Branding is one of the most important elements of running a business. If you get it right, you can increase your sales and turnover massively, and your business could even become a well-known name. If you get it wrong (or don’t create a brand at all), it will be difficult to find customers who are willing to buy from you. A brand creates a level of trust that is needed if you want people to spend their money with you rather than a competitor; it is a promise that you will stick to your word, and it shows potential customers exactly what it is you stand for. So creating an unforgettable brand is massively important; here are some ways to do it.

Define The Brand

Before you can create a brand, you need to define it. That means looking deeply into what it is your company does and what it stands for, and determining what it is you want to tell your customers about through your branding – you need to discover your Unique Selling Point (USP). Try to have an idea of what your company’s main mission is when it comes to your customers, and this will be a sound basis to work from.

Remember, the mission that you reflect in your branding must be related to the customers, and not to you. It’s true that you will want to make money from your business, but that isn’t something you necessarily want to have in your branding; it is likely to put customers off. Instead, you should focus on how your goods and services will make life easier for those purchasing them.

It is also important to know what the features and benefits are of buying from your company rather than someone else’s. Do you offer unique products? Perhaps your customer service is exceptional. Maybe you give your customers a uniquely positive experience by storing documents online so that they can be accessed whenever they are needed. Whatever your benefits are, they should be reflected in your branding because that is what you want people to think of when they see your logo or a truck.

Logo

The logo itself is one of the main elements of your branding. A logo is a quick way of letting people know who you are and what you do, so it needs to make sense in that way and not be too abstract. Larger firms can afford to have unusual branding, for example, because they are already known, and it doesn’t need to make that much sense if they don’t want it to, but for smaller and newer businesses, that logo needs to be clear and simple.

It is a good idea to research how to create a great logo before starting. Did you know, for example, that different colors can create different feelings and moods within those looking at them? Due to this, it is vital that you pick the right color for your logo (and by extension your branding). Red means action and excitement, whereas blue is a much calmer color. What your company does should be reflected in this way.

Font is also important; having a fancy font might be fun, but if it can’t be easily read or it looks out of place, then it will confuse people rather than persuade them to work with you.

Your logo will be everywhere, on everything you do. You will put in on your website and emails. It will go on any uniform that you wear, and perhaps on your vehicles too. Business cards, paperwork, and your storefront if you have one will all include your logo. It needs to be clear and easily understood, and you need to be happy with it from the start, as changing your logo once it has been established is a potentially dangerous thing to do regarding how trustworthy your business will come across.

Voice

Your brand will need a voice. That doesn’t mean a literal voice (although if you are considering TV or radio advertising, then perhaps this will be the case), but instead means a tone that is associated with your brand. This tone or voice must be consistent in everything you do. If you are writing a blog, for example, the tone should be the same as the rest of the website. Social media is similar, although there is a little more leeway here as it is expected that social media is a more ‘human’ way of connecting. However, the general tone should still be there; if you write or say anything that doesn’t quite match, it will stick out and cause confusion.

The tone of voice you choose is down to you. It can be fun, serious, loud, calm, caring, welcoming, amusing, or anything else you want it to be. The key thing to think about when choosing a tone for your branding is that it needs to be consistent across all the channels it will be used on, and it needs to fit with what you are selling.

Make It Unique

Although it can be useful to see what other companies are doing when it comes to branding, you should always strive to be completely unique, and not copy them in any obvious way. The tone might be similar, but if you try to mimic the look of another company’s branding, you could be doing more harm than good. Plus, you could be stepping on Copyright laws.

To begin with, this can be confusing for customers who may not be able to differentiate between the two companies, and who may go to your competitor rather than you because they thought you were one and the same. Secondly, it doesn’t show your company in a good light; if you need to copy another business’s branding, what does that say about you? It shows that you aren’t confident in your own business and products or services. It also shows that you aren’t as trustworthy as you want to be.

Try to be as unique as possible, and show that you are an independent business run by real people. Use your branding to reflect this, and you will find that you gain more customers and make more sales.