When you launch a new business online, you are a faceless personality. Your business website has to compete with millions of other websites. However, you can turn your facelessness into an advantage because you have a blank canvas on which to paint a portrait showing an image that you want your customers to perceive. In other words, you have complete freedom to craft a brand personality for your business. So, how do you paint that perfect brand picture?

Understand the difference between brand image and brand personality

Do not confuse brand personality with brand image. You need both for your business, but the approach for each of them needs to be different.

Brand image refers to the wholesome and comprehensive picture that your brand presents to the world. For example, yours could be a “high quality” brand. Here, high quality is the brand image.

Brand personality, on the other hand, portrays the character traits of your business. For example, your brand personality could be conservative, trendy, funky, classy or sophisticated. In order to make the most of your brand personality, you need to keep your target audience in mind. You need to create a personality that appeals to them.

BRAND PERSONALITY AND BRAND IMAGE ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. IN FACT, IN ORDER TO CREATE AN ACCURATE BRAND IMAGE, YOU NEED TO CREATE A SUITABLE BRAND PERSONALITY.

Define yourself

The first step is to be very clear about the kind of personality you want to portray. Defining your business, goals, objectives and plans help you create a definite structure for your company. This structure forms the basis of your branding campaign. Here, it is very important to define your uniqueness. Think up a unique selling proposition (USP) that makes you different from the rest.

Use social media to build relationships

The way you interact and build relationships with your target audience is the most crucial deciding factor for your brand personality. Identify concentrations of target audience on social media sites and plan the tone of conversation.  Use blogs as a potential platform for interaction and create the right impression.

Infuse personality into every aspect of business

Whatever be the personality you decide to portray, you need to be coherent in the portrayal across all aspects of your business. Infuse personality into the layout of your website by choosing the proper colour scheme, images, fonts and infographics. Create a logo that resonates with the brand personality. Essentially, when a person views any product or article related to your business, he should instantly grasp your brand personality.

Your brand personality needs to strike a chord with your target audience. So, take a lot of care to ensure that you do it right.