Over the last decade, a lot of my bread and butter work has been producing corporate films for companies around the United States. And almost every time the story plays out the same:

I’m invited to their offices and I enter into the pre-production meeting with a room full of leaders and decision makers. We talk about the story, our target demographic, who should be cast in the video, and how this video will hook our viewers.

I tell the client that we’ll have a nice clear shot of their domain name at the end of the video, which will grab new viewers and compel them to go to the website. Then I ask if their website is converting viewers into paid customers because that is the whole point of making this video: to hook people and drive action.

Most of the time their answer is something like: “Well, we have a website, but it doesn’t convert viewers.” We both look at each other, realizing that without a great website, making a video is kind of just throwing time, money, and resources into a void.

So we take a step back. We start talking about the idea of refreshing their website to make it clearer and feel more authentic. We talk about the flow and customer journey and start to define our major goal of having a website.

Are we trying to book meetings? Are we trying to sell services? Are we trying to sell products?

They need to funnel their viewers that have a certain problem to the right solution that we are offering. So, we agree on developing their website before moving into the video.

When we meet about the website and the discussion inevitably leads to branding, a similar scenario plays out.

And so we take another step back! Ugh!

After playing out this same scenario for the last 20 years, it’s become clear that there’s an order to build and market a business and nobody is talking about it! If we take the right steps in the right order, we can save a bunch of time, money, and heartache.

Every year, thousands and thousands of dollars are wasted because businesses are checking off boxes, throwing subpar websites up, forgetting they even created social media accounts, never mind creating strategies that would convert. I knew I needed to do something to help. And that is how the Unify Brand Steps came to life.

Businesses are throwing money away because they do things out of order.

Imagine how fast and inexpensive it would be to make a brochure, website landing page, and short explainer video if you had this figured out already:

• Logo
• Brand elements
• Brand script
• Good photography and video of your product/service
• Testimonials
• Call-to-action

If you have these elements defined, then you can knock out cohesive and clear marketing materials by just reformatting these elements into that medium, saving you a TON of money.

A Brand Wake-Me-Up

Whether we like it or not, when we see forest greens and rustic browns, chances are we feel a caffeine craving comin’ on. And that is what Starbucks has been working towards since the early ‘70s. We know their Siren logo, the comfort of their cafes, and the tribe- forming nomenclature when ordering a drink at the counter. With their font choices, color palette, photography, and decor we can walk into any shop around the world and immediately feel comfortable.

That is unifying a brand.

I’ve been in business for the last two decades, but as I have been growing my company over the last 5 years I’ve realized that it takes a lot of energy and dedicated focus to create a professional and memorable brand. It can be overwhelming or easily ignored, or crazy expensive if you don’t keep track of what you’re doing.

It is time to realize that we have to stop making the “thing” we are good at making, and push pause. We need to be able to clearly communicate why our “thing” is so important. Then figure out how to get that message in front of the people who are having the problem our “thing” solves. 

Rinse. Repeat. Profit.

Download a copy of our free team marketing worksheets here. Want to learn even more? Check out our book and video course, Unify Your Marketing.