Creating a brand isn’t the same thing as creating an eye-catching brand. There is much more that goes into brand development than a logo, so don’t stop there. Whether you have an established brand or are in the process of developing one, use these tips to turn it into a brand that turns heads.
1. Start with a Stand-Out Logo
Your logo is an important part of your brand because this will help people recognize your brand at a glance. When you create your logo, you should have already done some research to get to know who your target audience is and what they’re after since this will help you design a logo that attracts them. If you’re not a designer, coming up with a logo design can be tough. Since you’re just starting your business, you may not have a ton left in your budget to hire a designer for the job. In these cases, using a logo generator to create the perfect design is a great option.
When creating your logo, keep in mind that all of the elements involved, including the colors you choose, the fonts you use, and the icon in your logo, play a massive role in the finished product and the image your brand is left with. These should all combine perfectly to reflect your business values and they should also fit the industry you’re in.
Finally, remember that your business logo needs to look good everywhere, from printed packaging and social media posts to your business cards. Play around with the elements of your logo so that they look great scaled up or down and so that they also look great on grayscale.
2. Connect with Your Audience
Your brand isn’t just your color palette and logo. In fact, a huge part of your brand involves how you interact with the people you serve. Rather than thinking of your business as just a money-making venture, don’t forget that it exists to solve a problem and provide goods or services to your audience.
Because your audience is important, connecting with them is a must. Luckily, doing this is easier than ever thanks to the ease of communication through social media. If your brand doesn’t have at least a couple of social media accounts, you can be missing out on a huge chunk of potential clients and followers.
With that said, social media also comes with some responsibility. While it can seem more casual, the interaction you have with your audience through these channels still has to reflect your brand’s personality and voice. Since your interactions can be seen by everyone, use social media carefully.
For the best results, create shareable content, in other words, content that your followers will be interested in sharing on their own profiles. Asking questions, answering comments, and sharing user-generated content are also great practices. Don’t forget that you can also use analytics tools to check your post stats for an easier time getting to know what content performs best with your audience.
3. Be All You
Getting your brand to take off and grow exponentially won’t just happen overnight. People tend to forget that big brands that are highly successful started off small too. Taking inspiration from them is a great idea, but definitely avoid copying them. Remember that what worked for them won’t work for everyone, and what worked when they launched may no longer be relevant at all.
What we’re trying to get across is that it’s important that you take your own approach when it comes to branding and marketing. Do your research on branding trends and staples, but don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment. To make this easier, focus some of your attention on what sets your brand apart from the rest. There may be some brands in your field that are similar to yours, so focus on highlighting what makes you different and better than them.
Standing out will be easier if you aren’t copying another brand, and there’s no question that consumers prefer originality over a bad copy. Do take some branding tips from your competitors but make your brand all you.
4. Focus on Your Visuals
We live in a very visual society, so creating the right assets can help set you apart from the competition. When creating visual assets for any platform, these should match your brand’s personality and it should be clear they’re coming from you. If you can achieve this without even having your logo present, even better.
Whether you’re creating social media posts or images for ads, if you’re not a designer, this can seem like a huge challenge. Luckily, there are plenty of tools you can use to achieve great social media posts, product images, and even videos the fit your brand perfectly. If you’ve never used a mockup, this is a great way to save time and money. With mockups, you can produce great images of your products without having to deal with all of the implications of a photoshoot.
Keep in mind that your visual assets should all match your brand and reflect your personality because brand consistency is a must. Stick to similar color palettes, images, and typography so your images look consistent and uniform.
5. Deliver on Your Promises
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos
A lot of what people say about your brand is based on their personal experiences with it. This is why it’s so important that you stick to your brand’s values, mission, and promises. For brands, these have always been important, but more than ever, people will expect you to stick to them.
Rather than talking about your brand’s values or posting about them, show that you’re committed to them. After all, actions speak louder than words. Think about this as if you were building a personal brand and personally talking to each one of your customers. Your reputation is on the line, so stick to what matters.
Delivering on your promises ensures that you’ll be associated with positive experiences and feelings. If you ignore your values and solely focus on making money, you may lose customers or even get some backlash.
These branding tips can help you establish a more recognizable brand or even take your current brand from plain to eye-catching. If you have some more tips that have worked for your brand, feel free to share them with us in the comments below!
