Earning Your Small Business Brand - Your Story Your Playbook

The first step in the Brand Equation is Identity.

In this lecture, you will:

• Learn what Identity is and why it's important.

• Gather what you need to do to prepare for the lectures in this section.

People like to work with companies they see as having a vision or a purpose - a reason for being and a desire to make the world a better place.

In this lecture, you will:

• Learn about vision or purpose.

• Clarify and your vision.

• Write your vision – a direction and rally cry for your team.

Knowing where you came from can help direct where you are going. Regardless of how long your company has been around, there is a history that helps tell your story and provides insight into your experience.

In this lecture, you will:

• Think about and write down components of your history.

• Consider why these items matter to who you are and where you are going.

• Refine phrases that can be dropped into your materials to help tell your story.

A belief is a firmly held opinion or conviction that one accepts as true or real. Outlining the beliefs for your company helps guide what you do, who you serve, and how you behave. Values are principles or standards of behavior that reflect your company's beliefs.

In this lecture, you will:

• Outline your company beliefs - these are not the same as your personal beliefs although they likely align.

• Connect values that demonstrate your company beliefs.

• Look for ways to apply your beliefs and values throughout your marketing.

While your vison is the long view, let's get granular for a minute. What do you do? The answer seems obvious to you, but is it clear to everyone?

In this lecture, you will:

• Define very specifically what you do - the words we use here will show up again, so don't skip this important step.

Understanding your audience groups, what they need, and what they do for you is important to clarifying your brand.

In this lecture, you will:

• Outline your audience groups.

• Get a general understanding of who they are and what they are looking for.

While your vision or purpose established your longterm view, your mission is what you are doing today to achieve your vision. While your vision is inflexible because it's based on your beliefs, your mission can evolve every 3-5 years as you meet your goals and work towards your vision.

In this lecture, you will:

• Understand what a mission statement is and what purpose it serves.

• Create your mission statement.

Your brand type is a general classification of what kind of company you are, and your brand archetype is a persona you take on - both are simple ways to clarify who you are and how you tell your story.

In this lecture, you will:

• Learn about brand types and see where you fit in.

• Learn about brand archetypes and see what persona fits your company best.

• Explore how your brand type and archetype will simplify your work going forward.

Your value proposition explains why people should want to work with your company over your competitors or peers. Note, this is about the value you bring to your customers, not to be confused with your company's values.

In this lecture, you will:

• Align your customers / their problems / your solutions / proof points.

• Use these points to create a simple attention-drawing value proposition.

Clarifying what you say and how you say it helps you speak to your audiences in a consistent and relatable manner.

In this lecture, you will:

• Determine the best and most relatable way to speak with your audiences.

• Connect your tone to your brand type and brand archetype.

• Establish standard terminology, common and repeatable phrases, and what not to say.

Visuals that represent your company will show up on your marketing materials, web site, and social media. They can capture attention, set the mood, and help tell your story.

In this lecture, you will:

• Look at the types of images that represent your brand, considering photographs, icons, fonts, and the overall look and feel.

Your environment, which could be your office or the environment you create wherever you are, is a component of your identity that can set a mood, but also send an unspoken message that speaks to your brand.

In this lecture, you will:

• Consider your workspace and update appropriately.

• Look at how your team represents your company and update guidelines appropriately.

Rules, guidelines, expectations - every company has them, whether you formalize them or not.

In this lecture, you will:

• Formalize your marketing guidelines in a way that can evolve with your brand work.

• Consider what other rules or guidelines impact your employee experience; remember, your team is delivering your brand, and we'll be looking at creating exceptional experiences for all audiences later.

Showing up in your community can help you market your business and recruit new talent. Volunteering brings people together and can create bonding experiences while improving where you live and work.

In this lecture, you will:

• Look at your values, your business, and your environment to see if there are themes you could pursue while supporting your community.

• Optimize your community involvement dollars and activities.

You did it! You have outlined your Identity. It was a lot of work, but now you have all the pieces you need to create tools that represent your company in a consistent, authentic way, and a way to let your team know how to talk about your company.

In this lecture, you will:

• Review your identity.

• Gather what you have.

In the Identity section, you gathered samples of your tools to help formalize your identity components and document new standards. Congratulations on completing your Identity - that's no small feat. Now we are ready to methodically apply these elements to your marketing tools to illustrate your story. In Section 3 we will talk about when and where to physically use these tools; this section is about the physical tools themselves.

In this lecture, you will:

• Gather samples of your marketing tools.

• Meet the Tools part of the Brand Equation.

Your marketing tools are intended to serve a specific purpose: to attract, engage, educate, transact, or champion. Just like a multipurpose tool that ends up being too confusing, when we ask our materials to do too many things, they end up being unusable, or worse, sending the wrong message.

In this lecture, you will:

• Learn about the marketing funnel.

• Understand the order and purpose of your marketing tools at each stage of the funnel, and how to connect with your audiences at each phase of the funnel.

Your marketing tools are the physical manifestations of your identity, and opportunities to demonstrate your brand. We already have the identity components in place, and how we want to connect with our audiences at each stage of the funnel.

In this lecture, you will:

• Look at the types of tools you will use, including print, digital, social, packaging, a telephone script, event materials, or promotional items to tell your story. 

Are your marketing tools working for you? An evaluation-criteria checklist can help you determine if your tools are doing what you want them to do. If not, the checklist can tell you what needs to be updated to meet your needs.

In this lecture, you will:

• Determine if your materials are working for you.

• Create a plan to keep, update, or eliminate your tools.

Organizing your tools can be challenging, especially when the volume increases, time passes, or you create multiple versions to speak to different audiences.

In this lecture, you will:

• Create a simple process, or review your current process, to ensure you can find and track the tools you create.

You have people, time, and money, but only a certain amount of each, so it's important to optimize all of them.

In this lecture, you will:

• Plan the best way to get in front of the right people, at the right time, at the right price.

Chances are, you already have a digital presence, such as a website or a LinkedIn company page. These are critical to maintain because it's how people find you online.

In this lecture, you will:

• Explore the concept of Presence.

As you create your presence, you can connect how, when, and where you show up for maximum reach and exposure.

In this lecture, you will:

• Learn ways to integrate your tools into your presence - and your presence into your tools.

• See how time and planning are essential for creating the best presence.

People remember the experience they have with you, good or bad. With the first three parts of the Brand Equation in place, it’s time to focus on creating intentionally exceptional experiences. This is the final piece of the Equation, where you have a change to truly stand out.

In this lecture, you will:

• Explore the value of Experience.

• Outline your key audiences to prepare for that something special.

Employees, or your team, are your most valuable audience. They engage your partners and deliver your brand with every interaction. If they understand how vital they are to the Brand Equation, as well as the components within the Equation, then they will be engaged and committed.

In this lecture, you will:

• Review who your employees are.

• Look for opportunities to elevate their experience.

Depending on your business, affiliates and partners are likely the people who help you reach your customers. This group could include external brokers, suppliers, or anyone else with whom you are connected. We'll put peers in this group (some people call them competitors) because people in the industry can be an excellent resource.

In this lecture, you will:

• Review who your partners are.

• Look for opportunities to elevate their experience.

Your clients and customers are the people who pay money for your products and services; they pay your bills. The experience you create for them counts because you want them to stay with you and to recommend you to their friends.

In this lecture, you will:

• Review who your customers are.

• Look for opportunities to elevate their experience.

If you are in view of someone who doesn't work for you, isn't a partner, or who buys your product, then they are considered a member of the public. These people are public today but may become employees or customers tomorrow.

In this lecture, you will:

• Review how and when the public will see you.

• Look for opportunities to elevate their experience.

With identity + tools + presence + experience in place, you are ready to earn your brand. You established what you want you wanted your brand to be in Section 1 and may have refined it throughout this course. Now let's see it all together.

In this lecture, you will:

• Put the pieces together to see the complete Brand Equation.

Throughout this course, we looked at different components of marketing and your brand. We didn't set out any specific goals for sales increases, market expansion, or how many people like you on social. We did set out a structure for you to follow that can impact all these measurements by having a clear story to tell and knowing how to tell it.

In this lecture, you will:

• Look at ways you can apply the brand equation to specific goals.

• Determine what you want to measure, how you can measure it, and what you will do with that information.

Congratulations on completing the Brand Equation and being on your way to earning your brand and your reputation. The Equation created a playbook for you to follow, to evolve, and to refine. This all started with your vision and your desire to share your story with the people who matter.

In this lecture, you will:

• Conduct a final review of the components.

• Determine what’s next.

• Share your work and thank your team.