A key element of an effective Website is conveying a compelling brand to the people you’re trying to reach. Jeff Bezos of Amazon likens a brand for a company (or nonprofit) to a reputation for a person. It’s what people think and say about you. Consider brands like Target, Nordstrom, Virgin, Southwest, ASPCA, PETA, MySpace, Facebook or other companies and nonprofits you know. What impressions make you feel favorable or unfavorable toward engaging with them? What’s different about how you perceive each of them and why?

The entire customer experience you deliver creates your brand. If an organization provides poor quality programs or products, for example, no amount of communications creativity or strategy is likely to overcome that. But your name, logo, Website and other communications play a critical role in supporting your brand. Making the right choices can set you apart and attract people to you and what you do. That lets you do more good in the world and prosper financially.Let’s take a look at an example and at the end of this post, I’ll tell you about a new FREE opportunity to follow along with me to learn more about the process and how you can do it.

Branding in Website Design – Case Study
Michelle Master has a gourmet raw desserts business. Her goal is not only to serve raw foodies looking for fabulous treats but also to invite people not following this way of eating to experience the sweet potential. In her entry to my Inspired Response Web Design Giveaway, she emphasized that these are premium products, offering every bit of indulgence you would find in traditional high-end desserts. So what’s the recipe for a suitably delicious site?

Continue reading What’s Your Brand URL?

The ad at left drew my interest when I saw it in the paper. Although I’ve been consulting to animal protection organizations for years, I don’t usually pay attention to the weekly ads for local rescue groups and shelters. But this one stood out.

Why is This Ad So Compelling?

The headline, “Certified Pre-Owned Cats,” links the cat adoptions to purchasing a pre-owned vehicle, particularly Mercedes and BMW that do a lot of promotion in the Washington, DC area. Why would the group attract adopters by doing this?

Well, the image of buying a “used car” is that you are taking a risk on something that might not be any good. And of course the “used car salesman” phrase suggests someone who was trying to take you for a ride.

So some car brands, especially upscale lines, have repositioned used cars as “pre-owned vehicles.” They call them “certified” to emphasize the care they take to provide you a high quality car.

Based on my work in animal protection, I know that people sometimes feel similarly about bringing home a shelter animal as they feel about buying a used car. Potential adopters may worry that they are taking a risk that the animal they choose will turn out to be sick or badly behaved.

The ad recognizes the parallels in how people may feel about used cars and shelter animals. Then it cleverly borrows the car solution for the cats!

• By using a headline related to upscale cars, it immediately raises the perceived value of the homeless cats.
• By noting the “multi-point inspection” and the “CatFacts history” it promotes benefits that enable people to adopt with confidence.
• With the copy “many models and colors now in stock” and “new models arriving every day,” it offers some humor, making the rescue group seem like a fun place to get a pet.

Making Your Ads (and Website and other communications) Stand Out

What can you take from this example to grow your own business?

1. Understand your potential clients and what barriers they may perceive to doing business with you. By recognizing that potential adopters may have concerns about the animals they’re adopting, the rescue group was able to create an ad that addresses that perception. Market research is a great way to learn more about how potential clients think about your business.
2. Look for instant metaphors or stories that help people understand you. People get “certified pre-owned cars” and instantly form a whole new vision of cat adoptions. What language or image can you use to make your business more familiar to people or to suggest something that sets you apart. Oasis Life Resources uses the term “Oasis” and corresponding images to position this coaching business as a safe, relaxing place to explore where you are and where you’re headed.
3. Do something different. This novel approach made the ad and the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation stand out among many other animal group ads on the page. What could make your ad or Website stand out? Look at examples from other companies or nonprofits doing what you do to see what could be different vs. what’s same-old, same-old.
4. Reflect your unique style. Especially if you’re a solopreneur, part of being different comes from who you are. If you’re like me, you may not always want to be too “out there,” because you’re worried that you won’t appear professional. But if you’ve got a professional look to your communications and communicate well, people will appreciate knowing who you really are. In this ad, the rescue group shows some of its organizational personality in its willingness to inject a little humor.

Congrats to Lost Dog Rescue Foundation in Arlington, Virginia for running this great ad and to Michigan Humane Society, that apparently originated the concept. If your ads or Website feel a little lost, consider these tips to bring home more new clients.

My last post discussed a young energetic, theater group that missed the mark on target marketing. Their Broadway review with songs from more recent musicals probably didn’t score a hit with an older audience nostalgic for tunes from decades long past.