Is Your Branding Consistent?

byTheCatherine

13.9K followers

6 years ago

Recently I have been commenting a lot on people's blogs. It strikes me that not everybody is clear about the difference between a brand and branding and a brand story.

The Brand

The brand is all the elements of your business, both tangible and intangible. So your brand should be an emotive thing. It is the perception is that people have of your whole business when they look at your site.

This can be explained fairly clearly in orchestral terms. There are four main components of an orchestra. It's not actually the four sections which are the most important component of an orchestra. What is really important is the person that brings it all together. The conductor – the guy that can bring in one section at a higher volume. He can tone down or ramp up to change the components of the piece.

You as the owner of your person other conductor and it is your responsibility to bring all sections of the orchestra together in a harmonious manner.

The Brass Section
This is the CEO, a.k.a. You. You are your brand and your behaviour has to be congruent with your brand. Let's say that your niche is educational toys for children then it is wise to review the best educational toys. It is possible to review all educational toys with the best commissions. In the long term your viewers or readers will understand this. As you gain more traffic and traction you will have teachers that will look at your site. They may or may not know whether the toys you are recommending give you the best profit, but they will know you are not being truthful about the best toys to educate children.

Make sure you have decided your moral stance to begin with and stick with it. If you want to site or a niche that gives you the most profitability then research that before you start. You will make far more money out of Amazon products selling power tools that retail of thousands of pounds or dollars each then you will selling a book at $1.30.

In other words saw the Profitability out before you begin, even if it's only in your head. That way your actions further down the line will be congruent with the stance you've taken.

The Woodwind Section
This is the ethos of your company. It is the very essence of the spirit of your company. This can fall apart if your behaviour is not congruent with what you're setting out to do. Let's say you are blogging about being an Internet marketer. You are comparing brands or businesses comparable to wealthy affiliate's.
If your visuals let you down then you are portraying yourself as an amateur. If you are still at this stage of the business then there is nothing wrong with that. All successful marketers started somewhere. However, it might be an idea to write about some of your struggles in business and how you have overcome them. Maybe use some of the tools that helped to assist you on the way. In this way it betrays you as someone trying to make a business.

If you have added links to products, that is affiliate links before you have branded your business correctly then you just looking amateur. You look like one of those scummy sites that have just been set up for profit. Apart from anything else there is no point in adding any affiliate links until you have got traffic.

The Percussion Section
The percussion section is the visuals that connect your product or the product you are trying to promote to your brand. For instance yesterday I reviewed a site which offered solutions to bedwetting. The header was a dark silhouette which gave the impression of darkness. Not the impression that you are trying to portray in a niche site which is offering solutions.
The visuals include things like fonts. Are you writing in a childish font or are you writing in the too formal font? Are you consistent in your fonts? Is every H1 tag the same font? Is every paragraph the same font? Is every block quote the same questions the same font?

All these visuals are important because they connect to your product. A classic example of this is the fluid fast-moving logo of Nike. It does what it says on the tin. It is simple clear and concise. Are all your visuals and logos clear and concise?

The String Section
Last but not least is the product you choose to promote the products you choose to create. Are they consistent with the above three components of your brand. If they're not your potential customers will suss that out sooner than later. Is it obvious that you have just compiled a review almost word for word from other people through reviews?

The Purpose of the Brand
The purpose of branding is to set you apart from everybody else selling the same thing. The brand as a whole is a combination of the tangible and intangible. It involves emotions and people connecting to you. If you can't learn to connect with your potential readers than they are likely to leave almost immediately without buying. Your bounce rate will be through the roof.

The people who are likely to make purchases from your website are those that stay long enough to read what you're trying to say and connect with you on an emotional level. These people in the long term will become your biggest fans and consequently your most Rabid customers.

When all of these four sections of the orchestra come together in a harmonious sound they make wonderful music. If one section is out of glitch with the other three then it's just a clash of noise.