2 Must-Haves for Brand Messaging that Attracts your Ideal Customer and Increases Revenue

2 Must-Haves for Brand Messaging that Attracts your Ideal Customer and Increases Revenue

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Back in 2016, when I wasn't making any money in my business, I worked for about eight months to build my business; the website, the backend, the tech, the systems, all the things. And I didn't have any clients. 

That's when I realized that the approach to branding was completely backward and that we really needed to focus on, as entrepreneurs are the different pieces in order to build the foundation of our brand. And then, once the foundation is set we can create things like the website, the offers, and sign clients.

It’s one of the reasons I created my signature course, You! Branded to encompass all of this.

In my quest to build a better brand, I began to learn more about the power of strong brand messaging.

I quickly discovered it was the missing piece so many entrepreneurs weren’t giving enough attention to. We find ourselves wondering, “Why isn't my stuff converting? Why are people going to my sales page and not buying? Why are people opening my emails and not clicking?" 

And it always comes back to messaging, which of course is part of the branding process.

Understanding how to message is key if you plan on running any sort of business, but especially if you have an online business. Because the content that you're creating, the emails that you're sending, the sales pages, that's how you're communicating. That's kind of it. 

So, you need to make sure that what you're saying is doing what you want it to do. What you're saying is actually leading to the sale.

In this blog, I’m going to clear the air and remove the overwhelm that comes with Brand Messaging and give you my top 2 must-haves when crafting brand messaging that works!

If you prefer to watch the video training, just scroll down to watch!

WHAT IS BRAND MESSAGING

Brand messaging is how you communicate the purpose of your brand, the problem that it solves, what you do, the work that you do, and the products that you have in a magnetic way. 

It's not only about attracting the right people, it's also leading them, and converting them to the offer. It's about bundling it all up in a clear, specific and concise way.

People are always telling me, "I want a better way to communicate what it is I do to my audience so that they want to do it." 

And I'm like, "That is brand messaging." It's all about communication.

The mistake people make with their brand messaging is just focusing on what they do. They craft messages that say, "This is what I do. This is what I create. This is how many modules there are," and they don't focus on why those things are important. 

Their focus is, “Well, this is how I'll help you, and this is what I'll do with x, y and z”, and not focused on why their audience cares about those things in the first place. 

What your audience really wants to know is how what you say you're going to do will benefit them. Because when we're going into buying something, yes, we might be looking for specific things, but we want to know it's going to solve our problem and it's going to help us get to the end result that we want.

I know that might seem like a lot to include, you might be thinking, "How do I communicate all of that?" but it truly is quite simple.

WHERE TO USE BRAND MESSAGING

Brand messaging can be and should be designed for your brand as a whole. This is something that I teach inside of my programs and referred to as Core Brand Messages.

It's this idea that your brand as a whole solves a very specific problem for your ideal customer, and you need to understand why solving that problem is important to your ideal customer. 

But then, you can also create different variations of that or even more specific messages for a particular offer, for a landing page, for a webinar, for a sales page, in an email, etc...

For instance, I have core brand messages for Brandmerry as a whole. But then, my program, Brandmerry Academy, which focuses specifically on marketing and teaching people how to market their business, has very specific messages on marketing. I don't talk about the basics of starting a business because we're focused on marketing. 

I reserve those types of messages for my program Roadmap to Freedom.

Strong messaging is used everywhere and anywhere you want to sell something, and following this brand messaging framework will make your life way easier.

BRAND MESSAGING FRAMEWORK

Excellent messaging always comes back to knowing your audience. So, even though I’m going to share with you a framework for your messages, I want you to remember the language you’ll use will come from what you know about your ideal customer.

We can't craft messages that convert, sales pages that sell, email campaigns that email, we can't do any of that if we don't know how to communicate to our audience.

I think copywriting is such an art. And so many people are like, "Well, I'll just hire a copywriter. I'll just get to a place when I hire a copywriter." But you're never going to get there if you don't know how to do it now yourself. 

There are people who are incredibly skilled at writing copy, and they freaking own that. They're just masters at it. But, everyone at the bare minimum needs to just understand how to communicate to their audience. And that's really what messaging is. And as you can see, so much of your messaging working is reliant on understanding who you're talking to and then letting them tell you what they want and the language that they use and plugging that into your copy.

The framework, once you have the market research, is actually quite simple.

The brand messaging framework includes what you do, the problem you solve and why it’s important.

PART ONE: WHAT YOU PROVIDE

You need to note that it’s not just one thing, otherwise you’d have one brand message. What you do needs to be broken down into pieces. Think about your framework, modules you offer, modalities, techniques or just the flow you lead your client through. 

PART TWO: WHAT PROBLEM DOES IT SOLVE

Taking it back to the ideal client work, understanding the struggles/ pains of your ideal customer is huge. When you know what they want to avoid or what they are working towards you can use that to share how what you do will help them achieve that.

This is the second stage of messaging to say, “This is what I do so you can…”

PART THREE: ADDING THE REAL BENEFIT AND URGENCY

This is all about why your audience should care and why it’s important. This is the sweet spot of brand messaging and the difference between someone working with you and someone not working with you, someone buying your course and not buying your course, someone buying your product and not buying your product. 

If they aren’t clear on how investing in this will serve them, they won’t do it!

BRAND MESSAGING EXAMPLES

These are examples of messages I’ve been using since 2016 when positioning my brand and various products. 

I want you to pay attention to how the framework is presented in each of them.

Example 1: Follow my signature uncover-your-story framework so that you can identify the most impactful stories for your brand as a whole and how to showcase them as part of your brand experience. 

So much of what my audience struggles with is storytelling. I know that that's a pain point, so I'm solving the problem with that. I'm letting them know how they can choose their stories, which is a huge pain point for my audience. Then, I'm telling them that the benefit is that they're going to be able to use storytelling in their branding experience. And of course, they're learning my brand framework.

Example 2: Create your core brand messages by tapping into your story and purpose so that you can remain consistent and build trust, making selling about connection and not being pushy. 

If you're reading my sales page, you're like, "What's a core brand message? I'm so interested in that." I'm going to tell you how you're going to do it. It's all about storytelling and purpose, which is part of my superpower. That's what differentiates me from other people who teach messaging. And specifically, we're going to talk about building trust, which is important to my audience. And the biggest pain point that they want to avoid is sounding sleazy or salesy or pushy when it comes to selling. I know that y'all hate this, and so I'm using that in my marketing.

Example 3: Create a program that delivers on your goal of helping your ideal client reach their desire and learn how to structure and price your offering in a way that speaks directly to your clients so that they are eager to invest again and again. 

They're going to learn how to create a program, specifically in alignment with their desire. A program that helps their ideal customer. My audience, people who buy my products are mission-driven, purpose-driven. So they want not just an offer to sell, but something that's really going to serve their ideal customer. And they struggle with structuring their offer, pricing their offer, and their end goal is to consistently sign clients that invest again and again.

These are three messages that are part of my brand as a whole. Three of them are used on my You! Branded sales page. And I think I have some of them on my Roadmap to Freedom sales page and various places in my business.

BRAND MESSAGING GUIDELINES

2 Must-Haves in Your Brand Messaging

Let’s talk about two brand messaging guidelines.

1. SOLVE A PROBLEM

Every single message that you create has to talk about the problem. It has to address the problem. People pay to eliminate a problem and since you're in business you want to make sure you understand the problem of your ideal customer.  No matter what you sell your customer has a bunch of problems that you solve with your product or service.

Your brand as a whole solves one main problem, and that's your niche, but then you've got all these other problems that your audience is experiencing that you want to address in your messaging. 

Not only are you letting them know that you get them and you know what they're experiencing, but you also are very blatantly like, "Hey, I know you have this problem, and I'm going to help you solve it."

2. THE BENEFIT

The benefit is telling your audience specifically what solving the problem will get them. You'll see a lot of that so-that-you-can messaging in marketing, and the reason is it works like a freaking charm. 

This is the extension to brand messaging that so many people forget. When thinking of this piece you want to consider the end goal for your ideal customer, how solving the problem will benefit them and the desires they are wanting to achieve.

That's what you want to make sure is crystal clear. That is what leads people to actually buying your product, your service, your offer.

Your audience really wants to know what's going to make their life easier, what's going to get them closer to their end goal or their desire, how is fixing this going to manifest itself in their everyday life. 

Let's say you teach meditation and you're like, "You're going to learn my 15-minute meditation to handle any stressful situation that comes up at work." 

Okay, fine. But if they handle that stressful situation at work, what does that give them?
Is it so they can go about their day and not bite their coworker's head off? 
Is it so they don't go home completely stressed out and then take it out on their family? 
Is it so they can be more productive and get more work done? 

What is the end result? It can't just be stress-free. What does stress-free look like in your ideal customer's life?

CONCLUSION

Brand messaging is so important, and you really need to make it a top priority for your business.

Remember, brand messaging is how you communicate what you do, but more specifically, why it's important to your ideal customer and how it's going to benefit them. 

And most importantly, you want to make sure that every single message that you create, one, talks about the problem that they're experiencing so that they know that you're going to help them solve that problem…

...and two, the benefit. 

It's not just, "I'm going to help you solve this problem." It's that by solving this problem, you will be able to...

Really focus on this extension!

P.S. A great place to gain clarity on your Brand Messaging and how to market it is inside of The Brandmerry Academy. Learn more and sign up before the end of 2020 here >>

Want to watch the full training? Watch below. This video was recorded as part of Mondays With Michelle which airs every Monday at 4 pm CST.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Facebook Group Marketing: Why I Don’t Recommend it and What to do Instead

Facebook Group marketing used to work, and for some people with endless amounts of time and serious patience, it could possibly work.

But, here’s the thing business and marketing shouldn’t be hard and it definitely shouldn’t be that time-consuming.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with the need to come up with fresh content daily and schedule 10-15 minutes to engage in Facebook Groups.

Struggle to find Facebook Groups where your ideal client is genuinely engaging and not just there to pitch their services as well.

Feel a bit defeated that the strategy that seems to work for so many ISN’T working for you.

Keep reading because I’m about to save you so much time and energy.

FACEBOOK GROUP MARKETING

Back in 2016, I started my first Facebook Group. I wanted it to be a place for my ideal customers to come together, share my content and expertise, build trust, and of course sign clients.

I freaking loved it, but in 2020 I closed my group due to changes in marketing and the new and more advanced platforms available to me.

Plus, even though I started my Facebook Group in 2016, as a way to build the community I didn’t neglect my email list. They grew together in size and as I started to pay more and more attention to conversions I saw that my email list converted better than the group AND didn’t take as much of my precious time.

Facebook Groups (i.e. having your own as a way to build and form a community) still works, but don’t neglect to build your email list as well.

But, having your own Facebook Group is not what this is about - it’s about plopping yourself in other Facebook Groups, owned typically by entrepreneurs or organizations, and pushing your content out.

CLIENT ATTRACTION MARKETING

The reason this marketing strategy doesn’t work comes down to two reasons.

Reason #1: Facebook Groups have changed. While you use to be able to engage, post your own content with links to your website, share your videos and your freebies, it’s typically not allowed anymore.

You find yourself creating content to build trust in a community that really isn’t there for you, posting your freebies and offers on a Share thread every week in the hopes someone might message you, click your profile, and land on your website.

Reason #2: Facebook Group marketing is a push strategy, rather than a pull strategy.

Push means blasting your information, your story, and your expertise onto people. People who may or may not be your ideal customer. It’s like casting a line into the ocean and hoping you catch the right fish that will pay you for your services - the odds aren’t great.

Pull strategy (or client attraction marketing) is about pulling in the people searching for your services, products, and expertise. Not only do you experience a higher conversion rate, but it’s easier on you!

4 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

So what do you do, if you’re not posting multiple times a week in a Facebook Group and carving out 10-15 minutes daily to engage, how do you grow your email list?

Here are 4 things to consider when choosing your marketing strategy:

1. FOCUS ON GETTING IN FRONT OF YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER

As with all marketing you want to make sure you’re putting your efforts (i.e. content) in front of your ideal customer. This is why ideal client work is so important and one of the key pillars I teach inside of Roadmap to Freedom.

Choosing your platforms for marketing is about where your audience is hanging out. And I don’t mean just where they are looking for your services, more on that later. I mean where do they spend their time? With the right strategies, you can reach them!This is why I love Pinterest. Pinterest has 416 million active monthly users on its platform and while most people are using it for fun, it’s one of my favorite ways to land content in front of my ideal customer.

Pinterest counts for 90% of my website traffic and last month that was $18k individuals.

2. GO WHERE THEY ARE SEEKING YOUR SUPPORT

Another thing to consider is where people are looking for tips and tools as it relates to your industry. This is why it’s so important to put your content on a search engine optimized platform (think Google/ Blogging, Pinterest, and even YouTube).

When people are searching for your information, it means they are further along in the buying process. They understand they have a problem and are in the process of exploring options to fix the problem.

This is why every entrepreneur needs to be showing up on a search engine optimized platform!

3. DON’T NEGLECT THOSE READY TO BUY

Speaking of the buying process, do you have marketing measures in place to get in front of people seeking our services specifically? 

If not you are missing out! This is where sitewide SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes into play and is necessary for every single business, no matter what you sell.

When you correctly optimize SEO you’re able to rank on page one for your industry and your products, therefore bringing in people who are ready to purchase.

Google ranking is the reason my 1:1 services have been booked for an entire year and why I teach my clients how to do it as well inside of Roadmap to Freedom.

4. BUILD STRONGER BRAND AWARENESS

Aside from the amazing tips above, most of which revolve around search engine platforms, it’s important to take into account brand awareness and longevity. 

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have content that expires too quickly. You’re lucky if your content shows up in the feed after 24 hours, and if we’re talking Facebook Groups it’s more like 15 minutes.

When you’re taking the time and energy to create content, don’t you want it to last?

When you focus on the platforms I’m sharing below, your content can last years! 

Seriously, I have blogs that are still getting consistent traffic from Pinterest and Google since 2017.

In order to create a sustainable business, you need to think about the longevity of content.

MY TOP 4 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST AND INCREASE REVENUE

Maybe you’ve already caught on to my absolute favorite marketing platforms, but let’s recap.

1. Google (SEO + Blogging): Your site needs to be set up and optimized for the Google search engine as a way to attract ideal customers who are further along in the buying process. The beautiful thing is with site-wide SEO you don’t need to keep updating it!
   
   

2. Pinterest (Blogging): This combination is my favorite, seriously I’m in love. Writing a weekly high-value blog post and sharing it on Pinterest is a great marketing strategy. Not to mention it takes less time and energy than posting daily in groups or on social media.
   
   

3. Youtube: As I mentioned before Youtube is a search engine platform featuring videos. If you’re a video person, using Youtube to get in front of your ideal customer can be huge for business. Don’t forget as with all these strategies optimizing for search is essential, you have to know what titles, keywords, descriptions, and more work to see a return.
   
   

4. Instagram Video: I couldn’t do a blog on marketing and not speak about the awesome changes to Instagram within the last year. Now, while I don’t recommend Instagram being your main platform, it’s an awesome way to build brand awareness, specifically with video. Video content (think IGTV, Stories, and Reels) has a longer lifespan with the algorithm, and with Instagram’s desire to increase watch time, more likely to end up on the Explore page or be discovered via hashtags.

CONCLUSION

If you’re not already using one of these platforms it’s time.

If you’re currently feeling overwhelmed with content creation, growing your list and marketing in general...it’s time.

And the good news is you don’t have to do it alone. You can learn all of these strategies, the tech and how-to’s inside of my signature program Roadmap to Freedom.

Learn more at brandmerry.com/freedom!

PS: Roadmap to Freedom doors are opening soon! This live group program will help you create an online business that allows you to create a life of abundant experiences and impact.

This high-touch program helps you simplify the process so you can make more money on your terms. And, the 2023 cohort is going to be better than ever with updated content, lifetime access, new bonus content, and more! Join the waitlist and be the first to join in January 2023.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Get Paying Clients in 2022 (without posting on Instagram or Facebook)

3 Ways to Get Paying Clients in 2022
(without posting on Instagram or Facebook)

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Since the start of my business, in 2016, I've been offering one on one services (aka private coaching). In fact, it was the very first thing that I did to make money. 

I started my business with the idea that I wanted to leave my nine to five to be home with my son, but I didn't come into being an online entrepreneur with any knowledge of being an online entrepreneur. 

I didn’t know all about courses and group programs at the time, but I could wrap my head around 1:1 services.

I also learned pretty quickly that the fastest way for me to grow, because I was starting from scratch with no email list and no following, was to start taking high-level one on one clients.

I used this method to not only gain experience and testimonials but to ultimately build my framework which I now teach inside all of my programs.

FILLING MY 1:1 IN 2017

You can probably relate to some of these old school ways of marketing your services. I did them all and while they might have worked in 2017, they don’t work the same way today.

Yet, so many coaches, mentors and course creators are still teaching them. Now, don’t get me wrong if you’re open to posting 15-30 minutes every day they might still work for you, but I’d reached a place in my life and business where I knew there had to be a better way than me living on social media.

In 2017, I would spend a few hours (typically three) at the beginning of the week planning out and writing my content. Then every day I would spend 15-30 minutes posting in Facebook Groups and engaging.

Some of these groups allowed me to post links and some didn’t, but the end goal was the same - try and find my ideal customer and provide enough value that they are intrigued enough to reach out.

And don’t get me started on friending people from groups and messaging them.

If you’re struggling with these strategies in 2021, or maybe just getting started and don’t want to spend your time in Facebook Groups or social media daily, I promise there is another way.

THE CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS

The consumer buying process is made up of six stages:

1. Problem Recognition

2. Information Search

3. Evaluation of Alternatives

4. Purchase Decision

5. Purchase

6. Post-Purchase Evaluation

The majority of strategies being taught online, in courses and programs focus on selling at the Program Recognition stage. While you absolutely can make a sale at this stage, it’s a lot of freaking work.

What entrepreneurs should be focused on is signing clients who are at the Information Search or Evaluation of Alternatives stage. I share more about this in this video here.

The strategies I’m sharing below focus on attracting people who are ready to invest and searching for the solution to the problem your products and services solve, typically on Google.

THREE STRATEGIES TO GET PAYING 1:1 CLIENTS

1. SITE-WIDE SEO AND GOOGLE RANKING

Now, I’m separating Blogging (SEO) from Site-Wide SEO because they attract people at different stages of the buying process.

Site-Wide SEO is for people searching for your products and services and possibly even your title. It’s the SEO you want to create for your website as a whole and your homepage.

This requires some research to find what people are looking for as it relates to your business and location if you are local.

Here’s another blog post on three ways to improve SEO on your website.

This simple change has brought in the most “ready-to-pay” clients to my business over the past two years and requires little to no energy on my part.

Remember, SEO for your site doesn’t need to be updated often, it’s an awesome set-it strategy and the results of your ideal customers, looking for your specific offer, ready to buy is amazing for business. SEO is so powerful it’s one of the strategies I teach inside my membership Brandmerry Academy.

2. BLOGGING AND SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Another strategy I love is serious blogging. Now, why do I say serious?

Because I’ve been blogging since 2016 when I started my business, but it wasn’t until I took the time to do my research on topics, titles and keywords that my blogs started working for me and my business.

Blogging is an awesome tool to bring in clients looking for tips, tricks and solutions to their problem and while they might now know they need your service right now, they are eager to learn more.

By creating high-quality blogs you’re able to showcase your expertise and build trust with your ideal customer.

Optimizing your blogs requires three things:

1. Optimizing for SEO (so you begin to show up in Google searches)

2. Optimizing it for Pinterest (more on that in a minute)

3. Optimizing it for email subscribers

Optimizing for SEO requires you to do research BEFORE you write your blog. Choosing a title and keywords that people are searching for is how you’ll rank higher on Google and drive more traffic. This research stage is crucial and many entrepreneurs go about it the wrong way. It’s just another training available inside Brandmerry Academy and clients love it!

Optimizing for email subscribers means that every single blog post has a way for someone to join your email list. This is typically a freebie or lead magnet and that they get in exchange for their name and email.

This is crucial because if someone is finding your content and they aren’t ready to buy, they at least get to hear more from you and you have an opportunity to build trust for when they are ready.

3. PINTEREST TO PAYING CLIENT

My favorite strategy by far and results in the most traffic to my website every single month. About 90% of my monthly traffic (average 20k visitors) comes from Pinterest.

I seriously think it’s the secret weapon for online entrepreneurs and one I teach inside of my program Brandmerry Academy because it is so powerful!

Pinterest pulls it all together, utilizing the power of SEO and giving your blogs some where to go and be seen.

If you’re blogging you need to be using Pinterest because this platform will allow you to extend the life of your content (I have blogs driving traffic to my site from 2016) and help with your Google ranking because of the consistent traffic.

I’m not going to lie, Pinterest can be tricky and more entrepreneurs don’t know what they are doing, but when you get the hang of it, it’s magic.

You’ll learn all you need inside of Brandmerry Academy, but if you’re wanting to get started on your own here are some tips:

1. Blog at least once a week

2. Make sure each blog post has at least one Pinterest Image

3. Optimize the image, title and description for Pinterest (this might be different than Google)

4. Create 5 additional pins and link them to your blog post through Pinterest. Schedule those posts using a tool like Tailwind.

CONCLUSION

I’m booked every month and in advance for my 1:1 services because I’ve fully embraced these three strategies above. 

I love them because not only do they save me a ton of time, but they also result in more growth of my email list (via organic traffic) and sales for my other courses and programs.

If you already have a brand and a foundation for your business, but ready to master your marketing, I invite you to check out Brandmerry Academy. Doors are opening soon.

If you’re just starting out, I see you! You want to focus your energy on setting a strong brand foundation all your marketing efforts work for you! You can learn more about building a better brand with my free pdf download 👇

Watch the Free Marketing Class

Watch the entire video training of this blog + some additional tips below.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Stand Out in a Saturated Market

3 Ways to Stand Out in a Saturated Market

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

The saturated market.
The crowded marketplace.

If you’re anything like me, in my first year of business, you probably felt (or feel) that there are a lot of people talking about the same thing as you!

Maybe you’ve looked around at your competition and felt like a tiny fish in a big sea of successful entrepreneurs.

You might see someone post something similar to you and get more engagement and question if you’re doing anything right.

I see this happen the most in the niching down process, typically in the very beginning, when we're like, “Alright, what is it? What’s my market? What do I call myself? What’s my title? Who do I want to work with? How will I introduce myself?”

This feeling can also come up when you're creating an offer.

I see entrepreneurs who really get wrapped up in the fact that somebody already has this offer that they want to create. 

The reality is there are a lot of offers out there, but just because someone has a similar offer doesn’t mean they teach it in the same way as you will, or serve the same audience.

What I’m trying to say is no matter what stage of business you’re in you’re most likely going to experience this feeling that there isn’t space for you.

So today, I want to share three ways to stand out!

A SATURATED MARKET

Having done this for four years, I have seen this fear of fitting in or this fear of not being able to stand out, keep women that I have been in programs with from building successful businesses and I've watched it keep my students from it as well. 

Because the reality is, this isn't a strategy thing. 

If you don't believe that you have space in your industry if you don't believe that you belong here, that you can be successful in your niche that you can attract the people that you want to attract - it won't matter what new cool strategy or course or thing that you implement. 

So you have to believe that there is space for you. 
Because there is space for you. 

I mean, statistically, there are a lot of people in the world. There are so many people that need your services, that need your products, that need your offerings, that haven't found their person yet, haven't found their brand, yet.

This happens to me daily, I get messages from women that say, “I've been looking for branding advice. I've been all over the internet, and I haven't found somebody that resonated with me. And then I found your website.”

This is why it’s so important to show up and own your space, even if there are a lot of people!

It’s not about the people already doing the work, they don’t dictate your success!

YOU DO and so does your marketing!

3 WAYS TO STAND OUT IN A SATURATED AND CROWDED MARKET

1. IDENTIFY AND OWN YOUR STORY

There are so many reasons why I love story work and incorporating storytelling into your marketing, but one of the reasons it’s so powerful is what it gives you.

Identifying and owning your story allows you to tap into who you are, what makes you different, what you value, your mission and ALL of this is what sets you apart from others. 

Owning these parts of your story and incorporating them into every aspect of your business, especially marketing, which is essentially where you want to stand out is key.

At the beginning of my business, storytelling was all I had. 

I’d share stories as they happened, as I built my business, as I made mistakes. 

I’d share more of who I was to build trust with my growing community and it worked.

I’ve said it many times but the thing that separates you from someone with a similar audience, similar offer is your story. This is why the first module in my program Roadmap to Freedom is all about your story and niche.

If there's one thing that sets you apart from somebody else in your niche, somebody else in your industry, it's your specific experiences. 

It's the things that have happened to you, for you in your life, the journey that you've been led on because no two people have the same story. 

And yet so many entrepreneurs miss out on this golden opportunity to share their story as a way to separate themselves from the “competition.”

The beautiful thing about your story is it’s already inside of you, you don’t need to do anything special to start sharing it, except take the time to identify the key pieces that are relatable to your audience.

2. IDENTIFY YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE

86 percent of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support. (Stackla, 2019)

People want to buy from authentic and transparent brands more now than ever before.

Why? Because the market is crowded. 

We think the markets are crowded as the one selling, think about what your ideal customer thinks as the one who is purchasing?

They start looking for something to solve their problem and then they have all of these options and they're trying to figure out who to choose. 

Who do you think they're going to be pulled to? 

The person that is going to solve their problem of course, but more specifically the person who seems relatable, trustworthy and authentic, right?

I was having a conversation with a Roadmap to Freedom client the other day on our group call and she was expressing this feeling of not standing out, of just contributing to the noise. 

We chatted about her methods, framework and ultimately who she was. 

Finally, I said, “Why did you decide to work with me?” 

She and the other ladies rattled off a bunch of reasons why each of them decided to invest in my brand and program, each of them saying something different.

That’s because it’s not one thing that gets everyone on board; it's the combination of you owning your story and sharing your authentic voice with the world and your ideal customers picking up on the pieces that resonate most with them. 

It comes from understanding your story, but it also comes with time. 

You're going to step into your authenticity, the more that you show up and create content. 

The more that you show up, the more those pieces of your personality will start to shine. 

When I started my business, I was doing live video from the very beginning.

I’d read all kinds of resources that told me how to say hi, when to make the pitch, how to prepare, how to write my script, what lighting and background to use.

And every time I’d feel like something was off and not ME.

I started to worry less about the script and the background and started showing up when I was inspired. I’d go live in the car, on walks, with a kid on my lap, whatever I needed to show up for my community and not worry about what it “looked” like.

This style still serves me today! I know I have something to share, I’m excited and I let that speak for itself and my audience doesn’t need a perfect background with perfect lighting to get what they need from it.

Is it for everyone?
Nope.
But it’s for my people and ideal customer.

One of the best things that you can do in finding your authentic voice and finding your authenticity is to show up consistently, find the quirks and things that make you...you.

But consistently showing up you’ll start to see what people are responding to and you’ll give more of that. 

When I would live stream with Cal, all my mompreneurs loved it, so I kept going. Something I was scared would make me look less than professional, ended up being one of my greatest assets.

3. FILL THE GAP IN THE MARKET

One of the best things you can do in a crowded market is to fill the gaps. 

If you see everyone is talking about the same thing and doing the same thing, how can you offer an industry disrupt? 

If you see people are asking for something and it’s not getting delivered, how can you create something for them?

For example, branding. That's my specialty, and there are a lot of people who teach branding, it’s a very big market.

When I first started teaching branding, I was trying to do all the things that everyone else was doing, and what I felt so many people needed based on the offers currently in the market.

But there was this group of people who are talking specifically about personal branding. They wanted to know how to show up, how to share their story, how to be the face of the brand.

So in 2019, I created You! Branded, a course specifically centered around personal branding and helping female entrepreneurs build their personal brand. I filled the gap and owned the space.

When I knew I wanted to revamp my program Roadmap to Freedom, I started to think about the industry and all the people who have programs and courses supporting new and aspiring entrepreneurs in building their business.

I thought about the gaps, specifically the marketing gaps, where people were tired of showing up in Facebook Groups or relying on social media to grow their new business, so I filled the gap.

Roadmap to Freedom offers support with SEO, Pinterest, just to name a few that serve the business owners who are looking for a more streamlined and simple approach to marketing.

So it doesn't mean that your course, program or your offer has to be completely different. It's finding those little holes and filling them.

Filling in the gap gives you the marketing advantage.

So when you're thinking about your offer, your system or how you solve the problem for your audience, think about the gaps. 

Are there any gaps in your industry that you feel confident in filling? Because it will pay off. 

Then if you can communicate to them, why this gap is there, and how you fill it, even better!

CONCLUSION

What’s so cool about focusing on these three pieces first is that they're already inside of you.

Take the time to identify them, find the gaps and share your authenticity with others and then add in all the fun marketing strategies (because there are a lot)!

Inside my program, Roadmap to Freedom I teach female entrepreneurs how to set this strong foundation for their business, own their story and authenticity and build a revenue-generating business around it.

Roadmap to Freedom is a live 90-day program for the new and aspiring female entrepreneur who is ready to simplify the process of building an online business that allows her to make money on her terms and create a life of abundant experiences and impact.

And doors are opening on October 18, 2020.

If you’re interested in learning more about Roadmap to Freedom and joining the waitlist, where you’ll be the first to know about special bonuses, including 1:1 coaching from me, you can visit brandmerry.com/freedom.

P.S. Take the NEW Business Roadmap Quiz. Discover your next three strategic business moves and customized business roadmap at brandmerry.com/roadmap.

WATCH MONDAYS WITH MICHELLE EPISODE 27: STANDING OUT IN A SATURATED AND CROWDED MARKET, BELOW

Mondays With Michelle happens every Monday at 4 pm CST. Sign up for notifications so you don’t miss any future episodes at MondayWithMichelle.com

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Don’t Make This Mistake With Your Brand Storytelling

We are wrapping up the four-part series on Storytelling over here on the Brandmerry Blog and my weekly show Mondays With Michelle.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve covered:

+ Sharing Imperfections in your Personal Brand Storytelling
+ Why You Should be Repeating Your Brand Story and Messages Online
+ 5 Examples of Brand Storytelling to Incorporate in Your Marketing Strategy

And today, we’re wrapping it up with the #1 mistake you might be making in your brand storytelling and how to fix it!

Because by now you know how important storytelling is for business and if you don’t here’s a recap.

So here we are talking about the mistakes so you can avoid them.

If you prefer to watch or listen to this blog post, scroll down to access the full video.

Storytelling in Business

It’s important to understand that telling a story for business is different than just telling a story to your friend.

At the end of the day, when you are telling stories in business, and as a brand, you're doing so to make money. The goal is to sign clients or to sell a product, but at the end of the day, you want to incorporate storytelling to increase your revenue.

So, your stories need to be strategic and calculated to lead to the sale.

It doesn’t mean you lose out on authenticity, it just means you take the time to do the prep work to share a story that sells.

One of those pieces, which happens to be a mistake so many brands make, comes back to their audience.

BRAND STORYTELLING SECRET WEAPON

When you are telling stories in business they are for your ideal customer, they are for your audience...they are not for you!

You're not buying your own stuff, so the story is not for you. 

The ultimate goal is to attract your ideal customer and dream audience, build trust, build brand recognition, brand affinity and ultimately tell stories that sell. 

The beautiful thing is that you can use stories at every single level of the buying process. Whether someone isn't aware of their problem.
They're aware of their problem.
They're aware of a solution to their problem.
They're aware of products but haven’t made a decision, you can incorporate stories to move them along.

So no matter where your ideal customer is in the buying process stories are an excellent marketing strategy.

You might tell a story about your situation…
You might tell a story about your transformation…
You might tell a story about your values…
But if you're not tying that to your audience, it becomes a cool-story-bro situation.
It becomes a “that's nice” situation.

WHY YOU DON’T WANT TO MAKE THIS STORYTELLING MISTAKE

The cool-story-bro situation is not a situation you want to be in.

It results in a little heart and maybe a comment, but nothing more.

It doesn’t lead to sharing your content or saving it and coming back to it as a top resource.
It doesn’t lead to DM’s and authentic conversations.
It doesn’t lead to sales.

Because when we’re talking about engagement on social media, hearts and likes don’t tell us anything. It doesn’t necessarily translate into sales and revenue for your business.

The goal, as a business owner, is to inspire your audience to take action and that’s what you want your stories to do.

You want your audience to take action, to subscribe to your email list, to visit your website, read your blog, buy your product, or sign up for your high-level program.

We want our stories to motivate our audience to take action.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR BRAND STORYTELLING ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE

Entrepreneurs and business owners tend to write their stories about them and struggle to tie their message directly to their audience.

They don’t take into consideration if the story is relevant to their audience and if it’s valuable...this is where the mistake is made.

Anytime you’re writing a story, choosing a photo, writing a social media post, writing an email and more you must consider it from the perspective of your audience and the value it provides.

Donald Miller of StoryBrand introduced the concept of the Hero and the Guide as it pertains to marketing. 

The idea is that so many brands and businesses are positioning themselves as the Hero. You don't want to be the Hero, you want to be the Guide. Your audience is the Hero. 

The Guide is the person that helps them, that supports them, that inspires them to take action and then leads them on that journey to a solution to their problem. 

Your audience is the Hero, but so many business owners are writing stories about themselves and putting themselves in the role of the Hero, this is a mistake. 

Here’s an example I made on social media.

4 years...⠀
...4 headshots 😂⠀

When I look at these photos I see the same woman but not really.⠀

I see what really happened behind the scenes.⠀

The tears that were shed and all the emotions in 2016 while in a Target dressing room to find the right dress to hug my 8-month postpartum body and spirit.⠀

I didn't feel ready for that photoshoot, but I did it anyway.⠀

To the woman in overalls who made the bold decision to represent a different face of entrepreneurship and a brand. ⠀

A less polished and more "everyday", simple and authentic brand. I mean who wears overalls in a brand shoot...this girl 🖐️⠀

I've grown over these 4 years and what you see today is lightyears from the woman I was just 4 years ago.⠀

As some would say I'm owning it and IDGAF 😜⠀

It's just a photo, sure, but this is why I love what photos represent.⠀⠀

Growth.
Authenticity.
Moments in time to reflect on and say, "Look how far you've come!"⠀

I encourage you to do the same today. ⠀

See how far you've come and be proud of the growth ♥️⠀

Happy Sunday friends.⠀

- mk

In this post I’m sharing what happened behind the scenes, I’m sharing my story and I’m talking about how I didn’t feel confident to have my first photoshoot, but I did it anyway.

I talked about owning my voice, and stepping more into my role and showing a more everyday simple and authentic brand, something you don't typically see on the internet. 

I talked about how I've grown over the last four years, and I talk about the representation of this photo.

Now, I could have stopped there. That would have been a story. But it would have been a story about me, it wouldn't have been a story about anyone else.

It wouldn't have been a story with my ideal customer in mind. 

So instead, all I did was add a simple line to the end. I said, “I love what photos represent.

Growth.
Authenticity.
Moments in time to reflect on and say, "Look how far you've come!"⠀

I encourage you to do the same today. ⠀

See how far you've come and be proud of the growth.” And at that moment an entire story that was centered around my experience, turned around and provided value and action to my audience.

Every single word I wrote, in this story, had my ideal customer in mind.

I know my ideal customer doesn't always see themselves in the brands and big mega businesses that they see on the internet.

I know they're looking for something a little bit more real or raw. 

I know that my ideal customer is growing and has grown and wants to see this growth in the long term.

And all I had to do was say a simple sentence at the end to bring it back to them.

Do you see how I could have stopped and it would have been 100% about me, but then I was able to position myself as the guide to offer advice to my audience.

HOW DO YOU WRITE BRAND STORIES FOR YOUR AUDIENCE

How can you write a social media post and tie every single word back to your audience? 

Two words...MARKET RESEARCH.

Your ideal client research is non-negotiable, please stop skipping it.

The beautiful thing about ideal client research is that it doesn't stop. You don't do it one time. You're always learning. You're always listening. You're always having conversations. 

And yes, of course, the more clients that you have, the bigger your business gets, the easier it is because your audience is more accessible. For instance, I can message a bunch of my Academy students and be like, “Hey, guys, really quick question. What's coming up for you? What's a struggle that you have?”

Market research becomes a lot easier when you have the clientele. but there are so many ways that you can do it, in the beginning, using the internet.

You can use YouTube, Pinterest, personal conversations, reading comments on blogs, reading forums, posting in Facebook Groups, searching in Facebook Groups, there are a million ways that you can find out what you need to know about your ideal customer. 

And although we are talking about this specifically as it applies to storytelling, you probably picked up already that this applies to every aspect of your business.

You have nothing. If you have no one to buy from you.
You do not have a business, you have a product that doesn't sell because people aren't buying it, and so knowing your ideal client, knowing the language that they will use is so important as it plays a role in all of your marketing efforts. 

But when we're talking about storytelling, it will make or break it because it will either put you in in the friend zone (aka cool-story-bro situation) or the relationship zone.

The friend zone sounds like…
… “Oh, she's cool. She tells good stories. I like her, she's fun to follow.”

While the relationship zone (aka business zone) sounds like…
… “I connect with her. I want to buy from her. I want to do business with her and tell all my friends about it”

See the difference?

CHOOSING YOUR STORIES IN BUSINESS

Choosing the stories that you tell in business should be based on your audience.

It’s not just about turning it back to them with your words, including a quick little sentence at the end, it's not just about using language throughout the ties to your audience, it goes back even further with choosing the stories that will resonate most with your audience. 

The more that you understand your ideal customer, the more that you will be able to say, “Here's a bunch of stories that I have. Here's how it's valuable to my audience. Amazing. Now, when I write that post, these are the things that I want to tie in about my audience. And here's the call to action!”

It makes marketing and more specifically storytelling easy.

CONCLUSION

Everything in business comes back to your audience. 

It’s about growing your audience, nurturing your audience and converting your audience. Those are your three goals. As a business owner, if you do that you will be golden. 

And storytelling is an excellent way to do that. 

WATCH OR LISTEN TO THE CONTENT IN THIS POST BELOW.

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.