Ever struggle to tell people what your brand does, and why you’re the best?

You’re not the only one. As an expert in your industry, you’re steeped in detail and knowledge, and that makes the big messages – the ones that really stand out to an external audience – slide out of view.

To explain this concisely, you need to address your verbal branding.

When people (non-marketers) think of any sort of branding, they think of a logo.

It has long been the job of any brand expert, whether verbal or visual, to challenge that myth and demonstrate to potential clients why the logo is just one element of your branding.

It comes up regularly in my conversations with designers and brand strategists, and something I covered in my brand messaging workshop at the recent Optix Solutions Digital Trends 2023 conference.

The truth is that, while brands accept without question that they must invest in their visual identity (even if to them that just means ‘getting a logo done’), often their verbal identity gets completely ignored. And if that’s the case for you, you’re missing a trick.

So what is visual and verbal branding?

Visual branding is not just about the way you look; it’s about how you make people feel.

Verbal branding is not just about the way you write; it’s what you say about yourselves, why you say it, how you say it and who you say it to.

There is (or can be) considerable overlap between the two – particularly if you work with a designer who also understands brand strategy.

If you don’t address your verbal branding, then here’s what you’ll be missing:

• A critique of your big messages, like your brand name and strapline,
• A strategic view of your positioning in the market,
• The chance to develop your mission, purpose and even brand values,
• An opportunity to establish your brand voice and tone,
• A ‘script’ for your pitches and sales team that eloquently describes what you do, and why it’s brilliant,
• Development of your house style – the rules by which you and your team write,
• A focused analysis of your true USPs (‘professional’ and ‘friendly’ are not USPs!),
• Identification of the benefits of your product/service,
• A review of your market and competitors,
• An analysis of your target customers, and what their buying triggers are,
• The (very satisfying) sacking off of words and phrases that need banishing forever,
• A true way for you to stand out from your competitors, reinforce the right messages consistently and bring multiple writers together under one brand voice.

Every client is different, and at a different stage of their brand’s evolution. But there is work to be done at every level, and it starts with establishing a consistent, resonant set of messages.

By investing in your verbal identity along with your visual identity, you’ll get a centrally held brand messaging toolkit that’ll be used by every member of your team to make their job quicker and easier. It’ll be an extension of your brand guidelines, helping to cement your dream position in the market and inform all your future comms going forward.

We work with ambitious SMEs to identify and refine their biggest, most resonant messages. The ones that will get them remembered and referred. If that sounds like the sort of springboard you need, get in touch.