Where’s the BREAKDOWN, Part 3
You now know the need for strategies to attract and communicate with all the people necessary to make your organization run successfully.
But how do you know what to say?
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏? 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 3
It comes down what everyone knows, and few TRULY grasp…
𝑩𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑫
Derived from the symbol burned indelibly into the flesh of a rancher’s herd to claim ownership. Paint a mental picture of the social dynamics that surround this...
…you’re in the pasture tending to your herd and you see a cow you don’t recognize. You approach it and inspect the brand, finding a horseshoe with letter “E” inside. It’s Elmer, from the next ranch over. Involuntarily, you think of Elmer’s reputation. It arises from countless social interactions and observations.
🍺 Drinking with him in the local saloon
🤝 Your dealings with him
🤩 His personality
🐂 The quality of his beeves
👷♂️ The character of his workers
🏡 The culture of his ranch and household
👨👩👧👦 The feeling of his family
🗣 All the gossip that goes around the town
👔 Insights about him from your local banker and lawyer
All of this goes into your indelible impression of Elmer. It’s his brand.
Brands are represented AND expressed. In the above scenario it is represented by the simple horseshoed E and expressed through the countless social interactions of your ranching town.
In our current paradigm it is symbolized by your name and logo, and expressed through the countless signals of communication through internal documents, social media, phone conversations, text messages, web design choices, responsiveness, community philanthropy, and on and on.
My definition of a brand: a collection of social signals that sets an expectation of experiencing your entity.
Social signals are surprisingly loud. And counterintuitively the signals we are NOT aware of sending are the LOUDEST, which is why so many leaders feel stuck when they can’t grow their companies or improve their cultures. They just don’t realize what they’re signaling.
It ALWAYS comes down to social signals, because your prospects read your brand, and it automatically shapes their expectations.
Ask 3 questions:
1️⃣ What social signals are you sending to supply and demand side prospects?
2️⃣ What expectation does that form in their mind?
3️⃣ Is it an expectation that appeals to them or not?
That’s the state of your brand.
Your communication strategy is as simply discerning how you want your brand to be perceived and intentionally sending more of those signals.
The brand is seared in cowhide, but the expectation is not. That can be shifted, and in order to do that you need the help of someone who knows how to read the social signals.
Of course, it won’t work unless the experience matches the created expectation, and people are SUPER sensitive to these inconsistencies. But that’s a discussion for a different day!
Either way, take a look at your social signals.