Are you communicating your brand in the most effective way?
One of the best ways to boost brand awareness and your overall credibility, visibility and hireability is to write and share informative articles and blog posts.
In fact in Hubspot’s report: ‘The 2012 State of Inbound Marketing’ showed that companies who used blogging as part of their marketing not only gained brand exposure, they also generated leads that later converted into clients.
Hubspot’s report also confirmed that companies who tended to blog more frequently increased their customer acquisition numbers. [You can get a copy of their report here].
While blogging is fantastic for brand exposure, leads and customer acquisition (and should be part of your Brand Communications Wheel) it’s important to realise that if you’re ONLY relying on writing articles to get your message out you could be leaving money on the table. Especially if some of your ideal clients don’t enjoy reading.
If their preferred representational system (i.e. visual, auditory, kinesthetic, internal dialogue) is NOT visual and you are only using articles/blog posts as the way you share your information, you could potentially be missing out on numerous opportunities to build relationships and your credibility with these people.
So what the heck is a representational system?
Representational Systems – how we code events, experiences and information:
Many years ago I completed studies in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and learned there were four Representational Systems:
- Visual = sight
- Auditory = sound
- Kinesthetic = feelings and touch
- Self-talk = internal dialogue
Representational systems are how we code events, experiences and information, and our preferred representational system (or primary representational system) is the one we tend to favour over others.
I discovered that my Preferred Representational System was visual, followed closely by kinesthetic and auditory (internal dialogue).
Leveraging multiple ways to communicate, build rapport and strengthen relationships:
So what does this have to do with you and your business, you may ask?
Being able to recognise other people’s communication styles and preferred representational systems can enable you to build rapport and strengthen relationships with your community faster and in a far deeper, more meaningful way.
And, I’m sure you’ll agree – in business (and life in general) being able to build strong relationships and communicate your message so that it is understood with the meaning you intended, is important.
My lesson:
I learned a valuable lesson when starting a joint venture (several years ago, now) with one of my colleagues – Keith Keller through the launch of our internet radio show – Career Success Radio.
While my preferred representational system was visual, Keith’s preferred representational system was auditory (i.e. sound). In fact, his preference for audio was very strong and he really disliked reading.
I quickly learned that sending him long emails and written instructions just didn’t resonate with him.
Shorter paragraphs and sentences were better.
And, if I really wanted to make sure important messages didn’t lose their meaning, I’d ring or leave a message so he could listen to the content.
Thankfully those years of training on representational systems and being able to recognise and adapt to different communication styles certainly came in handy – and still do, for that matter.
Your lesson and takeaway:
So what can you learn from this?
To be mindful that not all of your clients (or prospective clients) will have the same preferred representational systems and that you should integrate different communication methods to build brand awareness.
That way you don’t miss out on connecting with an ideal client because you’re not delivering your information in a way that enables them to absorb it.
How?
Through making sure your Brand Communication Wheel incorporates a number of different ways to get your message out.
Such as:
- Podcasting and audios
- Videos
- Graphics and pictures
- Speaking
- Newsletters
- Or a combination of all of these
Here’s an example of my Brand Communications Wheel and how I’m currently building awareness about my business:
Annemarie’s Brand Communication Wheel
I recognised podcasting was increasing in popularity so started the Ambitious Entrepreneur Show – a weekly podcast focusing on business to bring my message (and that of my guests) to people. Through doing this regularly I have now created an audience who enjoy listening to the weekly podcasts.
I also enjoy recording and sharing audio biz tips, such a this one:
I’ve incorporated video (both talking head where I am speaking to camera and by recording my screen) allowing me to combine both audio and video together so people can see and hear me – a powerful combination.
[While I haven’t been actively creating videos lately, I have set an intention to do more soon and will be dusting off the lights and camera in the coming months.]
Because I love speaking I’m always looking out for opportunities to get involved in telesummits, teleseminars and other speaking events. I’m now regularly being asked to be a keynote speaker and participate in telesummits
My weekly newsletter is sent out to my database; and I’m regularly posting and communicating with people on various social media platforms.
Your turn…
So, what about you? Does your Brand Communications Wheel integrate other methods so that people can absorb your message in a way they prefer?
If not, why don’t you commit to adding one different method to your wheel over the next month to see what kind of response you get from your audience.
Final insights…
For those of your who love to write, here are a few tips on how to present your blog posts/articles so that people who don’t like to read can still benefit from your wisdom.
- Use headlines to separate paragraphs
- Write smaller paragraphs
- Get to the point – quickly
- Write in a conversational style
- Add lots of white space
And, some advice from my colleague Keith Keller to help him read your article should he stumble upon it:
- Use bullet points
- Incorporate images that convey the message
- Use lots of graphics
- Add a video
YOUR SAY:
Are you already using different methods of communicating your message? If not, have I inspired you to try out a new method? Which do you prefer? Do you have an idea what your preferred representational system is? Let me know below – it’s always great to hear from you.
If your company has created a superior product offered at a price that delivers an outstanding value and supports the product by unparalleled service, but no one has ever heard of your company or its products, how many of those products are you likely to sell? Zero. That’s why awareness is so important. It is the cornerstone of strong brands.
So very true Monica. I think that’s what let many solopreneurs and small businesses down, because they are not regularly spending time to boost their visibility and hence brand awareness. Thanks for stopping by.
I think most businesses don’t understand the value of having a blog, Annemarie.
Yes, it’s time consuming. Yes, it requires thinking outside the box.
However, as you pointed out, it’s an incredible tool to establish brand awareness and then some.
Thanks for stopping by Ana – I’m honoured! I totally agree with you regarding businesses not understanding the value of having a blog. A few weeks ago I was speaking to a group of women about how blogging and integrating social media tools could help build brand awareness. Just about the entire room looked at me in horror and said “You mean we actually have to spend time on this? We don’t have that sort of time.” Hmm, really? Well, I don’t believe it is ‘spending’ time – I like to think about it as ‘investing’ time, because as you so elegantly stated, “it’s an incredible tool to establish brand awareness and then some…” It certainly is that!
I actually never tried to use any methods in communicating message in branding yourself online. Thanks for sharing this kind of information and you make me inspire to try over it.
Hello Anne
nice post
you have shared some incredible tools for creating brand awareness. Blogging, Podcasting and video marketing will help to improve your brand recognition. Social media presence and constant contact with our newsletter subscribers helps in building trust and relationship with our followers
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Hello Anne, awesome ideas for brand awareness.
Thanks for sharing such information with us and I will porbar to carry them out.
These are amazing ideas to boost businesses. And I think the Brand Communications Wheel could be flexible person to person. It means adding any component in the wheel or excluding any of the components from the wheel might perfectly fit that particular person.
Glad you enjoyed them Paul.
thanks for that post i also have a small bussiness related with sco and from you i have learn so many ways to promote the bussiness thanks eor all that info pls if u have any more information related with my buissness pls share with us.
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I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading
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