Your company’s branding is what sets your products and services apart. The marketing landscape is constantly changing, so now is the time to re-visit your branding. Why is branding important?
- Branding communicates what your company is.
- Branding communicates what your company offers.
- Branding creates an emotional attachment to your company and its products.
- Branding creates a sense of higher quality, a feeling of involvement, or positive qualities related to your brand.
- Branding influences buying decisions.
- Branding shapes the experience of owning your products or enjoying your services.
Few companies have the budget to create the next Nike swish, but all companies, big and small, need to put some effort into creating and communicating their brand. Branding should include your company’s name, product’s names, symbols, signs, slogans and/or color combinations. Here are some tips on how to brand or re-brand your company and products:
- Develop a mission statement. Why do you exist? What value are you to your customers?
- Weigh your business size against the cost of hiring an advertising company or branding specialist to develop your brand.
- Frugal branding method: Develop a memorable tagline (slogan) that says who you are and what you do. Hire a graphic artist to develop a logo, font and color scheme. It’s usually better to use a graphic artist and have them offer you multiple ideas, then you can narrow it down from there.
- Be consistent and use the same branding for all marketing: newspaper, website, business card, letterhead, invoices, signage, advertising, Facebook page.
- Use your branding consistently for both traditional and non-traditional marketing.
- If you are a franchise, your branding is handed to you. Use it consistently.
When customers are exposed to any of your marketing materials, they instantly experience thoughts and feelings they associate with your branding. Make sure you are projecting the right message. In this fast-changing world, you need to re-visit your branding regularly to make sure your branding is relevant and sending the right message.
Hope you found something of value here and continue to prosperous!!!
