How to Find Your Blog’s Perfect Brand Identity

If you have been blogging for any length of time, you have likely heard the term “brand identity.” It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? If you are like most bloggers, you probably believe it is the same as branding and is the name of your blog. Unfortunately, this is a common misconception.

By the end of this post, you will have a much better understanding of the difference between a brand and brand identity as well as how to find the perfect brand identity for your blog.

To help you get started, I have created also created a free printable “Brand Identity Questionnaire.” The questionnaire contains 22 thought-provoking questions to help you start thinking about your blog in terms of branding. It is free when you subscribe to my email list using the form below.

 

I will reference the questionnaire throughout the post, but it is not necessary for reading the post. It is merely an aid in helping you create your brand identity.

*This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.

Your Brand

Contrary to popular belief, the word “brand” isn’t your business name at all. Instead, it is the perception of your business or blog. I know that I have quoted Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, in the past and I’m going to do it again now.

He explained it very well in one sentence. He is quoted as saying, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

In other words, your brand is how your business is perceived by others. It’s the emotions, memories, and reputation your readers and customers connect to your blog or business. That makes branding a very complex concept.

Consider the emotions and perceptions that you have of some of the worlds most iconic brands. Think about how you feel when you read the names of the following businesses:

• McDonald’s
• Amazon
• Nike
• Walmart

I’m sure you have an opinion of each of these brands. You likely thought of a positive or negative experience that you associate with each business name. That thought, how you perceive the company, is the company’s brand. It is what you really think about the company.

Brand Identity

How would you have felt if I posted the logos of the above companies? Would your perception of the company have changed? It likely wouldn’t have mattered if you viewed the logo or the name because these are components of the same brand, the same entity.

These components, your company logo, the fonts you use, the name of your business, and color scheme are all part of your brand’s identity. These components represent your brand to the world. They are deliberately chosen to convey a message about your company and can stand alone or be combined with multiple components.

Now that you have a better understanding of what a brand identity is, let’s look at how you can get started creating the perfect one for your blog.

 

Your Ideal Customer

The first and most important part of developing a brand identity is to have a firm understanding of who your ideal customer is. This may change over time, which is perfectly fine (and normal).

Although my audience is comprised of people from all walks of life, my ideal audience is women from 25 to 34 years old with children. These women are tech savvy and looking for ways to earn a living from home to spend more time with their growing families.

I’m not saying that men or middle age adults don’t read my blog. They do! However, I am simply stating that the person to whom I am writing my blog posts is primarily this audience.

Knowing who your ideal audience is will allow you to target your branding elements to attract that specific audience. Originally, I chose neutral tones for my blog, but over time, as my female audience has grown, I have incorporated more feminine colors and designs into my blog.

If you don’t know who your ideal audience is, check out the following posts. Each of these posts goes into detail about how to get to know your blog’s audience, which you may find helpful.

• Who is Your Blog Audience? Get to Know Your Readers Using Google Analytics
• Grow Your Blog with Monthly Blog Reviews and Goal Setting
• How to Use Pinterest Analytics to Crush It on Pinterest

Identify and Solve Your Customer’s Pain Points

You may be wondering what pain points have to do with brand identity. Pain points are the reason that your ideal reader visits your blog. They have a problem and you have the solution. Understanding their pain points will help you target your brand to their unique needs.

For example, if your product is trendy, durable glasses for kids, you know that kids tend to lose or break their glasses. This is a parent’s pain point. So, you should use this information to establish your brand identity.

In this example, you would want your logo and communications (email, ads, etc.) to attract your audience. Your logo might need to include a child wearing a pair of glasses or just a pair of children’s glasses. You could use a cartoon illustration to imply that the brand is kid-friendly or you could use a fun font and bright primary colors to catch parents and children’s attention.

If you want to market the product to parents whose children lose or break their glasses, your tagline or mission statement should include a marketing message that solves this problem.  For example, “Trendy Eyewear Your Kids Won’t Break or Lose!”

Once you know exactly who you are marketing to (and why) your brand identity will start to take shape. Just be consistent and don’t go over-the-top by using difficult to read font using too many fonts or colors.

What is Your Brand’s Story?

Your personal story can help gain the trust of your readers and set you apart from other blogs in your niche. For example, I started blogging after suffering from a medical problem that prevented me from working a traditional job. This lead me to create my own job and work based on my health needs.

This story helps me relate to my audience. They want to find a way to earn a living from home via blogging and that’s why I got started blogging in the first place. This connection is now part of my brand.

Your story helps you stand out, connect with your audience, and can be used in your marketing materials (email marketing or social media). It will also help you determine the type of content you should and should not target to your readers.

Your Blogging Goals

Your goals come into play because you want your blog to have longterm success. If the goal of your blog is to be a leader in email marketing software in five years, you need to consider that when you establish your brand identity.

In a year or two, you don’t want to discover that your brand identity is to amateur or informal for the corporate world when corporate success has been your goal from the beginning. Try to think ahead when you plan your brand identity. Where will your business be five or ten years from now?

It’s okay if you aren’t sure. I’m not quite sure of the direction of my blog since the industry is constantly changing, so I am aware that my brand identity may shift over the years. However, if you have a specific goal in mind, you don’t want to go in the wrong direction for lack of vision.

To avoid the problems that may arise from not setting your goals, try to set a one-year and five-year goal, at the very least. If things don’t go the direction you plan, stay on top of it as the changes take place.

How Do You Want Your Audience to Feel About Your Brand?

If you remember, in the beginning of this post, I mentioned that your brand is how your business is perceived. This question, which is part of the questionnaire that you can download above, addresses your intent. For example; Do you want your audience to be excited by your content?

Your intentions have a great impact on your brand. If you have a humor blog, you would want your audience to be amused, but if you blog about cancer treatment and support, you would want your reader to feel optimistic and informed. That will impact the images, logo, colors, and fonts of your blog.

Knowing how you want your audience to feel is an important starting point for developing your brand and the elements of your brand (i.e. your brand identity).

If you don’t know the answer to this question, take some time to really consider it before you jump into branding. It’s something you should definitely put some thought into prior to choosing the components of your brand identity.

Choosing Brand Identity Components

Now, I am going to discuss a few of the components of your brand identity. I will go into more detail about these in a future post, so be sure to check back next week for a more detailed post. In the meantime, I do have a few tips that will help you get on the right track.

Color

Color is a huge part of branding. Did you know that colors convey emotions and impressions on a subliminal level? That is why choosing colors that fit your brand and what your brand stands for is so important.

The following infographic is one that I have used before, but I think you will find it useful here. It is a chart that will help you choose hues for your brand based on the psychology and social connections we have with those colors.

I included the most common emotions associated with the colors in the infographic, as well as some examples of branding using that specific color. Of course, this is only a guide. You can use a variety of colors for your brand, but the psychology behind the color should be noted.

Font

Fonts are another serious consideration. I do have a word of caution here. First and foremost, consider readability. This is a pet peeve of mine. I can’t tell you how many blogs that I have seen that have unreadable fonts in the body, headings, or logo.

It reminds me of the sixth grade when my teachers prohibited all fonts except for Times New Roman. At the time, I didn’t understand it. Now, as an adult reader, I get it. Nowadays, the amount of time we spend reading on electronic devices has only compounded the issue.

Bloggers tend to be lured in by pretty script typefaces. However, these typefaces can be very annoying, if not impossible to read. I, personally use a font on some of my pins that isn’t readable with certain words or letters. If I struggle to read it, I don’t use it on that graphic. It’s that simple.

Next, do not use more than three fonts. If you do, it just looks sloppy and amateur. Also, remember that you should have a dark-colored font on a light background to make it easier for your readers to read your blog. A light font on a dark background really messes with your eyes.

Once again, I will go into more detail about this in a future post. For now, remember the K.I.S.S. acronym (keep it simple, stupid).

Overall Mood and Design

When readers come to my blog, I want them to think of it as professional, clean, warm, and inviting. I don’t want too many distractions, but I want them to be able to quickly find everything they want within moments of the page loading.

If you have a blog about grief, for example, you would want your blog to be comforting, soothing, easy to navigate, and supportive. Think about how you can convey that on the page.

Graphics, layout, and overall design can be just a much part of your brand as your fonts and colors. For my blog, I included florals and images within my branding colors. This helped me create continuity and add pops of color but kept the overall look clean and easy to read.

For my navigation elements, I also opted for selections that were easy to read, professional, and made the navigation clear and easy. There is nothing more frustrating than having to look for the content you want to read on a blog. If your reader can’t find it in 30 seconds or less, they will leave.

Play it safe with design and make navigation and clarity your priority. Flashier elements have their time and place, but the homepage design isn’t it.

Find the Perfect Brand Identity for Your Blog

Branding your blog is a critical component of creating a profitable blogging business. It will set the tone for your content and its components will keep your content consistent between your blog and all of your social media platforms.

Developing a brand identity will help your brand make a lasting impression with your readers. Choose carefully to ensure that you are getting the most out of your branding efforts and to strengthen your blog.

If you enjoyed this post or would like to download the free Brand Identity Questionnaire, be sure to sign up for my email list using the form below. As always, I respect your privacy and will not share your email.

 

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