At the beginning of your business growth, it is important to remember the power branding has. Every business must come with a brand but the way you choose to customize your brand will help you stand out from your competition and will ultimately help connect with your dream clientele.
Business owners use the phrase "branding" so frequently and in such a broad sense, it may be difficult for someone who is not familiar with the term to give a clear and succinct definition of what a brand is. In this blog, we will help you nail down what exactly branding is and how to effectively use it in your own business.
What is a brand?
A brand is the reputation of your company. It's the mental image that a customer has of your company. It is the image that customers use to value your products or services. A brand should not be created in a way to trick or mislead the audience. Rather, it should be treated with respect and honesty. You want to refine your brand in a way that allows new customers to view your business in a good and honest light. Your brand should be welcoming your ideal customers.
What is a brand identity?
How a potential customer first encounters your brand is part of your brand identity. It involves the elements of your brand that a customer will feel, taste, and see when interacting with it. Traditional design components like logos, a color scheme, and typography are a part of your brand identity. However, packaging design is involved in this as well. When you use your brand identity intentionally, it will help reinforce and enhance the brand. Your brand’s identity will conclusively help your brand stand out from others. The true question is, what will make your brand recognizable and memorable in the minds of your dream customers?
What is branding?
Every action you do to develop, refine, and enhance your brand is referred to as branding. Branding refers to the logo design, color palette, and typography; but it also had to do a lot with other items. When cultivating a brand that is memorable you have to consider the way your business is presented on social media and website, customer experience, communication methods, product presentation and so much more. Branding cannot be achieved overnight, it is an ongoing mission to create a successful brand.
Don’t know where to start? We got you!
The best place to start when creating a brand is to get your ideas flowing. Pinterest is a great place to brew ideas and it will show what you are naturally drawn to for aesthetics. Once you feel like you’ve found the look you are going for, we recommend creating a mood board that focuses on the design elements (fonts, color palette, logo, icons & other special elements you feel fit your ideal brand).
Here is a mood board that our marketing team uses daily & is a great example to reference when creating your own:
When it comes to choosing your color palette, you should not be using more than 3 to 5 colors. Your logo, website design and graphics should all incorporate the colors you choose to pick. Color palettes also determine the way you edit your photography. For example, our colors lean towards warm tones which are reflected in our logo, designs and photos.
There are endless options for logo design and font choices. You want to choose fonts that best fit your overall aesthetic of your brand. Logo designs need to be strong and should leave an everlasting impression. Your logo is the first thing people see and is the thing they will remember the most about your brand.
When we say, “brand everything!” We mean it!
If you were to take anything away from this blog is that branding is all about consistency. Graphics should remain consistent with colors and fonts, edit your photos the same way every time, videos need to fit the brand. Before posting, sharing or uploading anything… you have to ask yourself, “is this on brand?”
Here are a few ways to drive home your branding:
Email signatures
Giveaways
Business cards
Packaging
Flyers
Blogs
Advertisements
The more of an effort you put into your brand will help lead your vision and mission of your business. Doing this helps incoming customers feel a deeper and lasting connection to your brand. Branding is everything - remember that!
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