Whatever you are selling, your final web site needs persuasive design and brand development, meaning that you need to think about how to position your site in a competitive marketplace.
Brands embody user trust.
Use a marketing approach that seeks to separate your website from the similar websites. Target your audience and relate to them — their interests, personality and characteristics — for maximum exposure.
That is where persuasion comes in.
A brand is the collection of feelings, thoughts, emotions and experiences (negative or positive) a person has about your website.
Stand for something. Ideally, differentiate your website in a way that targets the audience. Sucess is standing out above the competiton.
Guide your audience on how to think, feel and do about your brand in a way that is best for what you have to offer them.
Developing the Brand Identity
Everyone develops a brand identity, even when they neglect to do it. Spend the time to do it in a thoughtful way. Think over the following questions while developing your website.
Position the Brand
Who is your target audience? Where are the spaces in your industry/category that allow you to be first, seen, heard and remembered for strategic competitive advantage? How can we take an outside-in approach that helps us understand what site visitors actually think, feel and do?
Everyone starts with an inside-out approach. That is only natural. You have ideas of what you want to sell, and how to sell it. We do not have time for test marketing the web site, but stand in your target audience’s shoes. Would they buy it?
Brand Meaning
Build meaning into your brand. How do you talk about it? What do you say about it? What does it look like and what do you stand for? What can you say about it in 30 seconds? Why and how does your website really benefit your customer? What is the reason for its existence?
Brand Delivery
How do you deliver the brand? What consistent parameters do you place around your website? What ways can you leverage it? What media and channels best supports it?
Identify…
your website’s problems, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and goals.
Audit…
your competitors positioning to identify their weaknesses for strategic advantage.
Understand…
your target audience, community and potential industry/category channels.
Gather…
qualitative (interviews, insights or information) or quantitative (web metrics, trends, industry data).
Uncover and Innovate…
the potential areas of white space that allows your website to be first, seen, heard and remembered.
Placement…
the compelling evidence and vision that makes your website unique.
Differentiate…
your website to make your claim credible, trustworthy and reliable.
Create…
the messages that will accurately communicate and resonate with your targets.
Implement…
strategic design tactics to attract, acquire and retain.
Deliver…
the brand through internal employee alignment and adoption, customer touch-points, external media, marketing and sales objectives.