I was lucky enough to have quite a high branding focus on my final year on my degree (in fashion design) so i've figured out branding for myself and several other independent businesses. For Etsy, I always think the DIY approach sells - innovative ways of re-using materials to package your products, handmaking your packing etc.
A few pointers to start with are:-
- writing down your unique selling point, summarizing your brand into one core element. What makes you special & different.
- Think about your target audience, who are they? What do they do? What do they eat even! Think of their lifestyle
- Write and describe the visuals of your product, colour tones, vibrancy, elegance etc.
Once you have just a brief idea of the above it's all about putting yourself into that place and frame of mind. Providing packaging and graphical ideas that work integrally with your product, and with ease tell the story of your work to the consumer. One easy example is recycled paper for an eco brand - it doesn't take much for the consumer to understand what that brand is about, what their main focus is etc.
If you wish to delve further...
- make a list of your brand ethics, keep the list relatively small, but it can span into many areas of your business, from communication to visual statements. What is important to your brand, what do you signify? Are you earth friendly? people friendly? Are they luxurious and extravagant? Is Customer Service important?
Once having a more robust list, you can categorize them into different activities your business runs, so,
- which ones are suitable for visuals, (i.e earth tones, my core consumer etc.)
- which are suitable for your business practice (little written motifs for your product descriptions, convo's, invoices)
Whoooo, I hope I haven't swamped you! I just have a bit of a passion for branding hehe!
The key thing I feel, especially for most businesses on here (as they're usually run by one person) is that your brand should be very much 'YOU' so you can relax and let it flow easily. You're the brand! You can also have a lot of fun with it!
One example from my own shop is, I am an illustrator, and even if people by prints I like to scrawl my own signature somewhere, like a receipt or something! I also use old Japanese books for one of my products (oddly they're all about cats) and I often make my receipts and invoices out of an old leaf in the books, so the japanese writing comes through.
If you need help with any of the pointers above, please feel free to convo me :)
