Branding is an important part of every business, big enterprise or small store. Branding gives your business a personality and identity so your customers can easily identify you from the competitors.
The good news is you already have a brand.
Whether you know it or don’t, every person and every business, no matter how big or small, has a brand. It’s who you are, it’s your vision and mission, it’s how others see you, it’s your message, it’s your product, it’s your logo, your marketing, your content, basically everything…
It’s your choice to have control over it or let it flow by its way. Successful people and successful brands have control over the ways to show off their brand.
Brand building is a huge amount of work that goes way beyond your logo. Design is a huge part of how others see you, but there is so much more to think about and develop.
When you think of brands you think of Apple and Google and other huge companies…but they all started somewhere.
“ It’s all begins with an idea”
The idea is the heart of your brand.
Yes, large companies have a huge budget when it comes to branding but you should start small and grow your brand over time.
So what you can do to start branding your small business without blowing your budget?
The clearer your brand’s position is – the easier to identify you for your customers. So what is brand positioning?
Define your brand. Start with answering these questions: What is the idea behind it? Who you are and who you want to be as a brand? What is your mission? Why you do what you do? Who are you? What your business is about? How does your business feel like? How customers will see you?Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the mind of the customer and how it is distinguished from products from competitors. To position products or brands, companies may emphasize the distinguishing features of their brand (what it is, what it does and how, etc.) or they may try to create a suitable image (inexpensive or premium, utilitarian or luxurious, entry-level or high-end, etc.) through the marketing mix. Once a brand has achieved a strong position, it can become difficult to reposition it.
I’m sure someone has already done what you are going to do. Probably you are not the first-ever Coffee Shop or Fitness coach. Why you are different than others? What makes your company unique? This what makes your customers choose you over your competitors.
Here is where a lot of market research involves, you need to know what your competitors do, and what their point of difference to establish yours.
Then try to create a statement for your company that represents your difference:
Stripe – “The new standard in online payments”
HubSpot – “There’s a better way to grow”
We defined what your business is all about, and now it’s time to visualize that.
Your visual brand identity will determine what all your design elements look like, and how they are used and applied across all of your marketing channels and communication points.
It includes:
Logo in different variations (colorful, black and white, horizontal and vertical, greyscale), your brand colors, typography, patterns and illustrations, icons and images.
All of these elements should be represented in your brand style guide. It will cover how they look, how they’re used, and what not to do with them.
This guide becomes very helpful when later you will design all your marketing collateral or you can send it to any designer or design company to make sure your representation will be correct and in line with your brand.