Do you believe branding is only for large corporations like Nike, McDonalds, Southwest Airlines and others? Not so. Branding is about making your business be remembered by your prospective customers or clients, so that when they need a particular product or service, they think of you first. Why does McDonalds do so much advertising? They want their brand to be highly visible, so that people remember and think of them first when going out for a meal. How does your business stand out from the all the rest? Your branding should tell your prospects how.
Here are a few things to consider as a small or large business looking to stand out in the crowd and become memorable to your target market.
1. What is branding and why is it important? Branding, through a combination of imagery and messaging, lets your customers know who you are, what you do and why they should buy from you. It differentiates your business when compared with others. Do you know what factors differentiate you from your competitors? Do you offer the best service? Are you the least expensive? Are you local? Your imagery and messaging must tell this story of who you are, what you do, and why you do it better than the other guy.
2. Logos are important but are not alone in your branding. We love our logo, as most companies do, but you need more than just a logo to deliver your message. A logo helps to quickly identify a business (think “Nike”), but doesn’t tell your story by itself. Your brand needs consistent reinforcement, from your logo to your collateral materials, business cards and letterhead to your website and social pages. Everything has to work together. Your colors, fonts, paper stocks, description of your services—the look and feel must have consistency wherever your prospects may look.
3. Stay focused with your branding. People by nature have short attention spans. You need to catch their attention quickly. What message do you want to communicate? To get your message across and become memorable, focus on a specific message, not everything you do or are. What do want to be remembered for—the best quality, reliability, least expensive? Pick one or two and work them into your branding messages.
4. The secret to branding is consistency and repetition. Keep your message and imagery consistent across all of your multi-channel marketing avenues that you use and your prospects will recognize and remember you quickly. Repetition will make prospects seemingly notice you everywhere and in everything you do—so when they are ready to purchase a product or service, your business will come to mind first.
5. Remember: imagery, message, consistency, focus and repetition will brand your company, differentiate it from the competition and help you to get noticed more often.
Need help with all of this? Call us.