authentic personal brand message strategy Archives

THE 3 KEY ELEMENTS OF A REVENUE-GENERATING BRAND

January 19, 2024October 12, 2024Laura Miolla

Personal brand? Professional brand? It’s all the same when you’re trying to get that raise, promotion or put your business on the map. Most people mistakenly think that a brand is just a logo or visual identity.

It’s not. Or they think that they are supposed to do what traditional, transaction-based marketing says, which is: identify your target market/niche, figure out what THEY want, be THAT and then sell it to them. In both cases, you’d be missing out on an opportunity to create an authentic and resonant relationship with your ideal clients.

Watch my video to learn my perspective on The 3 Key Elements Of A Revenue-Generating Brand and use it to start crafting yours!

10 BEST PRACTICES FOR BRAND DEVELOPMENT & STRATEGY

July 27, 2023September 6, 2024Laura Miolla

Brand development and strategy are equally heart and science.

It is created from, and centered in, who you authentically are to communicate your value proposition to the world. It is an invitation to the specific people for whom it is most resonant and relevant. You don’t have to guess what they feel, think or want. You already know when your brand is based on key experiences from your own life. When authenticity and purpose drives brand development and strategy, you’ve said goodbye to imposter syndrome and are inviting your “just right” audience to know you. And your success in creating that level of connection is proven every time complete strangers engage with your brand because they feel they already do.

1. Identify Your Unique Value Proposition

What matters most to you? What do you stand for? What sets you apart from the competition? What are your core values and strengths? What experience(s) inform your unique perspective? What are you promising to current and prospective clients?

2. Know Your Target Audience

Who is your ideal client? What is their connection to what matters to you? What experience are they in right now that mirrors one of yours? What do you know about them, their needs, interests and pain points based on your own experience? What else connects you to them?

3. Develop Your Brand Strategy

Your brand voice communicates the personality, inflection, tone and urgency of your message to create connection with your target audience, It comes from that deeply vulnerable part of you that was formed from your key experience(s). And it speaks YOUR truth based on what you felt when you were in that key experience and what you now know.

4. Choose Your Brand Identity

Choose the most resonant visual representation of your brand’s personality, voice and vibe. Visual elements, such as logo, colors and fonts, are designed to be used across all formats, channels and platforms to create, expand and promote brand recognition, connection and engagement. Document guidelines for the key elements of your brand identity to ensure cross-platform consistency, which is essential for conveying reliability and building trust.

5. Build Your Brand Story

Your brand story is a narrative that engages your audience and connects them to your purpose and brand promise. It is authentic, compelling and emotionally resonant. It clearly defines why your value proposition is relevant for your “just right” audience.

6. Establish A Strong Online Presence

Create a clear, streamlined and structured experience for you audience in all of their touch points with you through brand-aligned content, website copy and social media posts.

7. Use Social Media To Expand Brand Awareness, Recognition + Engagement

Market to those who already know you. Next, leverage social media to expand your reach with content strategies designed for the platforms your audience uses the most.

8. Deliver Quality Content

Brand-aligned and value-added content is essential for positioning you as an expert, building trust, establishing your thought leadership and engaging your audience. Content strategies typically include blogs, social media posts, videos, interviews, podcasts and other formats.

9. Monitor Your Brand Reach + Your Brand Reputation

Establish the metrics and data sources you will use to consistently test your brand message, identity and reach. Pay attention to what is being said about your brand online. Respond quickly and professionally to all feedback, both positive and negative. And actively solicit feedback from your current client base to ensure you are delivering on your brand promise.

10. Stay True To You

Your authenticity, purpose and core values, as the basis of your brand, serve as your true north for all of your business decisions from marketing and sales through product/service development and delivery. They differentiate you to more quickly connect with and engage your target audience. And consistent delivery on your brand promise creates and reinforces the required trust necessary for sustainable growth and long-term success.

THE 6 TRAITS OF A SUCCESSFUL BRAND

July 27, 2023September 6, 2024Laura Miolla

You are communicating ALL THE TIME, whether you realize it or not.

And if you aren’t clear what you are communicating, you are letting the world around you guess and decide what you and your business are all about. Your brand is the foundation of your business. It’s how you show up, interact, communicate and connect. It tells your target audience who you are, what you stand for and why it’s relevant to them. It differentiates your voice in the midst of all the messaging noise that bombards us every day so your audience can easily and confidently CHOOSE YOU. And choice is power, right? These are the top 6 traits of a successful brand. How does YOURS stack up?

1. It’s Authentic

What does it take for a brand to be truly authentic? It requires that you know what’s most important to you. Authenticity is experiential. It is the basis of what makes things meaningful. It comes from what is so meaningful to YOU, it drives your passion and dedication with a singular focus. When it matters to YOU, it most certainly matter to others with similar experiences. Your brand is your purpose, your cause and your rallying cry asking others to join you in the revolution! You need to believe it first before anyone else will.

2. It’s Succinct

In today’s busy world, the most powerful messages are sound bites. Remember, you are competing for people’s attention. So, your brand message needs to be just that. A bite. One succinct bite to taste and decide right away if you want more. Anything larger feels like commitment and will turn people away from exploring any further. It’s a creative challenge to condense what is most important to you, but it is well worth it to offer your target audience a message that is immediately clear. So, make that small bite as tasty as possible!

3. It’s Relevant

There are two ways to think about relevance. The first is that your brand message is meaningful to your target audience because they are experiencing what you describe. They “get it” because they are in the midst of it. And when you describe their experience back to them (because you know it so well), they will see you as the expert. The second part of relevance is that your brand message is current and timely. It needs to speak to what your audience is experiencing RIGHT NOW. When crafting your brand, look at it through the eyes of your audience. What do you want them to think, know and believe about you and your business? What makes it important and meaningful to THEM?

4. It’s Resonant

Your brand message is a radar ping that you send out into the world. Resonance is when that ping comes back to you. It’s a recognition of being in tune and on the same frequency with your target audience. It is validation that your message was understood and worthy of response. Resonance is created from your passion and purpose and is mirrored in how your target audience FEELS. Your brand message is a vehicle for creating resonance in a way that inspires immediate action. So, what do you feel about your authentic purpose? What do you want your audience to feel? They are the same.

5. It’s Differentiated

Your experience, your perspective, your voice is unique. And you need to make sure that your brand message reflects it with unique differentiation. Look at everyone else in your space. What are they saying? How are they saying it? What makes YOUR message stand out? What can you do to bring your personality into your message in a way that allows others to know you? Tapping into what is unique about you and using it in your brand message is the key to differentiation. It’s already yours, so own it. Let yourself stand out from the crowd!

6. It’s Referable

Authentic. Succinct. Relevant. Resonant. Differentiated. When you get these 5 traits right, they automatically add up to equal the sixth. Referable. Your target audience will be so excited about what you offer, they will tell everyone else about it. And because your brand message is clear and succinct, it’s easy to remember and pass on to others. Referrals come before revenue and they are the first key measure of a successful brand. Craft the message. Let your audience communicate it. Expand your reach.

OWN YOUR UNIQUE VOICE

July 26, 2023October 12, 2024Laura Miolla

I want you to know that your voice is unique in this world and that’s because YOU are unique in this world.

There’s never been anyone like you on this planet and there never will be.

So, regardless of whether it was you or someone else who constructed the “story,” the “narrative,” the storyteller inherently leaves a mark on how that story is told, but not necessarily a lasting one.

Think about it all those productions of Shakespeare throughout time. Same words, completely different interpretations, through voice, which is created from among other things, perspective.

Perspective is past memory combined with knowledge that you gain through experience combined with imagination.

Future fear. Future desire. And then we throw in some other things like inflection, tone, accent, rhythm, pace, volume, feeling, physical expression.

All of that makes your voice unique which makes your interpretation of that story unique.

You are in control of all of that. It’s also the basis for things like method acting, politics, PR, marketing, media. But I want you to know … you have a voice. It is unique to you.

Let’s make it count.

THE TOP 7 WAYS TO QUICKLY BUILD KNOW – LIKE – TRUST

July 23, 2023September 6, 2024Laura Miolla

“Know-Like-Trust” is the relationship bridge between you and your “just-right” audience.

It defines the experience you and your audience think you are choosing, as well as the one you and your audience actually have. Ideally, those two experiences are in alignment. Creating “Know-Like-Trust” starts with you. It is based on what you know about yourself that is created from experience. We also call that “brand.” And when communicated, your brand message shares what you know about your past experience to mirror what your “just right” audience feels in theirs right now. And that felt resonance creates “Know-Like-Trust” to validate your brand message and power your business.

1. Authenticity
Be authentic in your marketing, communication and client engagements. Sincerity (and the lack thereof) is sensed and felt. You want your “just right” audience to know and trust you based on the resonance they feel with both your brand message and brand promise (created from your perspective of your experience and your definition of your value).

2. Trust
Trust is the foundation of all successful relationships. And consistency of brand identity and message, as well as delivery of your brand promise, is the key to building it. So, prioritize brand consistency and frequency across all touchpoints, channels and interactions. Trust yourself first to model, inspire and establish your “just right” audience’s trust in you.

3. Thought Leadership
When you position yourself as an expert, you are using what you know from your own experience to more quickly connect and engage with your “just right” audience, who are in a similar experience right now. You use the learning and knowledge gained from that experience to create your value proposition, brand and brand promise. And you communicate, share, re-purpose and reinforce it through your content and marketing strategy. Content channels (such as blogs, webinars, interviews, articles, etc.) provide critical metrics for business development and strategy, while also potentially identifying areas of growth and/or new revenue streams. Be authentic in your marketing, communication and client engagements. Sincerity (and the lack thereof) is sensed and felt. You want your “just right” audience to know and trust you based on the resonance they feel with both your brand message and brand promise (created from your perspective of your experience and your definition of your value).

4. Personalization
Personalize your communications (email, social media, website copy) to grab the attention of your “just right” audience and more quickly connect and engage them with your brand. Speak directly to them. Use their name. Tell them what you know about their current experience based on what you know from your similar, previous one.

5. Value
Embed your value into every part of your marketing and engagement cycles. Offer value-added content as part of your marketing strategy to reinforce your expert positioning and give your brand credibility with your “just right” audience. Define a value-based engagement structure that outlines clear scope and provides social proof to validate your brand promise. Everything comes full circle with value being the through-line of your brand and business.

6. Social Proof
Build mechanisms for soliciting social proof (feedback, reviews and testimonials) into your client engagements. Use them (as well as client case studies) as a consistent part of your marketing strategy to promote your brand message, establish credibility and build trust.

7. Relationship
Creating long-term, positive relationships takes a lot of intention. So, prioritize it. Know what you want people to feel in every interaction with your brand. Ensure every touch-point is brand-aligned and valuable. Respond warmly, quickly and professionally. Embrace that your clients always have a choice. So, make working with you an easy one.