The Founder's Huddle | Issue 4

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WE’RE BRINGING BOLDNESS BACK (IYKYK)

FEATURED BLOG

Find Your Brand Voice: What It Means and Why It Matters FROM THE MINDS OF CERTIFIED BRANDING AND MARKETING EXPERTS.

THE FOUNDER’S HUDDLE | ISSUE 4 | 2024

I N T H E WO R DS O F O U R L E A D E R , J U ST I N T I M B E R L A K E ...

The woman who makes brands BOLD Welcome back, Founders!

Houston, we have an issue. An OUTSTANDING issue.

The Founder’s Huddle is a collection of the latest in our world of marketing to help your business stay ahead of the game. Whether we can help shine a light on best practices or the possibilities that can come from fresh design, we hope you can take away something to prompt your next great idea.

We know the spark is there. You might just need to REkindle the fire in your brand.

What do we have in store for this issue?

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Advice on REengaging past customers and clients

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A checklist to complete when launching a REbrand

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How to REdiscover your brand voice

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5 signs that you might need a website REfresh

In case you’re still left wondering what could be, we always include examples of recent project work to show off our clients’ new, bold looks. They’d be happy to help you with the same.

Until next time!

Warmly,

Theresa Goodwin, Founder & CEO

STA L K H E R O N S O C I A L

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Ask the Experts

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Our Mission

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Ask the Experts

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Blog: Find Your Brand Voice: What It Means and Why It Matters

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Brand Launch Checklist

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New Brand Alert!

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Blog: Refresh Your Website: Five Indicators You Need an Updated Site

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Website Refresh Alert!

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Boldthink Out And About 3

ASK THE 4

Our Client Experience Manager, Kallie, was asked...

“What are a few ways to reengage with past clients?”

1 Personalized Note You can shoot off an email or pick up the phone, but I think a handwritten note is a great way to reengage with old clients.

The occasion could vary – an anniversary, holiday (big or small), event, or special offer, but personalization is key.

Have a good reason to reach out and express in your note how much you’ve enjoyed working with them.

2 Events If you’re hosting a learning event, it’s a great time to reengage with old clients and offer value to them through thought leadership.

3 Special Offers Create a special offer by piloting a new product or service with past clients whose judgment you trust.

Let them know why you’ve chosen them specifically.

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“Our goal isn’t to help you fit in. It’s to make you stand out.”

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Our Brand Manager, Cari, was asked...

“Why is it important to identify target audience(s)?”

Some products and services have universal appeal. I mean, we all use toothpaste, right?

Marketing for something like toothpaste can be quite broad for brand awareness goals—you want your brand to be known as the best of its kind! But with each customer comes a different set of perceptions, wants, and needs.

Let’s say at some point you want your customer base to include more people in the 65+ age demographic. That’s where a target audience can come in handy. Developing customer personas and tailored messaging helps you allocate marketing resources efficiently and increase engagement from those audiences.

This exercise can be fluid, evolving as your business goals do.

That’s why it’s best to combine broad and targeted marketing methods to really optimize your impact.

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ASK THE 9

Brand, Marketing, Strategy

Find Your Brand Voice: What It Means and Why It Matters

As a business, you strive to stand out and resonate with your audience in a unique and compelling way. How do you achieve this? Through your brand voice. Your brand voice is more than just the words you use; it’s the personality, tone, and style that define your brand’s communication. It’s the essence of who you are as a company.

What is Brand Voice?

Imagine your brand as a person entering a room full of strangers.

How would they introduce themselves? Would they be formal or casual? Serious or playful? The persona they adopt, the words they choose, and the way they speak are your brand voice.

Brand voice encompasses several elements: •

Personality: Is your brand friendly and approachable or professional and authoritative?

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Tone: How do you convey your message? Is it assertive, formal, or humorous?

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Language: Your specific words and phrases reflect your brand’s identity and values.

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Style: This encompasses everything from sentence structure to how you use slang or jargon.

Why Does Brand Voice Matter?

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Consistency: A consistent brand voice across all platforms and communications

builds trust and familiarity with your audience.

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Differentiation: A unique brand voice sets you apart from competitors and helps you be memorable.

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Connection: A well-defined brand voice resonates with your target audience, developing a deeper emotional connection.

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Clarity: Clear communication strengthens your brand’s message and ensures your audience understands it.

How to Find Your Brand Voice Know Your Audience: Understanding your audience is the foundation of crafting a compelling brand voice. What language do they use? What tone resonates with them?

Define Your Brand Identity: Your brand’s values, mission, and personality should inform your voice. Are you innovative and cutting-edge, or traditional and dependable?

Determining What Your Brand Voice Isn’t

Study Your Competitors: Analyze how your competitors communicate. Identifying gaps or overused strategies can help you find your unique voice.

Avoiding Generic Language: Steer clear of overused phrases and clichés. These tend to dilute your brand’s uniqueness.

Experiment: Try out different tones, styles, and approaches. Don’t be afraid to iterate until you find what works best for your brand.

No Copy-Cats: While studying competitors is important, copying their voices will only make you blend in rather than stand out.

Feedback Loop: Gather feedback from your audience to gauge their response to your brand voice. Then, adjust accordingly based on their preferences and reactions.

Being Inauthentic: Your brand voice should authentically reflect your brand’s values. Trying to be something you’re not will come across as insincere, making your brand untrustworthy.

Ignoring Feedback: Disregarding feedback from your audience can lead to a disconnect between your brand and its consumers. Embrace feedback as an opportunity for growth.

Forgetting to Evolve: As your brand grows and evolves, so should your brand voice. Stay agile and adaptable to remain relevant.

First three steps to determine your brand voice Conduct Market Research: Identify your audience’s demographics, psychographics, preferences, and communication style. This information will guide you in tailoring your brand voice to effectively connect with your audience.

Define Your Personality: Consider the personality traits you want your brand to embody. Is your brand

playful, professional, authoritative, friendly, or innovative? Create a list of adjectives that best describe your brand’s personality. This exercise will help establish a clear direction for your brand voice and ensure consistency across all communication channels.

Create Guidelines: Develop comprehensive guidelines that outline the characteristics, tone, language, and style of your brand voice. Include examples of how your brand voice should be applied in various contexts, such as marketing materials, social media posts, customer service interactions, and website content.

These guidelines are a reference for anyone creating content for your brand, ensuring coherence and maintaining your brand’s identity.

Your brand voice is the core of your company’s communication, the bridge that connects you with your audience on a deeper level.

By understanding what your brand voice is and isn’t, you can craft an authentic, resonant, and memorable voice.

Take the time to explore, experiment, and refine your brand voice, so it speaks louder than your competition.

Lian Ottinger, Marketing Strategist 11

Your Rebrand Launch Checklist C O N G R AT U L AT I O NS ! YO U ’ V E C O M P L E T E D YO U R R E B R A N D A N D A R E R E A DY F O R L AU N C H .

W E ’ V E B E E N AS K E D, “ W H AT ’S N E X T? ” W H E N I T C O M E S TO L AU N C H I N G, S O W E C R E AT E D A Q U I C K C O M P R E H E NS I V E C H E C K L IST F O R U P DAT I N G T H E M OST I M P O RTA N T ASS E TS.

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O N L I N E C O M M U N I C AT I O NS

Update your website, sites that link to you, and your social media channels: Secure and update your domain name (only applicable if you are changing your name or website URL as recommended by your branding or marketing department).

Change your logo, name, and colors where needed on the website.

Update any and all SEO and keywords that include the new name.

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Revise any metadata on web pages, including page titles, page descriptions and image alt-tags.

Update your listings in online directories (such as Google My Business).

Send your updated logo and company name to any partner or affiliated vendors. Be sure to include any directories that link to your website and have your logo.

Update design on your social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIN, YouTube, Pinterest, etc...). Confirm name changes on channels if needed.

I N T E R N A L C O M M U N I C AT I O NS

Update your company operation assets: Finance: Update invoices, statements, checks, credit applications, banking information, contracts, employer identification number and other IRS records.

Human Resources: Company policy statements, employee handbooks, internal forms, applications, vacation requests, training materials, payroll, etc.

IT: Company intranet, customer portals, email signatures, outgoing caller ID

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Customer Service: Customer service scripts, cold calling scripts, forms, contracts, return authorizations, voicemails, telephone greetings, company onhold messages, after-hours answering services, call center scripts and greetings.

Corporate Identity: Business cards, letterhead, envelopes, labels, folders, cover sheets, and signage (interior and exterior).

E X T E R N A L C O M M U N I C AT I O NS

Update all marketing materials: YOUR WEBSITE PowerPoint templates and existing presentations Microsoft Word templates Invoices and other legal documents Brochures, flyers, and other sales collateral Case studies, white papers, customer testimonials,

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etc.

Newsletter / e-newsletter templates Social media templates Digital ads Customer-facing training materials Promotional items (pens, notepads, etc.)

STA K E H O L D E R C O M M U N I C AT I O NS

Create a press release as part of your rebrand launch: Compose a new PR boilerplate the reflects new brand values, promises, and positioning.

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Compose a press release explaining why you’ve renamed your business (if applicable), what the updated logo means for your business and the future outlook, and what the impact (if any) it has for your stakeholders (employees, customers, vendors, etc...).

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POV: You’re starting a wicked new business and need a kickass brand identity to complement it.

Introducing Mapp3d Solutions, Indianapolis’s new 3D laser scanning and modeling service.

Mapp3d Solutions is shaking up the architectural landscape in Indianapolis and bringing it into the digital age. It’s here to reimagine the site documentation process with cutting-edge 3D laser scanning for buildings of all sizes.

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Digital, Technology

Refresh Your Website: Five Indicators You Need an Updated Site A website isn’t just your digital presence; it’s the face of your brand, the first impression you make on potential customers, and (if done right) a passive way to sell your business. According to a study

by Magnetize Studio in 2023, 75% of users judge a business’s credibility based on its website’s design.

As technology evolves and design trends shift, even the most well-crafted websites can start to show their age. Here are five indicators that signal you might need to update your website: 16

Outdated Design: First impressions matter, and an outdated design can quickly turn visitors away. If your website looks like it hasn’t been updated since the late 1900s, it’s time for a makeover. Trends in web design, such as minimalism, responsive layouts, and bold typography, have evolved significantly in recent years. A modern, visually appealing design enhances user experience and conveys professionalism and trustworthiness.

Consider your website’s user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). Is it easy to navigate? Does it adapt seamlessly to different devices and screen sizes?

According to MarginMedia, roughly half of all web traffic is done on a mobile device, and 57% of users

say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile. So, a responsive design is essential for catering to the growing number of users accessing the web from smartphones and tablets.

Slow Loading Times: In today’s fast-paced world, where information is readily at our fingertips, users expect websites to load almost instantaneously.

According to a study by Akamai, 39% of users will stop engaging with a website if it takes too long to load. Various factors, including bulky images, excessive use of plugins, and outdated coding practices, can cause slow loading times.

Optimizing your website for speed

should be a top priority. This could involve compressing images, minifying CSS and JavaScript files, leveraging browser caching, and investing in faster hosting services.

Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights can help identify areas for improvement and measure your site’s performance.

Poor Search Engine Rankings: With almost all businesses having an online presence, visibility is key.

If your website is buried beneath search results pages, it’s unlikely to attract organic traffic. Search engine optimization (SEO) plays a crucial role in improving your site’s visibility and driving organic traffic.

However, outdated websites often lack the necessary SEO elements to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Evaluate your website’s SEO strategy. Are you using relevant keywords in your content and meta tags? Is your site structured so search engines can easily crawl and index it? Incorporating SEO best practices, like creating highquality content, building backlinks, and optimizing for local search, can help boost your site’s rankings and attract more visitors.

Declining Conversion Rates: A website’s primary goal is to convert visitors into customers or leads. If you notice a decline in conversion rates, it could be a sign that your website is not effectively engaging or persuading visitors to take action. Common culprits include unclear calls-to-action (CTAs), complicated checkout processes, and outdated lead

generation forms.

Conduct a thorough analysis of your website’s conversion funnel.

Are there any bottlenecks or friction points preventing users from completing desired actions?

A/B testing different elements, such as CTAs, forms, and landing page layouts, can help identify what resonates best with your audience and improve conversion rates.

Incompatibility with Modern Technologies: As technology advances, so do the capabilities of web browsers, devices, and web standards. If your website relies on outdated technologies or deprecated features, it may not function correctly or display appropriately on newer platforms. This can result in a frustrating user experience and damage your brand’s credibility.

Keep up-to-date on the latest web technologies and standards to ensure your website remains compatible with modern browsers and devices. This may involve updating outdated plugins, adopting HTML5 and CSS3 standards, and implementing responsive design principles.

Investing in ongoing maintenance and updates will help futureproof your website and ensure it continues to perform optimally across all platforms.

rankings, declining conversion rates, and incompatibility with modern technologies—you know when it’s time to refresh your website. And if the time is now, our team can help!

We’ll work to build and design your website, carefully selecting the right color palette, typography, and visuals to ensure that every element reflects your brand’s unique identity and message while incorporating SEO best practices.

But we don’t stop there; our focus extends to user experience, where we craft intuitive interfaces that engage visitors and lead to meaningful interactions, all while optimizing for search engine visibility. Our goal is to build websites that captivate with their aesthetics and strategically drive conversions, enhance your brand’s online presence, and rank prominently in search engine results.

Remember, your website is often the first point of contact between your brand and potential customers, so investing in its upkeep and optimization is essential for staying ahead.

PSA: A website will always require regular attention and updates to remain effective. By keeping an eye out for these five indicators—outdated design, slow loading times, poor search engine

Lian Ottinger, Marketing Strategist 17

Speaking of a website refresh...

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Time to reset and rennovate!

We had the opportunity to help CHIP Indy refresh its website so it could have a more cohesive and strong brand presence in the digital space. We combined the information from the CHIP website and the COC (Continuum of Care) website while seamlessly blending the two brands.

Check out CHIP’s new website at https://www.chipindy.org/.

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We don’t always sit behind a computer...

S O W H E N W E G E T T H E O P P O RT U N I T Y TO R U N W I L D, W E TA K E I T ( YO U CA N ’ T K E E P U S ST I L L F O R LO N G ).

W E LOV E B E I N G I N VO LV E D I N O U R C O M M U N I T Y, W H E T H E R VO LU N T E E R I N G F O R PASS I O N AT E O R GA N I Z AT I O NS, AT T E N D I N G LO CA L E V E N TS, O R E V E N S I N G I N G T H E B AC KST R E E T B OYS AT A H I B AC H I G R I L L ( YO U N E V E R K N OW W H AT YO U ’ L L G E T W I T H T H IS G R O U P ).

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