5 branding tips to nail your brand look and feel

The way your brand looks and feels is a HUGE part of your business branding – especially if you’re marketing your business on Instagram or other online platforms. Here are 5 of my top tips for nailing your brand look and feel.

 

 

 

How to nail your brand look and feel

If you're not sure what branding is, pop on over to my last blog post here. (Hint: Branding is more than just your logo).

Think about some of the brands you interact with every day or the brands that you're loyal to. Take Apple for example – their branding is so strong that people queue up for days just so they can be the first to get the latest iPhone, even if it's not that much of an improvement on the last one. It's all because they see it as part of their identity.

Apple's whole identity is built around that minimal look and stylish feel. Everything from their products, their website, to the way you book an appointment at the Genius Bar – everything reflects that same look and feel.

So, how can you nail your brand look and feel?

Branding tip #1: Know your point of difference

Also known as your unique selling point. So, what makes you unique from everyone else in your industry?

Frankly, if you're about to launch a business and you don't know what makes you unique, then you really need to figure it out before you launch. Seriously – don't try to be the same as every other brand out there. If you're trying to be like your competitors, then why should one of their customers switch from them to you?

Once you know what your point of difference is, think about how you can reflect this in your brand look and feel. For example, let's say that your point of difference is that you're shaking up an industry crowded with stuffy boring brands. You would want your brand to look and feel fun. So, instead of a dull colour palette, you might choose bright colours, and your logo and fonts might be quite funky or playful.

I've written a whole blog post on brand tone of voice, but in a nutshell, you want to make sure that the way that your brand communicates is in line with this as well. Maybe your industry is full of products that aren't environmentally friendly but yours are. In this case, you might choose to have an earthy look and feel.

The whole idea is to let your brand look and feel communicate what your point of difference is, before your brand even opens its mouth.

Branding tip #2: Know who your ideal customer or client is

Look, I've written about how to define your ideal customer or client so, if you haven't done the exercise, just DO IT. Seriously, it'll change the way you market your business.

Knowing your ideal customer or client is important. You need to know what they look for in a brand – like, how do they want you to make them feel? What makes them tick? How a brand for corporate clients looks will be hugely different to a brand for creative clients, so it's so important to think about your client.

Branding tip #3: Consider bringing in a professional

Yes, you may know your way around Canva and you may be able to design a logo in it, but there's a reason people go to graphic design school. There's an art and a science behind logo design, color selection, font selection – even the file types. If you create a logo in Canva and then you want to get a sign printed, you're going to have big issues because it's not scalable.

Also, if you can communicate what your vision is, a good designer should be able to bring it to life far better than you'll be able to.

Branding tip #4: Make sure your branding is all consistent

Once your brand identity has been designed, you want to make sure everything is consistent. This means your social media templates have the same vibe as your e-book templates, or your website has the same vibe as your business cards.

The aim is for someone to look at any one touch point of your business by itself and immediately know that it belongs to your brand.

I always tell people to think of it like this: You don't want someone to click to your website from your Instagram profile and think they've taken a wrong turn and got lost because it looks and feels completely different.

Branding tip #5: Don't be afraid to let your brand evolve over time

When you started your business 3 years ago, you might have loved that bright salmon pink, but maybe now you don't love it so much. Does that mean you're stuck with a colour palette you hate for the rest of eternity? No, it does not.

Whether it's a colour, font, logo, icon – whatever it is, don't be afraid to let it change over time. But, when you change it, make sure you stay consistent with that change. So, don't start mixing and matching lime green one day and then rust brown the next.

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