Inside Out Marketing Aligns What You Say with Who You Are

Lately I've been thinking about how well-intentioned marketing professionals can often undercut their brands and their long-term audience through reactionary, short term tactics. I wrote about this over on the Resound blog and am bringing it over here to get your thoughts as well!

It's easy to lose track of who you are in the maelstrom of life. We spend so much time reacting to things good and bad that we feel more like animals driven by instinct than humans directed by divine imprint and purpose.

The same thing happens in our organizations. We get so caught up in the daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly crises that we react with less and less thought and more and more instinct. Scale that out to a year and we find we are far from where we planned … and far from what we aspire to be.

At Resound, we believe that because people are intrinsically remarkable, every organization is remarkable too. Unfortunately, most organizations don't act on this belief. This disconnect often stems from losing sight of an authentic brand identity while pursuing marketing success. This is where the concept of inside out marketing becomes crucial for authentic marketing efforts.

Let's explore how to ensure your marketing efforts remain true to your brand as you navigate the complex landscape of professional services marketing, focusing on brand alignment and inside out marketing strategies.

The Inside Out Marketing Approach

Before we dive into specifics, let's establish a fundamental concept: inside out marketing. This approach doesn't focus on external factors like competition or industry trends. Instead, it starts with your organization's identity, emphasizing authentic marketing that truly reflects who you are.

As I often explain to our clients, inside out marketing is a process. It requires vigilance. It requires regular self-assessment of the brand, and sometimes a willingness to adjust the course when needed.

This approach roots your marketing efforts in your unique identity, values, and culture. It's about being authentically you, rather than trying to fit a mold created by industry norms or competitor actions. Inside out marketing is the foundation of authentic marketing and ensures strong brand alignment.

The Brand-Marketing Dichotomy

Understanding the distinction between brand and marketing proves crucial for effective inside out marketing.

Brand and marketing are two different functions. They often come out of the same group within the firm, or ownership of the brand often gets subsumed by marketing, but your brand strategy is all about long term: who we are, what's our identity, and how we clearly communicate that identity in the marketplace. Your marketing takes that to individual groups who have different needs and different problems.

Your brand represents your long-term identity, while marketing communicates that identity to specific audiences. Keeping this distinction clear can help ensure your marketing efforts remain true to your brand, maintaining brand alignment throughout your campaigns.

Avoiding the Desperation Trap

One of the biggest threats to brand authenticity in marketing is desperation. When results don't come as quickly as hoped, abandoning your brand identity in favor of what seems to work for others becomes tempting. This often leads to a departure from authentic marketing practices.

I always caution against this approach: Desperation breeds all sorts of bad decisions in business ... and in life. Maintain patience and confidence in your vision, even when progress seems slow.

Your unique brand identity sets you apart in a crowded marketplace. Abandoning it for short-term gains can lead to long-term brand dilution and confusion, ultimately compromising your brand alignment.

Five Strategies to Help You Stay True to Your Brand

1. Keep Your Brand Front and Center

Make your brand identity a constant presence in your marketing discussions.?If you have a marketing team, or if there's a leadership team with a marketing bent to it, have your core values and core components of your brand integrated into those meetings. Whether it's a monthly meeting or a quarterly meeting, go back to those and say, "Hey, remember this?"

This practice reinforces brand alignment and supports authentic marketing efforts.

2. Give Your Marketing Strategy Time to Work

Marketing, especially in professional services, often requires patience. I recommend giving your marketing strategy at least a year before making major changes. If you're creating a podcast, and you've committed the resources to do it weekly... How long do you do that before you say, "The numbers aren't there so we're throwing in the towel"? I think you have to give that at least a year.

This patience is crucial for inside out marketing strategies to take root and show results.

3. Involve Important Stakeholders

Your brand isn't just the purview of the marketing department. Leadership, especially the CEO or managing partner, should own and champion it. Additionally, involve your employees and customers in regular brand check-ins to ensure brand alignment across the organization.

You should poll internally at least once a year. Ask, "Here are our values. Are we living up to these as a firm?' And then the other group of people, which I think is really valuable, is your customers.

4. Align Your Creative Team with Your Brand

Ensure everyone involved in creating your marketing materials - writers, designers, videographers - deeply understands and believes in your brand.?Do they really understand the brand? Do they believe in it? Can they maintain consistency while still being creative?

This understanding is crucial for maintaining authentic marketing and creative efforts.

5. Document the Unwritten Rules

Beyond your official brand guidelines, unwritten rules may shape how you create content or design materials. I suggest you document those those unwritten rules and make them explicit. You might find more opportunities to dial in exactly who you are and how you bring yourself to market.

This documentation can serve as a valuable resource for maintaining brand alignment in your marketing efforts.

The Power of Authenticity in Professional Services Marketing

In professional services, where relationships are paramount, authentic marketing becomes a necessity. Your clients aren't just buying a service; they're buying into your firm's unique approach, values, and culture.

The end goal is to connect with other human beings. It's not just to get more hits on the website. It's actually to create genuine, authentic human relationships, not so you can squeeze people out of their money, but so that you can serve them well and build lasting relationships.

By staying true to your brand in your marketing efforts, you're not just promoting your services - you're inviting clients into a relationship with your firm. You're saying, "This is who we are, this is what we believe, and this is how we do things." This level of authenticity and transparency builds trust, which forms the foundation of any successful professional services relationship.

Measuring Brand Alignment in Your Marketing

While staying true to your brand is crucial, it's also important to measure how well you're doing. Here are a few metrics you can use to gauge brand alignment in your marketing efforts:

1. Employee Brand Perception: Regularly survey your team to see how well they understand and embody the brand.
2. Client Feedback: Ask your clients if they see your brand values reflected in their interactions with your firm.
3. Content Consistency: Analyze your marketing content to ensure it consistently reflects your brand voice and values.
4. Brand Recall: Survey your target market to see how well they can identify your unique brand attributes.
5. Marketing ROI: While not a direct measure of brand alignment, consistently strong marketing ROI can indicate that your authentic brand message resonates with your audience.

The Remarkable Power of Being You

Your authentic brand identity becomes your most powerful asset as professional services firms often struggle to differentiate themselves. By ensuring your marketing efforts remain true to this identity through inside out marketing, you're not just promoting your services - you're sharing your unique story and inviting the right clients to be part of it.

Keep reminding yourselves of what makes you remarkable as a firm. Your brand sets you apart and makes you remarkable. By staying true to it in your marketing efforts, you're not just building a client base - you're building a community of people who believe in what you do and how you do it.

In the end, inside out marketing isn't about following rigid rules. It's about having the confidence to be authentically you in every marketing interaction. In the world of professional services, that authenticity isn't just appreciated - it's essential.

Take a moment to check your brand pulse. Do your marketing efforts still authentically represent you? If not, it might be time to realign and reconnect with what makes your firm truly remarkable, embracing authentic marketing and strengthening your brand alignment.

If you need assistance in aligning your brand with your marketing efforts, we're here to help. At Resound, we specialize in inside out marketing strategies that highlight your unique identity and values. Contact us today to start your journey towards more authentic, aligned marketing that truly represents your remarkable firm.