4 Ways to Build an Authentic Brand Identity

Your brand’s identity is the heart of your entire business. Your business’s voice, copy, and look are how potential clients judge you. It’s the stuff that makes you and your business unique.

Unfortunately, these days, it feels like most marketing strategies and brand guidelines give generic advice. When everyone follows the same guidelines, we end up in a sea of sameness. So how can you be sure to stand out?

I have spent over a decade in marketing and can tell you that building lucrative relationships is not as hard as it seems! It all starts with diving inward and discovering your true authentic self. So now, I spend my days helping clients find their true potential by getting authentic, clear, and connected.

Excavate What is No Longer Serving You

It’s time to dig deep. Remove from your life, business, and heart what is no longer serving your highest self. What do you need to excavate to reach your most authentic self? Holding on to things that are holding you back will not create your desired business or life.

It might be tempting to skip this step and jump into adding to your brand story, but this step is crucial. My favorite analogy for this is oysters in a bucket. You can’t cover up the stench of old seafood by adding flowers or perfume. You create a bigger stink.

So how do we start the excavation process?

Free-form writing is one of my favorite ways to get rid of thoughts or ideas holding you back. Give your subconscious a voice and clear the exhausting burdens keeping you from letting your genius loose. Free-form writing is different from journaling. This style of writing is about letting go. I encourage you to rip up the paper or burn it after you have finished.

Remind Yourself of Your Wins

Now that you have removed what is no longer serving you and your business, it’s time to replenish and replace it with supportive inspiration and paradigms.

Write a brag list highlighting your favorite accomplishments or moments in your business journey. How have you created transformation for your clients? Where did they start emotionally, and how were they when you finished?

You are not focusing on vanity metrics but on how you and your clients felt after your work with them. Measure what matters.

Get Clear on Your Brand’s Story

We have removed what’s not working and reminded ourselves of what works – now it’s time to turn your authenticity into a straightforward, uniquely your story.

Clarity helps remove the fog of working with you. It isn’t the best that lands the client. It’s the business with the most explicit message, the one that requires the least amount of brain cells to be expended by the client.

Authentic copy captures attention and builds relationships. It starts with who I am, the client, and what they care about. It’s clear and makes the reader pay attention. If you don’t get real, you’ll continue to sound like everyone else!

Digging into your authentic self will create uniquely genuine relationships. Be yourself to stand out from the crowd. An inauthentic copy will never build a connection that matters. Descriptions that are technically true but not clear or compelling will always turn off potential customers.

Get Connected to Your Ideal Client

Consistently combine your story with your ideal client to build lucrative relationships. It’s not about being unique. It’s about being uniquely suited for your perfect client.

Using social media for authentic relationships begins with positioning yourself as the guide to solving a problem. Then, use video, and be sure to stay within your niche. Showing up as your authentic self online is a surefire way to create fans from your ideal clients.

One of my favorite ways to start connecting is by creating a one-liner. Find a problem, a solution, and the result your potential client can expect. Don’t let your ego get in the way of this message. Be clear, not cute. Once you have this nailed down, it’s time to use it everywhere.

At the heart of your business is a desire to create lucrative relationships. Every relationship begins when two or more people see the potential in merging their stories. You need to find a way to show your potential clients how your story can combine with theirs and solve a problem.

About the Author

Aleya Harris, CPCE is CEO at Flourish Marketing where she works to transform leaders into legends through radically authentic messaging and copywriting.