Branding and marketing is easy with the right content creation in 2021.

Jeroen De Flander once said you cannot be everything to everyone. If you decide to go north, you cannot go south at the same time.

This sounds like good advice. But if you’re leading a new or established company, deciphering a business’ “true north” can be confusing! Additionally, the direction a company takes once it decides “true north” should derive power from its identity, core values, mission and purpose. And many businesses have not spent time defining what that is.

Sprout Connectors helps clients solve these challenges with targeted consulting and content creation. Sprout provides a comprehensive and holistic approach to uncovering your company’s identity. It then translates it into every piece of your brand and content. After working with Sprout, clients not only have a thorough branding and marketing strategy but also a clear idea of the purpose which powers their business; the compass rose which directs their “true north.” Sprout is led by it’s co-founders Lisa Staff of Lisa Staff Photography and Deevo of Fusion Photography with offices in Hilton Head Island, SC and Charlotte, NC.

How does Sprout do this? First, we go on a listening tour of you and your company’s story during a brand audit. Storytelling is a powerful way of connecting with people. It is formidable, a skill that can change lives and influence people. Wielding a persuasive narrative can unite people across your enterprise and backlight your vision, your values and the qualities which keep your customers coming back.

During the brand audit we ask structured questions to better understand you. We want to hear your story. Sprout listens and develops conversations around the critical elements which make your business special, valuable and relatable. What is your company’s “true north”? Who does it serve, and to what end? Every company has a “why.” Sprout’s goal is to build a branding and marketing strategy based on the key characteristics which comprise this “why.” These critical components include your brand purpose. Brand purpose comprises your company’s mission, values, brand essence, brand personality and value proposition. Once Sprout works with you to illuminate your brand purpose, we build downstream structures to bring key elements to life. Sprout creates customer avatars (which is who you are selling to), and personal avatars (which is who you are as the business owner or business) for clients.

Now it’s time to use your avatars to tell your story again. We’ve explored and honed your narrative together. We’ve examined its central features. Now we recast your story to illuminate brand meaning and relatability.

Sprout doesn’t stop there. We don’t see content creation as photos or branding as logos. We see them as opportunities to connect through visual and written art. We view content creation and branding as a direct view into your distinct identity. And we work with you to feature this identity often over the platforms your customers use most.

Sprout generates design assets and content to capture the imaginations of your customers online, on social media and over digital communication platforms. Every aspect of visual and written content aligns with your brand identity. Every aspect has a purpose, and it is spelled out in your brand audit and in your recast brand story.

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Enter Cynthia Corsetti, one of Sprout’s recent clients. Cynthia is a high energy, experienced executive coach. She needed effective branding and fresh imagery to portray her business. Cynthia hired and fired other branding and marketing firms which failed to capture what she described as “the soul” of her business. Cynthia had almost given up on finding a marketing agency. Then she found Sprout.

One of Cynthia’s challenges – which many Sprout clients face – was most of her work occurred over virtual platforms. Although Cynthia consulted in-person before the pandemic, her business transitioned away from face-to-face meetings in 2020. As a result, Cynthia wanted branding and imagery which showcased her talent, experience, and approachability in digital spaces. Cynthia had also tried several other companies in her locale with no luck. She decided to widen her search for the right branding and marketing firms. She included regional locations instead of sticking to only Pennsylvania, her business’ headquarters.

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In response to Cynthia’s requirements Sprout stewarded Cynthia through its onboarding process. This included consultation on her specific goals. Cynthia’s main goal was creating tailored imagery for her brand. Cynthia wanted the flexibility to use the images on social media, LinkedIn and TedTalks. Sprout worked with Cynthia on a plan for when and how to define and capture her business’ soul. Based on her conversation with Sprout, Cynthia flew to Charlotte from Pittsburgh for two full-day photo shoots. Sprout scouted and pre-coordinated specific indoor and outdoor venues for Cynthia before she landed. Sprout made sure she saw and approved all locations. We consulted on her clothing, and worked across many visual styles to create the perfect images for her. This discovery process occurred in lock step with Cynthia to maximize her time with Sprout photographers and branding experts. Given her limited time on the ground we also generated a tailored plan to make sure we had an enough images to meet not only Cynthia’s current needs, but also future needs.

Working with clients like Cynthia and making sure we meet their branding and marketing goals drives us. Whether you are at the helm of a new or established company, discerning your “true north” is always important and always unique to your circumstances. “True north” is the essence of what drives your company’s brand identity, core values, mission and purpose. Sprout Connectors helps you identify this compass rose with branding and marketed curated around you.

Further, we are ready to climb in the boat with you, and prepared to ride by your side during your business voyage. Sprout offers a white glove consulting, branding, marketing, and content creation service. This service can span one to many years. Hiring Sprout not only saves our clients the expense of hiring a writer, designer, photographer, digital marketing professional, content creation specialist, social media and messaging staffer and administrative assistant to manage their paperwork (although this is definitely a benefit!), it also allows access to a team of professionals to serve your company, execute your strategy and focus you towards your true north.

Interested in seeing more brand success stories? Take a peek here and here.