Creating a Lovable Brand

If your brand had a dating profile, would your ideal customer swipe right?

It may sound silly but let’s face it: You, as a business owner, have about 3 seconds to convince your target audience to engage with your content based solely on their first impression. Sound familiar? I shamefully do the exact thing when mindlessly scrolling through dozens of Brads and Chads on Hinge or Bumble. What’s the first thing that stops my swiping? You guessed it—if they look good.

The same concept applies when it comes to making your small business stand out from your competitors or, your “Brads and Chads.” Having an aesthetically please brand is the very first thing someone will notice about your company. Are there other factors that come into play when consumers are deciding to support you? Sure…but it’s not the FIRST thing, and just like you wouldn’t swipe right on someone you don’t find attractive, consumers are not going to spend their money on a company with a unappealing brand image. Let’s explore this idea.

Take the famous high school musical actor for example. Yes, Zac Efron might have an amazing personality and a bangin’ bod, but if his profile photo looks like photo 1, we will never know because he’s getting a big ‘ole left swipe.

What are we missing out on? See photo 2—add money, fame and success, we can go ahead and chalk that one up to a loss.

This is a perfect example of how important it is to make sure your branding is ATTRACTIVE.

Now that we’ve covered the why, let’s move on to the how. It’s not that hard…all you have to do is hire me. 🤓 Just kidding (kind of).

Photo 1

Photo 2

In all seriousness, there are three factors that you should be mindful of when it comes to your brand and yes, we will continue to utilize the dating app analogy. We’ve already covered the first one which is having a beautiful design to represent your brand. This is your profile picture on your account and it’s made it up by your brand design. This includes your logo, color palette, imagery, social content and other forward-facing aspects of your account.

Component number two is this your brand voice and copy, comparable to your dating profile bio. This is your one opportunity to share your personality with a complete stranger. Just like you can get an gauge on a potential match: who they are, what they like, what they’re looking for and even their sense of humor, your brand voice allows you to communicate with consumers without speaking with each and every one of them face to face.

Lastly, how you communicate with them once you match. Let’s say your ideal customer finds your brand attractive and likes what you have to say so they hit that follow / subscribe button. It’s a match! Congratulations. What are you going to do with your new found love? Leave them in your inbox? Wait for them to make the first move? NO. You communicate through your social media content and email marketing and you make that sucker fall in love with you.

To round it all out with one last analogy, as a small business owner, it’s important to remember that not everyone is going to be a perfect match for your brand. All you can do is invest in building a lovable brand and once you do, it's up to them to give you a chance…but just as a general rule of thumb you shouldn’t double text or talk about your ex with your customers or clients.