Name a brand.
Nike? That’s not fair. The picture is right here.
Name another brand.
However you answered, I’m confident you didn’t have to look it up; it was in your head.
It was in your head because the brand was memorable.
Companies with memorable brands are famous. They have so many clients and customers you know about them.
Do you want readers to know about you? Then, read this post.
What is a blog brand?
Finding and maintaining a niche and finding and maintaining a brand are different goals. A niche and a brand are not the same.
A niche is your topic, what your blog focuses on. The niche is your area of specialty, your subject matter.
According to Crime Fiction Writer Sue Coletta, “A brand is you.” It’s style. It’s your style, at least your online style. Amanda of Kaleidocope, agrees. “A brand is how you want your blog to be perceived.”
You need a persona, an online presence, and it should be a persona you carry with you across all your social media, not just on your blog.
Examples of Blog Brands
Viv Drewa is an example of someone with a blog brand. Her online persona involves owls. As an author, she has written books with owls in the title, for example The Owl of the Sipan Lord and The Angler and the Owl. Her online name is the Owl Lady, her blog is called The Owl Lady Blog, with a picture of an owl in the header, and she signs her name 0V0, so that it looks like an owl’s beak with two eyes on each side.
Lysa Wild of Welcome to My Circus has a brand involving a circus persona which she carries with her across all her social media. Her linky party is called Party Under the Big Top. If someone guest posts for her, she advertises the post as her “Side Show”. Even the fonts at her site look like something you’d see at a circus.
Melinda Mitchell has a self-deprecating online presence. Her persona is funny, creative, and highly critical of herself. She calls her blog Purple Slob in Recovery, and that is her online presence–she is a purple slob. Bear in mind I am not calling Melinda a slob. This is her online name for herself.
Her self-deprecating persona continues into her posts. A typical post, Library Loser, explains how she loses library books.
Her avatar is that of a woman wearing purple looking distressed. She carries this “purple” theme across her social media. Her Facebook name is Purplelinda.
Another creative maneuver that makes Melinda a stand-out blogger is her use of alliteration in her headlines. Dying Dishes is another one of her posts detailing the filth that covers her dishes. The post asks where dishes that dirty go to die.
The Value of a Blog Brand
All three bloggers exemplify dramatically different blog brands. Consistency in tone is important. Viv’s is more serious, Lysa’s is fun, and Melinda’s is funny.
I did not have to research to find these bloggers when discussing them in my post. I was able to discuss them because I remembered them. I remembered them because they have creative blog brands.
The point is to get your readers to remember your blogs, so they repeatedly return to read your material and give you traffic. Be memorable, and your readers will share your writing with their social media who will return to give you traffic as well.
According to WebPageFX, the key to any social effort is creativity. That creativity will enable you to engage your readers. Creating a brand that encapsulates your values, what is important to you and the message you sending through your blog, as well as your personal style… is a way to ensure your readers know exactly what to expect from your blog,
Testimonials
In a world where brands have less than a second to capture someone’s attention, it takes a lot of creativity and a tailored approach to cause someone to pause in their Twitter or Instagram feed and pay attention to your message. WebPageFX
First impression are very powerful and you can win or lose influence right there and then. This is particularly true when it comes to blogging. A new reader will immediately either be drawn in by your branding, or they will decide it’s not for them, and click away. kaleidoscopeblog.net
How to Get a Blog Brand
Elle and Company, a design blog, proposes a plan for finding a blog brand. Their suggestions include defining the type of audience you are trying to engage. Then, you can set your voice’s tone. For example, Melinda is trying to woo readers that appreciate self-deprecating humor.
In conclusion, clearly, having a brand takes creativity. Whatever you want to be the administrator of a great blog or a great company, you’ve got to be memorable which takes creativity. Never substitute creativity for the other two C’s–consistency and content. Consistently turning out strong content will make your blog good. Creativity, consistency, and content will make your blog great.
Tweet: Creativity, consistency, and content will make your #blog great. http://ctt.ec/6JAPu+
Readers, if you think other bloggers could benefit from these creativity in blogging tips, please share.
Do you have any tips for having a creative social media brand? How are you going to make your brand standout? I look forward to your views.
Sources:
