Ecommerce Websites: What is Visual Identity and Why Does it Matter?


Published: | By Sophie Spivack

Choosing what to wear each day, or how we do our hair are all decisions that create your own unique look and affect the way in which others perceive you. The same simple concept goes for your eCommerce website.

Building a brand that is cohesive across your whole business is a crucial part in creating a distinct experience surrounding your products and services. It goes far beyond just creating a logo and requires a broader understanding of how to position your brand.

By understanding how to build your brand, along with understanding the importance of brand identity, you will be able to capture your intended audience and overall boost your sales!

Branding vs Identity in Your Online Business

When starting an online business, understanding the difference between your brand and your brand identity, can resolve the missing link behind online success. Branding is the emotional relationship between clients and business. It involves brand story, logo design, and also brand colors.

The key to creating a brand and attracting new customers is all about generating certain emotional responses to your products and services. Through your mission statement, company values, and company visions, branding is fortified in the mind of your customers. 

On the other hand, brand identity consists of all the tangible features that a consumer can  visualize and remember when they think about your company. Before deciding on a visual identity, it is important to build your story brand beforehand. If you are not sure how to do this, check out our free eBook on 7 Steps for Turning Visitors into Customers

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When designing your eCommerce website choosing specific colors, font, logos, and graphics, for example, cultivates brand identity. This visual presence is important to encourage an emotional impression on viewers and to inform them about the gist of your brand.


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However, both branding and brand identity walk in unison since reflecting your brand in your brand identity is vital to creating a seamless stream of marketing. By providing a unique feel to your products and services, displaying your approach to problem solving, and exemplifying how you want your customers to feel when they use your products and services, are all ways both branding and brand identity work together.

Social Media

One of the best ways to build your brand identity is through your social media platforms. Instead of viewing your social media pages as its own operation, think about using your social media as one piece of the puzzle when it comes to your online business.

Some important things to keep in mind when it comes to using social media to build your brand identity are firstly, to create brand consistency and cohesiveness across all posts of your social feeds. Selecting a specific color palette, ensuring your social media brand voice is consistent, and using branded hashtags will not only give your platform the visual identity that it needs to align with your brand, but allow you to better connect with your followers to promote your website. 

Additionally, designing in a way that attracts the attention of your target audience will boost sales immensely once new customers are redirected to your website. While managing your social media feeds is important, connecting the two will work wonders. Make room on your eCommerce website to exhibit your carefully curated feed.

Pinterest, for example, is a great platform to connect to your site since it contains features that make it possible to customize the overall look and design of your feed, which can easily communicate your brand identity to your customers. Including a social feed to your website can also drive traffic back to your socials, giving you an opportunity to create more of a loyal following. 

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Website Marketing Elements

You can kill two birds with one stone by including lead elements to your website that simultaneously add to your brand’s visual identity. Utilizing customized apps such as pop ups, forms, and auto send emails, that fit the look of your brand, does not only increase sales but also builds that visual identity.

Similar to the importance of brand consistency in social media, using a similar color palette, fonts, imagery, and tone on these lead elements can enhance the sensory experience for your shoppers and create brand cohesion.

You were probably already using these website marketing features to generate sales of your products and services, but by using them to amplify your visual identity, the value of your brand will increase. Using these elements strategically will give your customers a clear idea about what message you want your brand to convey to them and how you want them to perceive your products and services. 

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Wrap Up

In conclusion, by better understanding your brand and how to build your brand identity, existing customers and potential new customers will have a stronger association between your products and services and how that makes them feel. Work on creating a cohesive string of visual aspects to include on all of your platforms from social media, to emails, and your online business.

Want to learn more about how you can turn your website visitors into customers? Download our free eBook:

POWR ebook - 7 steps to turning visitors into customers

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