Six levels up
3 copy & Design improvements you can make right now
Like the shy but endearing star of an ’80s teen romance, some damn good brands get real awkward when they have to go out in public and interact with their customers.
They say too much or too little, focus on the wrong details. They come across pushy or out of touch - not because they actually are those things but because they don’t know a better way. Or they’re trying so damn hard. How they look is often a problem too. Off brand, outdated, or wide of the customer they care so much for.
The downside of this ugly duckling-ing isn’t just that it hurts your brand’s bottom line or your mission to bring good into the world.
It ends up indirectly hurting your customer too. Because lackluster content isn’t see-through. Good or bad, it becomes the extent of what a customer can see and believe about you.
The very best content and design is transparent, allowing the customer to see your product, message, or brand in the fullness of its authenticity - immediately and always.
If your customer is going to see you for what you truly are, you’re gonna have to level up that content and design.
So here are 6 ways to do just that.
3 design improvements
They say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But in the digital age, you better believe everyone is judging your cover(design).
Keep It Consistent - Your design and brand should be consistent across all platforms. This helps to increase brand recognition and brand value. An easy way to create that consistency: do an audit of your existing content in the world, and update or delete anything that doesn’t match your current branding.
More Human Images - Use more human-centered images and graphics in your newsletter, social posts, website, and ads. This helps to ground your brand in the tangible world and helps your customer see themselves in your brand or with your product. Use a free catalog like Unsplash, and use images that do things like:
Highlight who your ideal customer is.
Shows people participating in actions that customers who buy your product would be doing.
Evokes emotions or atmosphere you want people to experience when using your product or brand.
Create a Culture Deck - Creating a culture deck or culture code can help your brand and employees choose the design and messaging that aligns with 1) Who your brand actually is, 2) What your brand actually does, and 3) Who your customer is and what their needs are. To get started thinking about how your brand should create culture, here’s a piece we made called How Brand Makes Culture.
3 copy/messaging improvements
Copywriting isn’t literature. It's not meant to be timeless. That means copywriters should utilize the best practices of current communication (both form and medium) as well as seek to update their understanding of a customer’s wants, desires, and evolving language and norms.
This could mean having to fight off some sunk cost bias if you’ve spent a lot of time and energy developing your existing language and messaging. But trust us, holding on to messaging past its expiration date, could skew the brand into irrelevance or leave it speaking a language your audience no longer wants to hear.
Now then, here are 3 improvements you can make right now to up your copy and messaging.
Use Better\More CTAs. - Those familiar with sales know how nerve-wracking it can be at the end of a pitch to ask the prospect to act. It provokes our insecurity. We see it all the time in Calls To Action that follow ads, blogs, social media posts, and other places. These vague and insecure CTAs usually read something like this, “Come check out our website” or “Start your journey with us!” These invitations aren’t bad, they’re just not specific enough. Trade them in for CTAs that are more direct and show your customer the exact action you want them to take: “Schedule a call with us today” or “Come to the shop and find your new favorite mug before tomorrow morning’s coffee.” CTAs shouldn’t leave your customer in doubt about what they’re supposed to do, how they’re supposed to do it, or when.
Keep Content Diverse - By this we mean, don’t just run the same kind of graphic, post, blog, etc every time. Lists are great. Product pictures are great. Founder videos are great. But none of those things should be the only kind of content you create. Keep thinking up different ways to communicate the same messages about your products and customers.
Stick With Campaigns Longer - Most content creators hope that potential customers are paying close attention to their content. Most of the time, the opposite is true. Which is why we encourage brands to stick with campaigns(whether they’re advertising or content campaigns) for extended periods of time. 3-6 months for starters. It takes time and repetition for your message to saturate both your audience and the mindshare of your individual customers. Let your campaigns do their jobs by keeping them around longer.
ditch the drama and dare to be different
Our experience working with brands tells us that there are a few within every industry who actually offer category-of-one-like products or services to customers they love.
These brands have often spent too much time and money trying to look like everyone else in their industry, while also hoping to be noticed and seen as unique. This contradiction isn’t working.
For these very few brands, what’s missing most is not customer knowledge, great products, or even company culture.
What’s missing is a wholesale commitment to their brand’s identity and the courage to present their ability to uniquely solve a problem for their customer in a differentiated way.
That brands that immediately spring to mind when we think of pattern disruptors who’ve ditched the drama and dared to be different (Yeti, Patagonia, Peloton, Rivian, Apple) all began where you are now - making the brave choice to differentiate and bring the whole brand along for the ride.
Their customers adore them. Not in secret, in public. And yours can too.
At CultureCraft, we specialize in helping our customers be honest with theirs. If your brand is ready to stop fitting in and wants to take its place as one of the few, then reply to this email and let us know which of the 6 ideas above you’ll be trying out today.