INTRODUCTION
Branding has become quite the buzzword for businesses, but it’s so much more than colors, logos, and social media. Branding is how your company portrays itself to the world and how people see it.
Branding, most would argue, is vital to a company’s success and marketing efforts. And, as we’ve said, it’s more than aesthetics. There are some great steps you can take to start to develop your brand, from questions to research to finally selecting those visual and design choices.
Key Questions for Branding
Before you can go into all the fun stuff, it’s best to ask yourself the right questions to guide you and your business:
- What are your company’s values? Your values are your core, your steering wheel in the business arena. Everything should stem from here.
- What is your message? What makes your business stand out from the others? Your brand should convey why you’re unique and what you can exclusively offer that no others can.
- Who is your target audience? The more specific the better. Personalization can go a long way and tailoring your message will help you succeed.
The Preliminary Branding Research
After you’ve gone through the essential questions and figured out your why, what, and how, you can get to the fun stuff, from visuals to slogans and so much more.
We highly recommend looking at brands that you want to emulate, whether they’re large or small. One that we love is very classic: Apple. You might roll your eyes, but we see their minimal yet effective style as being successful all the time. Their brand is sleek and always seems “of the future”—matching perfectly with their industry—when their new product lines and models drop. Additionally, they are always original. Always on the cutting edge and different from everyone else, we respect their originality, which should be a goal of yours and your company when you start to brand.
The Aesthetics
There’s really no right way to go about this, but we do recommend trying a lot of things and doing a lot of research to find what you like and what fits your brand. Our purest definition of branding comes in here: branding is a combination of design aesthetics and your mission statement as a message through the impression you’re communicating. It’s a combination of words and visuals that help people see your values and recognize you
Some fun areas to explore are:
- Copy: Mission statements, slogans, and any phrases you use to convey your message/values/core. People think branding is often only design, but it is also the words associated with your company.
- Design: Fonts, color palettes, logos, and other visual elements that evoke a certain feeling that fits your core. The visuals are key in having people recognize your brand and other marketing efforts.
Brand Your Business
Remember that branding builds recognition. It must incorporate both your mission and your design choices to leave an impression on your target audience. Ultimately the goal is for you to distinguish your company from others and help people remember your company in the long run.
Effective branding can take time, but working with the right people can help speed up establishing yourself and your company in the playing field. Working with agencies and firms like EMRG is a quick way to boost your brand and have people begin to recognize and remember you sooner rather than later.
