A small business’ brand is the cornerstone of successful online growth and marketing strategies. A well-developed brand will emotionally connect with your target audience, and convey a message about your business without needing to spell it out. This connection with your potential customers will create the base layers of trust that are necessary to succeed in the online market place. But it’s not just about picking your colours and fonts, a great brand goes so much deeper than the first impression and exterior appearance.
A business’ brand includes user experience.
If you order something online and it is expensive, late or bad product experience, you are not likely to give your business again. Your impression of that company is soured, and no matter how attractive their visual brand is, you know their brand includes poor experience.
Your brand is the personality of your company, and it’s the connection that you create with your followers and customers. When you consistently provide great service and a good product you will earn the trust of your community and gradually build a loyal following.
Knowing who your customer is can make or break your brand.
It’s not about creating a brand and then finding your people, it’s about building a brand around your people’s interests and desires. How can you solve someone’s problem if you haven’t taken the time to get to know them, understand their pain points or what they need from you? Take the time, get to know your customer better (use this Customer Breakdown Worksheet to help!)
On the surface of your brand’s identity is the visual aspects. The colours and typography your choose and the way that your brand presents itself is very important in the online world. The market is saturated, and unless you can be memorable and stand out from your competition, you will not see sales on your ecommerce store.
Your brand should send a message that aligns with your customer's values.
If you are selling something that is designed to reduce the impact on the environment, that should be clear when a new customer sees your brand for the first time.
Taking the time to craft a well-established visual guideline for your brand can greatly benefit your advertising and marketing department (and by ‘marketing department’ I mean you, probably.) The consistency in visual branding across platforms will help potential customers easily recognize your ad campaigns. Consistency in font and colour scheme creates an appearance of professionalism and earns trust in a new customer.
Once well established your brand will have a voice that you can lean on for content creation, social engagement, marketing and advertising strategies.
Solidify your brand's visual aspects for consistency and recognition
Creating a brand guideline can ease some of the stress involved with decision making for your business. Time to make business cards? No problem, your colours scheme and fonts are already decided. New website? Use your brand guideline sheet to correctly select the right colours and fonts.
If you have Adobe Photoshop, please enjoy this free template for your Brand Guideline! Start deciding on colour palette and typography, and create a consistent brand that your business needs to thrive in the online world.
