Branding your business is very important. Your brand should reflect what your business stands for, what you want it to be, and everything your business embodies. Whether you are planning to open a new business or rebrand your current business you can follow these steps to brand your business effectively.
What is “branding”?
Branding is creating a strong, positive perception of your business’ products and services in the customer’s mind by combining elements such as colors, fonts, logos, and messaging. Essentially your brand represents your promise to your customers. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competition. There needs to be thought, purpose, meaning, and strategy behind your brand.
1. Begin by defining what you are providing, who you are providing it for, and why.
You might know what these elements are but writing them down will provide you with clarity about your business and make branding your business much easier. Here is where you research and define your target audience and buyer personas. No matter what you sell you need to know who you are selling to and how to reach them.
2. Write down what makes your business unique and better than your competitors.
This will require more work on your part. Because you will need to perform a competitive analysis. Think about it, how do you know if your business offering is unique or better if you don’t research your competition and know who they are, what they are doing right, and what they are doing wrong?
3. List your company values.
Your corporate values, also referred to as core values, are typically a set of guiding principles and fundamental beliefs that help you and your employees function together as a team and work toward a common business goal. These values can be internal as described above or they can be external. For example, you might be opening a wellness center and you want to help heal the world by empowering your clients through quality health and fitness programs. Determine what matters to you and then develop the messaging to express it to your audience.
4. Choose a business name that is easy to remember, spell, and reflects your purpose.
KISS, an acronym for keep it simple stupid, is a design principle coined by the U.S. Navy back in 1960. The idea was to design systems that would be easier to maintain and operate. This principle can most definitely be applied to the design of your business name. It is important for your target audience to be able to easily find you. If your name is overly long and complicated, or not reflective of what you do, it will be difficult for prospects to find you on the web and social media.
5. Design your logo and create your brand guide.
Your logo can have a powerful impact on how your brand is perceived by consumers. Designing a logo requires market research, knowing your buyer personas, as well as an understanding of logo design principles. Some key elements to consider when designing your logo are colors and images that represent the nature of your business, as well as fonts that go well with your imagery. For example, if you are selling a natural, eco-friendly product, you may choose to use a green color or leaf in your logo.
When it comes to building a memorable brand, it’s all about consistency. A brand guide helps you to achieve consistency across media platforms and governs the composition, design, and general look and feel of a company’s branding. They typically include a color pallet, font selections, your logos in various sizes, in a single color and in black and white, icons, favicons, and your slogan/messaging. Be sure to ask your logo designer to provide you with a brand guide!
6. Create your website to reflect your branding.
Once you have developed your brand guide, you will want to create or update your website using its elements. This is important because brand consistency has been known to increase revenues by as much as 33%[1].
7. Set up your social media channels to reflect your branding.
Here is where your prior research on your target audience and buyer personas comes in handy. You will want to be on the social media platforms where your audience spends most of their time. Pick the top two to start, as it can be overwhelming to set up and post to multiple platforms. Once you are successful on those two, move on to the next.
We hope this article will provide you with some direction in getting started with developing your new brand. Whether you are developing a new business brand or rebranding, IGM Creative Group has a time-tested process we deploy for our clients. Reach out to us, we will create beautiful and compelling designs that keep your company in your customers’ minds.
About IGM Creative Group
IGM Creative Group provides advertising solutions, marketing strategy, web development, and professional SEO services to Fortune 500, mid-market and small businesses.
Contact us by phone at 973-709-1126 or send an email.
[1] Article: 10 BRANDING STATISTICS YOU NEED TO KNOW IN 2022, https://www.oberlo.com/, published April 16, 2022
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