Let's Talk Branding Strategy for Your Online Business

 Let's Talk Branding Strategy for Your Online Business

Branding is important for every business, but it's essential for online business owners to understand what is involved in branding and the ways in which they can do it so that it is effective. If you want to brand your online business so that you create brand advocacy as well as recognition, you'll want to follow these steps.

> Step #1: Know Your Audience - This is going to be something you hear often because it's imperative. You cannot even create a product or recommend a product if you don't know who your audience is, what their problems are, how you specifically can help them, and why. Plus, you need to know what their values are and how they prefer to communicate.

> Step #2: Create an Ideal Client / Customer Avatar - This is going to be one page that shows who you are creating content for, who you are creating and finding products for, and give you a face and a name to think of during all your brainstorming. What age are they, what do they do for a living, what are their problems, where do they get their information, and so forth.

> Step #3: Develop a Brand Mission Statement - Some people call this a value statement but essentially, it's just a couple sentences that describe what you do, who you do it for, why you do it, and how you do it. Using this as your guide to what you promote or get involved with will be invaluable.

> Step #4: Create a Brand Persona - Like your ideal customer, your brand should also have a persona that lets you know who that brand is, what it looks like, how it dresses (design), and even how it talks - including the tone and what the voice of the brand is like.

> Step #5: Know Your Products - Whether you create your own products, recommend other people's products, or you have a service, it doesn't matter as much as your knowledge about the products and how they solve the problems of the ideal customer.

> Step #6: Study Color Theory - This might seem that it goes a step too far, but if you're going to take branding seriously, it's important to know the science behind color and how it affects the user. You don't have to write a dissertation on color theory but teach yourself enough that you don't choose colors based only on what you like or think, such as "pink" for girls and "blue" for boys. Let the data tell you what your audience wants.

> Step #7: Create a Brand Template - This is going to be what you look at before you write any content, ask anyone else to write your content, or when you create visuals or graphics and more. For example, it will include the fonts, colors, your mission, and even the tone of voice your brand persona uses when it talks.

> Step #8: Implement Your Strategy - Publish your website, content, and information throughout the internet. Promote your website, your content, your information, and more via social media and paid ads. Agree to interviews on podcasts, YouTube videos, and Facebook Live events. When you do, always keep your branding intact. It should be in your signatures, on your social media platforms, on your website, in your content, and of course apparent in your products, too.

When you use research, and the information gathered during your investigation to create a professional logo, a marketable tag line, and other marketing materials (like content) that all work together to help your business become known for what you want it to be known for, you'll be a lot more consistent than if you try to do it all without a plan or research. Because ultimately, branding is about knowing your audience, knowing your business, and then being consistent about getting the information out to your ideal audience.