Marketing Aesthetics for Market Leaders

Please note this transcript is machine generated so it is not perfect and should be used for reference only, you will get the best from the podcast by listening to it in it's designed format.

(00:00):
Does your marketing need to be perfect and polished to truly make an impact? Well, in this episode we're talking all about marketing aesthetics and the do's and don'ts.

(00:21):
Hello Jen Hall here, your business positioning coach and market leadership experts. And today we're talking all about marketing aesthetics for market leaders. Are we looking for polished and perfect or raw and ready? Now this is debate that's been going on for a very long time and it normally starts a very big divide. So today I want to really talk about it to sort of go into a more granular detail around is there a one side of the coin that we should be sticking to or is there a happy medium and do we need to look at these things for what they are in a case by case basis. Not like, I'm giving away half of the episode here in the introduction, but that's what we're going to be talking about today, which I'm really excited to. As ever, please, make sure you download my free ultimate guide to become a market leader, which is in the show notes.

(01:19):
That link is down there. Just click on that sign up and it will be delivered straight to your inbox for free. And just as a little hint and teaser, there are also a couple of extra goodie emails that come following this guide, which will actually help you to set market leading intentions. So do you make sure that you download that because there's a bunch of value to be had and if you'd like to talk about how I can help you build a market leading business that is future-proof and that make some serious waves in your industry and positions you as the number one business to work with, then do make sure that you book a call with me. Link is in the show notes. That's bit.ly/claritycallpodcast. And I'm looking forward to speaking to you on that.

(02:03):
So jumping straight into this episode, I want to start talking about, should we be doing one thing or the other? And my answer is it depends. Okay. It really does depend. This is my perspective. A lot of other people have a lot of different opinions. But I'm going to talk you through a case by case. Scenarios of each element of, or each element. There's a lot of elements but a few elements, a few of the main elements of marketing that we can talk about, its individuality and find out, what we should be aiming for. Let's start with an obvious one, which is videos. So if we look at marketing through video, we want to look at this in context to where it's being put. So again, it depends. Is it a Facebook live Facebook lives? They are intended to be raw and rough around edges.

(02:59):
They're not intended to be perfect by any means. However, it's been proven that video that has transcripts available and that are a little bit more to the point can create more traction. But it really depends on where you're putting these, live videos out. If you're in a Facebook group that is your community and you're putting out a video, they want to see the behind the scenes, they want to see the real you. They want to see you just having a chat with them on, the same level. They want it to be less markety because they want to feel like they're getting to know you as a personal brand and as the person leading the business. So it's fine for it to be rough around the edges. It's fine. This morning I was walking my dog and we went a different route to usual thought it'd be a great idea to go a completely different route and do live in my group.

(03:56):
Great way to mix it up there. And we started to approach this road and I thought, Oh my gosh, I, my puppy is only eight months old and she's still getting to grips with the whole callback thing. She will come back but sometimes it takes a few yells. So we did this whole kind of episode where I was shouting her name, trying to get her as a comeback. And it was just sort of like, just the guy's got to go. I'm so sorry. I'll come back in a moment. You know, people appreciate that. And they're fine with it and actually it adds a bit more familiarity, humility. And people feel like, wow, cool. She's just like the rest of us. That's the thing. Sometimes these kinds of things really help to bring familiarity and relatability because, you know, life's not perfect.

(04:48):
A Facebook live is a great way to show when these things happen, it's just like the news reporter who was meant to be doing this polished news report. This video went viral of his kids, kind of like crawling in and then his wife crawling and trying to pull the kids out. It was rather funny. If you haven't seen that, make sure you do. But I'm sure everyone in the world saw that video. But, a lot of Facebook live is designed for those moments. And particularly with social media, it's very appropriate for it to be a little bit more rough, a little bit off the cuff. And it's totally fine if you're looking to put a video on a Facebook ad, depending on a strategy, you might want to be thinking about making that video a little bit more slicker to the point, more strategic, a lot more fought out with captions a hundred percent.

(05:41):
And making sure that it's delivering what it needs to do and it's edited in a way that it makes sense of people that they're going to get what they need from it, and that there's a strong call to action that pairs on the screen, all of these other things. So in that instance, you're going to be far more strategic when it comes to creating a video for Facebook and it's going to look far more polished. Now when it comes to being perfect, you know, at the end of the day, perfect is an achievable goal, but it's something we should all be striving towards. I think that's the way I like to put it because I do think that having an excellent standard in whatever you do, even when I'm doing those off the cuff lives, I'm still preparing. I'm still thinking strategically about what I want to say to people.

(06:29):
What's my core message? What do I want people to do? What's the purpose of the video? What's my call to action? All of those things. You know, I'm thinking about in my mind about what I wanted to do to deliver. So it's not gonna be perfect, but in certainly being strategic of certainly being thoughtful around what I'm sharing and I think, we should all be striving towards making things as good as we can make them, but when I talk about being perfect, it's never going to be, but we can strive towards that. Somebody with that. That's kind of like an example for videos. So if when we look at, let's take a more guests that sort of cut down the middle. Let's look at a download. So I'm going to talk about a download. I'm talking about maybe a PDF guide, like for instance, my ultimate market leader guide.

(07:16):
Now I'm sure there are a lot better ones out there, but I've certainly made that look as good as I possibly can make it. Now, why have I done that? Why is this so polished versus the Facebook live Fenton incident I threw out earlier. The reason is in my Facebook group people know me. People expect to see rough and ready. When I go live walking the dog, that's what they're going to expect to see. But when they're looking to download something that as an experts I've created, the expectation shifts. You expect to see something that looks professional, you expect to see something that really demonstrates my credibility and reflects the kind of service that I'm giving. And that's really what we need to look at. Does it reflect the level of the service that you are giving and does it reflect the values of your ideal client?

(08:17):
And so they're happy to watch me, you know, run around and in the march with my dog because you know, a lot of people have dogs. People understand that that's what you do. But you're not happy to receive something that I professionally put together covered in mud and it's to your door. You know, that's not what they want. That doesn't reflect their values. It doesn't reflect what they expect to see. And particularly if, for instance, this download is coming as one of the first interactions that someone has had with me, I want to make a good first impression. So what I'm talking about a download or a PDF? Yes, I think it should look good. There are a lot of people that say, no, don't worry about it. Just do whatever is the value that it delivers. But what's your price point?

(09:02):
What does your ride a client expect to receive? How does this reflect the type of service that you are then going to supply? Does this really articulate how awesome you are? Does it do that? If it doesn't you have an opportunity. Facebook live, you can't change it is what it is. It's done what it's done and that's what it's designed to be. Right? You have prepared a valuable document. They you would hope with Karen attention, you have every opportunity to make it look good. It doesn't cost much to make it look good. It doesn't take much thought to make it look good. It doesn't take much thought to take your incredible expertise that you've pulled into a PDF document and make it understandable. Make sure it's proof-read. Make sure that the copy looks good, that you've laid out with images that you've laid out nicely so people can understand and read it.

(09:52):
It doesn't take much effort. It doesn't take too much time. It doesn't take much money, and I personally, if you're not willing to spend a small amount of time, effort, and money on making that first impression really good, then what kind of service are you delivering for your clients? I'm sorry, I said it a little bit controversial, but there we go. That's my opinion. I genuinely believe that and make sure it reflects what you're delivering moving forward because that's what your marketing should articulate. It should articulate how awesome you are, so puts a little bit of effort into these things and it freaks a lot of people out because they think, well, I can't do it now. You might not be able to, but you'll get your knowledge out on paper and and hire somebody from Upwork, Fiverr from your network, whoever it is to put it in and make it look nice.

(10:41):
It's a one and done thing. Once you've got the value in the gold there, all that he'd do is make it look pretty. Let them do that. Make sure that it reflects what you're delivering. If you want to become a market leader, let's up level, let's do something that actually reflects that market leading level that you want to achieve. Okay, so that is what I want to say on downloads and PDFs. That's a hard line I have. Yes, it should be polished. Yes, it should be perfect. Because it's not difficult to achieve and so just do it. When it comes to photos, similarly, if you're putting a ton of photos up on your website, over your social media and so on and so forth, social media again is a great area. You can get away with less professional photos on Facebook, LinkedIn.

(11:33):
You absolutely do want a professional headshot when it comes to putting photos on your website. If you're a market leading company, you really should be investing in a great photoshoot. Somebody who is experienced and taking the kind of photos for your industry and your business and it's good. Go do your pick the bass. It really does. You good to re invest in that? I've been using the same pictures now. I think it's about three years or so. But this photographer was amazing and I love my pictures. I'm not sure anyone could ever do a better job. Eventually my brain are going to get too hard lined in and I'm going to have to upgrade them. It's this book that accurately reflect who I am anymore. But it's like you seriously, I think I still get people saying that a little bit about me in those pictures.

(12:23):
I've managed to avoid the goofy grin as much as possible in these photos. I do hate the goofy grin that I have that. I'll save those for my less formal pictures over on Facebook. But you get the jest. You need to be reflecting the family. Just as I said in the PDFs, you know, invest some money and time into getting those kinds of photo shoots done. And making sure they're right. I invested in a stylist and a brand expert to make sure that we were tying in everything that we needed to into those photos so that it fits within the rest of my brand and so and so forth. I do think you should absolutely invest in a photographer to do that, but Facebook again, is the type of platform where it can be a little bit more often ready.

(13:11):
There are plenty of filters out there that can make you look a little bit nicer if that's what you want. Or leave it as it is. It always depends what platform you're using. What purpose are you using it for? Is it for professional use? Does it reflect the values of a market leading company? If it doesn't then you should probably invest. You know, I would always err on the side of caution with photos. I definitely think every marketing business should have professional photos done and of that's what should happen. On social media you can sometimes get away with the less professional photos and actually it's preferred that you have less professional photos over on Facebook and things like that because again, the relatability, the sociability of the platform and so on and so forth.

(13:56):
But, don't forget you're not just focusing on Facebook cause if you just face fixing on Facebook then you're going to have serious problem with your business. You need to be looking at other ways of making money, not just through social media avenues. So we do have to think about that. I'll just bash a table or really hurt my knuckle, but I'm not going to edit it out because I'm in flow. So then that is photos. That's my opinion on fake taste. Then when we look at, for instance, your website. Now, one of the big things I want to say about your website is before you start paying a ton of money on your website, you make sure that you think through, I'd have real clarity on your messaging, who it is you're speaking to and make sure where possible that you have access to make changes to it.

(14:44):
Because as long as you can do that, you can get away with getting a website up there and to a certain standard. Because if you've got control of changing the copy and things like that, it's not the end of the world cause you can go and amend it, but don't get this kind of hard coded one stock up there that can't be amended and that you have to literally travel and do three tasks in order to find someone who will unlock it for you. And it'll tell them, take 10 to 12 weeks to update and so on and so forth. So be really clear on your branding, your messaging and your kind of copy that you want to use on your website, have you photos ready, all those kinds of things before you start investing a ton of money into it. Because I see so many people focusing on their website before they've got that sorted.

(15:28):
And it's really unnecessary, first of all, because your website is a representation of you. And if it's not representing you well, then you're going to be losing a ton of business. A little while ago I would've said that you don't need a website. Now, I've changed my view on that over time. It's far too easy to get a website for you not to have one. So that's something I would say on the matter. You don't need a website to make money, but you definitely need a website in order to position you as a market leader. It's the first thing people do. They want to Google you, they want to look at your website. They want to see, they want to check you out, they want to see what you're up to and they want to see the, you know, people, I've had people on a, on a discovery call with me then go off and then check my website afterwards because they want to check the, what I'm saying.

(16:18):
And they want to kind of get that reiteration of yes, I am making the right decision to invest in that person. So the website I believe is, very, very important to get right. And so I really do think we should be going for polished. We should be going for a professional and we should be making a big effort. If you want to show your more human side, that's fine. That can be weaved in. You can even link to your social media and other places like that. And you can have elements of the website that's a little bit more kooky, a little bit more within your personality. But I definitely don't think rough and ready and slapdash is what we're after on a website. We want it to look professional. We want to make sure that it's, it's looking spot on for these people who are checking you out to go, does this represent the expectations that I want from this company?

(17:02):
Is this expressing the values that I have? Think it's always, always comes back to your ideal client. You know, think about who they are, what they expect to see and how they want to achieve it. So make sure that you think about that when you're creating a website. Graphics. If you're trying to create something that looks professional, get professional graphics, don't try and wing it. It's going to make you look shoddy and tinpot. So graphics are important. Canva costs nothing if you don't want it to be, you don't want to pay for extra branding stuff. You know, get Canva or pay somebody to do, you know, your graphic design.

(17:52):
But I've seen some incredibly poor graphic design out there that really reflects very badly on your company. It has to articulate what you're about, it has to articulate the level of which you're playing at your wants to be market leaders. Then you need to make sure that you have market leading graphics or don't use them. The thing, if it looks rubbish, don't use it. Don't put something a half arsed out there and make sure that if you're going to do something, do it well. The other thing are the copy blogs. Now, this is where the great area comes in. We talk about using the term polished and perfect for copy. Oh my gosh, it would be a dull place, right? If we always aimed for that. Yeah. There are basic things guys.

(18:45):
So proofreading, making sure that it reads well, that it's grammatically correct. It's always a nice thing to do just for the ease of reading and making you look at intelligence and so forth. But, when it comes to the style and like for instance, a lot of people that I've come across swear because they swear in, in real life and that's the style, that's how they talk. And I really do think we should be writing how we speak. So I absolutely think lighten your style. Do that because otherwise everything's very, very dull. However, I will say makes sure the things that you're writing are thought out. Again, if you're thinking about becoming a market leader and we're thinking about how a market leader thinks, they think strategically, they are thoughtful, they are the leader in their field. So you know, whether you swear or not or what style you use like whether it's direct or soft or whatever it might be, you do need to make sure that it's of a certain standard that what you're putting down in words, it's well full tile, you've got proper arguments.

(19:50):
If you're always expressing some sorts of opinion for both sides and that you're expressing yourself as a leader and not someone that's just chucked something together. So again, that gray area, it's not about being polished and perfect. It's not necessarily about it being low, just quick to chuck it out there. But there is an element of it being raw. I think that is essential to making an impact. I think that's very important. But striving to make it the best it can possibly be is also important. So we have to look at what platform are you using, what format are you using? And is it the first time that your clients have come across you, your prospects have come across you. If it is, you got control of what they see, but you don't have control of when they see it.

(20:54):
And that's why it's so important that you get this right, that you don't stop creating marketing materials and content because you want it to be perfect. It's something we should strive towards. We can improve as we go. But at the same time, be strategic and think about what it is you're putting out there. You know, I'm talking to you guys because you want to up level your marketing. You want to become a market leading business. And if that's the case, we do need to be striving for excellence in every area of our business. It's not for everybody. It's tough, it's hard work. But Hey, how, you know, nothing worth doing was ever easy, right? So we have to strive for accidents. Don't let it stop you from creating, do your best, but just be thoughtful. That's all we're asking here is be thoughtful.

(21:48):
And if it really does look pants, invest in someone to make it look better. But be mindful of the platform you know that you're using. If it's a particular social media platform do not do the Facebook live cause it's not polished because that's not what's expected. Just be thoughtful about what you're doing and think about it. You know, is this demonstrating the values that I have and what my audience want and expect to see? For me in whatever place it is that I might be in. So be thoughtful, be mindful and remember that we all start somewhere. Don't get stuck in you know, paralysis and not do stuff. We have to practice. Practice makes perfect, as they say, not quite perfect, but practice will certainly get us closer to perfect. So we do have to keep putting stuff out there, but when it comes to creating those evergreen assets, photo shoots, websites, infographics, videos that will be reused and so and so forth, downloads, then yeah, there is something to be said for good looking marketing and how that represents your business.

(23:01):
Right? That's me done for this episode. I hope you enjoyed my hard line on a marketing aesthetics and I will see you guys in the next episode as ever. Please don't forget to download the market leading guide links in the comments and also to book a call with me if you would like me to help you build your market leading business. Make sure you click the link in the show notes to comb, book that. And do you get in touch at jen@jen-hall.com. If you would like to talk to me, chat to me over email or anything we talked about in the shows, and also, please do leave us a review. I would love you forever. It really does help with the rankings and the ratings of the podcast and it helps the podcast reach more ambitious business owners out there who are looking to become that marketing business and dominate their market. See you in the next episode, guys.