Branding is an important aspect of business you need to capitalize on if you want to experience tremendous growth. Some would argue that establishing branding is way harder than initiating a marketing campaign but that’s a reasonable opinion considering that there’s more to branding than meets the eye.
When defined, branding is the practice of using symbols, logos, and other visual aids that companies use to create a means for their audience to identify with them easily. It is an important practice to master simply because it gives people a reason to support your company and what it offers.
In this day and age, it’s no longer enough to offer high-quality products and services. Marketing pros from Juno Creative notes people want to support companies and brands that they can relate to. They also want to support ones whose branding caters to their personal wants and preferences. Understandably, creating a brand identity that’s easy to relate to is not easy. Here’s how you can create a brand identity that your consumers and many others can identify with.
Research Your Audience and Competitors
If you want to know what type of branding your business needs, then you need to know about your audience and your competitors first.
Since your audience is the group that you want to appeal to, it’s a must that you know what they want and what makes them tick. Important demographics such as their gender, social-economic status, and common wants and needs are all crucial data to help you create a good branding.
If you are having trouble narrowing down your audience, look towards the direction of your competitors and you’ll see exactly what kind of people you need to cater to.
Start With a Memorable Logo
If you think about companies like Apple, Microsoft, and many others, you don’t think about their names and the people behind them. You immediately think about the logo that represents that company.
Your business’ logo is the visual cue that your consumer will use to identify who you are. As such, it’s important that you create a logo that’s easy to recognize and is enough to show people what your business is about. It’s one of the toughest parts of creating branding but if executed properly, it does wonders for your brand.
When creating a logo you need to incorporate a lot of strategies to attract people. For one, pick colors that are easy to spot such as blue and red. You should also be more about imagery and less about text as it’s bad practice to keep people reading when checking your logo.
Logos nowadays are minimalistic. People prefer designs that are less loud as compared to others. Just look at the logo of Apple for instance. It used to be the same but instead of one color, it had a bright color palette. As the company discovered that their targets are millennials and the generation ahead of them, they incorporated a simpler logo as well.
Pick the Overall Look of Your Brand
Your brand needs to stand alongside select colors and fonts of text that can establish how you look to your audience. Do you want your business to be seen as a professional entity? Or would you want it to be seen as a yuppie brand that the younger generation can relate to?
Some colors and fonts can help establish the personality you want to have for your business which is why it’s important that you pick these properly.
Stick With It
Once you’ve found a brand that fits your business, it’s only essential that you want to stick with it for a long time. Continuously changing your branding will make it harder to establish brand recognition. Only change your branding when you really feel that it no longer works.
Your branding will affect many parts of your business. This includes how you advertise, your product’s packaging, and the products you offer.
You’ve probably seen many companies change their brand over time but it was a long process. Some took over a decade before they changed their brand. They did update their logos regularly but they maintained the personality that their business wanted to show.
Branding is an essential part of the business. In fact, it’s probably more important than the practice of marketing itself. Without branding, it’s nearly impossible to create an effective marketing strategy. The key to creating an effective brand is to think about how your audience will feel instead of how unique your branding should be.
