Guest post by Bek Davis (learn more about the author at the end of the article):
Branding your business takes a considerable amount of time and energy, but it is something you shouldn’t disregard as being optional. Every business, whether you’re a small startup or major corporation, has a brand. This brand sends a message to your potential customers and clients, and should be defined early on. It is something that the public will relate to your business specifically, helping to improve your overall success.
Here are some things to keep in mind when branding your business:
1. Describe Your Brand
Start by defining and describing your brand in detail. This step should be done before choosing a slogan or logo, because it helps lead to that portion of the branding creation process. When defining your brand, consider what you want your customers to think about when they describe it. What types of things should your business be known for or remembered by? Define your brand’s purpose, mission and your overall mission.
2. Design Your Logo
The logo you choose isn’t just a catchy image with colors you like. Its style, like the design of your website and promotional materials, should reflect the style of your business. If you run a construction company, the entire look and feel of your logo is much different than the logo of a graphic design company. Remember this logo is going to be used everywhere, so don’t rush through the design process.
3. Remain Consistent
Branding a business is not just about defining your brand, but being consistent with it. If you start your company blog being casual, then you should continue being casual. The same can be said for your brand. Choose your message and focus on that from start to finish. This is what sets you apart from others with a similar business model.
4. Use Your Brand Everywhere
Reminding your customers continuously about your brand is essential to get it noticed and remembered, so you need to use it everywhere. This includes on all promotional materials, social media networks, marketing emails, websites, blogs, online profiles, just about everywhere you can think of. For large brands, like Nike, it took years to establish a solid brand.
5. Utilize Social Media
If you notice a trend where using social media for marketing in your business is repeated, there is a reason. Technology is constantly changing, and social media is the new way to get your voice heard. Whether you’re an individual or a business, you need to be using it to interact with others. Social media also happens to be one of the quickest and easiest ways to spread the word about your business brand.
6. Hire Professional Branding Services
When in doubt, hire a professional service to handle the branding for you. Business branding service companies can take care of branding your company from start to finish. This includes helping you to define your brand, coming up with a logo and slogan, and teaching you different ways of using it in your daily operations in order to get it known more easily.
About the Author
Bek Davis is President, CEO, and Lead Designer of Bek Davis Web Design Group based in Nashville, Tennessee. Bek Davis Web Design Group specializes in custom website design, search engine optimization, custom website development, business branding, business marketing, and custom graphic design.
Jim Nico says
Thank you Bek for the excellent tips.