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Branding and marketing have never been easy.

But throw in a pandemic, social and political unrest and a recession and that will complicate things a bit more.

So no shame from us if you went into hunker-down mode. We get it! But we would also challenge you to consider this: the world needs you and your brand right now. So maybe it’s time to re-emerge.

Maybe the reason it was hard to market to begin with is also the reason it’s harder now. The reason, to us, is confidence.

Here’s something no one tells you when you take the job as the director of marketing or when you start your own brand: It’s difficult to be confident in your brand.

To be confident in your brand you need be able to boldly know these things:

  1. I have clarity about my message. Reality check: No one has this when they start out. Not even if you are walking into a fairly established business, culture or brand. The reality is you get more clarity about your message as you do the work, and have the failures and successes. Clarity builds as you sit more and more with your vision, with what your heart has to say to the world and as you learn more about your audience. The trick is that you have to carve out time and awareness to check in with the progression of this message, cultivating it, editing it and checking it against your root system regularly.
  2. I have a clear sense of what makes my brand different. Most people we meet don’t know what makes them different. They may have ideas about what helps them sell or industry buzzwords, but they don’t know what makes them unusual. This has to be ferreted out either through interviews with your clients or deep and critical self-reflection and/or internal surveying. Your brand has to be O.D.D. – obvious, deliberate and daring. This starts with your message but must also be extended out to true differentiators and a consistent client experience. Using marketing to create false or inflated differentiation no longer works. Nor does being a “best kept secret.”
  3. I know what, where and how to market. There are so many platforms out there, it’s completely understandable that you’ve gotten stalled out considering where to engage and how. But be honest with yourself: is that a bit of an excuse for being afraid to communicate in this cancel culture? It’s scary, we get it! You might be looking for an easy way to continue marketing. You might think the easier way is to say nothing at all. But that brings us back to our original thesis: marketing is hard. That doesn’t supersede the reality that your audience needs to hear from you on a consistent basis. Regardless of the industry you are in, here are three marketing tactics to help you move forward: tell a compelling story spotlighting a client success, write a genuine and informative email (not selling) and engage on your social platform of choice.

If you’re still not sure what has stalled you out or just want some help getting unstuck, that’s why we exist. Our approach to working with marketers is to listen attentively, diagnose intentionally and suggest with non-attachment. We strive to be open, non-prescriptive and creative in our work to release our clients from the limits they may have placed on branding and marketing.

We work to inspire introspection, because it is most effective. Also, we absolutely adore seeing our clients step into the discomfort of branding with genuine conviction and come out the other side full of tremendous confidence, momentum and growth.

There are no secret formulas to any of this. It is all hard work done right, which is why it’s OK to ask for help. To that end, consider booking us for a new client Brand Therapy session. In 50 minutes, we will work with you to uncover where you need the biggest confidence boost.

WE BELIEVE BEING ALWAYS COMES BEFORE DOING. ARE YOU THE HEAD OF MARKETING FOR YOUR BRAND OR YOUR ORGANIZATION?  A SENTIENT BEING WHO IS ALSO THE TOWN CRIER FOR YOUR BRAND?

We invite you to join our free, private community Being Marketers. Inside of Being Marketers you will find a space to help you harmonize between your marketing work and your soul. You’ll have access to full videos from our Being Marketers webcasts, customized content and tools and be the first to learn about our upcoming webcasts, private events and offerings.

Let’s Talk!