A lot of posts talk about the importance of branding. And, of course, branding is a very important area for most businesses. But, alongside being important, branding is also incredibly complex and challenging. Just glossing over it with a few key points isn’t really enough. So, this post is going to be a little more detailed. With this resource, you will have the power to make much more from your branding. And, hopefully, it will inspire you to start making a difference to your company. First, your brand needs to reflect your company. But, that’s just the start.
Most people get a little bit confused when branding comes up. Of course, we all know that branding covers things like your logo and colour scheme. But, it covers much more than that as well. Your brand is the image that you want people to see when they think of your business. And, when people see it, they shouldn’t have to stand around trying to figure out who you are.
Your brand has to be unique. Otherwise, people will get it confused with other businesses. So, it’s important to be thinking about other brands when you start to build your own. Building a brand is a process that can take many years. And, for some companies, the struggle never ends. Of course, this isn’t always a bad thing. Updating these areas of a business should be done regularly; to avoid missing out on trends. There are several crucial elements when it comes to building a brand. And, it’s best to start from the top.
Certain colours have been so well associated with businesses that they make people think of a business when they see it. As an example, Microsoft use a particular shade of blue for the bulk of their modern content. This colour has started being known as Microsoft Blue. And, some websites will even refer to it as that. Creating this impact with colour takes choosing the right balance of colours in your palette. It’s important to avoid having too many bright or bold colours. In fact, modern designers have started trending towards the use of one main colour, with a couple of neutral colours to go with it. Having too many bright colours can make a business look childish and immature. Avoiding this is important if you want your brand to be taken seriously.
A font can often say a lot more about your company than the writing that it’s used to display. Fonts can change the look of a website or flyer. And, they are often the backbone of a good logo. So, your font is very important. Most companies will use just one font for their main branding. And, then, a more discrete one for their bodies of text. This is a great system to use. Tools like Google Fonts make it much easier to browse for new fonts. They give you a good display of what they have available. And, most of them are free to download.
The bread and butter of your brand will be your logo. Logos are images that are used to convey a message about your company to customers. Take Microsoft’s modern logo, for instance. This logo is simply four coloured squares in a two by two grid. This reflects their recent design choices, regarding the use of tiles as the main feature of their operating systems. And, it’s easy to remember. So, it’s a great example of a logo that really shows off the company it represents. Designing a logo can be hard. So, if you’re doing it yourself, it’s best to make sure it’s simple and understated. This will ensure that your brand looks good for as long as possible.
The way a company acts also impacts its brand. A lot of modern companies have been going for super-ethical approaches in the way that they act. This means hiring workers fairly, using responsibly sourced goods, and treating customers well. It’s important to think about the actions your business takes. People will always notice if your business is treating people incorrectly. And, customers won’t like a business that treats people badly. A great example of this is Nestle. As a company, they have been known to mistreat workers and source their goods from bad places. And, as a result of this, a lot of people have stopped buying their products.
One of the best ways to ensure that you build a quality brand is by employing the help of a professional designer. This will make it much easier for you. You won’t have to do the bulk of the work. And, you will know that your branding will come out as a high quality product. When choosing a graphic designer, it’s important to make sure that you look for people who have a lot of experience. It takes years to hone the skills required to do this job. So, choosing someone that has just started could make it much harder for you.
It’s important to make sure that you use your branding effectively, once it’s designed. You will need to make sure that you have your brand placed on items in a way that will captivate your customers. Usually, branding will be on things like staff clothing and accessories. At the very minimum, your staff should be wearing clothing that is branded for your business. Sourcing this sort of thing is quite easy. And, you can find companies that specialize in wholesale screen printing who will be able to outfit the entire shop floor. This is a great way to show off your branding and get people to start noticing it. You can also look into things like customer printed mugs and pens. These items look great. And, they can often be given away to customers to start working on marketing.
There are some other areas of your business that should be branded, as well. The outside of your establishment should be well-branded to make sure that potential customers can always see where you are. You should also make sure that the inside has a reasonable level of branding, too. There are some digital items that needs to be branded, too. Your entire website should strictly follow your brand. And, when you send emails or give out flyers, they should reflect your website. This is an easy way to ensure that everything you’re producing is consistent.
Now, you may be asking yourself why all of this is even important in the first place. Well, in most cases, a brand does much more for a business than give it a friendly face. And, you can see this from companies that have bad branding. Or, the fact that there aren’t many of them at all. The reason that most big companies have good branding is because it was part of their key to success. Without it, it’s doubtful that they would be in their current position. So, you need to keep this in mind, whenever you’re doing something for your business.
A brand is like a nametag. Only, the tag doesn’t have to be read. Instead, when a customer sees your brand, they should instantly recognize it. Having this sort of recognition can be great for a small business. Having local customers who know your brand will make it much easier to hold onto customers. When customers recognize something like a brand, they tend to tell their friends and family about it. Having a good brand makes it much easier to make sure that people will always know exactly who you are with just a glance.
If you don’t have very good branding, then you’re putting your company’s relevance into question. If you can’t keep up with big businesses when it comes to this area, people will assume that you’re lacking in other areas, too. This means that you could lose customers simply because they really don’t like your branding. It will also make it hard to garner respect from other businesses. When it looks like your business is sloppy, it will be hard to convince people to work with you. They will be put off by the lack of professionalism they see.
All-in-all, good branding can give new life to a company. Having a tool that can boost your recognition and make your business look more professional is a great way to make improvements. It’s never too late to make changes to your branding. Some companies have ever-evolving brands that change to suit the times. Usually, these are some of the more successful companies. So, it’s worth keeping in mind for your own.
Hopefully, this will give you the inspiration you need to start working harder on your branding. A lot of companies invest a massive amount of money into this area. So, spending a little bit of money on professional help isn’t too much to do. Any money that you spend on something like this can be a seen as an investment into your company. But, like most things, it’s important that you do the research to back it up.
