Icon That Visually Communicates Online Marketing | What Icon Can Be Used to Communicate Online Marketing?

Online marketing is an invaluable tool in today’s digital world. With the right icon and a well-written copy, you can target the right audience and engage them with your product or service.

But what icon should you use to represent your brand online? And what words should you use in your copy to catch the attention of potential customers?

To help you determine which icon to use and what words to write, we’ve put together this guide. It contains a brief description of each icon’s meaning and how it’s used, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Logo

The logo of your company or brand is the first thing users will see when they visit your website or social media pages. As a result, it plays a key role in your online marketing strategy and should, therefore, be carefully considered.

There are three primary reasons why a logo should be used in your marketing materials.

To Identify Your Brand

Your logo should always identify your brand. If a user sees a logo that matches the branding of a brand they’re familiar with, it removes the uncertainty of whether or not they’re actually on your site. Moreover, if the logo is well designed, it will simply look like a well-designed logo to any observer.

Additionally, when users see your company’s or brand’s logo, it should be accompanied by corresponding text in a prominent location so that the user knows exactly what they’re looking at.

A disadvantage of a logo is that sometimes brands choose their logo without considering the platform they’re designing for. For example, if you’re designing a logo for a newspaper website, it would be a bad idea to use a bird as the main symbol because birds are not commonly associated with newspapers.

To Establish Your Product’s Identity

Your logo should establish the product’s identity. Just like the logo of a newspaper, the logo of a company conveys its brand, but it also provides essential information about the product itself. This is why the logo of Evian is simply an image of a spring as it appears in nature. In this case, the water brand is the identity of the product and the spring is simply a graphical representation of water.

Additionally, if you have multiple products that share a similar name, it can be challenging for users to remember what each product is and if they’re supposed to buy one instead of the other. If possible, each product should have its own unique identifier, such as a product code or a trademark. However, using multiple identifiers for individual products can be challenging when it comes to keeping track of them all.

To Distinguish Your Product From Competitors

Lastly, your logo should provide a visual distinction between your product and those of your competitors. If you’re selling bottled water, it would be wise to use a bottle as your logo because it’s an identifying feature that will make your water stand out in the crowd. Similarly, if you use a lot of bright colours in your design, it will make it easier for users to identify your product as opposed to that of your competitors.

However, if your logo doesn’t provide sufficient visual contrast to your competitors, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Many marketing platforms, such as Google Ads or Bing Ads, have tools that can be used to generate a customized image that will stand out among the crowd. Moreover, if you don’t have the funds to hire a designer, there are many free logo generators available online that can be used to create a professional-looking logo without having to worry about the cost.

In many cases, brands use a combination of these three methods to identify themselves. For example, L’Oréal used a water drop logo on its website because, well, water is essential for life and the logo itself represents the company’s mission statement.

If you decide that a logo isn’t the right approach and would like to go with a brand name instead, read on.

Straight Away

If a product has a shorter lifespan than others, you should consider using an ‘S’ or a ‘straight away’ as the first part of your company’s or brand’s name. For example, Stella Artois is a Belgian brand that produces beer and, as the name would suggest, their beer has a shorter shelf life than most others. Similarly, Zespri is a fruit, vegetable, and water purveyor based in New Zealand and the ‘S’ in their name stands for ‘seasonal’ because their products are mostly available during the seasons when they’re in bloom.

A disadvantage of using a name as opposed to a logo is that, over time, the name of your product can lose its meaning. If you decide that a brand name isn’t the right approach and would like to go with a logo instead, read on.

Simple, Yet Stylish

Simplicity is generally preferred in logos because complex designs can become outdated relatively quickly. In many cases, a logo isn’t the right fit for all websites. If you’re looking for a trendy logo that will compliment your social media profiles, go with a simple design that doesn’t need a lot of modification to fit different platforms. For example, the logo of Lush is a simple, elegant ‘L’ that can be used across various platforms. Similarly, Spotify’s sleek, stylish ‘S’ fits perfectly with their alternative, indie music-focused platform and magazine brand.

On the other hand, if you’d like an exact replica of a specific object, such as a fruit or a bouquet of flowers, you should look for an established logo designer. Moreover, if your product is more traditional in nature, such as a luxury goods brand, a sportswear company, or a restaurant brand, using a complex design won’t be a good idea because it could potentially hurt your brand’s credibility.

In order to make your brand look professional and distinctive, avoid using an image-heavy design that includes a lot of text. For example, if you visit the website of a luxury goods brand named Ralph Lauren, you’ll see a logo that’s loaded with text and uses many images. While this particular logo might look amazing on the company’s website, it would probably look amateurish if used in an offline setting, such as a magazine or on a T-shirt.

To Create a Brand Identity

Your logo should not be the only element of your brand identity. To create a complete identity, you should consider using other forms of branding, such as color, typeface, and even pictures of people. You can use a tool, such as Brandfolder, to help you find the right visual representation of your brand.

Once you have this information, you can create a visual identity that will make people (and Google) think of your brand when they see it.

Which Icon to Use?

Now that you have a general idea of what icons represent, it’s time to choose which one you should use. As mentioned, the decision is largely based on personal preference, but, in many cases, it’s also based on the type of product you’re selling and the platform you’re designing for.

If you have a lifestyle brand that doesn’t directly relate to a product, the fun logo maker, Logo Maker, can be a good choice because it allows you to choose an icon that reflects your brand’s identity. In many cases, brands use an ‘<insert product here>’ symbol as its logo, which Logo Maker allows you to do as well. If you don’t have a product to represent your brand, the ‘Bold‘ icon is a great choice because it’s distinctive and easy to understand. This is what Google, Bing, and other search engines use to identify websites that are offering quality content.