Building Your Brand

Most eCommerce companies have something that helps set them apart from their competition, and specific things that make them stand out to their customers. Building a brand helps you gain a loyal customer base, makes you stand out, and gives new followers a clear idea of who you are as a company. While this is a big and important step for new companies, it is also important to keep up as an established brand to make sure that your current branding is still reflective of who you are. Here are some ways you can get started branding (or re-branding) to show off the best version of yourself.

What Exactly Is A Brand?

Your brand encompasses everything about you. What you look like, how you communicate, your audience and anything else related to even the smallest aspect of your business. Simply put, your brand is your reputation and how other people perceive you. That does not mean that you cannot direct your brand, or that you have no control over your reputation. Quite the opposite! Think about your personal “brand”. What kind of clothes do you wear? How do you style your hair? What hobbies do you enjoy? How do you interact with others, both friends and strangers? All of these compose your personal brand and shape how others see you. Your company’s brand works the same.

Where To Start:

Researching your target audience and competitors is an important first step. If you are a new company, this is going to take a little more time and effort but will result in better sales and earlier customer loyalty. If you are established and looking to re-brand, the process will be similar but not quite as lengthy. For re-branding, compare where you started to where you are now and decide if your audience and competitors are similar, or if they have evolved. This is especially important if you have expanded the products or services that you offer. Say you started with a niche market with something like jewelry and decided to expand to offer other accessories like handbags, your audience and competitors would considerably grow! Keep in mind the demographics who would be the easiest for you to sell to and the competitors that would be your toughest competition.

Choose Your Focus And Voice:

Once you have done a little research on your market and target audience, start brainstorming ways that you want to present yourself to them. Come up with a statement to help you articulate how you stand out, and what unique solution you can provide to customers. Simple is best, as you will use this to help form the rest of your brand image. Another helpful way to start creating your brand image is to come up with 3-5 words that would describe your brand if it was a person. Using words like “effective”, “artistic”, “professional”, “over-the-top”, or any other adjectives will help you create a more solid vision of what your brand truly is.

Get Creative:

This is the part where you get to really show off your creativity! Start with choosing a business name. If you already have one, decide if it is still true to the brand image you are creating. While it can be a little confusing to customers when you change your name, they will adjust quickly as long as they have a fair warning of what’s to come. Next, choose a slogan. Slogans should be short and catchy, such as Nike’s “Just Do It” or “Redbull Gives You Wings”. If you have trouble brainstorming, try a slogan maker to help get you started. Choosing fonts and colors come next. Both of these are important to help project the message you want to convey. For example, if you are running a computer company, you probably wouldn’t want to use a comic sans font in a bright color. On the other hand, if you are selling children’s toys, you would not want to use a serif font in a neutral color. Research what will catch your audience’s attention and use it to your advantage. Lastly, use all of the information you’ve gathered to create a logo that is perfect for you.

Branding takes a lot of effort, but it can be a fun process that really allows you to show off the personality of your brand. What are some of your favorite branding tips? Let us know below!