Last week, we kicked off a brand new podcast series called “Beyond Your Brand” where we began to discuss the ways you can build upon your brand design not only to strengthen your brand — but also to create a more successful small business. In last week’s episode, we focused on creating consistency — the idea of successfully carrying your brand design through every touchpoint or facet of your small business. This week, we’re going to discuss how you can use your brand to create an experience — so you can communicate your message, connect with your audience, and create brand recognition in the process. 

Beyond Your Brand: Create an Experience

The word ‘brand’ can be challenging to define or fully understand, because a brand is made up of so many details — the visual elements (like the brands and web designs we create at With Grace and Gold), the written elements (like the copywriting you use on your website or in your marketing), additional media (like the photography or videography you showcase online) — and beyond. We like to think of your brand as the way all those details come together in order to create a full, cohesive experience from beginning to end. That way, no matter where someone comes upon your business first — from social media, from your website, or elsewhere — they’re welcomed to a memorable, connection-driven experience. 

1. Decide what type of experience you want to create. Think about your favorite place to visit or your favorite store to shop at. Often times, the reason we feel connected to certain places or certain stores is because we feel immersed in the experience the place creates — from the sights, sounds, and smells to the feelings we have when we’re visiting. Your brand has the power to create an experience, too — and like any detail of our small businesses, we first need to decide what type of experience we want to create. How would you like engaging with your brand to feel? How should the experience of scrolling through your website feel? Maybe you want your visitors to sense the luxurious, elevated experience you provide — or maybe you want your fun personality to shine through and build a personal connection with each visitor. Simply knowing and firmly deciding upon what type of experience you want to create helps you to ensure every action you take on behalf of your business is rooted in creating a meaningful, memorable, and connection-driven experience — an experience totally unique to you and your small business. This is one of the most wonderful parts of being a small business owner, because even if you offer the same product or service as another small business owner, you offer your products and services in a way only you can — through an experience rooted in your creativity and passion. 
2. Think about your business the way your clients and customers do. Once you know what type of experience you’d like to create — how you’d like your clients and customers to feel when they engage with your business — it’s important to think about and experience your business the way your clients and customers do. Over the years, through observing our analytics and client referrals, we’ve learned that, very rarely do our visitors learn about or come upon our business simply by visiting withgraceandgold.com. Instead, like many businesses, perhaps yours included, visitors come upon our business through social media, through a past blog post, through our podcast, or elsewhere. Knowing visitors are coming upon our businesses from a diverse array of places lets us know just how important it is to ensure every detail of our brand needs to be consistent and create the same connection-driven experience from beginning to end. So, journey through your business in a variety of ways, just as your prospective clients and customers would. Look through your social media profiles for a consistent aesthetic and consistent messaging, scroll through your website and ensure your web design creates the experience you want it to, walk through your client experience and ensure there is consistency from your online marketing to your actual client experience, and read through automated messages your clients receive or resources you provide to your clients to ensure your voice and client experience is consistent from one message to another. Every aspect of your business should come back to creating the experience you’ve decided upon — and it’s highly likely there are ways you can polish the areas of your business to create the luxury or personal or elevated or fun experience you have decided upon and envision.
3. Develop a strategy for using each area of your small business. Lastly, don’t be afraid to revisit the key areas of your small business to ensure you’re creating the experience you have in mind. Revisit your website design — its layout and copywriting — to ensure it is setting the tone for client experience. Revisit your email templates or automated messages to ensure what you’re sharing with your clients (and how you’re sharing) is aligned with your vision. Revisit your client experience and ensure you’re creating a smooth, enjoyable, service-oriented process for your clients. As is true for so many areas of our small businesses, once you make a decision and develop a strategy, you can ensure every decision you make on behalf of your small business is rooted in that strategy.

Today, we discussed a few ways you can create an experience through your brand and business. What did you take away from today’s episode?

Since 2014, With Grace and Gold has provided brand and web design for creative small business owners. Hire With Grace and Gold or shop With Grace and Gold’s pre-made designs and Showit website templates – and come away with an elevated brand and web design for your small business!

About Brand It, Build It Podcast, Hosted by Kelly Zugay

Hosted by Kelly Zugay, co-founder of With Grace and Gold, The Brand It, Build It Podcast is a leading small business marketing podcast for small business owners, creatives, founders and entrepreneurs. Enjoy weekly, actionable episodes to build a successful, sustainable small business from the inside out.