🌶 Branding for early and operating startups with Lade Falobi

Hello triber,

One thing we'll be doing this year (in this newsletter community) is sharing insights from professionals and other entrepreneurs on topics related to starting, marketing, and scaling a business (in today's digital world).

In the spirit of that, we will discuss branding for startups, with expert insights from Lade Falobi, the General Manager at ReleaseLog.io. With over 5 years in marketing, she has worked closely with B2B and SaaS startups helping them sell better to users. She also writes an amazing product marketing newsletter for SaaS and B2B teams.

This issue is for:

Start-ups looking to invest in branding
Businesses with a customer base but haven't invested in branding
Start-ups who want to go beyond building a brand and not just a business.

PS: You can suggest a guest to us by simply replying to this email with their name and LinkedIn/ Instagram :)

TL;DR:

Define your brand voice as early as possible.
If you've been operating without a documented brand voice, use existing materials like sales scripts and pitch decks to illustrate the changes needed for the new brand voice. Show side-by-side comparisons to help the team effectively understand and apply the new approach.
Conduct thorough user research to understand your potential customers before defining your brand archetype and personality. Personifying your brand traits helps clarify the brand identity.
Established brands with multiple audience segments should consider adjusting their voice accordingly to resonate with different cultural nuances and user contexts.
Don't just focus on visuals; ensure they align with your brand voice. Avoid trendy brand voices that don't resonate with your audience, and consider how your brand tone adjusts in different situations, such as a PR crisis.
Early-stage entrepreneurs should prioritise user research through direct conversations with customers, not surveys, to inform all aspects of their marketing and branding strategies.

Here’s what Lade has to say in her slightly edited words:

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1. Define your brand voice early as early as possible:

It's best to establish your brand voice from the start to enable easier changes, although changing your brand voice is possible, it's easier when done correctly from the beginning. If you try to change it later, you might be biased and not realize it. You might unconsciously keep using the old voice. Plus, it's hard to train people to use the new voice. They might be used to the old voice and find it difficult to switch. But this is particularly true if the new tone is subtle, like with Slack's, which might be more challenging for your sales, product, and marketing teams to adopt; thus, I suggest starting as early as possible.

For teams operating without a documented brand voice and style:

It's easy to fall into the habit of thinking, ”Oh, this is how we've always spoken." Instead, focus on how you should speak, not what you've said previously. Disregard everything you've done in the past as if your brand has never publicly shared a post before, so you can create new foundations for your brand voice.

The good thing is at this point (for businesses operating without a documented brand style), your business probably already has customers even without a documented brand style. Start by researching your target audience and existing customers to understand their communication style and what appeals to them. This research will form the foundation of your brand voice. After establishing this foundation, train your team on the new approach. It might require some repetition and examples, but it's important to get everyone aligned.

If you have already existing materials, such as sales scripts or pitch decks, use them as examples to help your team understand how to apply the new brand voice. Rewrite these materials in the new voice and show them side by side with the old version, so everyone can see the differences and understand the new approach. By demonstrating the changes practically, you can ensure everyone is clear on how to communicate in the new brand voice.

There's no negative effect when you decide to change your brand voice or improve it. But a change without proper research can have some effects, especially if it's a drastic change.

2. How to start branding as a startup:

A. For teams just starting out:

First off, you need to know exactly who you're talking to. Even if you're just starting and don't have customers yet, you should have an idea of who your potential buyers or users are.

How do you do that? Start with some user research. Talk to people, listen to what they're saying, and pay attention to the kind of content they're into. And ensure you’re documenting all of it.

Once you understand your audience, it's important to consider your brand archetype, which is similar to the personality of your brand. There are different types, such as caregiver, everyman, or sage. It's important to consider not only who your audience is, but also what resonates with them. For example, if you're offering a financial product to everyday people, you might want to approach it from a perspective that aligns with an everyman or sage archetype, because you're addressing individuals who may not have extensive financial knowledge.

When developing a brand, I like to give it a distinct personality or persona. First, I think about the traits this brand would have if it were a person and list out six to ten of these traits. Then, I personify the brand by choosing a well-known person from pop culture, such as a movie character or a celebrity, to embody these traits. This helps me better understand the brand and communicate its personality to others. I have used Leslie Knope, a TV character from Parks and Recreation, as a reference. Whatever I do, I think, "Is this something Leslie Knope would say or do?" This makes it easier for everyone to relate to.

B. For teams operating without a documented brand voice and style:

For existing brands, the process is similar, but user research is likely already documented, and interviews are conducted with current users. You can use their feedback and insights to refine your brand and make it even better.

Another difference is that an established brand may have developed multiple audiences over time.

So in that case, it's important to consider how the brand voice may change when communicating with people in these different scenarios. For instance, should the tone be adjusted when speaking to someone in Nigeria due to cultural differences?

3. Three branding mistakes to avoid as a startup:

The first mistake is thinking about branding in terms of the visuals and not tying the visuals back to the brand voice and tone.
Second mistake is choosing a trendy brand voice that doesn’t resonate with your audience.
The third mistake is not considering how your brand tone should adapt across different contexts.

Yes, you can be a witty and funny brand, but that doesn’t mean you should use that tone in every situation. For instance, during a PR crisis, you need to know when to dial it back. There’s a fine line between maintaining your usual tone and addressing a crisis with the seriousness it deserves.

4. Using brand marketing to define your startup’s positioning:

Branding can help with positioning, especially in markets where a lot of products are the same. Take the Nigerian Fintech space, for example—where products are often rated as similar. There’s not much to differentiate them. This is where branding steps in. It can set you apart, even if you’re doing the same thing as everyone else.

You may not be able to compete based on basic features but when you have a strong branding strategy, which should sync with your positioning, it makes it easier.

One marketing advice for an early-stage entrepreneur:

Everything starts and ties back with your audience.

The channels, the strategy, and the branding all begin with your audience. You'll need a ton of user research, not with surveys but with 1:1 conversations. Spend time with your audience, hang out in their events and communities, and learn how they speak and think, and what drives their decisions. It's best done at the early stage when you have a few customers to interview and they can guide your decision moving forward.