Branding Basics

When you think about brands the first thing that comes to mind may be Nike, Apple, Disney, or so many others. It might not occur to you that your business, no matter how big or small, needs its own branding too! Branding not only helps you look good, but it resonates with your customers and makes your marketing more consistent. So, if you’ve never thought of it before, where do you begin? 

What is branding?

Let’s start with the basics. Branding is the creation of an identity using names, symbols, and design to be easily identifiable by a consumer. Consistently using the same logo, colors, etc. not only lets a customer recognize you, but it also sets you apart from your competitors. You’re easily able to recognize the logos of Toyota and Microsoft, but branding goes much further than that. It’s everywhere. You’ll find it in the colors they use in ads to the language they use in their social media posts. In this world of constant connection, branding goes beyond a snazzy logo. It helps customers envision how a brand can impact their life. 

Building your brand is a process, but it’s not too difficult if you follow these steps:  

• Research - To build a brand that customers want to be loyal to you need to research and analyze both your customers and your competitors. What are they doing? What do they like? What are their values? 

• Name your business - Brainstorm a list that fits with what your business does and then make sure it’s not taken. You can do a quick internet search, domain name searches, search your state’s business entities database online, and even search for trademarks. These can all help you when determining whether a name is already taken. 

• Define your mission and vision – Your mission succinctly describes why your business exists, what it does, and why it does it. Your vision describes the future of your business and what it will be. Pick a brand personality - This may seem odd, but especially with social media you need to develop a consistent personality across all platforms. This could be snarky, funny, or serious. The trick is to engage your customers while embodying your brand’s values. 

• Create a slogan - Your slogan should be a good representation of your brand’s personality and values. It should reflect your mission statement but be shorter and easy to remember. 

• Choose your brand’s look - Here's where you choose the colors and font that will likely represent your brand for the foreseeable future. Your font should be easy to read. Your colors are likely an extension of your brand’s personality and values. The key here is to not pick colors because they’re your favorite. Be careful and research what different colors could mean for your brand. 

• Logo - This goes hand in hand with your brand’s look. Your logo is like your business’s profile picture. It’s a creative representation you associate with your business that helps customers identify your products or services as being yours. We recommend that you use a professional designer who will design a logo that is unique and given to you in a variety of common file formats.  That being said, there are websites that will let you create a logo on your own. 

• Brand everything - Your brand should be consistent on everything that you put your business’s name on. That includes printed materials, social media, websites, and emails, among others. Having your logo in a variety of common file formats helps with this. Go crazy. Anywhere your logo goes is essentially free advertising. 

Brand consistency.

Now that you’ve got a brand you’ve got to keep it consistent across all platforms, advertising, and any materials that are seen by the public. This means your logo is the same everywhere. The same goes for your voice and tone. Consistency doesn’t just make everything look nice and professional. Consistently delivering the same message builds trust with your customers which grows their loyalty to your brand. With loyalty comes recurring customers and the likelihood that they’ll recommend your business to someone else. 

Consistency doesn’t mean staying the same forever. As your audience grows, so should your brand. You might have started as a brand targeting environmentally-conscious women in their mid-20s. Now, you’re ready to branch out and attract a wider audience. It’s time to evolve your brand so you can stay true to that initial customer base while broadening your language to attract new customers. These are small tweaks and changes and should not be confused with rebranding which is a much more involved process.

Branding is a crucial step toward creating and growing your business, both on and offline. It’s more than just a flashy logo. Taking steps to create a brand identity that not only represents your business values and goals but also resonates with your customers is a great way to increase loyalty and awareness.   

Need help building your brand? Contact us for a no-obligation consultation with our team of experts today!