Branding – Silverbrook Marketing

Considering a Rebrand? Ask These 7 Questions

by Sarah K Perlman | Oct 18, 2023 | Branding

If you’re considering a rebrand, you must have identified a problem with your current brand strategy. Maybe your current touchpoints aren’t conveying your mission, vision, and values accurately. Or maybe your branding is stale, off-trend, and doesn’t appeal to your ideal demographic. Whatever it is, a rebrand may—or may not—be the right answer.

Even if you know for sure that something is off, you might be clueless about how to make a change. These questions are a starting point to help you clarify your rebranding project and process. Each of them has many sub-questions that will deliver greater results, but these 7 will get the ball rolling.

1. Why are we considering a rebrand?

If you can’t answer this question, do NOT start the rebranding process! You absolutely MUST have a goal or you’re just spinning your wheels.

Think about what you want a rebrand to accomplish. What problem are you trying to solve? The other questions in this post may help you pinpoint your goal, but ultimately you have to have one before proceeding.

The average corporation changes its brand identity in some way every 7 to 10 years. But even if you’ve been in business less than that, it’s not necessarily too soon! Many companies—including 74% of the S&P 100—rebranded their business in the first seven years.

The reality is, if you have a solid reason for rebranding, you should go for it. But be sure you have concrete goals around your project or you will waste a lot of time and money.

2. Do we need (or have we already made) a change to the company’s brand foundations?

As we’ve discussed, the foundations of your brand are the essential pieces that guide the rest of your brand identity. Your mission, vision, and values should be the core of every customer touchpoint. Transparency and authenticity are repeatedly proven to be among the most important factors to consumers, so you have to ensure you can follow through on both. In addition, 77 percent of consumers buy from brands that share the same values as they do. So you have to connect your brand with your values in a way that customers can recognize and relate with them.

Along with your mission, vision, and values, there are other foundational changes that may signal a rebrand. Has your brand story changed? What about the messages you want to deliver to your target audience(s)? (More on that in #4 below!)

What about brand consistency? If you’re constantly straying away from your norm, it could be time to consider a rebrand. Consistency can increase revenue by up to 20%, so it’s in your best interest to create an environment where you can deliver an on-brand experience every time.

3. Are there new competitors challenging our market share?

If there are new players in the market or innovative products challenging your piece of the pie, more competitive research is certainly needed. Find out what positioning your competitors take with their brands. If someone has found a new way to use your products or services, you may need to develop a new value proposition to set your company apart.

Or, maybe your company is the one that has created a fresh take on things. One company that comes to mind is Corning. The age-old glass company that made all those kitchen bowls found an entirely new market by producing glass for smartphones. Genius! But they definitely had to do some brand work to help new markets understand that they could offer more than casserole dishes.

Which leads us to…

4. Has our target audience changed?

This might be the top reason for considering a rebrand, and with good reason. Your target audience is the Emerald City at the end of your yellow brick road! Everything should lead from your brand foundations to your target audience.

Many more questions relating to your target audience need to be examined:

Have we determined who our ideal customer(s) are? (If not, STOP and figure this out. It is critical!)
Is our brand in tune with what our target audience wants and needs?
Do we need to reposition our brand to reach a different or wider target audience?
Are we trying to break into a global market?
Have our audience’s pain points—and/or their feelings about them—changed?
Does our brand personality need to evolve to relate to a new demographic?
When we envision the feelings and emotions our customers have around the brand, does our current brand identity align?
Do we need to do damage control or attempt to fix a tarnished reputation?

The list can go on, but you get the point. Figuring out your brand’s relationship to its ideal customers, target audience, whatever you want to call it—it’s a major task and crucial to your success.

5. Is this rebranding project just catering to a change in leadership/management and their ideas of what they think we should do?

It’s unfortunate, but true: sometimes, a rebranding project comes about simply because someone important wants it.

This is not a great reason, but if you’re in a position where it’s unavoidable then you have no choice but to follow through. The key here is to become an investigator and find out exactly what the stakeholders’ expectations are. That way, you can get by with a brand “refresh” instead of a full rebrand.

What does this mean? Well, instead of paring down and starting over, maybe a new visual identity system is all that’s needed. (I say “all” as if it’s that easy—trust me, it isn’t. But it’s less work than a total rebrand.) A visual identity can go a long way to improving brand awareness, brand recognition, and even the first impression of your brand. It only takes 7 seconds for someone to form an impression, but it also takes 5-7 impressions for people to recognize your logo. (Pointing back to the importance of consistency!)

Or maybe your messaging needs an overhaul but your brand foundations can stay consistent. If your mission, vision, and values are still on target, you can rework your brand messaging points for your target audience and segments within. The way you speak to them—you brand’s voice and tone—can change while still staying true to your foundations.

The point is that executives who don’t speak marketing might be saying one thing while expecting another. Asking all the questions about their expectations and then managing those expectations will make a huge difference in the time and cost investment you and your team undertake.

6. Will this solution work for the next 7-10 years?

As mentioned above, the average company rebrands every 7-10 years. The last thing you want to do is complete a rebranding project—which typically takes 12-18 months—and realize that your new brand identity won’t hold up.

You shouldn’t begin a rebranding project without reviewing and aligning your goals with the company’s overall strategic plan. Don’t have one? That’s kind of a big deal. Goals are important, and without understanding where the company is headed it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to engage your audience in helpful ways.

Research should also be done into the future of your market(s). If you’re working for a company whose target audience is airline pilots, you need to know if that’s a profession that is going strong or dying out. A domestic car mechanic needs to understand buying trends for U.S.-made cars. Branding doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and you can’t stick your head in the sand and just make stuff pretty for the hell of it!

7. Do we have the resources to manage this project in-house?

So far, all these questions revolve around whether you should rebrand or not. But once you’ve decided to go for it, you need to assess whether you have the capability to actually do it.

Having worked both sides of the in-house vs. agency debate, I can honestly say that there’s no right answer here. I do, however, encourage you to be objective about your in-house team and each person’s strengths—and weaknesses. If you have a strategic expert, outstanding writer, and excellent designer among your staff, your team can probably get it done. Go team!

You also need buy-in from those who hold the purse strings. Companies spend an average of 5-10% of their annual marketing budget on a rebrand! Sometimes it is easier for executives to OK that kind of expenditure for outside vendors than it is to get that kind of money in-house. Granted, doing so in-house might be the cheaper route in dollars, but from a time perspective, not so much. The tradeoff of having your in-house team complete a rebrand is that they will be stretched thin trying to do their day-to-day jobs at the same time.

Make sure you do a cost projection and budget around your rebranding project before you decide which way to go. Evaluate your options, and if you decide that you want or need to outsource—get in touch!

My Favorite Marketing Funnel: The RACE Framework

by Sarah K Perlman | Jun 19, 2023 | Branding, Content Creation, Customer Experience, Marketing, Social Media, Video

Is it possible to have a favorite marketing funnel? I guess so, because mine is the RACE framework. It was created by Dr. Dave Chaffey, cofounder of Smart Insights, in 2010. The goal was to create a framework that shows how to create and implement a successful digital marketing plan. It can be used by any size business in either the B2B or B2C space, making it super versatile.

RACE stands for reach, act, convert, and engage. (There’s an additional stage—plan—at the beginning, but PRACE just doesn’t have the same ring to it.) Each stage relates to a different part of the customer journey and identifies the marketing activities needed. The framework helps marketers plan their digital marketing efforts and optimize them using data. Optimization relies on the feedback from key performance indicators (KPIs) at each stage.

The reason this is my favorite marketing funnel is pretty simple. It’s action-oriented and provides tactics that any marketer can use on a business’ website and social media channels. It also emphasizes building relationships with customers while guiding them on their journey. Relationship building is my favorite part of interacting with customers, so I find the RACE framework really valuable.

Stage 0: Plan

During the planning stage, you’re creating the overall digital marketing strategy. The RACE framework focuses on inbound marketing efforts—the content you create and publish—as opposed to outbound campaigns. The planning stage is when you create your branded content for each stage of the funnel and decide the channels you’ll publish on. This is also the time to select the KPIs that matter most to you. You’ll use these to measure your success and optimize your strategy by making tweaks to it.

Stage 1: Reach

The top of the funnel is where you want to increase your audience’s awareness of your brand and its products or services. At this stage, the buyer is exploring their options in the market—they might not even know they have a problem that needs solving.

The best strategy is to use a mix of paid, owned, and earned media to reach your audience in different places. (Check out this awesome chart that Smart Insights created to show the different applications of paid, owned, and earned media for different marketing channels!)

As you publish your content in various ways and promote it on various channels, make sure you draw people back to the place where all your content lives. For most businesses, this is your website with a blog. For others, it could be a YouTube channel if most of your content is in video. Wherever it is, you want to lead people to your gold mine and have them fall down the rabbit hole.

Some KPIs you can monitor in this stage include the number of unique visitors to your website, the number of followers on a particular channel, and impressions of a paid ad.

Stage 2: Act

The next step down the funnel is for encouraging customers to take the next step. This is their decisionmaking stage, and you should aim to narrow down their choices and show how your business is the best option. Your content should be relevant to their pain points, inspire them to use your business’ solution, and enable them to make their decision. Ideally, this stage is creating solid leads for your business.

Some KPIs for this stage include the number of leads, your lead conversion rate (if they skip straight to purchase), the amount of time spent on your website, and social media engagement via shares, comments, and likes.

Stage 3: Convert

We’ve reached the most-analyzed part of the funnel: the purchase point. Buyers have made their decision and are moving forward with your products or services. One key aspect of the RACE framework is that even though it’s built for digital marketing, it still tracks offline sales as well as online activity.

A tip for converting your audience to paying customers is to leverage marketing automation tools. You can deploy sophisticated email sequences, retargeting campaigns, abandoned cart messaging, and more. The power of your database can be used to ensure the right audience is converting, leading to satisfied customers.

KPIs for this stage are pretty obvious: sales (both online and offline) and revenue. You can also calculate the average order value to see if your audience is converting on higher-value options.

Stage 4: Engage

This final step of the funnel is my favorite, favorite part! Engaging customers long-term and building loyalty is one of my points of pride in my business. I firmly believe that if I treat my customers like the golden people they are, they will not only return to me and request my services again but also advocate for me in the form of referrals.

Customer advocacy doesn’t just mean referrals, though. Any time one of my happy customers comments on a social media post or gives me a testimonial, they are bolstering my social proof. As we know, social proof pretty much drives all business these days. People trust other people, even if they don’t know them—which is why online reviews can make or break a company’s reputation.

At this stage, KPIs you can use include the number of repeat purchases, the lifetime value of each customer, and customer satisfaction or NPS.

I’ve Got Work to Do…

Writing out this post made me realize that I haven’t applied the RACE framework to my own digital marketing strategy in a while. I have not been as consistent about posting as I should be, and it’s hurting my reach. However, I am killing it at the customer engagement stage, if I may say so!

What do you think? Do you like the RACE framework? What areas can you improve your digital marketing strategy? I’d love to hear from you!

10 Steps to Build an Impactful Content Strategy

by Sarah K Perlman | May 12, 2023 | Branding, Campaigns, Content Creation, Copywriting, Marketing, Nonprofits, Small Business, Social Media, Video

It can be overwhelming to consider putting together your own content strategy. It’s even more pressure to rely on your content to make an impact on your business goals. If your small business or nonprofit organization can’t afford to hire an experienced marketer, you might wonder how you’ll even get started.

What even IS a content strategy? It’s the intentional plan by which you create and distribute various pieces of content in specific places for your target audience. The key word here is intentional—it’s not a strategy if you are simply throwing things out to see what sticks! Try these steps for building an impactful content strategy for your organization.

1. Outline Your Content Goals

Before you can create a strategy, you need to identify, understand, and document your purpose. This is a major part of being intentional!

Some content marketing goals might be:

Increase brand awareness among your target audience
Increase inbound qualified leads
Position your business as a thought leader in your industry
Provide a value-added resource to your existing clients

I’m a fan of creating SMART goals. This means that each goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, your goal might read like this. “By July 31, 2023, we will increase website pageviews by 5% by creating and publishing consistent content.” At this stage, you can’t exactly outline which content and on which platforms. But you can always go back and revise your goals after you build your strategy.

2. Reinforce Your Brand Foundation

Before you try to engage new and existing audiences, you have to prepare for the questions they will have. Who are you? What do you do? How long have you been around? Why should I care?

Review The 10 Commandments of Branding and, if necessary, reinforce your brand foundation. Make sure you have a clear and strong mission, vision, and values and if possible, write a brand story to guide your content creation. You also should create a brand style guide if you don’t already have one to ensure that you’re creating consistent and accurate content.

3. Identify Your Target Audience

You may think you know who your potential clients are, but it’s a good idea to do some research. Look into your current clients and identify commonalities between them. Are they all a specific type of business or in the same industry? Are your contacts around the same age range or at a specific job title? Ask yourself these and other questions to try and pinpoint your target audience.

Also look into your competition, if possible. Who are they currently working with? Who is their content speaking to? You shouldn’t copy their efforts, but some competitive research can help you formulate your own target audience.

Going one step further, create personas for different segments of your target audience. These personas are specific profiles of an imaginary person that fits into your demographics for each segment. Include each person’s pain points and why they would choose to use your business to solve them. Say your accounting firm has a persona for Carol, who is 45 and struggles with bookkeeping for her small business. You’ll have an easier time creating content that speaks directly to her pain points (and therefore, those of the people like her in your segment).

4. Decide on Content Formats

There are so many formats that you can use to publish content in today’s digital world. Will you write blog posts? Create YouTube videos? Share quick Instagram Reels or TikTok videos? Show vivid images of your work?

This is another area where competitive research can be helpful. Compare your business website and social media channels with others in your industry. You can even look into how they rank on Google and what keywords they’re using. You might find content voids where there is a great opportunity to share a specific type of content that isn’t currently being leveraged.

That said, make sure you are comfortable creating content in your chosen formats. If you can’t imagine getting in front of a camera, don’t say that you’re going to make selfie-style Instagram Reels. Instead, play to your strengths and consider formats that don’t require you to show your face all the time!

5. Select Distribution Platforms

Now that you’ve established who your target audience is, you need to find out where they hang out online. Your content strategy should include social media channels where your target audience is present! You also have to make sure you choose platforms you’re comfortable with. But only so many—if you spread yourself too thin trying to publish on every platform, it won’t end up well.

If you already have social media channels set up, now is a good time to evaluate how well they are working. It’s absolutely allowed to quit a social platform that isn’t giving you the results you need. Don’t waste your limited time on a platform that isn’t serving you!

6. Define Your Production Processes

It’s helpful to define your process for each content format you’ll be creating. Whether you’re a one-woman show or a team of 20, you need to document your process so that you can be consistent, save time, and be ready for others to assist you. (You might not be a one-woman show forever, and it will be much easier to bring on assistance if you already have your process documented.)

Different formats will have different processes for creation and publishing. For example, my video creation process is very different from my blog creation process. Similarly, the tools I use to schedule and publish blogs are different than the tools I use to schedule and publish social media. Take the time to figure out a process that works for you, write it down, and revise it as necessary if you figure out a better way to do things.

7. Decide on a Publishing Schedule

A publishing schedule is critical for holding yourself accountable and staying consistent. If you know that you publish a blog post every Tuesday, then on Friday you know you need to get cracking if you haven’t written one yet. (Although I highly recommend batching your content creation. This just means setting aside a block of time for creating a several pieces of content while you’re in the zone.)

Having a publishing schedule also helps you take advantage of holidays, special events in your industry, and other key dates. You’ll be able to match specific content with these dates and schedule it accordingly. And speaking of scheduling, take this time to research and select a scheduling tool that allows you to “set it and forget it.” You want to avoid having to manually post on certain days or at specific times if at all possible. I use Hootsuite to schedule my social media posts and WordPress to schedule blog posts in advance.

Even with a scheduling tool, you need to be realistic about the time you have to devote to content creation and publishing. Even with marketing tools to help automate your process, you’ll be spending a LOT of time on executing this strategy! It’s OK to start with publishing less frequently and work your way up to posting more often if you find that you have the time and resources to do so.

8. Develop Content Pillars and Subtopics

You’re getting into the fun part now! Having dedicated content topics that you focus on—also called content pillars—makes your creation so much easier. Have a brainstorming session to consider the major topics that you want to focus on.

Remember, these should be adding value to your current clients and target audience. Think about their pain points that you identified when you were building your personas. What are the major topics that someone would search for to help solve them? Smaller topics that relate to your content pillars are your subtopics, and there can be an infinite number of content pieces to discuss them.

You can also post other content, of course. We want to educate, inspire, and entertain our audience! So if you want to post a relatable meme on your social channel, go for it! You can also share content that humanizes your business, like behind the scenes videos or employee spotlights.

9. Create Pieces of Content

We’ve reached my favorite step! I love creating content to share—but that wasn’t always the case. I was nervous about sharing my thoughts and, in some cases, opinions with the world. This is totally understandable and normal! However, you have to take ownership of your expertise, skills, and experience and act like the expert you are.

Since you’ve already identified your content pillars and subtopics, you know where to start. Make a big list of content ideas, even if they are half-baked to start. You can flesh them out and assign them to specific formats and platforms as you go. (Side note: If you’re writing blog posts, I cannot recommend HemingwayApp enough. It is my essential tool for composing clear and readable content!)

Take advantage of research tools to find detailed information to back up your own thoughts. Scour recent headlines and search engine questions to get ideas for timely content in your industry. While current events are trending for a time, make sure you plan for evergreen content as well. This is content about your business or industry that doesn’t change—or at least rarely. These will be blog posts and graphics that you can refer and link to time after time.

You might also consider having guest content as well, especially on your blog. Invite a guest for an interview or even ask them to write a blog post that you can publish on your website. Or on social media, you can partner with another business in a related field within your industry. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, you can partner with a caterer and tag both companies on Instagram. You’ll gain more exposure to your shared target audience that way.

Remember to repurpose content for different formats and different formats! If you write a blog post, condense your main points and share in a TikTok video with a link to the post in the caption. Make a graphic for your Instagram that relates to the post. It’s OK to mix and match formats using the same content. Your audience is spread out among different platforms, so this will help you reach more people with the same ideas.

Once you start creating content, you want to set up a place to hold it all. Your content library can simply be organized into folders on your computer, saved in an organized Dropbox, or held in a Google drive. Whatever way you choose to save it, make sure it’s organized so that you can find things when you need to.

10. Publish, Engage, and Track

Now you can publish your content—yay! If you’re using a scheduling tool, this is effortless because you’ve already set it up. If you’re publishing manually, that’s OK too. However you need to do it, shake off the nerves and hit post!

Once you’ve sent your content out into the world, watch for engagement and respond accordingly. If someone leaves a comment, acknowledge them! Commenting can sometimes be just as scary as publishing in the first place. You’ll also encourage further engagement if people see that you’re interacting with them.

After your content has been posted for a bit, check the analytics that are built into each platform you’re using. You can check to see how many people viewed it, shared it, etc. This is valuable intel for you to see what kinds of topics and formats resonate with your audience. It’s also going to inform the measurement part of your content goals and the way you evaluate your success.

Eventually, you can perform a content audit on multiple pieces you’ve posted to get an overall view of what’s working best. You also should monitor trends with your competitors’ content for the same reason.

Get Started!

Now that you have a content strategy and a plan for content creation, it’s time to get started! If you need help along the way, feel free to reach out to me for advice and assistance. Happy creating!

What Are Brand Archetypes and How Can They Guide Your Brand Identity?

by Sarah K Perlman | Mar 30, 2023 | Branding, Content Creation, Customer Experience, Marketing

If you’ve ever studied human psychology (and possibly even if you haven’t), you’ve heard of Carl Jung. He was a renowned psychologist whose work in the 1940s led to the development of personality archetypes. Jung believed that all humans could be categorized into one of these common “buckets” that are based on the dominant goals of each. As we look at his work, it almost seems like common sense. Of course there are commonalities among people, we encounter them every day. But the brilliance of his work lies in the strength of the archetypes and their ability to predict certain behavior based on the values tied to those dominant goals.

While it’s all very fascinating, modern marketers have applied his theories to common brand values, resulting in 12 brand archetypes. It completely geeks me out to think that someone came up with this brilliant twist on Jung’s work!

The idea behind brand archetypes is identical to Jung’s theories about human personalities. They are relatable at a subconscious level because they so clearly represent people—or in this case, brands—that we have all observed or interacted with. And because they are relatable, people feel like they know what to expect from them. This builds trust, and in turn, loyalty. And in the world of branding, loyalty equals dollar signs.

So how does it all work? Let’s take a look at the brand archetypes and their characteristics, and I’ll share some examples along the way.

Characteristics of the Brand Archetypes

There are 12 brand archetypes, but they can be categorized into four overarching types with similar goals. The Creator, the Ruler, and the Caregiver all aim to provide structure to people’s lives—albeit in different ways. The Innocent, the Sage, and the Explorer all relate to the spiritual side of people. The Outlaw, the Magician, and the Hero speak to people’s desire to leave a legacy. The Lover, the Jester, and the Everyman are all about connecting people to each other.

The descriptions below are amalgamated from many sources; however, you’ll find some of my own thoughts included!

The Creator

Dominant goal: innovation.

Adjectives: inspirational, creative, daring, original, nonconformist, provocative

The Creator has a vision that guides development of their products or services. They’re the early adopters that push the boundaries and think outside the box. They also encourage others to think creatively to solve problems. The most famous example of the Creator brand archetype is Apple. With their tagline of “Think Different,” the brand embodies the goal of innovation and creative expression.

The Ruler

Dominant goal: control

Adjectives: commanding, refined, trustworthy, articulate, confident, and yes—controlling

The Ruler embraces rules, especially the ones they make. They are strong leaders who will defend their position of power. It’s not surprising that Apple’s main competitor, Microsoft, is categorized as a Ruler. They have established themselves as the authority in every aspect of computer technology and have a reputation of being extremely trustworthy.

The Caregiver

Dominant goal: service

Adjectives: warm, compassionate, nurturing, secure, reassuring, protective

The Caregiver has a desire to help others. They have sparkling reputations as champions of those less fortunate or those who cannot care for themselves, like babies. As such, Pampers is a Caregiver brand. They are all about nurturing our most defenseless people and making their lives better.

The Innocent

Dominant goal: happiness

Adjectives: optimistic, joyful, honest, good, inclusive, humble

The Innocent desires to do the right thing and bring goodwill to others. Their positive outlook and focus on spreading joy make them easy to embrace. My favorite brand, Coca-Cola, is an Innocent brand. Their branding is all about bringing people together and enjoying life. (Remember this great ad?)

The Sage

Dominant goal: knowledge

Adjectives: guiding, assured, wise, truthful, understanding, expert, intelligent

The Sage believes that the truth will set you free. They don’t necessarily want to change the world themselves, but they’re happy to empower others to do so. They are acknowledged thought leaders who share information freely. TED (you know, like TED Talks) is a great example of the Sage archetype. They empower people to share their knowledge and make a difference in each others’ lives.

The Explorer

Dominant goal: freedom

Adjectives: independent, nonconformist, adventurous, pioneering, exciting, fearless, daring

The Explorer wants to set off into uncharted territory and make great discoveries. They’re brave to leave the norm behind and are constantly chasing excitement. I want to be high class and say that National Geographic is a great example of the Explorer, but I really think of Jeep first. Their brand is all about getting outside the routine and having adventures.

The Outlaw

Dominant goal: liberation

Adjectives: disruptive, confrontational, rebellious, combative, free-thinking, challenging

While liberation and freedom are similar concepts, the Outlaw differs from the Explorer in that they actively seek to break the rules. The Outlaw can be off-putting to the masses, but they create a cult-like following with extremely loyal customers. Harley-Davidson is the most often cited example of the Outlaw.

The Magician

Dominant goal: powerful experience

Adjectives: visionary, dazzling, informed, charismatic, transformational, imaginative, idealistic

The Magician wants to turn everyone’s dreams into reality. They live by their vision and often keep their knowledge to themselves to make it happen. Disney is the classic example of the Magician brand archetype. They focus on creating magical moments for their customers and transforming seemingly routine activities (going to the movies, taking a family vacation) into powerful experiences.

The Hero

Dominant goal: mastery

Adjectives: honesty, bravery, empowering, hardworking, motivating, encouraging, competent

The Hero wants to make a difference and solve problems. They tend to see things in black and white, right and wrong, and they rise to meet challenges through hard work and determination. Nike embodies all these characteristics perfectly! Their emphasis on the hard work behind being a successful athlete—no matter your level—sets them apart from their competitors.

The Lover

Dominant goal: connection

Adjectives: intimate, empathetic, soothing, loving, passionate, committed, indulgent, affectionate

The Lover wants to be desirable and appeals to their audience through emotional and physical means. They represent an intimate connection, not necessarily sexual but definitely romantic. Some Lover brands are obvious, like Victoria’s Secret, but others are more subtle, like Chanel. Both brands emphasize a romantic view of life and suggest that their products will bring desire into your world.

The Jester

Dominant goal: entertainment

Adjectives: playful, fun-loving, pleasurable, humorous, positive, inclusive, optimistic

We all know a Jester type—the class clown who loves being the center of attention and making people laugh. Similarly, Jester brands want to maintain playfulness and bring people together through fun. Strangely enough, Old Spice now embodies this brand archetype. (8-year-old me would never have thought my dad’s deodorant was fun…)

The Everyman

Dominant goal: belonging

Adjectives: relatable, approachable, unpretentious, friendly, humble, authentic, inclusive

The Everyman is just one of the guys. They aren’t extreme in any way, but they strive to belong and be liked by everyone. It’s a tough archetype to be in because if there’s nothing special about you, people might forget you’re there. Ford is the embodiment of the Everyman, with their good ol’ boy marketing and their strong association with the lifestyle of the average American.

Determining Your Brand Archetype

You’ve probably already found that you relate to some of the archetypes above. Just be sure that your archetype aligns with your values and vision. Embracing these foundational aspects of your brand not only helps you differentiate from your competitors but also strengthens your relationship with your audience.

When your archetype is aligned with your target audience and their pain points, desires, and needs, you’re literally speaking their language. The archetypes allow us to move beyond a logical choice and impact our audience’s emotions. Once you dive deep into the feelings you want to induce, you’ll be able to find the archetype that fits.

But what if you relate to more than one archetype? That’s totally ok! But it is wise to choose one main archetype to relate your brand to, while using the secondary archetype to help build out your brand identity.

Building Your Brand Identity

Now that you’ve identified your brand archetype, you can get even more specific and create your brand identity. While most brands fit into one of the archetypes, your brand’s unique “personality” is what guides your interactions.

Although it might feel weird, giving your brand human characteristics is necessary for dialing in its identity. Think about a movie character based on your brand. What do they look like? How do they speak? What do they like or dislike? Each brand archetype has some typical adjectives associated with it, but dig even deeper. Don’t settle for surface-level descriptors.

If you can build out a full description of your brand’s human characteristics, you can build a profile that others can use. For example, if you’re hiring a copywriter to create content for your blog, you’ll be able to give them the inspiration for your brand identity so that they fully understand the brand’s voice. The same idea applies to social media managers, graphic designers… anyone who will be speaking on behalf of your brand.

I feel like I could go on analyzing brands and their archetypes forever, but I do have to sleep sometime! Give me a shout if you want to discuss your brand (or just wax on about the brands of the world).

14 Questions to Help Develop Your Content Strategy

by Sarah K Perlman | Mar 5, 2023 | Branding, Content Creation, Marketing, Social Media

Looking to develop your content strategy? You’re not alone. According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. Around a third have a loose, undocumented strategy, and 27% have no strategy at all. Why does this matter?

Since the pandemic, content usage has increased by 207%. People are searching online every minute to find the answers to questions that your business can answer! Providing quality content to assist them is a key tactic to drive business. But you have to be intentional about what content you create, where you post it, and how you create it.

To help develop your content strategy, answer these 14 questions:

Identifying Your Target Audience

Who is my ideal client? Hopefully you have a current client who is just a dream to work with. But if you don’t, imagine what they would be like. Picture the field they work in and what their daily responsibilities include. Do some sleuthing online to see what these people likely care about when it comes to their work. (Or if you’re a B2C business, figure out the circumstances that would lead to them buying your product or service for their personal use.) You need to know as much as you can about your ideal client so that you know you are speaking their language.
Which of their pain points can I speak to? I separated this out from the above because it’s critical to understand how your business can solve your clients’ problems. A pain point is a problem that they are currently having, without an obvious solution. (Or maybe it is obvious and they just haven’t done it?) Once you know who you’re talking to and what problems you’re solving for them, you’ve got a path to start creating content.
How do I want my audience to view me? This should be an easy question to answer if you have been faithful to The 10 Commandments of Branding. If you have an established brand mission, vision, values, and voice, then you know how you want to be viewed. If you don’t… time to do some homework!

Planning and Creating Content

Why do I want to post about this? When you start creating content, this is a crucial question to ask yourself. Is this content really helpful, or do you just like talking about it? I mean, I’m a huge fan of pop punk music, but that doesn’t relate to marketing (or does it?) so I won’t be blogging about it. Make sure your content falls into one of these categories:
- Educate—teaches your audience something new
- Inspire—encourages your audience
- Entertain—evokes emotion in your audience
Does this help position me as an expert? Continuing the above example, my love of My Chemical Romance isn’t going to paint me as an expert in marketing. Evaluate your content ideas and be sure that they relate to your business offerings. Showcase your expertise in your field, which you’ve gained over years of education and experience.
What pain point is this solving for my idea client? Not every piece of content have to solve one of your clients’ problems. But 80% of your content should fall in the “educate” category, so most of it should relate to something specific that they are struggling with. Consider those pain points you established above and think of content you can provide that eases the pain. A good tip I like to remember is to tell people WHAT they should do, but not always HOW they should do it. You should be providing value and helpful answers, but if you give away all your secrets they won’t need your business!
How can my content usher my audience through the sales funnel? You should create a wide variety of content that helps people at all the various stages of your sales funnel, including those who are already clients. Here’s a quirky little secret: instead of a funnel, I like to picture an onion. The outer layer is a little flaky, like the people who are just skimming to see what’s out there. They don’t really know what they’re doing, so you need to tell them what’s up. The next layer is a little bit thicker, for people who know what’s going on but aren’t ready to buy. They might have specific questions but aren’t in a position to engage with you directly. Even thicker is the next layer, for the people who know exactly what they need and are trying to identify the best option. This group needs proof of your expertise and signals that you are the right choice (case studies, testimonials, etc.). The thickest, innermost layer is for your current clients. Even though they are already buying from you, they can still learn new things and be inspired and entertained by your content.
What’s the best format for this content? If I tried to make this blog post as an Instagram reel instead, it would never work. There’s way too much detail. Conversely, if I tried to make a blog post out of an inspirational quote (which I typically post on Insta), it would be ridiculous. Take some time to flesh out your idea a bit and visualize what format fits best.

Choosing Publishing Platforms

Where does my audience spend their time online? Back to your ideal client—where do they hang out? Are they reading about the best fishing spots in North America? Are they watching makeup tutorials on YouTube? Are they scrolling through TikTok at 1am? The more you can find out about your audience’s habits and preferences, the better you can serve up your content in the way and location they want. (Not to mention that if they are searching for you, their go-to sources will be able to find you too.)
What platforms am I comfortable learning and using? It doesn’t matter if your audience spends all their time on TikTok if you’re not comfortable using it! (Can TikTok even be used for a business? Short answer: YES!) If you’re not already on the platforms that your audience prefers, check them out and see if you can understand them and get behind using them. If not, don’t include them in your strategy. (Or outsource… more on that below.) It’s also not important to be on every social media channel plus a blog plus a podcast… If you spread yourself too thin, it’s pointless anyway. Find out where your audience is, evaluate your comfort in using that format, and choose where you’re going to be.

Establishing Your Process

Where can I look for inspiration? Before you can create valuable content, you have to consume valuable content. This doesn’t mean you should look at your competitors’ blogs and rip them off. Great ideas can come from anywhere, especially other industries and entertainment sources. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer, research fine art sources for inspiration. Or look within your industry at other vendors. Maybe a wedding cakery will inspire your next great Instagram post.
How much effort am I willing to put into my content strategy? Not gonna lie, this all takes a lot of time. If you’re new to creating graphics or writing blogs, there’s also a learning curve you’ll have to experience. How much time are you willing to invest in developing your content strategy and the tactical execution of your plan? Be realistic, because the best laid plans mean nothing if you can’t get the content published.
What tools can I afford to use? There’s a wide range of tools available for creating graphics, scheduling social media, posting blogs, even drafting content. Some are free, while others cost big bucks. How much can you invest in these tools to bring your strategy to life? Or can you outsource as a “tool” instead?
Should I consider outsourcing to a pro? According to the Content Marketing Institute, half of all marketers outsource at least some of their content creation. If this list is overwhelming to you and you don’t know where to begin, consider finding a marketer to partner with. Even if you can answer some of these questions but don’t have the time or resources to activate your strategy, reach out. You may find that it’s more cost effective (whether in terms of money or time) to outsource.

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