How to Build Brand Recognition As An Educator Without Boring Your Audience
"Marketing isn't about saying a hundred different things. It's about saying one thing a hundred different ways."
You've probably heard this quote before. Maybe you've even repeated it. But here's the thing, this concept gets misunderstood just enough that it might actually be making marketing harder for you.
Today we're unpacking one of the most quoted but deeply misunderstood ideas in marketing, especially in the education space. If you've ever felt like your content is either all over the place or painfully repetitive, this post is for you.
What You'll Learn
What "one message, 100 ways" actually means (and what it doesn't)
How repetition builds brand equity between launches
Why angles matter more than new ideas
The 3 types of content every educator needs (reach, nurture, convert)
A practical exercise to create 15 angles from your core message
The Two Extremes (And Why Both Fail)
This quote gets interpreted in two extreme ways, and both create problems.
Extreme #1, Repeat the Same Sentence Over and Over Some educators hear "say one thing a hundred different ways" and literally post the same sentence repeatedly. Their content gets stale. Their audience tunes out.
Extreme #2, Brand New Messaging Every Single Day Other educators panic and think they need completely fresh ideas daily. Their content becomes a random assortment with no real through line. Their audience has no idea what they actually do.
Ironically, both extremes create the same result, your audience doesn't know what you do, what you stand for, or why they should trust you.
And it's not because you're not smart. It's because the way we deliver messaging needs to be more strategic than what comes naturally.
What "One Message, 100 Ways" Actually Means
When I say this, I'm NOT telling you to,
Post the same sentence every day and call it a strategy
Repeat one Canva graphic until your audience either buys or unfollows you
Never try new content formats or ideas
What I AM saying is,
Your brand gets built through repetition
Your marketing gets stronger when you experiment with different angles
You need both repetition AND variety to build recognition
Here's the truth, Most educators aren't struggling because they're bad at content. They're struggling because their message is either too scattered (one extreme) or too one-note (the other extreme).
Two Separate Concepts You Need to Understand
Concept #1, Repetition is the mechanism that builds your brand and reputation.
Concept #2, Different angles are the mechanism that makes your message land with different people and buyer types.
If you miss either one, your marketing feels messy. Even experienced educators come to me because they're either,
Sick of being on social media 24/7 and want something more consistent
Creating tons of content but not getting results
This addresses both of those problems.
What Is Your "One Thing" (Your Core Message)?
When I say "one thing," I'm NOT talking about,
Your offer name
Your bio line
Your niche statement
Your core message is the overlap between,
What your audience needs
What you are uniquely strong at
The transformation you consistently create
Here's the reality, Your audience isn't reading your mind.
You can decide what you want to be known for all day long, but they only associate you with what they experience from you consistently.
This is why I say repetition equals reputation.
It's not built with one viral post or one successful launch. It's built through consistent, clear messaging reinforced through every touch point.
If your content is good but your audience is still confused, it's not a creativity issue. It's a repetition issue and a consistency issue.
Why Repetition Alone Isn't Enough, Understanding Angles
Repetition without angles is a quick way to burnout and bore yourself (and your audience) to death.
Angles are how you repeat your message without sounding like a broken record.
An angle is simply a different entry point into the same message.
Why You Need Multiple Angles
Different people are motivated by different things,
One person buys because they want a specific result
Another person buys because they don't want to experience their current problem anymore
Another person buys because they want confidence
Another person buys because they're tired of feeling behind
Another person buys because they want to be taken seriously
All of these people can benefit from the SAME offer and the same transformation. But there's a different reason behind why they'd buy. That's why it would be a major struggle to promote with just one angle.
The Content Repurposing Truth
Let me be clear, I still think repurposing content is the play. It's a massive win and there are strategic ways to do this that will get your message across better with less work.
I am NOT telling you to never repurpose content.
What I AM saying is that we need to get experimental with different angles.
A lot of people are like "okay, I posted it once. Check. That's done." That's one end of the spectrum, and you might as well just throw it into the void.
How Many Times Should You Test an Angle?
Adam Mosseri (CEO of Instagram) said something I fully agree with, when he has an idea for testing new content, he'll test it in a bunch of different formats. He doesn't judge the success or failure of a concept until he's tried it like a dozen times.
That's an absolutely solid way of going about it.
The 3 Types of Content Every Educator Needs
Instead of thinking "I need a brand new concept all the time," try thinking, "How do I communicate the same core message through different purposes?”
Content has a job. It supports the client journey. Let's break down the three types
1. Reach Content (Visibility)
Purpose, Get in front of new people
Reach content is NOT where you explain everything. It's where you create enough clarity and curiosity that someone new goes "wait, that's me." Then you convert that attention into your ecosystem.
What this looks like,
Shareable content
Bold opinions or commentary
Searchable questions
Hot takes on your industry
Thought leadership content
For hairstylists/beauty pros, "Stop doing free consultations and do this instead" or "The pricing mistake that's costing you $30K a year"
2. Nurture and Activate Content (Build Trust)
Purpose, Make your people feel understood and create demand
A lot of people think nurture is just education. Like if you post a bunch of "3 tips" carousels, that's nurturing. But it has evolved.
While education builds trust and authority, we also want to think about activating demand.
Nurture content makes your people feel understood.
Activation content starts with lived experience, bridges to the real issue, and positions your method as the solution. That bridge is an angle.
What this looks like,
Behind the scenes of your work
Belief shifts or "this is how I see it differently"
Everyday experiences your audience recognizes
Stories that illustrate the problem
Your unique perspective on industry issues
For hairstylists/beauty pros, "My client said 'I can't afford extensions' but here's what she really meant..." or "Why stylists who raise prices actually retain MORE clients"
3. Convert Content (Create Action)
Purpose, Help people decide to go deeper with you
Convert content is about creating aligned action and helping your people decide whether you're the right person to help them.
This can be sales, but it can also mean moving them deeper into your ecosystem (email list, mini offer, masterclass, discovery call).
Angles that work here,
Why now content, What's the cost of not taking action?
Proof and evidence, Client results, testimonials, case studies
Your story, How you solved this problem for yourself
Clear next steps, What happens when they work with you
For hairstylists/beauty pros, "Here's exactly what happens in my Color Mastery program" or "3 stylists who implemented this strategy - here's what changed"
Your audience should know,
Why should they move now?
What is the cost of not making a decision?
Why should you be the person they trust?
How to Build Brand Equity Between Launches
Here's where a lot of launch problems actually start, they're pre-launch problems.
If you only get clear when you're launching, your audience experiences this, Normal content, normal content, BUY THIS NOW, BUY THIS NOW, back to normal content.
That feels jarring, even if the offer is amazing.
What we want, For your future promotion to feel like a natural next step, not a surprise.
Brand equity is built by closing the perception gap.
There's often a gap between how you're currently perceived (through what you're putting out there) versus how you want to be perceived or what your audience needs to understand.
Your job is to close the gap through what you consistently show, not what you hope they will assume.
Maybe right now you're being perceived as,
Helpful, but not trustworthy
Great at teaching technique, but not known for business strategy
Inspiring, but not as the person people actually hire
Closing the gap is not a rebrand. It's a content decision.
It's consistently tying what you're already known for to what you want to be known for. It's building that brand equity brick by brick.
Why New Ideas Every Day Is a Trap
A lot of educators assume they need brand new messaging every day because they think relevance comes from novelty.
But brand equity and long-term sustainability come from recognition.
Your people need to hear the same core ideas enough times that they start associating you with,
The solution they need
The movement they want to be a part of
Who they want to become
This is especially true for educators in the hair and beauty industry. If I suddenly started launching a program about money management, it would feel so off base because I've never talked about that before.
Quick audit, Do your offers actually make sense for the content you're putting out there?
That's a real quick, easy question that can define and inspire the way you show up.
Practical Exercise, Create 15 Angles from Your Core Message
Take an hour (maybe over the holiday season) and brainstorm this
Step 1, Define your core message What do you want to be known for? What do you want to create in your industry?
Step 2, Write 5 angles that could nurture or activate your audience Think about lived experiences, belief shifts, everyday moments your people recognize.
Step 3, Write 5 angles that would give evidence or proof Client results, your own journey, data, testimonials, case studies.
Step 4, Write 5 angles that help your audience make a decision Why now? What's the cost of waiting? What makes you different?
Result, Same message, 15 different ways you can bring forward the conversation.
Step 5, Choose one platform you already show up on and infuse one of those angles this week.
Not as a campaign or a dramatic shift. As the foundation of building your brand.
How to Know What's Working (And Get Smarter Every Time)
These angles aren't guesswork forever. When you start with experiments, you end with data.
Pay attention to,
What gets saved?
What gets shared?
What gets DMed back to you?
What do people quote back to you?
What do people keep asking?
That is how your marketing gets clearer, easier, and more effective every time.
You can be a student of your own wins. Recreate what works and remix those different messages. You're really building out your strategy.
But there is a testing phase. It's not just guesswork—it's very much educated, strategic guesswork. But you do have to try different things to figure out what works. The faster you can get through that testing phase, the more data you'll have to make really great decisions.
Do You Have to Say Just One Thing Forever?
Let me address the elephant in the room, No, of course not.
We're talking about marketing your programs and building a brand. When you decide on this one message, one of the things that gets in people's way is they think they're marrying this thing.
What I want you to think about is building a community and building reputation around what you do in your work.
If this is what you're doing in your work, you are already delivering this message and breaking it down. We're not doing a thousand different things as educators. And if we are, we might want to think about how effective we're actually being for our clients.
We want to narrow it down, start to spot the patterns, and create our core message around that.
That's how trust is built. That's how your marketing starts to feel simpler instead of heavier.
Key Takeaways for Hair and Beauty Educators
1. Repetition builds recognition Your audience needs to hear the same core message multiple times before they associate you with the solution.
2. Angles prevent boredom Different entry points into the same message keep content fresh and speak to different buyer types.
3. Content has three jobs Reach (visibility), Nurture/Activate (build trust), Convert (create action). Run your message through all three.
4. Brand equity is built between launches Don't wait until you're launching to get clear on your message. Build recognition consistently.
5. Test, measure, repeat Pay attention to what resonates. Be a student of your own wins and recreate what works.
6. One message doesn't mean one format Repurpose your core message across different platforms, formats, and angles.
If this post gave you an idea or a new perspective, send me a DM on Instagram @itsJodiebrown. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And if you’d like to listen in on the exact podcast episode that accompanies this blog post, you can do that here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Xo Jodie
Ps. Don't forget to subscribe to the Sought After Educator Podcast to get more insights like this delivered to your phone every week.
