Branding is an important part of your online and offline business. Before you can promote your brand image, however, you need to define your brand. Entrepreneur magazine explains that in order to define your brand you need to devise your mission statement, outline the benefits of your products and services and develop the qualities you want your customers to associate with your company. Once you understand your brand, you need to create a unified campaign for branding your website and retail space. Consider these five tips for connecting your brand:
Be Consistent With Color
According to Belfast Social Media, 80 percent of brand recognition is driven by color. Colors like red and yellow are shown to grab a customer’s attention, while blue is more calming, explains Entrepreneur. By picking a consistent theme, you can choose colors that represent the product or service you are selling. Highlight those colors on your website through your logo and banners. For your retail space, accent these colors in your drapes, decor or paint. This will help customers associate the color with your brand.
Highlight Important Features
First impressions matter in business. It takes only 2.6 seconds to form a first impression of a website, reports ConversionXL. This means you need to highlight your most important information to catch your customer’s attention. Focus on your logo, search bar and key information on your website. Then, in your physical space, draw your customer’s eyes to your logo and best products.
Set Your Tone
Decide what tone and attitude fits your products or service. If you sell electronics, have your website reflect a more polished and professional look with a color like black or silver. Or, if you are marketing feminine products, like nail polish, use a more feminine color like pink, purple or red. Also, think about the tone and appropriateness of your language in your advertising, content, slogans and marketing campaigns.
Use Social Media to Drive Traffic
Promote online advertising to drive business to your physical stores. Offer coupons that are good both inside your store and on your website. You also can create a mobile app so that customers can purchase your products and get information on their phones while they are at your store or online.
Promote Easy Navigation
Are you able to search for items easily on your website? Do you provide a search bar for customers to find specific products or services? If customers can’t find what they want and quickly, they will take their business elsewhere. This means your site navigation and information architecture needs to be a top priority. Likewise, in your physical space, customers want a clear path and intuitive navigation through your store. Most retail stores lead their customers through a circular path so they walk through their entire store, explains Shopify.
Marrying your online and physical spaces is important for successfully branding and promoting your business. This can be accomplished easily as long as you understand your business’ needs and goals. Remember, the most important part is to be consistent across all channels.
