Hi, hello, it’s been a minute! 👋🏽
Let’s get to it.
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Most SaaS brands sound the same, but a few are loveable, huggable, and have cheering squadrons of rabid fans. 🙌🏽
The difference? Plenty of ho-hum brands have great products, but the ones that stick in the mind are those with ✨personality✨.
I wholeheartedly believe that ANY brand has the potential to have a cult-like, dearly beloved brand.
Even a B2B SaaS co.
So here’s how to create a brand personality that:
Customers love and feel seen in
You and the founder can comfortably get behind
And that communicates the value prop better than a perfectly worded headline
Because like your email list, your brand is one of the few things no platform or channel can take away from you.
It’s a direct line to customers’ hearts.
Your brand is a 3-flavor milkshake
Your brand should be:
1 part what you want
1 part what your customers want
1 part of inspiration (what the market needs)
Build your brand around and for your power users. period.
The 1,000 true fans concept applies to companies too, not just creators.
Step 1: Define your company value in your customers eyes
There’s already an idea in your customer’s minds of what your brand is, even if you haven’t defined it.
Look at 12-30 reviews from your power users.
From their Point of View:
What does the brand stand for? (mission)
What does the brand excel at doing? (results)
What is the emotional appeal to use the product? (emotion)
After you look through those, you should be able to fill this out:
Note if you’re an SMB/you’ve been around the block
Look at 8-15 reviews from power users
Who have been with you for a year or more (and have a very high LTV)
Who have been with you for 6 mo - year
Who have been with you for 3-6 mo and already love you
See if there’s a difference in the way that they speak. This is where you can spot trends in customer sentiment before it becomes a problem.
Step 2: Decide what facets of the brand are “you” (the founder)
Here’s where you add in what you want - it’s your company, and you want to be able to love living in its shadow, so it should have parts of your traits as the founder.
Write down:
Your most-noticeable personality traits (When people meet you for the first time, how would they describe you? )
If you're an extrovert (energized by people), introvert (energized by being alone), or ambivert (energy from both!)
When you talk about your co, what do you most enjoy discussing? (the strategy, the industry, the future, the product mechanics?)
Who you most enjoy talking to about the co (and why)? (Do you prefer to speak to your internal staff, customers, potential customers, random strangers, peers? all of that comes through in your TOV, so write it down!)
After you look through those, you should be able to fill this out:
Step 3: Choose your archetype umbrella
Archetypes have been used ad-nauseam, so i won’t bore you with a full recap.
This is my go-to link when someone asks.
But I’ve never seen any SaaS brands on the archetypes wheel, so i built my own.
Here's what those archetypes look like with some familiar SaaS faces.
And for the love of all that is holy, please don’t try to be “Ruler”.
That is for companies that have “legacy” as the default adjective in WIRED writeups.
You'll notice some don't have examples.
That’s because some are really, really hard to use well, especially as a B2B SaaS company
Bottom line: there are 4 archetypes that work best for SaaS co’s
🔫 Outlaw - Has an unconventional approach to solving the pain point beyond 1% better iteration
🎨 Creator - Inspires and provides the tools for builders to imagine their wildest dreams
💪 Hero - Confidently solving a dilemma for today - and in the future
🧠 Sage - Providing the information and tools to make informed decisions
Choose an archetype based on:
Emotional appeal of your company (in customers' POV)
What the brand excels at (in customers' POV)
What the brand stands for (in customers' POV)
How you want the brand to sound
What parts of your/the founders personality you want in the brand
If your brand really feels like a mix of 2 archetypes, roll with it!
Take a(nother) peek at some of the most recognizable brands in SaaS.
They’re all a mix of one of the top 4 archetypes as their backbone, with a second one for flair and nuance.
Archetype combos are a great way to add depth, without diluting or confusing the brand.
lemon.io gets added because their old site (RIP)
was a perfect representation of this archetype combo
After you look through those, you should be able to fill this out:
A quick note on “universality” in brand archetypes.
While they are “universal” in the sense that you can see them in every culture in some format…
That does not mean that the archetype version you have in your head at first glance is the one everyone else does too.
Exhibit A: An “Outlaw” in the US context with a John Wayne/Clint Eastwood Wild West backstory…
howdy partner
…Is a lot different than an “Outlaw” in an Indian context with a Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi backstory.
This woman is nothing short of total badassery
This is why Step 4 is so incredibly important.
You need to be specific and nuanced on the imagery and backstory you choose for your company, especially if you are international by default!
Step #4: Flesh your personality from boilerplate to built-for-your-audience
Give your brand the “Tinder treatment”
so it can live IRL and your future raving fans will swipe right on ‘em.
Here are some guiding questions to flesh it out.
Is your brand and introvert, extrovert, or ambivert version of the archetype?
How does your brand greet you?
How does your brand act in public?
What is your brand’s fashion style?
If moodboards are your thing, this is an excuse to use Pinterest at work 😉
After you look through those, you should be able to fill this out:
Insert in a moodboard screenshot to this too to bring it home!
Whew, you did it.
You gave your brand a personality that is true to what customers expect to see, what the industry needs, and who you (or your founders) are.
In other words, a brand that is authentic and not cringey try-hard.
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Next week we’re going to talk about brand-marketing fit (and how to scale it).
Because while product-market fit is a no-brainer need for any company, if your brand doesn’t match your product as you scale -
You’re gonna look like an 80’s girl…who’s still trying to rock 80’s curls.
Not a good look.
If you liked this issue, loved it, had to have it, and want to support, please:
Refer us to a friend who doesn’t want to do marketing. we’re taking new clients for April for Customer Research, Websites, and Marketing Strategy!
A DM with “I heard you were looking for help with [blank], consider hiring Sophia” is highest praise!
Forward this newsletter over to someone who is crying over their marketing task list
Join the convo on LinkedIn (Today i’m talking about marketing experiments!)
Any of this would make Aelia and I jointly squee on a call in the near future and is much appreciated. 💃🏽
Cheers!
Sophia ⚡ 👩🏽💻 with help from Aelia ✨🧕
Powered by a 40* F/ 4*C tidal pool dip with Cape Town coastline & Eid shenanigans
The views from Chapman’s Peak Drive
