Photo Credits: Dose Media from Unsplash
Creating a strong and meaningful brand requires a lot of thinking which can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be! Expert Marta Andrade from elleseven design shares her branding cheat sheet to help you build a strong brand you can stand behind.
Define Your Brand
This step might seem simple and pretty obvious, but you need to ensure your brand aligns with what you believe in! What you stand for, your values and your beliefs will translate into your brand since you are the personality behind it. Dig deep and ensure you are not separate from your brand!
Identify Your Strength
People need to understand why they should invest in you compared to the competition, so give them a reason to! Create your unique selling proposition to eliminate any potential confusion in the mind of your consumer. If you struggle, try forming an intimate focus group of trusted friends and/or clients to have them highlight your strengths!
Know Your Target Audience
Despite how appealing it might sound; it is unrealistic to claim your target audience is everyone. If you try to service and reach everyone, you will spread yourself so thin that you will not be able to claim expertise in anything. Outline who you want to reach, how to reach them and how you will get there!
Photo Credits: Rob Curran from Unsplash
Create Your Brand Story
Your brand story will gather all the various aspects and methodology behind your brand like your values, beliefs, and strengths to neatly tie it together for consumers. People will have a harder time trying to connect with the passion behind your brand without a story, so ensure you are honest with yourself and your brand’s message to romanticize them into supporting you!
Find Your Voice
In order to connect with your audience, you need to establish what tone fits the best. Whether that is adopting a fun and friendly tone or using a more serious and professional one, defining what approach is needed and staying true to it is essential to reaching your audience. Do not try to cater to a specific audience, as the right clientele will come to you if you stay honest to your brand!
Photo Credits: Edho Pratama from Unsplash
Design Your Look
This is one of the most important (and most fun) steps. Your look includes anything visually pertaining to your brand, from logos and fonts to colour palette and imagery. The aesthetic you create must communicate your story, values and beliefs to customers so make sure they all mesh together!
Be Consistent
Lastly, you need to ensure that branding is consistent across all of your platforms. A lack of consistency will create confusion in your audience, whether it is something as simple as colour scheme or a bit more complicated like a different voice.
Speaker’s Specifics
In her 25-year career, Marta has worked in many areas of the creative world! This ranges from her time in Bermuda as a Creative Director for aardvark to her time as Art Director for Shoppers Drug Mart and Creative Director at Transcontinental Printing in Canada! Her business, elleseven, was founded in 2010 to help small businesses create unique brand images!
Did you find Marta’s cheat sheet helpful and want more from her? You’re in luck! She hosts Brand Buzz sessions where she offers advice in live brand audits while measuring your brand against your message. Visit her website today to sign up for your own Brand Buzz session or see how else Marta can help you strengthen your brand!
