😴 Is Your Brand Boring?

Hi guys! In this I explore the hard hitting question... "Is Your Brand Boring?"

I dive into the factors that can make a brand feel stale and give you some of my actionable tips to inject some life back into your business brand.

I discuss the essential signs that may indicate your brand needs a refresh, such as low engagement, lack of distinct personality, and inconsistent messaging. I then break down simple yet effective strategies to make your brand anything but boring. From defining your brand personality to improving your visual identity and telling compelling stories, this episode is packed with valuable insights to help your brand stand out.

Whether you're a new business owner or someone who's been stuck with the same branding for years, this episode offers critical advice on how to reinvigorate your business and capture your audience's attention. 💪

To get in touch head to  https://thefearlessdesigner.com.au/

Or follow along on Instagram - @the.fearless.designer

Transcript

Morgan Macdonald [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to the make it pop podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you're really well. I hope business is going really well for you at the moment and that you're feeling super inspired. I've just got back from a family vacation overseas, so it was so, so, so nice to switch off for ten days, sit in the sun, no emails, no texts, no nothing. Just fully relax. But I must say that I'm really struggling to get back into the swing of things now that I'm back in the real world. So today's episode is going to be super simple, super quick, and it easy for you and hopefully we'll both get back into the swing of things again together.

Morgan Macdonald [00:00:38]:
So I wanted to ask you today, is your brand boring? I wanted to ask this question because sometimes I feel like some of us are just running with something that we've worked with for a very long time. Whether it was a beautiful logo and branding suite that was created for us five, six years ago by graphic designer and we've just kind of stuck with it. Or maybe you have just started your business and you don't really know what you're doing when you're trying to establish a visual brand and a brand for yourself. So on this episode today, we'll discuss some easy ways to figure out whether your current branding is working or not. And I'll share some tips on how to make your brand anything but boring. Let's get started. Is your brand boring? First of all, if you do think your brand may be boring, please don't panic. It's just a question.

Morgan Macdonald [00:01:29]:
And even just realizing that your brand may need a few tweaks here and there is exactly the best first step forward. As I mentioned earlier, you could have been running with the same visual brand, the same goals for your brand for a very long time. And maybe it's time for something new. Or you could even just be starting something new and not really sure where to focus your energy on how to build that brand, how to plug in the strategy that you need to grow your brand. Either way, there are so many reasons why your brand could be a little bit boring. But here are a few of my signs to watch out for. Number one, lack of engagement. If you're spending lots of time on social media and you are working to a strategy and you're posting consistently, but your posts are getting little to no interaction, low engagement can be a big red flag.

Morgan Macdonald [00:02:17]:
If your social media posts get no interaction, maybe that might mean that your audience isn't resonating with what you're creating. It could even look like a low open rate on your email marketing. No inquiries coming through your website. If you're putting in the effort with no reward, it could have something to do with boring looking content. Number two, your brand has no distinct personality. Does your brand feel generic or forgettable? If your brand doesn't have a clear or unique voice or visual style, it can easily blend into the background. For example, I've noticed over the last few years, particularly people in the beauty industry, are very heavily trend based when it comes to the look and feel of their colors and their fonts and their imagery when it comes to creating their content. And unfortunately, that means that everything is diluted and it's really hard to stand out from your competitors.

Morgan Macdonald [00:03:06]:
So it's probably worthwhile having a look at your visual brand as a whole and seeing whether you can inject some life into that. And number three is inconsistent messaging. Are your brand's messages all over the place? Consistency is key when it comes to branding. Are you clear on your unique selling points? Do you refer to them and what your brand stands for? Often when you're creating content, if your audience can't easily identify what your brand stands for or what it's about, they're likely to lose interest. Now that we've covered how to identify if your brand may be a little bit on the boring side, let's talk about how to add some excitement and really make your brand pop. Firstly, define your brand personality. Think of your brand as a person. What kind of person would they be? Are they fun? Are they quirky? Are they professional? Are they reliable? Are they bold? Are they adventurous? Once you have a really clear idea, just let that personality shine through everything that you do, from the way you show up to your social media posts to your customer service.

Morgan Macdonald [00:04:04]:
If you need some more tips around how to create a really clear brand personality or tone of voice or Persona, check out my last episode with Naomi Clark. She gives us some really great tips on how she did it and how she really embodied that brand personality and Persona when it came to marketing her business. Next, it's time to improve your visuals. Personally, I think there's never not enough time to refine your visual brand. I'm talking about your logo, your colors, your fonts. Your brand's visual identity is incredibly important. If your visuals start to feel a little bit outdated or bland, or you're just bored with them, it's probably time for a refresh. And I don't mean having to throw it all in the bin and start again.

Morgan Macdonald [00:04:47]:
Brand is an evolution, not a destination. So maybe you just need to get some updated brand photos done, some new videos done. It could even be as simple as adding a new font or a color to your existing brand. Another great tip is to tell a story. People love stories. Share the story behind your brand. Share stories about how you're developing your next product for launch or service. Share your day to day operations.

Morgan Macdonald [00:05:16]:
I know this stuff takes time, but people love to go on the journey with you. Storytelling helps create a deeper connection with your audience and it makes your brand more relatable and memorable, especially if you're in small business. Please try showing your face on stories too. It is one really easy and simple way to inject some life into your brand. And if you're a small business or a solo owner or a coach or something like that, using your face and your voice is a really great and consistent way to brand yourself because no one else is going to look the same as you or sound the same as you. And please try not to forget to engage with your audience. This is another one of my tips to really bolster that boring brand. Ask questions.

Morgan Macdonald [00:06:00]:
Respond to comments. Encourage user generated content. Encourage them to comment. The more you interact with your audience, the more likely they are to feel connected to your brand. This can turn really casual followers into loyal fans. Please do not think because they are not liking or responding to your content every day, they aren't watching. One thing I've learned is that people are still watching, even if they're not hitting that like button or sending through the inquiry. They are watching and waiting for the moment where they feel like they're comfortable enough with you to do business with you.

Morgan Macdonald [00:06:34]:
Lastly, a really great way to really give that boring brand a bit of a facelift is to try new things. Keep your content coming, try new types of reels, try behind the scenes footage of your business. Let people in. If you haven't done it before, how do you know it's not going to work? Even if it's just working one new piece of fresh content or a goal heading or something like that into your mix? Like once a week. I'm going to talk about what I got up to this week and see how it goes. Fresh and exciting content will help maintain your audience interest. If the old way of doing things is not working for you, definitely it is time to try new things. So just to recap, if your brand is struggling with low engagement, lacks a really distinct personality, or has inconsistent messaging, it is probably time for you to have a little brand makeover.

Morgan Macdonald [00:07:29]:
In my opinion, defining your brand personality really clearly, updating your visual graphics, telling really engaging stories and interacting with your audience regularly and keeping things fresh and trying new things can really help make some boring brands turn into a vibrant and exciting one. And the other side of that is if you are feeling bored when it comes to marketing your business. So if you're sitting there in canva every month trying to create posts or think of new things to post and you just can't stand it anymore, you don't know what you're doing, you don't know what's working for your brand. And if it's growing, maybe it might be time to try doing some of these things, particularly redefining that brand personality. All right, that's it for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you found these tips really helpful and feeling inspired to take your brand to the next level. And just remember, everything takes a little bit of effort, but if you are doing this effort in the right areas, it can really, truly make your brand pop.

Morgan Macdonald [00:08:28]:
If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe rate leave a comment whatever. I would just love to hear from you and please send through any thoughts or questions you may have. You can also follow me on social media. I give some more tips and insights and let you know a little bit about what's going on behind the scenes here. So thank you so much for listening to the makeup podcast. I hope you have a fantastic day and I will catch up with you really, really soon.