This was the topic of conversation at this month’s Breakfast Club and it was a great one to get stuck into.

So it was my turn (Lucie) to take the mic and I couldn’t think of anyone better to join me than the hugely talented Nicola from Calm Communications. Now Nicola is one of my oldest best friends, but she’s also a mega experienced journalist, copy writer and just an all-round good egg.

So I started the conversation by discussing some of my personal tips, as a designer, to get on track with telling the story of your brand;

1. Get organised! Have all your design assets saved in a folder on your phone, this helps to ensure visual consistency when creating on the go. Don’t let not having things to hand be a barrier.
2. Be confident with where you sit in the market & communicate consistently from there.
3. Practice your elevator pitch. Being able to describe what you do succinctly & confidently will help with all your messaging in person & online.
4. Know which platforms your ideal clients are on & invest time there!
5. Learn how best to create good quality content & then get it out there! Try all different things & analyse what worked well. “I either win or I learn” is one of my favourite ways to reframe something that didn’t quite go as planned.

Nicola then went on to give us a great talk on the benefits of different types of messaging and explaining that in order to successfully communicate yourself, “you need to BELIEVE the words that you are using”. Our authenticity and confidence in who we are, “in all our messy glory”, actually becomes part of our brand and is what our clients align with and ultimately then buys from.

Nicola’s top tips;

1. Be authentic – blog!

Nicola tasked us with brainstorming one blog idea to add to your content plan a month. This can then be repurposed several times on other Social Media channels. This one piece of content doesn’t have to live and die on Instagram, instead it can become to seedling for ideas to sprinkle across multiple platforms. It’s a blog post, a lead generator PDF for download to encourage email sign ups, it’s a pin on Pinterest and it’s a thought leadership piece on LinkedIn. Never be afraid to make that valuable content you’re sharing to WORK HARD and repurpose as many times as you need.

If you don’t have a blog already on your website- definitely consider adding one! It’s a great way to compliment your messaging on socials and start building that evergreen content that remains accessible long after it’s fallen off the first scroll of your grid.

2. Have a strategy

Just posting off the cuff is probably not going to cut it. Nicola made us think about what our main routes to market are and then content planning accordingly. So where are people finding you? What performs well & what doesn’t? Using analytics on social platforms and our websites are so useful to give us insight on what our audience wants to hear more of. Carving out that time to then create with purpose and with strategy should then be a more effective use of time and energy.

3. Connection – are you REALLY showing up?

We talked about writing down some actionable points you can take to show up more. What is the magic sauce that makes you unique?? It may feel like an over-said point, but people really do buy from people, that human connection and tone of voice can build trust, authority and a foundation to your brand that paints a picture of you long before a 1:1 conversation has taken place.

Can you plan to get your face and voice used more as part of your strategy to develop that connection with your audience?

“More than 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day. And those Instagram users have a keen eye for new products and trends. 58% say they’ve become more interested in a product or brand after seeing it in Stories. And half say they’ve actually visited a website to buy a product or service after seeing it in Stories.” HootSuite

4. SEO (keyword research & unique content)

This is an area of running a business that can seem super scary to most. It’s also an area you may want to seek expert help from (hi Nicola!!). Nicola recommended researching keywords that suit your business. Consider what people would put into Google to find you? This definitely leads back around to the blog posting in point one, as blogging will definitely help how you rank on Google, but using your unique short/long form content in an authentic way is also really important.

5. Think ‘Beginner’s Mind’…

Nicola drew on her Yoga and Meditation background (Little Yoga Studio) for this point and made us think about how we are the experts in what we do, but how could we simplify the terms we use and message to make it more easily understood. She again gave us some homework to write down some typical words/phrases/terms that are relevant in our industry and challenged us to then simplify these for our audience. By spelling out how you can help them, but in the tone of voice that authentically reflects your brand values, we’re making the right steps to writing content that hits hard and converts to more engagement/sales/business growth.

For me, it’s a powerful combo to have your visual identity nailed and your tone of voice/brand values solidified. Once you take ownership of these things, you can consistently, confidently and AUTHORITIVELY communicate how brilliant you are and exactly why people should work with you.

Want to grab the PDF worksheet to get some of these things worked out and scribbled down? Subscribe to our mailing list below and we’ll send you a copy!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic and if you need any help with your branding or website design, please do get in touch! Need copy written or help with SEO…you know who to speak to!

With love,

Lucie xx