How to create your own branding identity: a handy guide for new business owners
In todays blog post, I’m going to be sharing a handy, quick-start guide to help you create your own brand identity so that you can get set up online quickly and start standing out and making money with the business of your dreams in no time! Building a brand can seem overwhelming, but when you build a strategic brand, you're laying a solid foundation for everything that comes next. It will help set you up for success! We're going to be examining all the areas of building a brand as you get started in your online business.
Why is building a brand so important?
Your brand represents your entire customer experience from start to finish. It's more than just a simple logo - it encompasses all touchpoints from your overall colours and aesthetic, to your communication style on your social media posts, the words on your website, and the values which drive your business.
The bottom line is your branding is your audience’s first impression of your business, and it has the ability to make or break your success. So let's make it the best first impression we possibly can!
How to create your own branding identity
Step 1: Get Clear on Your Values, Goals, & Offerings
The first step in building your own branding identity is your strategy. If you want to learn how to create your branding, you have to first understand what makes your business unique by identifying your values, goals and offerings. Let's talk a bit about the importance of each of these areas and how you can achieve the clarity you need...
Values - these are the things you stand for and against in your business. They set the standard for the work you do and hold you accountable in your marketing efforts and in the work you do for your clients. Decide whether you want to have the same set of core values for your business as you do for life. This is a great way to show your authentic self and add another personal element to your business.
Goals - think about the big picture! Where do you want your business to take you? What is your dream life? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? Get out your journal and answer these questions. Then write down both your short and long-term goals, even thinking years into the future!
Offerings - lastly, tie everything together by coming up with offerings that will help you reach your goals and work confidently, knowing that you're staying true to your values. You can create offers at all different price points for people with different budgets so that you can draw in your target market and captivate them with one or more of your products or services!
Step 2: Create your Brand Bio and Mission Statement
Now that you have all the pieces to the why behind your brand, it's time to put it all together in a brand bio! Your brand bio is a simple statement that clearly states what you do, who you serve, and how you add value to the lives and businesses of your customers through the services you provide. It’s a pretty simple thing to write, but don’t underestimate the power of this statement! If you can clearly communicate all of these key things to your audience in just a few short sentences - you have a much better chance of standing out, making a connection, building trust and piquing their interest enough to stick around and learn more about you.
Here's how you can do it! Write down:
Who you are/What you do
Who you serve
How you add value
(Tip - When writing down how you add value, think about how you’re different to others in your industry, what problem you solve and what key result can you get for your client. You can look back over your answers from the workbook to help you out with this.)
Here’s an example of my own brand bio! You can view it in action here.
Who you are/What you do: Personality-packed branding & Squarespace web designer
Who you serve: for unique small businesses that don’t do normal.
How you add value: Want to stand out, book more of your dream clients, and have total confidence and clarity around your brand? Well, you’re in the right place!
PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER AND WHAT HAVE YOU GOT?!?
Personality-packed branding & Squarespace web designer for unique small businesses that don’t do normal.
Want to stand out, book more of your dream clients, and have total confidence and clarity around your brand? Well, you’re in the right place!
Once you've written your brand bio, you can use it everywhere from your website, to your Instagram bio, social media posts and even use it for inspiration when brainstorming content ideas! Consistency is key here! The more you tell people exactly what you do, who you serve and how you stand out, the more you’ll build trust, credibility and stay top of mind for your audience.
Step 3: Define your Content Pillars
Your content pillars will set the standard for how you market your business and provide value online to attract your ideal client. The first step in creating your content pillars is knowing what platforms you'll be marketing your business on. Pick 1 or 2 and focus on a strategy specifically for that platform. For example, lots of business owners find success through video content on TikTok, but to market your business through Instagram will require a much different strategy.
Choose key topics to share with your audience that will educate, inspire, and ultimately help them to purchase a product or service from you. When considering these things, think about what you personally love to write, talk, and learn about. Chances are, these same things will intrigue your target audience!
Step 4: Create a Brand Moodboard
A brand moodboard can set the tone and serve as your own personal visual guide for your brand - or as I like to call it - your visual compass! It can take the vibe in your head and translate it into something you can actually see (and even touch!) to put you in the right mood and embody an experience that will make your ideal clients and potential customers feel right at home when they interact with your brand.
To curate images for your moodboard, start by taking your brand keywords and put them into the Pinterest search bar. Now pair it with words such as ‘colour themes’ ‘colour palettes’ ‘interiors’ ‘logos’ ‘branding’ ‘fonts’ ‘design’ and get pinning! Pin all the things that really resonate and reflect the general vibe and mood of your brand. Remember to try and view this from a business perspective, and not just purely from your own personal taste.
Need a few more tips and tricks to put together a stunning moodboard? Click here!
Step 5: Be Consistent With Your Designs
One of the best things you can do to build brand recognition is to use consistent visuals that become a trademark of your brand. There are three areas, in particular, that you will want to pay attention to when creating consistent designs for your business.
Fonts - Pick 1-2 fonts (1 main font for headings, 1 main font for all other text) to use across your website and any other marketing materials you use for your business. Occasionally, you can use a third accent font, usually a script or other decorative type in small doses to add a bit more personality to your visuals.
Colours - Pick 3-6 colours to use across your website, social media posts and any other marketing materials you use for your business. You can do this as you create your moodboard and draw colour inspiration from the images you've curated to represent your brand. This blog post has more info!
Patterns - Patterns are one of the most overlooked areas of your brand, but they can be invaluable when helping you create brand recognition without saying your name or using your logo! Pick a selection of patterns/photos that fit the vibe and tone of your brand to use across your website and social media.
Step 6: Use Templates!
One of the best ways to save time is by using pre-made templates for social media and your website. Templates can help to streamline your business so that you can always fall back on consistent visuals when it's time to post on Instagram. Creating a stunning website from scratch can also take up tonnes of your time, and even be unfulfilling when you can't bring your vision to life in the end! Head over to Canva to create social media templates, so that creating and planning your content each week is a breeze!
In the Kurly Creative template shop, you'll find lots of colorful, fun Canva and Squarespace templates to help get your brand up and running online. Head on over to check out the shop and stock up on templates for your business. These templates will help you batch create beautiful, standout social media content in minutes, so you can build trust, educate and engage your audience, grow your email list and make more sales, stat!
NEED A HAND WITH LEARNING CANVA + CREATING ON-BRAND DIY DESIGNS?
If you’re a new business owner who’s been suffering from a serious case of design overwhelm and need some help creating stand out designs that feel oh-so on brand and uniquely you - then check out my free Canva templates and training! 👇
Did you like this post? Then pin it to Pinterest! 👇
