5 Tips to Easily Create a Unique Brand Identity

5 Tips to Easily Create a Unique Brand Identity

A brand lets people know who you are and what you do.

Branding isn’t just your logo, colors or website.
Your brand is the connection you make with your audience.   

Online entrepreneurs use social media platforms as their main marketing strategy and funnel to send people to their website. So it is crucial to be consistent across ALL your social media accounts. 

You can’t build brand recognition on social media if people don’t recognize you!

Many people hear the word “brand” and immediately picture big corporations like Apple, Microsoft and Starbucks; however, the truth is bloggers and entrepreneurs should be branding their online businesses, too.

Readers will only stay on your site if you make it easy for them. If they have to think, they will leave. If they’re confused, they’ll leave. By having a clear brand, readers will know what to expect. If they like what you do, they’ll stick around.

Why is branding identity so important?

• It helps you understand your purpose
• It helps you grow a community
• It streamlines your work processes as you develop your social media presence.

Use these 5 tips to easily create a unique brand identity for your blog and business.

1. Write your MISSION STATEMENT

A MISSION STATEMENT is a sentence or two that describes the purpose of your blog or business. Think about the WHY, the HOW, and the WHO.  Brainstorm a couple of ideas thinking about WHAT you do, what PROBLEMS you are solving and the purpose behind your SOLUTIONS.   Fill in the following framework:

MY BUSINESS DOES                   TO HELP                  DO                             .

For example:  MY BUSINESS provides services to create beautiful visual identities TO HELP growing businesses (DO) attract and connect with their ideal clients.

2. Choose a NAME and TAGLINE

If you’re having trouble coming up with a NAME, make a list of words you want people to associate with your blog/business, and then use WordHippo to find synonyms for those words. Make sure that the name you choose is available as a URL and on social media.  You can try adding underscores or removing some vowels if your first choice isn’t available.

As for your TAGLINE, while you’ll want short, punchy and having personality, the most important aspect will be that it’s clear.

If you have your MISSION STATEMENT filled in, you can jazz it up and add personality.

3. Define what PERSONALITY you want your brand identity to have.

Adjectives are powerful in creating visuals, defining tone and helping to determine a brand’s aesthetic. The adjectives you choose should reflect your mission statement and your target audience.  Using opposites is very helpful.

For example:  masculine/ feminine; simple/complex; classic/contemporary; playful/serious; casual/elegant; friendly/authoritative; subtle/bright; industrial/natural; approachable/elite.

4. Craft your BRAND GUIDELINES

The basic elements you will need to include are:

• LOGO
• LOGO VARIATION
• WATERMARK or SUBMARK
• COLOR PALETTE
• FONTS
• COLLATERAL ELEMENTS (dividers, borders, icons, etc.)
• TEXTURES and PATTERNS

The more you stick to your branding guidelines the faster your content will be recognized by your audience.  And they will establish the association between you and your style.

5. Curate your VISUAL CONTENT

Elaborate on the graphic pieces you will use to show your content.  Taking time at this stage will be so worth in the future.  Thinking and putting together a set of templates is a great way to be strategic and stay productive and focused on your business. 

Here are a few of the benefits of using pre-made templates:

• They will help you reduce the time it takes you to create your visual content.
• They will help you maintain a consistent look and feel across all of your platforms
• They will help your audience to easily recognize your content

How to know what templates you need?

If it is something you will be creating more than once, it should have a template!

For example:

• Social media post images
• Blog post images
• Pinterest Pins
• Video Thumbnails
• Quotes

Remember to stick to the guidelines you’ve defined.  Use the fonts, color palette, brand elements, etc. that you’ve already established so that each piece of your content is seamlessly streamlined with the others.

WRAP UP

When navigating the online environment we make a first impression in less than 3 seconds.  If you brand your blog and business you will be able to create a cohesive, consistent experience for your audience.  Start the visual branding process with these 5 tips. Dive in and have fun!

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