How to Brand Your Blog According to The Brand Gap

About a month ago I sent out a newsletter that included a mini branding tutorial and personally it was one of my favorites so I’ve decided to share some more branding insight here. (P.s. If you’re not on the NAB VIP list jump on it now because I send all types of exclusive content once a month and no spam!)

Anyway, I’ve been on a real reading kick lately, as some of you know I recently finished The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (catch the recap HERE) and most recently I read The Brand Gap.

Now, before you get down on yourself and think ‘How will I ever have time to read both?!’ I literally read for 20 minutes every day. That’s it. All you need is 20 minutes and you can most likely finish an average sized book in about a month or so.

Ok back to branding.

So branding is something that is often overlooked and not given as much attention as it should. Your brand is a reflection of you and how you are known in your niche community, so if you want your blog to be everlasting you need to first get your brand right.

I don’t want to be a total #spoileralert so I took my favorite points from The Brand Gap and applied it to your blog. So let’s get into it…

effective blog branding goes without saying it’s yours

I’ve touched on this in my branding posts before: a good blog/brand is one that people can easily recognize as yours. For example, the best branding I’ve ever seen from bloggers have been from The Skinny Confidential and Fashionlush. There is absolutely no mistaking the girls’ content.

Whether you’re on Pinterest, a random website, or scrolling through Instagram and you see one of their pictures with or without them in it, you instantly know it’s one of their pictures.

The Brand Gap talks about “the hand test” which is when you can place your hand over your logo and still be able to tell that whatever you’re looking at (the blog, graphic, picture, book, video, etc.) is yours.

A few other examples of great branding are from DVF with her iconic wrap dress, Louis Vuitton with his classic monograms, and Glossier with its retro yet simplistic pink and white packaging. The point is, your brand and your content should not be confused with someone else’s.

In terms of my own branding, I’ve made it a point to make my blog post headings match my brand’s font outlined in black similarly to what I do with my graphics. This way if people are scrolling through Pinterest and they see one of my pics they think ‘Oh, that’s Not Another Blonde!’

great branding happens when creativity and strategy meet

The Brand Gap says a successful brand is one that marries creativity and strategy. You need creativity to set you apart and catch your reader’s eye. Creativity will draw out whatever emotion it is you’re trying to elicit from your audience. The creative aspect takes time and isn’t something that you nail at first. Your branding will likely undergo many little tweaks over time before you find something that sticks.

It’s rare you can go into something blindly, despite how creative you are, hoping it will be a success, which is where strategy comes into play. Creativity hooks an audience and strategy keeps them around. Questions like ‘Where do I want my audience to go when they land on my blog?’, ‘What content does my audience want to see?’ and ‘What can I do to get the most amount of eyes on this piece of content?’ are things to ask yourself in order to put a strategy in place.

I know some bloggers who have the creativity and others who have the strategy. It’s very, very hard to achieve both.

a stand out brand uses the zig-zag theory

You guys know how much of a fan I am of the zig-zag theory so for me to actually read about it in one of the best books about branding, was confirmation that it works and it’s that important. For those who don’t know, the zig-zag theory is when you do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

So for example, while everyone is blogging about how to wear things, you can blog about how not to wear things. Or while everyone is taking pictures you can be creating videos. That is zagging.

A more specific example of zagging is if you’re a beauty vlogger who creates beauty tutorials under 5 minutes. Wouldn’t that be a miracle? Find me one beauty blogger who will teach you how to contour in less than 5 minutes.

Most beauty tutorials are at least 8 minutes long and that’s considered short! As a beauty blogger trying to “zag” you could create a video series called “5 minute make-up”. It’s catchy, saves time, and adds value, which are key ingredients to becoming a success.

A few other examples of zaggers are #followmeto and @ihavethisthingwithfloors. They are totally unique one of a kind pioneers who inspired hundreds of other accounts to follow in their footsteps.

Not what you say it is, what they say it is

As much as you want to be the creative director of your blog/brand, you don’t have control over how other people view your blog/brand and what they say about it. You can try to persuade them with your content and your messaging but ultimately the consumer is the one who says what your brand/blog is all about, not you.

You may think your blog is about fashion but your readers see your blog as lifestyle.

For example, you may be blogging about your personal style for work, what you pack when you’re traveling, and where to go for date night. To you that screams fashion, to your readers it might scream lifestyle because you’re touching on topics such as career, travel, and food. You also may think your blog is perfect for girls of all ages who like fashion yet your readers say your blog is for girls ages 18-28 who are into 90’s fashion.  Let me reiterate, your blog isn’t what you say it is, it’s what your consumers say it is.

The consumer (followers, readers, etc.) has an unbiased opinion of your brand. They are the ones who choose to convert to loyal fans or quick passerbys. They truly see your blog/brand for what it is and have no stake in it, therefore, they’re able to explain your brand accurately to other people (as long as your content is clearly focussed). It actually makes perfect sense since your customers are the bread and butter of your business.

All in all branding is trial and error mixed with your intuition. You have to establish your brand based on your values and how you want people to feel when experiencing it. It could take a while but it will be worth it once you’ve refined your brand to exactly how you’ve always pictured it.

What do you struggle with when it comes to your brand? Logo? Niche? Content? Aesthetic? Tell me in the comments below!

xx

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