What Is Branding? A Complete Guide to Building Your Brand

What is branding, and why does it matter? Read more to explore expert strategies to build a brand that resonates and drives business growth.

Think of your business as an individual with specific traits, values, and personality that make it what it is. Branding your business is a story personal to your venture that acts as a distinguishing factor against your competition in the market. In this article, we will learn what makes a brand and how you can build one for yourself.

The Anatomy of a Brand

Understanding a brand's key features is essential for creating a strong brand identity that sets your business apart and acquires loyal customers. The key elements of a brand identity  include the following:

• Logo
• Color Palette
• Typography
• Tone Of Voice

Logo:

A logo is a graphic design unique to your business and represents the company or organization. A good logo must be easy to recognize and remember. It should also be scalable so that it looks good in various sizes and resolutions. It should be a versatile tool that can be used in different contexts, from business cards to billboards or social media. Lastly, a good logo should be relevant to the brand’s values, industry, or personality.  It can be a:

Wordmark: Text only, as seen in Google and Facebook

Letterform: Based on a single letter or a few letters as seen in McDonald’s or H&M

Iconic: One that features a symbol or an icon as seen in Apple or Nike

Combination Mark: As the name suggests, it encompasses features that include texts and icons, as seen in Burger King or Pizza Hut.

Colour Palette

To convey the brand’s visual identity, businesses present a selection of colors, also called the brand’s color palette. It typically includes a primary color with secondary, accent, and background colors that work together to make your business visually appealing and harmonious. Apart from brand recognition, the color palette also evokes emotions and differentiates the brand from its competition. It usually falls under the category of:

Monochromatic: One that features different shades of a single color, as seen in Reebok and LinkedIn

Complementary: A palette that features colors that are opposite each other in the color wheel, as seen in Coca-Cola and Pepsi

Analogous: It presents colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, as seen in Apple and Dove.

Triadic: In a triadic color palette, each color is equally spaced from the other in a color wheel, as seen in Google and Microsoft.

Typography:

Typography reflects the brand’s personality, tone, and values. Hence, it is crucial to keep the typography consistent and legible. In addition, it should have a visual hierarchy that guides the reader’s attention. A maximum of two to three fonts is ideal to maintain consistency. Adjusting spacing can ensure readability and visual appeal. Different font styles and sizes can help with the visual hierarchy.

The fonts available to you have no end, however, they can be broadly classified into:

Serif: These fonts have small lines at the ends of their characters, as seen in Times New Roman.

Sans-serif: These come without the serifs/small lines, as seen in Helvetica or Arial.

Script: It mimics handwriting, as seen in Lobster or Pacifio.

Display: Designed for headings and titles, they are often bold and decorative, as seen in Bebas Neue and Impact.

Tone Of Voice

To facilitate communication with buyers effectively, you should be particular about the tone of voice you choose. More than anything, it is the tone of voice of a brand that evokes an emotional connection among the buyers. It includes language, tone, and the personality it uses. To break it down further, a desirable tone of voice should be consistent, unique, conversational, and relatable when it engages the audience. Some examples would be:

Formal: To seem professional, polished, educated, and serious, as seen among financial institutions.

Informal: Friendly, conversational, and approachable in their attempt, as seen among social media brands.

Empathetic: They are compassionate, understanding, and supportive towards their buyers, as seen among healthcare brands.

Inspirational: To motivate, uplift, and encourage the audience, as seen among sports brands.

Each of these has its set of traits that cannot be exchanged for another. Their identity is tied to their tone of voice, or vice versa. 

Steps to Build a Brand for Your Business:

Now that you know the purpose of building your brand and what you need to build a brand, all that is left for you to know is how to build a brand. The process might seem daunting, but with a clear roadmap, you can take the tasks one at a time. Before you know it, you will have most of your work done. To take a brief look, here is one approach:

• Define your target audience
• Develop your unique value proposition
• Create a visual identity
• Establish a tone of voice
• Craft your brand story

Now, to elaborate:

Define Your Target Audience

A target audience is the group of people that your business aims to serve, communicate with, and eventually sell to. They are like-minded about their consumption habits surrounding your forte, which makes them align with your service or product. 

Why is it Important?

Well, it aids you in:

• making your marketing campaigns more effective, 
• tailoring your message to speak in a way that is relevant to your target’s needs, concerns, and interests, 
• creating content that engages and motivates the buyers, 
• developing your products or services to meet their needs, and 
• differentiating yourself from the competitors, which, if you noticed, was the entire point of building a brand. 

How to Define Your Target Audience?

Identifying a target audience involves a lot of research, including:

• a thorough market research that gathers data through surveys, focus groups, and online analytics,
• customer data from the existing customer base to identify patterns and characteristics,
• detailed profiles of your ideal customers   

What to Consider?

To establish the pattern, you require some ground to judge the data on, like:

• demographics that cover age, gender, income, education, occupation, etc.
• psychographics that include interests, values, attitudes, lifestyle, etc.
• behavioral characteristics comprising purchasing habits, online behavior, etc.
• pain points, including challenges, problems, or needs you are trying to address
• goals that the said audience is trying to achieve 

Examples of Target Audience Definitions:

• Fitness Enthusiasts: 

Urban professionals aged 25 to 45 are interested in staying active and healthy.

• Busy Entrepreneurs:

Business owners aged 30 to 50 seeking productivity tools and solutions.

• Environmentally Conscious Consumers:

Individuals aged 20 to 40 who are passionate about sustainable living and eco-friendly products.

Define Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

A UVP is a statement that communicates your business's unique benefits and value to customers. It acts as a tool to set you apart from competitors and establish your independent identity in the market, making your business more attractive to potential buyers.

Why is a UVP Important?

• It differentiates you from the competitors.
• It offers clarity about the value your business offers to the customers.
• It brings your focus to what makes your venture unique.
• It provides a clear message and direction for marketing and sales efforts.

How to Develop a UVP?

• Understand who your ideal customer is by identifying a target audience.
• Research your competitors and analyze what they offer and how you can differentiate yourself.
• Determine what unique benefits you offer to your customers.
• Translate your benefits into distilled statements that are simple and compelling. 

What to Consider?

• The target audience, foremost, is the determinant for your UVP.
• Competitor analysis will help you identify gaps that your brand can fill.
• Relevance according to the trends, seasonal fluctuations, and market changes is crucial.
• Avoid jargon and generic claims.
• Use numbers or quantifiers to make it measurable.
• Provide concrete examples or case studies to make it tangible.
• Reflect on a voice and personality that represents your brand.
• Address the pain points by emphasizing your role in fulfilling their needs.
• Regularly assess, adapt, and refine your UVP depending on market conditions and customer feedback. 

Examples of UVPs:

• OrderBooks: Breathe Life Into Your E-Commerce Dreams: Start Your Online Store

• Zomato: Order food from your favorite restaurants and get it delivered fast, with live tracking and real-time updates.

• Myntra: Discover the latest fashion trends and get exclusive styles delivered to your doorstep.

Create a Visual Identity

The same has already been discussed under The Anatomy of a Brand. For a quick review, your visual identity is the visual representation of your brand that is perceived by your buyers. It typically includes a logo, a color palette, the typography, the imagery, and the iconography. 

Why is a Good Visual Identity Important?

• It builds recognition for your brand by offering a consistent look that the customers can remember.
• It conveys your brand’s personality, values, and message through visual elements.
• It makes you stand out from competitors with a unique visual identity.

How to Make a Visual Identity?

• Use design software like Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch, and Figma.
• Use Online logo makers like Canva, Wix Logo Maker, and Tailor Brands.
• Use Colour Palette generators like Adobe Colour, Colour Hunt, and Paletton.

What to Consider?

• Keep the visual identity simple by avoiding clutter to ensure easy recognizability.
• Allow consistency with your visual identity across all touchpoints.
• Make it scalable to ensure it looks good in a variety of sizes and formats.
• Ensure it is mindful of the cultural differences for wider efficiency.

Examples of Strong Visual Identities 

• Amul: With its distinctive logo that features a stylized image of a cow, Amul symbolizes purity and quality. It also presents an inviting scheme through a warm display of a color palette featuring red, white, and blue. 

• Nike: The simple and bold logo of a tick that represents its UVP, “Just Do It”, Nike boasts one of the most globally recognized logos, color palette, and typography. 

• Apple: The iconic apple with a bite taken out of it is Apple’s logo. It is minimal and memorable much like its display of a color palette of mostly neutral colors.

Establish a Tone of Voice

The tone of Voice refers to the way your brand communicates with your audience. It covers language, tone, and personality across all forms of communication, be it:

• website content like blog posts, product descriptions, and other written content,
• social media posts, tweets, and other updates,
• print, digital, or broadcast advertisements, or
• interactions with customers via phone, email, or chat.

Why is Tone of Voice Important?

• It creates consistency around your brand’s personality and helps it resonate with the audience.
• It evokes emotions and creates a connection with your customers.
• It builds trust and credibility among the audience.

How to Build a Tone of Voice?

• Identify what matters the most to your brand and its characteristics, and then create a character that embodies your brand’s personality.
• Know your audience, their pain points, interests, and what tone they respond to, and develop a detailed profile of your ideal customers.
• Determine the tone of your voice, whether you want it to be professional or conversational, serious or humorous, empathetic or expert.
• Develop a tone matrix that provides a set of guidelines, illustrations, and a framework for different contexts.
• Train your team to apply your tone of voice in website content, social media, and advertisements.
• Monitor and track how well your tone is resonating with your audience, gather their feedback and make adjustments as needed.

What to Consider?

• That your tone of voice will resonate with your target audience and get them to respond to it.
• The tone of voice is reflective of your brand’s personality as authentically as it can be.
• It is consistent across all communication channels.
• It evolves and adapts depending on customer feedback and as your brand evolves.

Examples of Tone of Voice

• Nike: Another feature among examples is Nike with its inspirational, motivational, and empowering Tone of Voice.

• Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola has a reputation for being fun, playful, and nostalgic in its tone of voice.

• Zomato: For a friendly, approachable, and conversational impact, Zomato is seen incorporating Hindi and other local languages to appease its target audience.

Craft Your Brand Story

Your brand story is the narrative that covers the history, values, mission, and personality of your brand. Often presented as an emotional appeal, a brand story is a factual account of how the brand evolved from scratch, including its purpose and what drives it. It is 

Why is a Brand Story Important?

• A compelling brand story fosters trust among customers and creates an emotional connection, making them loyal.
• It acts as a differentiating element from competitors.
• Your brand story can inspire customers, employees, and your business partners.
• It also serves as a guide for a lot of decision-making, ensuring consistency across the brand.

How to Build a Brand Story?

• Start by identifying your mission, vision, and values.
• Research your roots and key milestones and collect anecdotes and stories from employees, customers, and partners.
• Structure a story around the narrative arc by identifying a protagonist of your brand (e.g., the customer, your founder), then determining the conflict or obstacles of the protagonist, and finally proposing how your brand helps overcome the same. 
• Add emotional resonance to your brand story by showing vulnerability. It works wonders, especially for small business branding.
• Distill your story by boiling the narrative down, using clear language, and keeping it authentic.
• Choose your channels and share your story with the audience by incorporating attention-grabbing narrative elements.

What to Consider?

• Stay honest and share the truth about your brand without exaggeration.
• Make it relatable by using language and examples that your audience identifies with.
• Keep the message unified by ensuring all brand touchpoints convey the same story.
• Show with anecdotes, examples, and imagery instead of just telling facts.
• Make it concise, clear, and focused on the core message.
• Allow willingness for change and adaptability through continuous feedback.

Examples of Brand Story:

• MakeMyTrip: Their target audience (Indian travelers) is their brand story’s protagonists, whom they claim to empower with convenient, personalized, and affordable travel experiences.

• Tata Tea: Just like MakeMyTrip, they too cater to their target audience when they claim to empower the Indian farmers and communities through sustainable tea production.

• Big Bazaar: Another one of the similar brand stories is one of Big Bazaar, who claim to revolutionize Indian retail with affordable and high-quality products for the buyers.

By following these steps, you will be able to build a strong brand that resonates with your audience and drives success. Now, take the next step—🚀 Build your online store effortlessly with OrderBooks and start selling today! Get Started Now

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FAQs

1. Why is branding important?

• Branding is important because it helps your business foster trust, credibility, emotional connection, and loyalty among customers.

2. How do I build a brand for my business?

• To build a brand, define a mission, vision, and values. Then, develop a unique value proposition, and visual identity, and lastly establish a strong online presence.

3. How to measure the success of my branding efforts?

• Look for metrics like brand awareness, customer engagement, loyalty, sales, revenue, and overall market share growth.