Why We Start with the Story First // Chelsea Von Mach Brand Story Dev: Part 2

I like to focus on the story behind the brand first.

When we take the time to get our story straight and clear, bringing the story to life through marketing and branding is SO MUCH EASIER and thoughtfully connected in all respects. 

I know it's tempting to jump into the fun stuff (I think they're fun).

Things like websites and photography absolutely help us sell and market our products and services. I too felt a desire to do this (and did some of it) when I first launched W&S.

Yet, after working with clients over the years, I've realized that taking the time to put words to the purpose and reason for why you are creating this business is incredibly helpful to do first. 

Why?

Well, for starters, the experts you hire to help you with all the marketing things are not in your head.

If you can put words to the essence of your business, your team, your experts and your customers will understand what you're all about without a lengthy conversation with you on the phone or in person.

That's huge. 

However, many of my clients are like me.

We wanted to just get out there and tweak while we went along. That's totally fine and honestly sometimes you need to test the waters to know what you love about what you do to know why you do it.

The awesome part about our digital world is that we can make changes pretty easily.

I invite you to try our quick and easy Brand Story Audit Exercise to see if your story and marketing are out of alignment.

Once you have the awareness about what isn't jiving, you can take the necessary to steps to adjust your story or your marketing or both. 

Part 2 of Brand Story Development with Chelsea Von Mach

As we dive into the continuation of our series to explore developing a brand story for fashion stylist Chelsea Von Mach, we share how a combination of both a written explanation and visual examples will help get you closer to what you want, much faster. Thus, saving time, money and avoiding unnecessary confusion and frustration. 

If you'd like to learn more about Chelsea and the overall project, read Part 1.

Once it was determined that Chelsea's goal was to share her story through a unique video series, we determined a media kit would be a great way to go. Our focus would be to share her story, the series concept and how potential collaborators could partner with her.

I brought in Art Director and Designer, Mandi Gum to help us visually bring Chelsea's ideas to life. Mandi designed our logo as well as all of our branded forms, templates and marketing collateral. However, I've been working with Mandi for years within in-house marketing roles, way before launching W&S. 

Currently based in Minneapolis, Mandi began her design career in Los Angeles where she orchestrated digital marketing campaigns for premium entertainment clients such as Disney, Showtime, HBO and more. Today, in addition to developing design related projects for us, she focuses on helping small businesses establish and grow their identity across a multitude of platforms.

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Along with the Brand Story Questionnaire from the beginning of the process that we shared in Part 1, I asked Chelsea to pull together images that would help us create a mood for her story, her past work and the video series.

Visual examples always help - it's not all that different from getting your hair done. :)

Tip: We like to create and work within Google Docs because everyone can easily share files and edit content.  

Here is a little snapshot of the awesome visuals Chelsea provided to help convey the essence of the video series.

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"Chelsea's brand story questionnaire and reference imagery allowed me to really get to the heart of who she is, her perspective and desires as a stylist and businesswoman, the ways in which she hopes to impact the fashion community, and the overall mood and aesthetic she is hoping to portray. These items were incredibly thorough and strategic, and because of them, we were able to quickly establish a design direction that is so uniquely Chelsea!"  - Mandi Gum

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After absorbing everything, Mandi designed a set of 5 different options that Chelsea could pick from to help inform the aesthetic direction.

You can click on the thumbnail images below to scroll through the options.

We tried a few combinations of the various designs, but ultimately landed on the very first option that Mandi designed. 

It's funny, I will usually ask Mandi for a couple of additional options when working on projects, but I would say about 98% of the time I end up choosing Mandi's first concept. It feels so great to be in such capable hands!

While Mandi worked on the visuals, I dove into Chelsea's bio and a written explanation of the video series concept which I'll be sharing in the next part of the series!

-Arica

5 Simple Tips to Boost Your Email Signups

I had an interesting experience in a local shop that sells greeting cards, small gifts organizational decor that makes my heart skip a beat. The shop was collaborating with a nearby tea shop in a way that was smart but missed the mark.

The promotion was quite simple. They had postcards with a discount for the tea shop at cashiers desk and samples of tea at the front. When making my purchase, the cashier politely told me about the offer, pointed to the discount card in front of me and to the tea samples at the front. I happen to like the tea shop, but my brain quickly processed the effort and time it would take to go over there.  In my mind, I already said no. However, I think that if they had simply placed additional samples at the cashier, I would have been much more likely to try the tea and if I had really liked it, I may have reconsidered. Without anything truly drawing me in on an emotional "feeling" level, my rational and logical brain took over.

My early career was in visual merchandising for fashion retail brands and I'll forever be intrigued by how small adjustments in layout can make big changes from a sales and service perspective. This small miss in placement at the greeting card shop made me think about how it translates in the digital space. And the place my brain went to first was with an email signup form.

Building an email list is one of the most important things you can do for your long-term marketing strategy. Even if you aren't ready to launch a consistent email campaign, start growing your list - today.

I know many businesses are doing amazing things selling via social media. Don't get me wrong, depending on your business, selling on social is a real thing and another important part of the puzzle. It's just not something I would ever want you to rely on as your sole marketing vehicle. Although someone may follow you on social media, you never really know when and how often they will see your content due to ever-changing algorithms and you never know what could happen to that platform in the future. 

With email, you'll have a direct line of communication to your tribe. Obviously, there are best practices to avoid the dreaded spam filter, but otherwise, it's in your hands to craft a great subject line and provide value in your content. For a quick jump start, I wrote a blog post called, Get People to Read Your Content. It was written with blogging in mind, but the advice works the same for crafting emails. Instead of the blog headline, think subject line.

When it comes growing your list, be sure you have a way for your website visitors to signup for your email newsletter. For some advice on designing and placing a winning email signup form, I reached out to a friend and collaborator Ariana Kamar, Designer and Strategist behind The Design Executive. Ariana works with clients to grow their businesses by creating a better user experience on their website.

To increase your odds of your website visitor to sign up to receive your newsletter, I’ve asked Ariana for her top five tips for making the most of your digital real estate.

Ariana:

Just like Arica’s example of the lack of visual merchandising, that failed to connect her to the tea shop, a poorly placed emailed sign-up can mean a make/break difference! So consider these as you think about where and how you’re placing your email sign up.

1. To pop-up or not to pop-up: Pop-ups for newsletter sign-ups are easily disregarded. So unless you’re offering a discount, download, or exclusive content, your pop-up will likely fall on deaf ears (or in our case, eyes).

2. Your website header or footer is where email sign-up forms go to die. It’s the easiest place to stick it, but unless you have the catchiest copy, color and font choices, you may as well forget about it. Add it to the middle or end of blog posts or About pages to grab people while they’re already engaged with you and want to know more.

3. Keep it short: From your Call to Action to the form itself, shorter can be better. Don’t create “form friction” by asking for too much info upfront!

4. But don’t be too short: Don’t rely on a “Sign Up” header and “submit” to get you far. Branded, clever Call to Action text can go a long way to attract people to join in.

5. Use your data: Looking at how many people sign up using difference Calls to Action and different placements is the only real way to know what’s working. So try it out, wait, and adjust!

Thank you, Ariana! Be sure to check out The Design Executive website and follow Ariana on Instagram at @thedesignexec for great tips on designing a website with intention.

As mentioned earlier in the post, even if you aren’t ready to begin regularly emailing your list, start building your list today by simply adding or revamping a signup form to your website.

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For more tips on email marketing and list generating ideas, be sure to join our list below.

Dreaming up Magic

I once had a boss who said, "If you're in marketing, you should always be thinking about marketing; even in the shower, you should be thinking about marketing."

I'm not sure if at the age of 22 that I fully understood what he was telling me, although I know I wanted to.

It was my first job working for a fashion brand within a legit marketing department. I had varied positions in the past including wholesale sales, event coordination, managing retail stores and e-commerce websites.  A year prior, I had launched my own company where I connected business owners with creative experts. It was called Marka Concepts and it was when I first knew I had a knack for seeing a need and solving a problem. It was my first taste of entrepreneurship and I knew some day I'd want more. However, I decided to put it aside to focus all of my attention on my new role.

This boss of mine was the CEO of a successful wholesale and retail junior denim brand. He had a fiercly strong personality and I always admired his drive. He had created the company from nothing and while many brands in that highly competitive space fizzle out after a few years, he and his business partners have continued to grow the the company since launching in 2000. While working there, I grew from Website Specialist to Marketing Coordinator and finally to Advertising Manager. It was the true jumping off point in my career and I'll never forget the opportunities and exposure I was provided. 

Fast forward to today, after launching Written & Styled in August of 2016, I can finally say that I am living those words spoken by my past boss. These days, creative marketing ideas and inspiration come in strange forms and seem to appear most often when I take time to breathe and let go.

By setting yourself up for opportunities to be inspired or gain clarity by getting away from the day-to-day grind and connecting with others, you might find the answer you're looking for was always there, you just have to be open to seeing it. It may come to you on a serene beach or maybe even in the shower. 

I hope you take time to recharge in order to let go and dream up some magic for the New Year. 

With love,
Arica

Do You Need Clarity in Your Marketing Message?

Everyone appreciates an objective third-party perspective.

Each time I meet with a coaching client for the first time, my goal is to provide some clarity and help them see things that they may have missed by being too "in it". In most cases, the owners and creatives I meet with know their stuff... they just need a little guidance in the right direction.

Many times, their reason for starting the business in the first place gets blurred or even forgotten. I think it's important to stay connected to that passion even if that means the passion has shifted. It's about awareness about, where you started and where you want to go. 

It's not easy to see the entire map when we're in the middle of the road. 

Here is a fun little clarity exercise to try:

Step #1: Write or record an explanation of your business without looking at any of your marketing assets. Just write/record freely without any references and try your best not to edit yourself.

• What inspired the creation of your business?
• What products/services do you make/provide?
• Who do you sell to?
• What do you love most about the business? What brings you the most joy?

Step #2: Look at your marketing assets (website, brochures, social platforms, business cards, hangtags, etc.) - Ask yourself if they all convey the same information/story as your clarity exercise did. 

When things don't jive, this creates confusion for you and for your customers. 

If you found inconsistencies, fix them so that every aspect of your message is cohesive and authentic to your story. 

This is actually the first thing I do when I provide a consultation with a potential coaching client. I want to see if what they tell me verbally about their business is the same thing that is being conveyed on their website, social platforms, etc.

Providing this kind of third-party perspective is one of the things I love most about coaching/consulting. I get to view the business like a potential customer might and give them truly unbiased feedback. 

Try the clarity exercise and PLEASE share your findings with me either confidentially via email at arica@writtenandstyled.com or be extra brave and post it here in the comments. :)

-Arica

image by Jordan McQueen via unsplash