10 Minute Marketing :: 3 Word Branding Test

10 Minute Marketing is a quick, marketing strategy you can start doing immediately. This is a way for you to start taking ACTION towards marketing your business with just 10 minutes of your time!

3 Word Branding Test

Objective: Find out if your current branding (or the ideal branding that you want) is the same as your branding reality.

Your website or blog gives off a certain vibe. The fonts you use, the colors you’re using, the types of photographs or images, plus your writing style and ‘voice’, all give off a certain personality. All of these pieces come together to form your unique brand.

Think of your brand as how others perceive it.

You may think that your website or blog is a fun, colorful, creative site (like Studio DIY), but do others think so? By doing this three word branding test, you’ll know if your branding (whether it’s current or still in your head ready to be created) matches the branding that others see and perceive your branding to be.

Side note: I wrote a post on how to create your branding words. In this post I shared my own three branding words: Clean/Modern, Timeless Classic, Straight Shooter. Everything that I do incorporates my words…every e-book, every blog post, every workshop, every project, every design that I share with you…I am creating a sense of clarity in every aspect of my business, and so should you!

HOW TO DO IT

1. Write down three words that you think describe your site.

These can be visual words (a mental picture that comes to your mind – like Parisian, boho, organic), emotional words (enthusiastic, tense, calm, energetic), colors, design style (contemporary, classic, whimsical), tone (cheerful, bossy, uplifting, matter-of-fact), and/or personality words.

I already hear ya, “Yes, you can have up to 5 words – if you simply can’t stop at 3!” I’m fine with that, but know that once you get too many branding words, the focus starts to diminish.

Once you have your three words, keep them to yourself. You’re ready to go to step 2.

2. Find at least 3 people to give your branding test to.

This can be partners, clients, friends, family members, a blogger, me… Let them know that this is really quick, but invaluable to your business moving forward.

3. Ask each person, separately, to give you three words that come to mind when they think of your site.

You can describe to them the type of words they can use – visual, emotional, colors, design, tone and personality OR provide a list of possible words to help them brainstorm, such as:

Clean, modern, classic, contemporary, eclectic, traditional, whimsical, bold, bright, colorful, monotone, playful, crafty, busy, educational, energetic, organic, Parisian, boho, antique, enthusiastic, calm, blue, pink, sassy, cheerful, bossy, straight shooter, matter-of-fact, uplifting, encouraging, empowering, green, sweet, resourceful, helpful, honest, crisp, white.

3. Compare the answers.

Did the responses match how you want your brand to be perceived? Do the responses match your own three words (your words from step 1)? Do any of the words given by others surprise you?

Note: The answers don’t have to be exact words, but you want them to still match your own overall perception.

Your 10 minutes are up, and the objective was to find out if your current branding (or the ideal branding that you want) is the same as your branding reality. You have that answer.

But, if you discovered that your brand doesn’t match how others perceive it, I’d like you to spend some time (doesn’t need to be RIGHT NOW) to look at how you can adjust your site so that the next time you run the 3 Word Branding Test – your answers and how others perceive your site/your brand do match!

Having your branding match how others perceive it will help you to grow + make your future marketing efforts so much easier!!!

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