10+ Tips to Make Any Brand a Sticky Brand - #49

Show Notes

We love a good business brand story! The kind that ‘sticks’ with us and leaves us wanting to learn more about the company and support their business. If you’re struggling to communicate your “WHY'' in a way that conveys who you are, what you really do and the unique value you bring to your clients and others, this show is for you! 

In this episode Lori Vajda and Nola Boea will show you how to transform your ‘WHY’ into a captivating, unique and sticky introduction. One that not only helps you make a memorable networking first impression, but is sure to leave prospects wanting to learn more about you, your business and services!

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Why You Should Listen To This Episode. In It You’ll Learn: 

• The key elements of a powerful and sticky brand message.
• How to create a simple brand message, and how to create persuasive messaging when networking.
• The purpose of knowing your unique business WHY.
• 10+ Tips to help you transform the way you talk about who you are, what you really do, and the unique value you bring to your customers and others.

Your brand and messaging matter a lot. Specifically, when it comes to growing your customer base. Nola and Lori identify key elements to help new solopreneurs create a sticky brand. 

• (1:36.46) The definition of a sticky brand that agencies use when working with mid to large companies. 
• (3:21:82) How to create a sticky brand if you’re just starting your business and don’t have any customers or just a few customers. It starts with creating your circle of influence.
• (6:14.22) This tip is a great and inexpensive way a new business owner can get feedback or honest testimonials.
• (7:34.84) Try this technique if you want to reduce buyer remorse or you can use it to demonstrate you do what you say you’re going to do.
• (10:47.48) Sticky brands are memorable brands. Use these tips to help your business ‘touch points’ be top of mind to new customers and referral sources.

Resources 
You can subscribe to Lori and Nola's show, (we love you and want to make it easy) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This episode was supported by: Be-YOU-nique

DIY Build Your Own Business Website - Course Link

Episode #5, What to do When a Customer Doesn't Like What You're Selling. Show Link

Episode #17, Kelly Vitale - Creating a Business Outside of the Lines. Show Link

Episode #42, Solita Roberts- How to Create a Signature Style for Your Business and Personal Brand. Show Link

ConvertKit: Our #1 Favorite Email Marketing Platform 
(This is an affiliate link)​

Transcript

​[00:00:00] Nola: Are you starting a new business? Perhaps you've heard the expression work smarter, not harder. Well, that's what happens when you have a sticky brand. A sticky brand helps you get customers and it makes it easier for you to get friends, colleagues, and current clients to pass along referrals. Stick around listeners because we're giving you 10 tips for creating a sticky brand so you can increasingly attract many more steadfast clients and ultimately grow your business.
 
[00:00:28] Announcer: You're listening to the sticky brand lab podcast, where time strapped professionals, like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.
 
[00:00:42] Lori: Hello, there we're Lori and Nola, your cohosts. And we'd like to welcome, or welcome you back, to our podcast. That's all about helping you successfully and quickly launch a profitable side business and personal brand you're excited about. Today, we are sharing 10 super powerful tips for creating a sticky brand. But before we get started, if you haven't already, please consider subscribing to our podcast on apple podcast, Google podcast, Spotify, audible, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Not only do we love getting new subscribers, but it gives us a chance to help you because each week we come out with new content that's designed to help you hit the ground running and be the most inspiring, magnetic, confident, bad-ass, powerful business owner ever. Now, if all that sounds pretty awesome to you and let's get this episode started.
 
[00:01:36] Nola: So what is a sticky brand?
 
[00:01:38] Lori: That's a good question. What is a sticky brand?
 
[00:01:41] Nola: Well, let me tell you, Lori, in business terms, actually the definition of a sticky brand is it's a point in time when an audience remembers you after you've entered their awareness. Our nutshell is put simply prospects and customers just don't want to pull away. But here's the thing. Having your business online makes it easier than ever for good prospects and interested buyers to find you. This is why you don't have to be a household name to have sticky brand power. As a matter of fact, any business of any size can become a sticky brand.
 
[00:02:17] Lori: That sounds really technical in the reality is sticky brand tended to be an inside agency term. So as more businesses out there, solopreneurs, we're trying to educate our listeners to the power that, that mindset and it's a mindset shift can bring.
 
[00:02:39] Nola: You're absolutely right. And what we've done here in this podcast today is taken those 10 pro tips that agencies use. And we're bringing them here so that you can use them on your side business.
 
[00:02:54] Lori: Yeah, we're making them user-friendly. Simple. User-friendly, approachable tips that any novice, aspiring solopreneur, who's starting a side business can implement.
 
[00:03:07] Nola: So one thing you want to be sure to do to have a sticky brand is have customers know, like, and trust your brand, meaning they'll not only choose you, they'll be ambassadors for your brand. They'll help spread the word about you. So Lori, how do you get people to know, like, and trust you if you're just starting out and you don't even have any customers or if you do, it's just few.
 
[00:03:31] Lori: Great question. And actually there are a few pro tips that both large and medium size companies use, but the first one that you can think about is who do you know, that's influential.
A way to think about this is kind of developing this circle of influence. And I like to think of it as the people that I know, or one degree of separation, you know, that Kevin bacon, six degrees of separation. Well, this is when you're really thinking about influencers. You really want to know those people pretty well, or you want to know, one person away from you that knows them really well. And we spoke with Kelly Vitale in episode 17, Creating a Business Outside of the Lines. And she introduced this concept when she was just starting out in her business. And we have expanded that in other episodes. But the gist of it is that you choose an influencer from within your circle or your network. And this, by the way, can be colleagues, coworkers, friends, neighbors, that you're very friendly. And what you do is you offer them to have the experience of your product or your service in exchange for a personal introduction. And think of it more like a referral swap if you will. So there might be some people in your circle of influence that you could say, you know what, in exchange for me giving you an example of what this using my product or service, what your experience might be like. I'd like to introduce you to some people that I know that might be helpful for your business. Does that make sense? What this does is it allows you to build trust with those referrals that are outside of your circle. So if you Nola, let's just say that you are one degree away. I offer you to come in and have an experience of using my product or service.
Now you can talk about it from a real experience. Even though that might have been our first time meeting. And you liked me enough to give a try of my product, the fact that you've used it makes it a personal introduction and a personal experience that you can talk about.
 
[00:05:59] Nola: That makes it more meaningful, a much more meaningful introduction. And in your introduction, the person you've been referred to is more likely to hear you out and want to meet you because of the enthusiasm of the person who just introduced you.
 
[00:06:13] Lori: Exactly. So tip number two, offer a super big discount in exchange for somebody giving you honest feedback or even a testimonial. And you want it to be an honest testimonial. So it's like a no pressure, but because I'm just starting out. And I'm trying to acquire some real experience from people or make adjustments to my product so it resonates. I'm offering this discount for you to try it out. So it's a win-win if you don't like my product, you don't have to give me the testimonial and your feedback is telling me why you didn't like the product, which is going to be beneficial to me. Tip number three is you can have a small group and beta test your product or service. Let's say that you're a speaker and you want a small group to come online and you want to do a virtual webinar for them. So you may offer a super big discount for what the quality information, resources that you're going to share in exchange again, for either a testimonial, if they love it, or just constructive feedback to help you improve your product or your service.
 
[00:07:25] Nola: Fantastic. So those are some ways that you can get new customers to know, like, and trust your new brand. Another way to make your brand sticky is to demonstrate you do what you say you're going to do. And not only that more, you're going to blow expectations out of the water. And this is why from a buyer's perspective or a prospective buyers perspective. Your a risk. Most people don't like to part with their money on risks, especially since you're so new. So it's important to minimize the risk. And here are some pro tips for minimizing that perceived risk. So we're going in order of our 10 tips, tip number four, offer a money back guarantee. Enough said.
 
[00:08:09] Lori: That seems easy enough, but you would be surprised at how many people, especially if they're gonna a pay full value, if you're offering a discount, your product or your service, or your course can have that in there, but in exchange for a beta test or a pilot that money back guarantee. You have to decide, am I going to offer you money back guarantee for beta testing at this already ridiculously low price. You and I did exactly that with our DIY website course we beta test pilot tested, and we offered those attendees, even though it was a super discount to enroll. We still said, if this isn't right for you, we'll give you your money back.
 
[00:08:53] Nola: Yep. So you can offer that money back guarantee or tip number five, offer a low value or freebie items such as a webinar course or download. Now make sure that whatever it is, it's extremely useful. Build in a wow factor. The idea here is to get people to be impressed with their experience of what you have to offer with your knowledge or the usefulness of your product.
 
[00:09:21] Lori: You know, what I was going to say is one of the mistakes that people often make is they feel like if they give away a differentiator tip or idea that somebody will steal it. And the reality is when you demonstrate that you're a subject matter expert or your product is as valuable as you say it is, it's going to offer the solution that it says that it is. When you give away something or really offer a low value, but high information, it means a lot to somebody because they're thinking to themselves, where else would I have learned that? Right. And so it builds your credibility,
 
[00:10:00] Nola: It does build your credibility and people figure, wow, this is something that, yeah, I never would have learned anywhere else. And if this is what they're giving away for free. I definitely know that I will be able to learn more or get more value from the paid product or service. So tip number six, blog. So people can read your viewpoint, get an idea of what it would be like to work with. You get to know you. The idea is again, to get people, to get an idea of what it would be like to work with you. And build kind of an affinity towards you. Again, I know we're talking about demonstrating what you do, but this is also applicable to getting people to know, like, and trust you in all kind of weaves in together. Absolutely. The other thing you want to do to make your brand sticky is to be memorable. That means be at the top of mind, tip of tongue of your ideal customers. So when people make a referral, make sure it's your name, that at the tip of their tongue to pass it on. How do you do that? Tip number seven, determine your brand's personality. This is also known in industry circles as your voice, but really it's your personality applied to your brand? What are you known for? Are you spunky? Classy, chic. Soothing, whatever it is. Is this authentic to you? In other words, if you're really soothing, you wouldn't want to create a personal brand that spunky, especially if you're going to be the face of that personal brand. Think through, how do people experience your brand? Do you make them feel highly regarded? Do you make them laugh? Do you make them feel calm, inspired, courageous.  So you have this personality that you're putting forth. What is the feeling and the experience that other people are experiencing now, whatever those two are, whatever you've decided that. Make sure that is consistent. Make sure that is the consistent experience throughout. And that dovetails into tip number eight, because we talked about the consistent experience. Tip number eight is to now take that experience and thoughtfully brand every touch point, apply that experience to every touch point in which people interact with your business. Even the seemingly insignificant. So Lori. I know there used to be some kind of a store-bought beverage where there was a message under the bottle.
 
[00:12:38] Lori: Oh, yeah, Snapple. Okay. I think it was Snapple. Snapple had the twist top one, but there's been others. Like, I don't know about a beverage, but I do know that dove candies, the little ones unwrap them.
They have a little message inside and I actually have some of those messages on my refrigerator cause they really resonated.
 
[00:13:01] Nola: Oh, now I got to get some double dark. Yes. And I've even seen bottles where it's a clear or see-through liquid and on the inside of the label is another message. Oh, really? Yeah. I've seen that. So what I'm referring to here is these are missed opportunities. These are things that people. Think that people would look at and notice, but these are opportunities to interact with your brand. Now think of those and, you know, create your own version of the message under the bottle or under the label. Things that might come to mind are your voicemail greeting. Or if somebody is going to download that freebie or even contact you through your website, put that branding experience in your confirmation message. Say somebody does go ahead and purchase a product or service your invoice. When you send out that invoice, have that brand experience be consistent.
And when they receive that product, the mail packaging, have that be a consistent experience with. Now since you are the face of your brand, you actually also need to put some thought into what you're conveying as a message and experience and a voice. And I would highly recommend episode 42, where we talked to miss Solita Roberts about how to create a signature style for your business and personal brand. That was a great episode. It was a great episode. It was so much fun to talk to her. You will just get sucked right in, and the time will fly by, but you'll be able to come out on the other end with some ideas on how to really represent yourself without feeling like you're wearing a uniform. You really, you know, are able to express yourself and your brand in an authentic way. That's unique and memorable. Right? So start thinking about all of those touch points that your brand or service in which they connect with prospective buyers and customers.
 
[00:14:57] Lori: So I actually have some examples here. Okay. So when I was working for an agency, we were doing marketing for a there's a lot of cruise lines there. We had one of them as a customer. And one of the things that I was working on were ads and they were the email ads for discounts on upcoming cruise. And I kept thinking, how many of these things do you send out that, you know, to the same people? Like what must their inbox be? Yeah, but what the research showed, and this was a lesson that I have since passed on to when I went out on my own and worked with solopreneurs. What we know is it takes on average of eight touch points before somebody actually remembers you. So all of those tips that you gave for examples of touch points, you know, the email greeting, your messaging, your packaging, all sorts of things. Those are all considered touch points. The same thing can be thought of with the email. And so one of the things that a study did is it looked at what would happen. Cause we can see who opens the email. That's the click-through rate, by the way, we could see if people opened the email and didn't respond. The next email in box was a brand new subject line and a brand new email body. If they did not open the email. The only thing that changed with the subject line. And what happens is your subject line is the thing that gets their attention. Of course you want to keep it true to branding and all of the tips that you gave, but that's an enticing invitation and what the research showed is, when I'm interested or starting to plan my vacation, that's when your email will mean the most to me. Right. But if I don't get your email on a regular basis, it will never occur to me to think specifically of you. I will start doing research on cruises that go to such and such a place. And I might be open to a variety of different cruise lines that offer me a vacation destination to my point. But if I'm a subscriber of yours, even though I didn't open your email, the fact that you were in my inbox at the exact time that I was getting ready to plan a family vacation, means I'm more likely to open up your email. That's how important it is to stay consistent to your personality as well as to think of touch points. And a touch point is not a one and done, especially when you're a new business.
 
[00:17:50] Nola: But definitely keeps people top of mind.
 
[00:17:53] Lori: It does. And that's why it's important to know who your ideal customer is when you're just starting out. You might think to yourself, my product or my service can be applicable to a variety of different people. That's true. But when you're creating messaging, that's memorable, you have to speak to the stage of where that audience member is. So let's just say we I'm going to use the cruise line as an example, because I had to write for the different market. So there would be the membership, the people who regularly became a fan of yours as a cruise line and they subscribed and collected points. So they tended to in the same way that somebody uses a credit card, they use the same cruise line in order to rack up points because those points got them discounts or eventually free nights. Right. How you write messaging to that person is going to look different than a family who's never cruised before. Now you're trying to get an early person interested who has no background or experience. That's a different market. The next audience in the cruise line is somebody who's not a raving fan and they're not brand new. They've done it cruising, but they haven't done it consistently or often enough. So those are three different voices. When you know who you're talking too and you talk to that one personality, your messaging is spot on. You can't take one message and make it across the board. And we really talked about this a lot in episode five, Who Your Audience is Not. What to do When a Customer Doesn't Like What You're Selling. We went into some examples of just the example that I have given when your messaging doesn't resonate with everyone, it should resonate with that one person. You should almost feel like I can identify who that person is. And really the other consideration when you're talking to that one, true customer, you understand what's motivating them and that's their WHY. That's not how I do my service or product or what it includes. It talks to the why.
 
[00:20:17] Nola: And so how do you understand the why of the person you're talking to, or the person who's interacting with you and your brand? Well, here's a concept tip number nine. Well, listen, and here are a few ways that you can actually listen. Well, actually, questions to ask you. And you can find ways to get this information as they're interacting with your website, or if you're networking, here's some questions.
How did your ideal buyer find you? What are her interests? What are the problems she is trying to solve? What kind of experience do you want her to have with you? How does she feel about what you do, what you offer sell, how did you find her? When did you meet and talk to her? Was it networking? Were you introduced by one of those influencers we talked about in the beginning or was this a cold call opportunity within the context of like a shared interests, such as you belong to the same Facebook group, you belong to the same organization and or you both advocate for the same cause. When you learn these kinds of things, whether by conversation or by surveys or by studying how they're interacting, the kinds of things they're most interested on your website, then you can frame how you're going to address this person, this customer.
 
[00:21:39] Lori: Yeah. So tip number 10, align your story. Think about this. If it's a personal, rather than professional experience, right? When we go to a party, a friend is hosting. We tend to when meeting new people to do a lot more listening, we're not pushing anything on the other person. We're trying to listen to what do you and I have in common. What's going to be a shared experience. That will relate to you that I have had. And the reason we do this is innately it's because when we like someone and when we think someone likes us, we like them more. So if you're listening to your favorite author, for example, And she tells a story of a childhood experienced your ears, your brain lights up like a Christmas tree, because there's a connection there. You're recognizing that, you know, the area of town or the product that she's talking about or whatever. For that shared experience. And when you go up to introduce yourself, you're going to connect that story to your introduction and her ears and her brain will do the same thing. It will light up. And so it blends and this connection between two people. Well, that's part of what happens when you align your story. When you're doing the listening and you're recognizing here's our common thoughts, values, beliefs, mission, customer, whatever that is. And now I can talk to you about myself in a way that resonates with you. And what happens when we have that shared story is we have the same, a similar shared objective. We start to understand what the motivation is and what the end result is, or the goal is. And that makes us align myself with you yourself. With me, from that connection, you're more likely to want to do business with. And if you can't do business with me, or we don't have something that you are interested in, it'll have that top of mind because you'll remember that way I made you feel. And when somebody, you know, needs the product or service I offer, you'll make that referral for me. That's a great example.
 
[00:23:58] Nola: Because you have listened to where I'm coming from, you have told your story, knowing that you're pulling in, where we meet as far as what we have in common. And because of that, I've automatically made that connection and I'm thinking, oh, you get me. And now I want to do business.
 
[00:24:21] Lori: And so one of the things you have to think about here that's really important is let's say that you had opportunities, maybe the circle of influence, maybe you went to a virtual or in-person networking event. Maybe you had a neighbor that you were talking about launching your new business, all of these small little seemingly not connected opportunities. Each of those people know people, each time somebody speaks highly of you to even think about it, small two people, three people, and any one of those two people have an experience with. They then tell their two people or three people. And so it starts to bridge out like a web, if you will. And so when you're a new business, you can start small. But if you do all of these things consistently, you create a sticky brand and every person who comes into contact with you through somebody else. Highly recommended experience or recommendation. That's stickiness, that's consistency. That's everything we're talking about.
 
[00:25:35] Nola: Absolutely. And we want to give you some final words of encouragement because you can create a sticky brand for your business. Don't give up, this is a process it's important to trust the process. Now, as you build your strategy and repeat the steps. You'll soon know them by heart. Now just do a little bit at a time. It may take awhile to build momentum. Just keep doing it. Keep implementing is over time. As you put in the work show up consistently. Give prospects an opportunity to learn something from you. People will begin to know like, and trust you. And there will be a point at which they'll keep coming back and they'll tell their friends and colleagues about you and your brand will be a sticky brand. You can do this.
 
[00:26:26] Lori: Yes. Yes, you can. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope it makes all the difference in you getting started on your business so you can create your best and most exciting life. Not sure how to build a sticky brand for your business. Contact us at stickybrandlab.com forward slash contact. We'd be happy to help. If you found the information helpful today, and you decided to implement any of the 10 tips that we gave, you let us know by posting here where you're listening, or even on our Facebook page, this way we can send you love, encouragement, and congratulate you on the amazing and badassery decision you've made to start your side business.
 
[00:27:12] Nola: Be sure to come back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember action creates results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day, small steps, big effects.
 
[00:27:29] Lori: Do you have questions about creating a personal brand side hustle or small business? Sign up for one of our clarity sessions. For more information, contact us at stickybrandlab.com forward slash contact.
 
[OUT-TAKE]
Lori: Today we are sharing our 10. Today. We are sharing our super. Shoot.