need.

There are three aspects of branding that are commonly confused with the overall concept of "brand".

1) Brand strategy

This is the one everybody skips. It is also the one that needs a marketer to develop. I'm starting to see a pattern here...

Your brand strategy includes the answers to all the questions that help you discover who you want to be as a brand:

• Who are you?
• What is your purpose, beyond merely profit or product?
• What difference does it make that you as a brand exist?
• What are the values at the core of your brand, your central beliefs?

For those of you who prefer a less fluffy and more pragmatic version of the objectives that feature in this strategy:

• Understand who you are.
• Identify who you are trying to reach (your target audience).
• Clarify what goods and services you offer.
• Position yourself among competitors.

Once you've developed your brand strategy, it will, in turn, inform your business strategy.

2) Brand Identity

This is what is commonly confused with the overall concept of "Brand". This would include all the visual elements of your brand. But just like the difference between a chef and a dietician, designers can create a gorgeous brand identity, but without the help of a marketer guiding the process, you will most likely end up with a brand identity that is not right for you. Common elements of a brand identity include:

• Your brand name
• Your color palette
• Your typography
• Your brand voice
• Your logo

The physical manifestation of your brand identity would be your brand identity kit. Take a moment to chew on this thought. How many times have you mistaken your brand for this kit right here?

3) Brand style guide

The style guide is a technical document that helps anyone create designs that are cohesive across your whole presence. If you've ever worked with a graphic designer worth their salt, this is guide is one of the first documents they will request from you.

Your brand style guide usually involves sections such as:

• Brand story
• Voice
• Logo usage (especially if you have more than one)
• Imagery
• Color palette (with exact color codes)
• Typography

Unlike your brand identity, this style guide includes technical details such as specific color codes and pairings, sizing, and spacing guidelines for your logos, or whether or not your brand uses Oxford commas.

It can also include negative considerations and things to avoid, to help guide the designer away from wrong implementations.

Great! Where do I start?

Before even thinking about a logo, a color palette, or even a visual aesthetic, you have a lot of marketing homework to do.

Start by defining the "Why" of your existence.

I was once burned by a marketing "guru". So I took it upon myself to learn everything there is to know about marketing so I could do it myself. I found it relatively easy, and I wanted to share it with everyone. This is why I am writing this blog post. This is why I am teaching DIY marketing that doesn't break the bank.

Then, identify those you are trying to reach.

I found my audience on LinkedIn because I realized I was looking for answers on LinkedIn myself. Straight from the mouths of market leaders, those who are busy building successful marketing campaigns and driving revenue to their businesses, not the ones who are pushing me down a sales funnel, hoping to sell me a $397 course.

I found budding entrepreneurs and small business owners looking for ways to learn how to market themselves without having to pay for agencies. I was ready to help them, and they were ready to listen.

Clarify what goods and services you offer

I offer consulting services and coaching programs. I am transparent about my end goal. I try to educate my audience and share my knowledge for free. However, I know that adapting generic knowledge to your particular situation might not be obvious. This is where I come in.

I don't sell knowledge, that is why I share my guides and ebooks for free, not even exchanging it for an email. Because brokers of knowledge are a dime a dozen.

Position yourself among competitors

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are unique, and that we do not have any competitors, but we always do. It is not about what products or services we sell, but what obstacles we help our customers overcome.

While most wouldn't consider car manufacturers competing against bike rental shops, they both are helping their customers move from point A to point B.

In that sense, my competitors are selling generic courses or pushing clients to hire their cheap agencies. Everyone is helping the customer reduce the cost of their marketing.

I am helping you learn how to do your own marketing and giving you a custom plan that suits your needs. My goal is to help you get rid of my services as soon as possible. But most ask me to stick around for more.

Brands can get personal

Don't get scared whenever you hear "personal branding". Nobody is chasing you with a hot poker looking to add "sizzle" to your image. All you need to know is, whether you like it or not, you already have one.

Consider yourself a one-person business and apply everything we talked about in the previous sections. Your brand is the idea that your audience has of you in their minds.

Only if you want to be deliberate about your personal brand and control your audience's perception of you, should you consider following the same steps. Even if your business already has a brand of its own, creating a deliberate personal brand can help you create business opportunities a faceless corporation can never dream of.

This brings us to the end of our fourth marketing lesson. At this point, you are starting to understand that marketing is not all about flashy designs or advertising hacks to increase your revenue. A lot of nuance goes into crafting the right marketing for your business, but it doesn't have to cost you thousands of dollars to achieve.

The knowledge is available to everyone, and with enough time and effort, you can slowly reach where you want to be with your marketing.

But if you're short on time, I can easily help you skip the unnecessary steps. The only drawback is that you won't learn how to market every single business on the planet, just your own. But I think that is a good compromise, don't you?

Now that I have become a full-time freelancer, I will be focusing more on my marketing content. As a result, this series will become a bi-weekly occurrence. My business audience will have to endure with us, you will be reading my rants a little less frequently. But don't you worry, the industry never learns, and I will always find something to expose.

If you are finding this series useful, make sure to let me know in the comments, tag a friend, and tell them about the Batman of Marketing.

Or don't. What do I care? It's not like I need readers and followers.

I'm sure my landlord wouldn't mind if I skipped this month's rent.

Ehem.

Hire me...That is all