Is your brand remarkable? Tips to make it stand out more

The whole point of branding is to highlight the unique properties of your business, so you can strengthen the relationship you have with your specific audience and clients. You need to be demonstrating the reasons why someone should choose to work with you, over all the other options available out there.

To do that, it takes a message, style and way of showing up that is distinct to your brand. If your business is talking and acting in a way that looks like any other business in the same space, then your branding isn’t doing its job. And if that’s been the case with your branding, let’s talk about what you can do to fix it.

Inject more personality

There are no boring businesses. Only boring branding. And just like with people, something that quickly makes a brand boring is a total lack of personality.

You want a brand that people want to hear from. A brand they love to share with others and support. That takes a real connection, and your brand has to be relatable to make that happen. So, give your brand personality traits that make it feel more human and relatable. Click here to try the brand personality quiz.

And once you’ve defined the personality of your brand, make sure you’re shining a light on it. Everything from the tone of voice and expressions you use, to the visual style of your branding… all of it should highlight a strong, consistent personality.

Find that unique combination of brand attributes

Brand personality is one set of attributes that is relevant to your brand. However, there are others you can also define and the combination of all those attributes helps to distinguish your brand from others.

What about the key values that are important to your brand? What are the promises you make to your audience? How do you do things differently than the competition? What’s that desired outcome you deliver to clients?

It’s likely that your services aren’t the one and only of its kind. But when you start to stack those brand attributes on top of what you do — describing how you do things and why — that’s when you start to develop a brand that is unique and different than anything else out there.

Get specific with your audience

The tip is here don’t be vague. Make a stance and stick to it. Pick a niche and serve them faithfully. Let your audience know what you’re all about. Help them recognise that one key message that drives everything you do.

That’s the sort of thing that helps you stand out in people’s mind. The way to do it is to get really detailed in the way you talk about the results you deliver and the outcomes they lead to. Give examples. Paint a clear picture.

You also want to do this with the problem you solve. Describe the pain points your ideal clients struggle with. Tell stories that demonstrate that journey of before and after. Make it so that when the right person comes along, they can see themselves in your branding.

Delight your clients

Branding isn’t all about marketing and drawing in new leads to your business. Your existing clients deserve lots of love as well (arguable even more — they’re the one’s actually paying your bills!).

So, don’t forget to build a client experience that delivers on the promises you made. Make sure that the level of detail and consistency in your branding is as high here as it is anywhere else.

Think about the on-boarding process. The way you communicate with clients. What kind of boundaries do you set? Always go back to your core values, brand personality and the ultimate purpose of your brand and make sure everything you do aligns with those foundational components.

Also read: Why you need to design a great brand experience

Give your business a fresh look

First impressions count. If your business isn’t getting the attention it deserves, it could be time to refresh its design. Maybe you’ve outgrown your earlier DIY or low-cost website and logo, or your current brand identity just doesn’t align anymore with the direction your business has taken.

Visuals do count. You could have a truly impactful offer, but if everyone’s overlooking your business because it doesn’t look the part, then it won’t matter.

It’s all about building an experience and setting expectations for your audience. The design of your branding helps you draw out the kind of feelings and excitement you want them to feel. And not just that, but I think the way your business looks also has an influence on how you feel about your position as the business owner. You want to feel proud of what you’ve build.

Last thoughts

If you’re out there, offering services that help people and improve their lives somehow, then your business deserves to be noticed and admired. But you can’t just expect people to do all the work for you — you’ve got to do your part of build relationships with your audience and show them what makes your business so special. You do that by building a brand that showcases the qualities that make it unique.

I hope these tips gave you some ideas for improving your branding! If you want to start at the basics, by defining the core foundational pillars of your brand (the basis of everything you do in branding) then check out my free PDF workbook.