Stand out from the competition by just being YOU
We can easily get stuck in comparison with others and don’t feel like there’s the time, energy or need to do things differently. To stand out from the crowd you have to be creative, innovative and show your audience what makes you uniquely YOU!
When can easily get stuck looking at what other people are doing to promote their businesses, we get pulled into rabbit hole of advice out there on the internet, such as making sure you have a niche, identifying pain points, having case studies, starting a podcast or a YouTube channel.
Marketing gurus will most often focus on what worked for them, and you may try to follow the advice of many different ‘experts’ who will each be sharing with you what worked for them. You then take a little pinch of this and a pinch of that and have a go at one thing and then the other. You are flitting between a number of different strategies because you’re not seeing the results you’re looking for, and with organic marketing things take time, sometimes quite a lot of time to get results proclaimed by the gurus.
Let’s look a little deeper, how do we become unique and different and stand out in the crowded online space?
Yes, we need to be innovative, but we also need to be ourselves.
I’m sure you have heard many times that people don’t buy products, they buy people. But it goes beyond the know, like, trust factor.
As a consumer, I want to know what it is that is unique about you that can make my life different… and better. It’s time to move the focus away from the pain and problems that your customers are in fact, painfully aware of, and into the light that you shine on the answers and through your unique wonderful self!
There are so many people out there that do exactly the same as you, so how can you approach marketing differently? How can you stand out from them and be unique?
You need to talk about yourself.
This is where you brand personality steps up and into the spotlight. We want to create content and messaging which creates real connection, most people are trying to do this with their social media or when communicating with clients but being consistent and authentic can feel like a real challenge.
Understanding yourself and your brand is at the heart of your messaging, for me, as a Psychologist and lover of all things that helps us in understanding the human experience, it is how we all connect through shared meaning and shared understandings of the world. You will hear me talking about one of the most powerful ways we understand the world and the people around us, through archetypes. We have Psychoanalyst, Carl Jung to thank for our understanding and the research of archetypes which has also been translated into a wonderful approach to branding by Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson. This work describes how brands become iconic and how important it is for brands to become fluent in the visual and verbal language of archetypes, where identities are not only consistent, but compelling.
What is an archetype?
An archetype is a character, a model of people, of human behaviour or personality, which universally connects people across time and culture. As content creators we use storytelling, in very much the same way writers and movie-makers do, and there are iconic archetypes we all understand. This is why so many age-old stories have stood the test of time and we can understand and appreciate them no matter who we are, what country, what culture or what time we live in. We all like to feel individual, but no matter how unique we want to be, we all fit into inherited, instinctive patterns of behaviour that is innate and collectively understood. By understanding your archetype and your audience archetype you can better communicate and be more consistent in your content and marketing approach.
Find out your archetype by taking my Brand Personality Quiz HERE!
You can also download my Brand Personality Style Guide HERE which explains more about brand personality plus you have 50 inspirational style aesthetics covering all of the archetypes.
Do check out those resources which will help you find even more clarity in your branding and you can integrate them into these top tips:
Four Pillars of Unique Content
Credibility
You need to establish trust, to do this share testimonials, your knowledge, projects, features in magazines and media, certifications and qualifications. People need to know why you are the expert, so showcasing how great you are at what you do. Both proof of your expertise ,as well as social proof is a great way to go about this.
However, this is where a lot of people stop; being unique goes beyond the know, like and trust factor.
Personality
Sharing your personality is a key part of your content strategy. You know that feeling that makes you think ‘I like you’ when you meet someone? This is what you’re looking to achieve. Talking about your world outside of business helps your audience to really relate to you. By combining your passions and interests, you can make really interesting and unique content that is memorable and different, so whatever interests bring you joy, think about how you can include them into your content to create something that is uniquely you.
Shared meaning is your most important and irreplaceable asset, what you represent – your identity, values, how you express your personality is the most effective way to differentiate yourself from others in your industry. When we dive even deeper into the psychology of this through the universally understood archetypes we can resonate and motivate our audiences, maintain even more consistency and become successful, magnetic brands. If you’d like to learn more about this process and framework, schedule a call to elevate your brand.
Relatability
Not only do we want to have our audience say ‘I like you’, we also want them to say ‘I get you’.
Through meaning and understanding how to create shared meaning, we can spark that instant feeling of recognition. Sharing your story; the reason why you started your business, this could be your transformation or healing, your journey, the ways in which you approached learning, everything that has happened to you to bring you to this point and become what you are now and place you in a position to help others through your products or services.
We don’t just talk about our vulnerabilities or challenges for sympathy or recognition. We show what makes us human, what makes us want to do what we do and shows understanding for where your audience is at on their own journey.
Feel good factor
People want to feel good about spending their money, this can be through the understanding of you and your journey and that as a small business or entrepreneur they are supporting you – they can see the real people behind the brand and want to support your business. You can also increase the feel-good factor by showing you commitment to sustainability, the environment and charity. Toms shoes is a great example of this is their commitment to sustainability and by giving back to the community, they donate one third of their profits to a variety of charitable projects helping people and the planet.
When you are creating your content consider each of these 4 pillars, and also increase your power by combining them within your posts. As always, ensure you have clear CTAs (Calls to Action), captivating hooks and ensure your copy or video scripts are concise and clear. Remember you only have a short time to attract the attention of your audience to keep them engaged. You last job is to ensure your content passes ‘the stranger test’ – which is to make sure that if someone who is completely unfamiliar with what you do would easily be able to understand your content.
