The biggest misconception I hear about branding is that a logo and branding are the same. Most bloggers understand their need for a logo, but a logo is not a complete brand. In this episode I’m talking about what branding is, why you need it, and specifics on what food bloggers need to have for their branding.

Can’t listen to the episode? Read on for the transcript!

I’m so glad that you’re here for episode number six.

I know number six is not a big number. Hopefully it will get larger than just six episodes on this podcast, but it’s just wild to be working on something for so many months behind the scenes. Then it’s out into the world, people actually know about it. I’m still just getting a little bit used to that.

Last week I had a call with my mastermind group, and I just have to tell you guys that having a group of food bloggers that you chat with regularly really is a game changer.

I can’t recommend it more if you have even just one food blogger friend that you can meet with on a monthly or quarterly basis just to chat with each other about what you’re working on in your business.

It really just changes the game.

My passion for my food blog really took off when I started having people around me that were working on the same thing. You can share tips and tricks with each other and just spur each other on, which is invaluable.

Let’s jump into today’s topic, which is branding.

Over the few weeks I’ll be talking about branding as it pertains to food bloggers specifically.

I’m really excited to dive into this topic. Branding is something that people have heard of, but there’s a lot of misconceptions that are surrounding branding specifically for food bloggers.

What is branding?

Branding is the process of creating a unique name and image, establishing a significant and differentiated presence.

When you think of a brand, you probably think of large corporations like Apple, Nike, Target.

You might think that because you have a small business, you don’t need to worry about a brand.

Why is branding important?

It distinguishes your blog from somebody else’s.

It gives people something visual to recognize and remember. It builds trust when people begin to recognize your brand. It also creates a foundation for your business to grow.

Logo vs. Branding

A logo is a symbol for your brand, but your branding is much more than a logo.

Branding encompasses:

• The fonts and colors used on your website
• Your style of photography
• The kinds of recipes that you make
• The ingredients you use
• Your philosophy behind cooking and why you do it
• Your brand messaging (head to episode three to learn all about brand messaging and how you can establish that for your blog)

Going back to the corporations example, when you think of Apple, you might think of their logo initially. However, you might also think of things like their iconic commercials, their products, their customer service in stores.

When you think of Target, you might think of their bullseye, the dog, the bright red commercials on TV, the dollar section.You might think about walking through the store with a Starbucks coffee in hand.

With these large corporations, you know their logo, but you don’t even have to see their logo in order to recognize their brand.

In fact, Apple commercials don’t usually begin with their logo. They usually don’t even show the logo for 10 to 15 seconds, but by that point, you already know it’s an Apple commercial. You probably know that by the second frame.

How does branding apply to food bloggers?

Have you ever been scrolling Pinterest or Instagram and you stopped and wondered if the photo was by a favorite food blog of yours?

This has definitely happened to me. I’ve recognized an image and immediately known the blogger behind it.

What about if you’re searching for a recipe on Google and you start to get the food blog before you see the website that the result was coming from?

Maybe that’s just me as a website designer, but you can probably relate to recognizing a brand before you even know for sure that it’s that brand when you’re looking at Pinterest, Google, or Instagram.

The types of recipes that your food blog is known for are a huge part of your branding. Subconsciously we expect certain types of recipes or styles of photography from certain brands.

When we recognize a brand, it makes us to want to go to their site because we already trust them and we’re curious about what their new recipe might be.

What branding elements do you need for your food blog?

This can get really complicated and there’s a lot that you could argue that you need, but I’m going to break down the basics for you.

You need:

• A brand name or what your food blog is called
• A tagline, but this doesn’t actually have to be a part of your logo. It could be part of just your brand messaging as a whole.
• Your messaging (go back to episode three to learn all about brand messaging)

Having these things established is really going to set the foundation for your branding for your food blog.

Now in terms of visual basics, you need:

• A logo of some kind. It can be super simple, but you need something that you can use and that is recognizable.
• A color palette
• Supporting fonts on your blog. So these can be different fonts from what’s in your logo, but they should be complimentary because oftentimes you might have your logo with these other fonts side by side.

From there, you can really start to build a foundation for the visual branding on your food blog.

You can use those visual elements to build out other things like a business card, Pinterest templates, or a media kit.

Things to remember about branding your food blog

Your logo should be simple enough to scale large or small. If it’s not, if your logo is a little bit more complicated, that’s where a submark or a secondary logo is really nice to have. However, they’re not necessary.

It’s your blog, but you really should design a logo with your audience in mind. This goes back to episode number two, where I talked about how your food blog is not for you. It’s for your audience.

You definitely want to like your logo. You don’t want it to be something that you hate or that doesn’t feel like you, but you also really want to consider your audience and what they’re going to resonate with.

At the end of the day, your audience is the entire reason you have your food blog, and if they don’t connect with your logo and it’s not something that resonates with them, then what’s the point?

When you’re figuring out your niche and your messaging and you’re trying to grow, it’s totally okay to have something simple

A lot of the times people start with the logo before they’re even ready for one.

As a brand designer, I would rather see someone stick with a basic logo, even just a plain text logo that comes with your website than to invest thousands into branding that they ultimately may have to change if their food blog pivots and shifts into a new space.

You don’t have to have everything right away.

It’s really helpful to just have some sort of foundation to build on having a color scheme and logo and your fonts. Those will at least help you begin creating a consistent and recognizable brand for your audience.

Coming Up

Next week I’m going to talk about how to maintain consistency with your branding. It’s really important that you start here and understand what branding is and why you need it and what are the components that make up your branding as a food blogger.

I’ll be sharing some tips on how you can take your logo and a color palette and use it consistently across social media and throughout your business.

If you haven’t subscribed or left a review yet, I would love for you to do that. Subscribing to the podcast means you’ll never miss an episode and leaving a rating and a review helps other food bloggers, just like you, find this podcast.