If you’re starting your online business and you need your audience to easily recognize and remember you, you need to build a brand.

What is a brand?

Much more than a logo and a name, your brand is like the people notice and remember your business.

Everyone recognizes the Nike brand, the name doesn’t even have to be written, and it is automatically associated with sports and dynamism.

So do several others, like Apple’s bitten apple and McDonald’s stylized M.

But building a brand is not just for big or small companies, people also have personal brands.

In the same way that a company is associated with images and colors that convey a message, each of us has a name, a face, a style and a way to communicate. With these characteristics, we pass impressions and transmit our own messages, consciously or not.

To build a brand, you must think about it, and do everything consciously. Think exactly what is the message you want to convey, because that’s what will attract people to your business.

How to build a brand

To build a brand you must follow five basic steps:

1. Research your target audience and competitors

Before making any decision about creating a commercial brand, you need to understand the market you are in, that is, who your competitors and potential customers are.

There are several ways to do this, such as:

• Search Google for your product or service and analyze the competitors that appear.
• Talk to people in your target market and ask which brands they buy.
• Look at the social media pages your target audience follows.

As you observe how your competition presents and acts, also observe how your target audience manifests itself.

Pay attention to their profile, the language they use, what they are interested in, what attracts them.

Having this very clear will give you the first north to build a successful brand.

– How to find out what my audience wants and attract leads

2. Determine your personality

Here is the biggest brainstorming part of the whole process.

Based on your target audience, since your brand cannot focus on pleasing everyone, think about some questions:

Market positioning

Positioning is nothing more than one or two lines in which you define in which market you operate.

Your positioning statement should look something like:

We offer [PRODUCT/SERVICE] to [TARGET MARKET] at [VALUE PROPOSITION], with the following [KEY DIFFERENTIATOR].

For example: I offer an online math course for beginners. As a differential, you leave ready to make calculations and build spreadsheets in excel for the job market.

Your value proposition is the most important thing. Find it, explore it, and make it part of your brand message.

Words and concepts that represent you

One way to build a brand is to imagine it as a person. How would she be? What kind of personality would she have?

Here comes a big brainstorming exercise. Take a blank sheet of paper and start writing down all the words and concepts that come to mind related to that person.

Focus on adjectives, listing characteristics and qualities she has. Then write down what she would like to have or what she would match with, such as type of car, animal, celebrity, food, and so on.

This will help you create shapes, as well as set a tone of voice for your brand.

3. Choose your brand name

Depending on the type of business you want to start, such as selling online courses, for example, perhaps the name matters very little, or is not even necessary.

If you are selling an info product, the name could be the product itself, such as “Beginner to Advanced Patchwork Courses”.

– 7 types of infoproducts to sell online

But if you’re starting a company with a wider range of products or services, you’ll probably need to bring that together under one name.

If so, think about it, because it will affect your brand logo, your domain, your marketing and your trademark registration.

If you plan to expand the product lines you offer in the future, consider keeping your company name broad for easy rotation.

Defining a name for your company when building a brand can be a very complex task, and there are professionals who work just with that, doing research based on your target audience and market positioning to generate ideas and concepts.

But if you are going to do it yourself, some approaches are:

• Just make up a word that sounds good to you, like Pepsi.

• Find a word or concept you like and see how it is spelled in other languages.

• Use a suggestive word or metaphor, like Buffer.

• Play around with the initials of your first and last name and see if something you like comes up, as in the case of Adidas ( Adolf “Adi” Dassler) and M&M’s (initials of the surnames of its founders: Forrest Marte and William Murrie).

• Change a word by removing letters or adding letters like Speedo or Activia.

• Create an acronym from a longer name, such as FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) e IBM (International Business Machines).

• Combine two words or try abbreviations, like LEGO (abbreviation of the words Leg Godt, which means “play well” in Danish).

As your brand name will also affect your website domain/URL, be sure to search to see what’s available.

And don’t forget about SEO. It is certainly easier to index your site better if your company name has to do with what you sell. Although we recognize that this is often impossible.

If you like some options, consult people close to you to see what they think. Sometimes a fresh look is all you need to find the perfect name.

– How to use SEO for brand awareness

4. Define your brand’s visual identity

After defining a name, you will need to think about your visual identity, that is, all the colors, fonts and other elements that will represent your brand.

This is essential when you build your website, for example, or create posts for your social networks. Having a standard passes professionalism.

Choose your colors

When building a brand, colors are very important because they not only define a look but also convey the feeling you want to communicate. 

Fast food brands often use warm colors that convey excitement and desire, such as red and yellow.

Tech companies usually opt for neutral colors like black and white, which convey sophistication and power.

See the table below to get a better idea of ​​the color psychology which, despite not being an exact science, helps a lot when defining which palette to use in your business.

When you begin to build a brand you are unlikely to use just one color, so always keep legibility in mind and what colors work well together.

If you don’t understand anything about the subject, hire help from a professional or use software that will help you solve this combination.

Choose your fonts

The best way to build a brand when it comes to fonts is to keep it simple. 

Choose at most two fonts to avoid confusing visitors: one for titles and one for body text.

Some sites offer free fonts, such as:

• Google Fonts
• DaFont
• Abstract Fonts
• Behance
• Font Squirrel

Choose sources that share some criteria, such as overall proportions (height and width), structure, and skeleton.

Even if the resemblance is subtle, it helps to give coherence to your visual identity.

Design a logo

Logotype is a word composed of two terms of Greek origin: “logos”, which means concept or word, and “typos”, which is translated as figure or symbol. Thus, we can say that the logo is a drawing representing a brand.

As we mentioned the name earlier, not every business will need a logo.

Rarely those who sell infoproducts, such as online courses or ebooks, have one.

But if you’re looking to build a brand for your business, an easy-to-recognize logo can be essential.

A logo needs to be easy to apply and quick to understand, since it is made to appear in the most diverse media, such as websites, social media posts, packaging, printed materials and so on.

So create something that works for all sizes and can be applied to backgrounds with different colors (at least one light and one dark version).

Get inspired by logos that pop easily into your head and that you would recognize even if you couldn’t understand anything else written around them (when you see a stylized dove, you would still know it was a Dove product, even if you were in China).

– Find out how much you can profit from selling online courses

5. Brand your entire business

The whole purpose of building a brand is to create a strong identity for your business, an image that your audience can quickly associate with you. So once you create one, start applying it to everything that belongs to your business.

Now that you already have a visual identity, it’s time to give your brand content, writing its mission, values ​​and a bit of its history.

A Shopify survey on what earns customer trust revealed that people who buy from an online store for the first time often look for its mission and purpose to see if they share some value with the company (like sustainability).

If you’re a new business, it’s common for people to also search your “about us” page to learn more about who they’re buying from, as this builds more confidence.

Don’t be shy if you have little to say, the story of any brand evolves over time. In the meantime, focus on making clear your values ​​as a company and what you have to offer of value to your customers.

Create a professional website, with a solid visual identity and coherent content, and your business will start to grow consistently.

– How much does it cost to build a website for my business?

Build a brand and grow your business

It’s important to realize that you will never have 100% control over how people perceive your brand identity.

You can point customers in the right direction, make a great first impression, and manage your reputation, but it can’t control the individual perceptions that exist in each person’s mind.

All you can do is do your best every step and try to resonate with your core audience.

If you are starting a business selling online courses, Coursify.me is here to make your life a lot easier.

Learning Management System (LMS), our platform allows you to create a completely customizable page for your school, choosing your colors, images, logo and much more.

– Whats is a Learning Management System 

Complete eLearning platform, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for those who want to create, sell and promote courses on the internet.

Serving companies and professionals in more than 60 countries, the platform offers several customization options so you can create a virtual school with your “face”.

Visit our site, test the platform and give the first step to build a brand for your online business.

The post Step by step to build a brand for your business appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

Create a visual identity for a brand: what is it?

Branding professional Marty Neumeier defines a brand identity as “the outward expression of a brand, including its trademark, name, communication and visual appearance.” 

Generally speaking, a brand identity is a way for a company to communicate with the world, differentiate itself from the competition, and create an experience that encourages people to engage with it. 

So, it’s essential for any business that wants to excel in its industry to develop a strong branding foundation.

– How to generate leads

Some companies have managed to create a visual identity so well thought that have become a striking artistic expression, such as Apple and BMW, for example.  

A brand identity is made up of what your brand says, what your values ​​are, how you communicate your product / service, and what you want people to feel when they see or interact with you. 

Essentially, your brand identity is the personality of your business and a promise to your customers.

With millions of companies trying to build a name and image in the marketplace, creating a strong visual identity has become crucial to differentiating themselves from the competition.

5 Steps to Create a Visual Identity to Your Brand

The terms “brand” and “logo” are often used interchangeably, but while a logo may be the symbol of a business, it is not the entirety of a brand. 

It’s commonly the first thing people recognize about a company. However, an appealing logo may be unable to capture the target market’s attention without a well-established brand identity. In fact, creating a logo is just a small step towards developing a strong brand.

To create a consistent and effective visual identity to your brand, here’s a simple step-by-step:

1. Know your business, audience and competition

Just as when starting a business, the first step to create a visual identity is to do market research. 

You need to define 3 factors:

• Audience: Know what your audience wants and expects in the type of product / service you offer is vital to create a visual identity that people will love. It’s also helpful to learn about the common trends popular among them so you can offer something that would catch their attention. 

• Competition and value proposition: What makes your company unique in your segment define the difference between you and your competition. Reference is essential for the development of a successful brand. Looking at other examples of branding that worked or failed will also help you make more assertive decisions. 

• Personality: To stand out from the crowd, your brand needs personality. To create a visual identity for your business, you’ll use colors, types, and images, but beyond that, this visual representation needs to communicate who your company is.  For example, is your business as dynamic and bold as Nike? Or elegant and professional, like Givenchy? You can develop a unique character for your brand to connect with your target audience. It would also help you conduct campaigns and brand marketing strategies in the future if your brand has a personality. 

2. Create a logo

Once you know your business inside and out, it’s time to bring your brand to life. 

In the words of graphic designer Paul Rand, “design is the silent ambassador of your brand.”

– Design Tips for Creating Professional Presentations

While the logo is not the full brand identity, it is a vital element as it will be the easiest part to remember and therefore most recognizable to the public.

The process of creating your company logo comprises the various factors that are listed below. 

Logo

The logo is a visual representation, made up of symbols and words.

To create a distinctive design to symbolize your brand, the best option is to hire a designer and give a detailed briefing of what you want.

This way, you can elaborate on which elements and style you want to include in your company emblem. 

There is no ready recipe for creating a logo, each designer has his own method, but to help you and him/her, scribble what you have in mind on paper, it makes things a lot easier.

In general, keep your design simple, without many elements that can cause visual confusion, so that it can be easily identifiable.

Colors

Once you have solid visual images, you can explore colors. 

The colors you choose should support the personality you want your brand to have. You can take advantage of color psychology to attract people’s attention and send the right message.

Think of the emotions that best align with this personality, they are not universal, each individual thinks of colors a little differently, but in general, the emotions associated with colors are these:

• Orange: enthusiasm, change, expansion and dynamism
• Green: freshness, balance and harmony
• Blue: power, safety, confidence
• Red: action, urgency, agility
• Yellow: happiness, sympathy, animation
• Pink: romance, docility, innocence
• Purple: luxury, mystery, beauty
• Gray: conservative, modern, formal, solid
• White: brightness, cleanliness and tranquility
• Black: strength, formality and elegance

Answering which of these features best matches the personality and purpose of your brand will help you define a key color to create a visual identity for your logo. 

You can then play with different shades and color finishes when designing your logo. For instance, you can use a matte tone to showcase sophistication or opt for a gloss finish to showcase a dynamic brand personality. 

But you don’t have to choose just one option. Creating a color palette is a way to enrich and enhance your identity.

It offers variety so you can develop unique designs for your business while staying true to brand identity.

There are some great sites that can help you set a color palette for your business.

– Design and video editing tips

A good color palette is clean and flexible, providing designers enough options to be creative, but not enough to overwhelm the viewer. It can include:

• 1 main color
• 2 primary colors
• 3-5 complementary colors

Take a look at the color palette that Coursify.me uses and makes available to assist its customers:

Typography

Typography can also be a double-edged sword if not used properly. Creating a visual identity for your business means creating a pattern, and for that there cannot be dozens of fonts being used.

In your logo, on the website and in all documents created by your company (print and digital), there should be consistent use of typography. 

If you take a look at the Nike site and ads, you will easily notice that they use the same set of fonts in all their materials, which helps to create a concise brand image.

Therefore, choose the font you will use for your logo carefully so that it matches your company message. 

You should choose or even create a font that reflects your identity and is both readable and unique to ensure your materials won’t confuse your audience.

If you have a brick company, for example, choose a sturdy and robust font. If you sell online craft courses, a more delicate or rustic handwriting may be a better option.

– Copywriting Tips

Although you will probably only use one type of font in your logo, there are many other texts that your company will need to create, which means you don’t always (and shouldn’t) use the same font.

Select two or three different types to create your communication, but be careful that they are well readable. Do tests on different applications if necessary. For instance, when creating materials like posters, you can check if your font is clear regardless of the text size.

3. Document your brand visual identity

There are a number of ways and channels a company uses to communicate with the public.

When you advertise your online course, for example, you will likely send emails, create Google ads, create informative banners that can be online or print, and perhaps even distribute business cards to potential customers.

Whatever it is, the creation of models (even details such as email signatures) will provide your company a more unified, reliable and professional appearance. 

Hence, it’s ideal to align your materials and brief your team members on your brand identity. This way, everything you release that carries your company’s name will appear uniform and on brand.

Consistency is what can create or break a brand identity. 

So, make use of the design options you have chosen for your brand in all areas of your business. Whether it is a process flow diagram to be used in presentations or a marketing collateral, make sure everything you create aligns with your brand identity. 

This standardization is the only way to create a visual identity solid and striking.

To ensure that your business adheres to brand “rules,” develop a set of guidelines, also called a brand style guide.

This way, any employee or partner who uses your brand can keep it within the correct standards, preserving your image. 

4. Make a final analysis

Finally, before you aprove your brand’s final identity, make sure it is:  

• Distinguished: stands out among competitors and catches the attention of your audience.
• Attractive: causes visual impact. 
• Scalable and flexible: can grow and evolve with the company.
• Cohesive: each part complements the brand identity.
• Easy to apply: can be used on different materials without impairing its readability.

5. Monitor your brand 

Similar to other aspects of your marketing, it’s hard to know what you’re doing right (and what isn’t) without applying performance indicators and closely tracking your results. 

– Performance metrics for online business training 

Use Google Analytics, surveys, comments, social media discussions, and more to track your brand and get an idea of ​​what people think and talk about you.

This will give you the opportunity to implement changes as needed, either to correct an error or to improve your identity.

Yes, consistency is crucial, but staying flexible in a society that is always looking for the next best thing is just as important. 

Flexibility allows adjustments to advertising campaigns, slogans, and even a few tweaks to your overall brand identity, so you can continually keep your audience interested. 

To create a visual identity memorable for your brand requires consistent use of logo, colors and fonts, but it’s worth it.

When consumers instantly recognize who you are and what you represent based on a brand, you become more than just a name and a symbol.

Create a visual identity for online courses

With all this information, you are ready to create a visual identity attractive and potential conversion high.

Digital businesses, like online courses, benefit greatly when they have a well-built and strong brand.

Investing in creating a visual identity for your online school not only gives your business a more professional look, but allows your students to easily identify you.

Brand created and course ready, time to host it in an easily customizable Learning Management System such as Coursify.me.

– Whats is a Learning Management System

Complete eLearning platform, Coursify.me is the ideal solution for anyone who wants to create, sell and promote courses on the internet.

Serving businesses and professionals in more than 60 countries, the platform offers a variety of customization options so you can create a virtual school with your “look”. 

We have three plan options for you to decide which one best suits your needs.

Visit our website, test the platform and start creating and selling quality online courses right now.

The post Step by Step to Create a Visual Identity to Your Brand appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.

4 branding tips for online courses

Far beyond the creation of a logo and other visual identity elements, branding for online courses is a strategic activity, whose goal is to achieve a unique position in the minds and hearts of the consumer.

The goal of branding is to attract the consumer’s attention to the brand, differentiating it from competitors and causing it to become the best solution to what he seeks.

This series of actions are responsible for the positive construction of the brand in the mind of potential customers, in bringing consumers close and increase the engagement of the public already consolidated.

Despite its importance, the branding is still poorly executed by a large number of professionals. Therefore, we list four tips for your online courses business take advantage of the opportunities which a branding well prepared offers.

Know your audience

Trace a detailed profile of your target audience. To create a effective message, it is necessary to know exactly for whom it is intended.

Information such as age, dominant gender, tastes and life style are essential at the time of drawing a communication strategy and assertive approach. 

Get closer to the customer

Create a relationship with your audience is critical to disclose your online courses and give credibility to your business. Communicate with your audience, share knowledge, experiences and stories. This humanizes and brings trust.

“The digital world brings to each day more information, pictures, promotions and distractions. If there is no difference or something that draws attention to your brand/company/product, you will not be able to achieve a possible customer.”, explains Eliana Figueiredo, executive director of the Branding Marcas Brasil.

Choose a dynamic format

Bet on an attractive communication, with differentiated content that capture the attention and maintain the customer’s interest, so that it does not become distracted and stop listening to your message.

This works for both the communication strategy as to the content of your online courses. How much more diverse and dynamic your material, the more will awaken the interest of potential students.

Listen to what the customer has to say

All the branding work aims to create a lasting relationship with the consumer.

When preparing you online courses, leave space for the audience to comment, ask questions and emphasize how their feedback is important and valued. 

Integrating reliable call center solutions also may be a good idea to help you gather all the data you need in a professional manner.

This is an excellent opportunity to listen directly to consumer opinion, collect data for the formation of leads and use the information acquired as a basis for the development of new courses and/or improve existing ones.

The branding for online courses, if properly managed, brings value to the brand due to the influence caused on the purchase decision. The brand of a company has to synthesize all values and solutions to possible needs of its consumers.

Be aware of the branding aspects during the planning of your online courses and enjoy all the opportunities it can provide. Meanwhile, the Coursify.me is responsible for hosting and delivering the best eLearning experience to your students. 

Complete eLearning platform (LMS), the Coursify.me has all the resources you need to start selling your course right now, and the best, for free! Visit our site and learn why we are the best option for your business.

The post Branding for online courses appeared first on Blog Coursify.me.