Is Unclear Brand Messaging Costing You Sales?
There’s no other way to put say this. Clarity in your brand message will improve your revenue sales. Quality messaging gets overshadowed by everyone wanting to get more followers and beat the algorithm. Quality matters when creating content. Want to know how to begin? It all starts with brand clarity.
I’m not a brand marketing expert. My tips are just recommendations from what I see occurring across several platforms. My reel about brand clarity got great responses. People could relate to falling on someone’s page and leaving due to confusion.
You may be wondering how do you know if your message isn’t clear:
Do you find people come to Instagram page without any follows?
Are people engaging with your posts with irrelevant comments?
Do you find people aren’t sliding into your DM?
These are all examples of unclear messaging. People are getting to your platform. At some point, confusion is hitting them. They click off, and your efforts go without producing financial results.
Please do not feel embraced, overwhelmed, or defeated. Often, I do recommend someone sitting down with a brand strategist for more clarity. It can be costly hiring someone. It can be equally as expensive, not even to try figuring it out on your own. Unclear branding always impacts the revenue and sales conversion rates.
I know this firsthand. Around six years ago, I went through this same experience with building Luxegiving’s page and platform. I was posting photos and trying to build an online presence focusing only on us and our services. I did not share anything about our solutions for our customer’s pain points or our value.
According to Wikipedia, the definition of content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts.[1] Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of various arts"[2] for self-expression, distribution, marketing, and/or publication.
Potential customers don’t know you or want to know about you. Your platform is NOT a personal page. They want to know you are going to help them and how. Branding helps with communicating that message across your social media and website platforms.
According to Kat Collins Designs blog called What is Brand Clarity? Why does it matter?, she states “Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customers. Branding is your business’s ENTIRE IDENTITY as a whole. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it makes you stand out from your competitors. But to get to this point and beyond where you are creating the visual aspects of your brand and slaying it in your industry, you first need brand clarity. If you don’t have that, no matter how good your design is, your business will struggle.” A consistent message adds to the like, know, and trust factor.
It may all sound like a foreign language. I think branding doesn’t seem as sexy to entrepreneurs as “make $1 million days in a week” claims. LOL. As an outsider, I perceive it as an afterthought for companies and start-up businesses.
Branding and marketing go TOGETHER. I want to see you gain customers and have unbelievable results.
Today, I want to help with insight on the three main things to consider when focusing on brand clarity. Brand colors, social media messages, and website messaging are essential for clarifying your message.
Brand Clarity: Your brand colors
I highly recommend choosing your brand colors and sticking to them. You can use your brand colors on graphics, social media, website, and all branded materials. It is crucial to stay cohesive with the colors.
Commonly, you will platforms showing all colors. It is point blank confusing. According to Canva’s article How to Choose The Right Colors For Your Brand, “They say first impressions count. This is especially true when it comes to your brand since your brand color is likely to be the first thing customers see. Colors elicit emotions and feelings, plus they convey certain information. This enables customers to form an initial impression without even knowing what your product is about. Put simply; brand colors are powerful in helping customers decide whether or not they want to engage.”
When you showcase different colors, it creates a barrier with the audience or customer connecting. The same article states, “Research shows that up to 85% of consumers believe color is the biggest motivator when choosing a particular product, while 92% acknowledge visual appearance as the most persuasive marketing factor overall.”
If you do not have brand colors, you can find excellent color palette generators and branding guides on the Canva website.
Brand Clarity: Your social media message
Your social media message should resonate with your audience through education and relationship building, not always about purchasing. It should be communicated through your bio, captions, and call to action. Your social media page is where you build your community and tribe. It’s where your community comes back to connect with your brand.
According to Artful Thinkers article Clarity is Key To Communication states that…
Communication success if often defined by how close we reach an audience. Sampling tests will identify if there is clarity or your audience has a “gist” of what you are trying to say. A clarity test is a also way to show understand how people will imply their own assumptions, listen selectively and interpret the message… Simplicity frees the recipient from interpretation due to a lack of clarity. Complexity in content and message strangles good communications.
Brand Clarity: Your website
We have discussed how to use your brand to get people on your social media platform. Most people will click on your website. Within a few seconds, people will decide to stay, sign up for your newsletter, buy something, or close with never coming back. A correctly laid out website does NOT mean over the top or fancy. It means clear messaging.
One of my favorite books about brand messaging for website design is Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller. This book was a complete game-changer for my LuxeGiving page. Let’s just say I do not remember what it looked like beforehand. LOL. I learned the importance of bold headers, clear messaging, and specific talk points. Since reading the book, I have applied the principles around call-to-action buttons and half-fold design.
You can find additional tips from Gill Andrews’s blog called What Should You Do to Make Your Business Message Clear article. You can find excellent visual examples to walk you through headlines, header copyright, and other key website terms.
Your business message is more than just your website tagline. A clear business message answers all of these questions:
Who are you?
What do you do and for whom?
What’s the benefit?
What niche are you in?
How big is your business?
How experienced are you?
Conclusion
Branding is a unique message for each business, not a cookie-cutter approach. Two different companies in the same niche with two different audiences will have different brand messaging. Please check out Bare Knuckle Branding article called Brand Clarity: What Is It And Why Is It Essential For Business Growth that reviews the three different stages in brand messaging.
If you are in doubt, it is time to set up a consultation with a professional. I can recommend some great resources for you. Contact me for referrals.
What is your biggest challenge with brand clarity?
