Branding is not something which we can see, but what we feel. What your customers feel and think about your brand, now that is the branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your brand is what differentiates you from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great branding is the most powerful competitive advantage a company can have. People purchase because of the emotional connection they have with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand<\/em>.\u201d \u2013 Howard Schultz<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many factors which contribute to an e-commerce sale. Identify the most potent element which you master, and your competitors don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is three primary source of competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an entrepreneur, you must pick one advantage and become exceptionally good at it. Don\u2019t try to be all things; it is risky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure, what competitive advantage you are going to provide, market value and is willing to pay for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The emotions driven by your brand help you to achieve a distinct identity online. People love to listen to the story. It helps to build a strong and deeper bond with your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once target customers feel emotionally connected, they become your loyal audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many retailers make a mistake of focusing only on the selling of their products online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Products, pricing, promotion, delivery are critical factors to success. However, sellers often miss the importance of emotional connection with their audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Include your story in your branding efforts. Look for stories in your customer\u2019s needs and tie your products with a right emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we dig deep into guidelines for building your brand, let\u2019s have a clear understanding of what actually a brand is and what it can do if make successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people do not understand what a brand is! For them, the brand is the logo, the colors; however, these elements are just a tiny part of the overall brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Seth Godin, \u201cA brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer\u2019s decision to choose one product or service over another<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every business has a brand, but how you present your brand, its value, that is what differentiate you from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any brand is basically made up of two major elements. Personality and looks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s understand each of the brand components in detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The brand becomes the personality of your company when people start getting attached to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, the brand personality can be further divided into five categories. Alternatively, you can say there are five traits of the brand persona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Sophistication<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Excitement<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Competence<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Toughness<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Sincerity<\/p>\n\n\n\n A brand personality is a set of human traits that you attach to it while marketing your business and its products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember that people are more likely to make a purchase when your brand persona is similar to their own or something which inspires and motivates them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marketing activities, customer interactions, product presentation, photography, website design, social media activities are the touch points where you can reflect your brand persona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another aspect which creates your brand persona is the mission statement. Your mission statement is the reason for your company\u2019s existence. The purpose of Your mission statement is to provide a path and guidance for strategic decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your visual identity is primarily the reflection of your company. Make sure that your brand visual goes in line with what you speak and write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things to consider to create a strong visual identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Be consistent with your color scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Choose a font that matches your brand personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understand the meaning of color for your brand. Before jumping into a color selection, it is advisable to review the purpose of different colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more about The meaning of colors and what emotion they represent. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Choosing the right color palette is crucial because it helps people to identify your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A color pallet can be decided by considering the images and elements that visually represents your identity. You can consider taking 7 to 10 elements to create a mood board to find a perfect color pallet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can choose from the full range of color pallet from Adobe Color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 0 to 255<\/a>: A tool where you can find variations of any color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A logo is a powerful asset to your brand. Your logo is primarily the face of your brand. Remember, creating the logo is much more than just graphic design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guidelines to follow while designing an effective logo<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. The goal is recognition<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Workout your initial thought on a paper<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Maintain a balance between colors, graphics, and size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Don\u2019t use colors that are so bright and are hard on the eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Try out different color combinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. consider a custom font for your design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. Keep it simple. Brainstorm and generate ideas<\/p>\n\n\n\n #8. Use other logos for inspirations ONLY!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you create one, first understand what a good logo is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good logo is distinctive, simple, memorable and conveys your brand\u2019s message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out logoshi<\/a> and logojoy<\/a> to create your company logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Essentially you need to choose two to three fonts for different sections of your website and graphics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some do\u2019s and don\u2019ts while selecting typography for your website and branding material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Be reasonable with your font size. It should be readable and visible<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. It is advisable not to use too many different fonts on a single page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Give enough space between two lines<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Avoid all caps<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Avoid big paragraphs<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Keep it justified<\/p>\n\n\n\n To know further, read this excellent article on what font should I use?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The tone of voice for your brand is as essential as other aspects. It is often the most overlooked aspect of branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can you get it right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your brand voice communicates \u2013 The company\u2019s value, brand identity and its say in the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Giving your brand a voice that helps to create and improve trustworthiness and honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is essential for you to define how you want your brand to be perceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to create an appealing brand voice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Your brand voice should represent its personality<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Use vocabulary that can be understood<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Know your customers<\/p>\n\n\n\n – It\u2019s not only for you but for your customers too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you figure out your brand\u2019s tone of voice, you can start implementing it in various area of your business and brand touchpoints. It is essential to be consistent and clear about your brand\u2019s objectives to get it reflected in its voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discovering your brand\u2019s voice is not an easy job. It takes the right amount of time, so don\u2019t be in a rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A brand\u2019s voice is something which exists in your internal company culture and also affects your brand experience that your customers have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good quality images by a professional photographer have the power to capture the attention your business deserves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n They have the ability to demonstrate the heart and soul of your company, its values, and vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photography plays a vital role in visual branding for business to survive in today\u2019s economy. It helps your brand to be instantly recognizable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can achieve this by establishing guidelines for visual aspects for your brand on each platform, i.e. your company website, marketing and social media activities, advertisements and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By doing this, your audience will recognize you quickly, in every context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s understand how do you create a style?<\/p>\n\n\n\n By seeking consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about your brand and its core attributes. Replicate them in your photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decide the values which you want to convey. Is it Trust? Expertise? Friendliness? Richness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you decide to focus on people shots, maintain the consistency in lighting, background, the attitude on the model\u2019s face, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will give the images an exciting and consistent look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, when I say consistency, that doesn\u2019t mean \u201csameness\u201d. No one wants to see the same images over and over. There should be recognizable similarities between photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brand positioning is positioning your brand in the customers\u2019 mind. What they think about your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brand positioning takes place whether or not you are proactively making efforts. However, if you take an intelligent approach and forward-looking approach, your brand can positively influence your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the tagline for a brand is the positioning statement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. It is not. Many entrepreneurs confuse brand\u2019s tagline with its positioning statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFind your competitive advantage<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"competitive](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/competitive-advantage.png\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTell your story<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What exactly is a brand?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Brand personality (Brand persona):<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Brand visuals:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Identify the color pallet: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"color](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Adobe-Kuler.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDesign your logo:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"logo](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-making-1024x681.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Best](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Logo-example.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nSelect Typography<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tone of communication<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Basically, a tone of communication is not what you say but how you say it. <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Photography style<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"photography](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/PHOTOGRAPHY-1024x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Product](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/photography.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPosition yourself uniquely <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Brand](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/positioning.png\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Looking](\"https:\/\/itl-blog-aws.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/ITL_banners_711_resize-21.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"