Branding has been an established concept now in business and marketing for sometime; however, to many laypersons they may see branding as little more than creating and using a logo. That is only one facet however of building a successful brand identity, whereas the full result of successful branding is to bring about a positive view of a company and its products and services. Here are a few of the key steps to developing a brand for your business.
Find What Makes You “You”
Each company is unique in their own way, otherwise why would you have set about to build your business in the first place? Figure out what it is that sets you apart, your unique value proposition, and use that to help identify your business and what you offer to your customers.
Identify Your Values
What does your company stand for? You may have values you represent externally, and then values you hold internally, but whichever values you have they need to be something you stand for and something that helps how you communicate to your clients and employees. At Ortwein Sign for instance, we value craftsmanship and pride of work, and this means that not only are we focused on fabricating the best signs for our clients, but when we do a great job it’s not only its own reward but it’s also rewarded internally.
Develop Your Visual Identity
This is the component of branding that is most familiar, as a “brand” is often represented through the visual medium of logos, signs, ads, and other marketing assets. Even here though there’s more to it than just designing a logo, as you’ll want to consider the colors you use, the style of font, and of course consider not only what your logo should look like but how well you can represent your logo across all mediums. You’ll want a logo for instance that can look good on a sign, a business card, and a social media profile photo.
Speak with One Voice
One concept that companies often struggle with is the concept of a company “voice”. Especially with the continued growth of social media as a business platform, companies now more than ever need to find their voice and try to use it for their communications internally and externally. Companies like Moon Pie are now known for their humorous, almost sardonic voice, especially on Twitter. However, for some companies, such as a bank, they may want to go for a more serious, yet friendly tone. Though it may take you sometime to find the right voice, once you do it’ll benefit your brand, and therefore your business, incredibly.
Your Brand at Work
Branding isn’t always the end all be all to your business problems; however, the lack of a cohesive brand could be the cause of many problems. Therefore it’s important to use what we highlighted above, an established identity, strong company values, visual assets, and a singular company voice, and with those in place you can use it to guide your business for years to come.