Unless you are the first company in the niche, building a distinct brand can be a tough challenge. With countless competitors and their massive marketing budgets, small businesses struggle to create brands that thrive in the hypercompetitive environment. However, finding your unique voice without outsourcing a team of marketing and design professionals is not always “Mission Impossible”.

Whether you own a restaurant or an e-commerce store, you need Branding to kick off your business.

Why Branding Is Important

Without Branding, a company fails to deliver a clear and consistent message to its target audience. Hence, it cannot be perceived as the sole provider of a solution to a problem or need.

Without Branding, you won’t be able to:

  • Build the brand’s credibility;
  • Emotionally connect prospects with products and services you offer;
  • Motivate a client to buy;
  • Win a loyal customer base.

If you still think that your brand can thrive without Branding, we recommend you to read this article about the Importance of Branding.

What Makes a Good Brand

Good branding makes people feel that your brand is the right choice and that it can be trusted.

Thanks to its consistent branding efforts, Lush, a cosmetic retailer, built a brand that is well-known all over the world for its safe, fare-trade ingredients and considered #1 store that offers cruelty-free products.

How to Build a Branding Strategy

To design a branding strategy, you need to start with the basics: Brand Personality, Colours, and Typography.

Brand Personality

Before creating a Brand Identity, every business needs to find its voice.

Source: Austin Distel via Unsplash

To understand your brand’s uniqueness, answer the following questions:

  • What are the main goals and the mission of the brand?
  • What makes it different?
  • How would you describe your business in three sentences?
  • How do customers perceive your brand?
  • What’s the experience you want to share with your clients?
  • What emotions do you want your brand to induce?

Once you’ve answered these questions, it won’t take long to decide on your preferred brand personality.

Brand Colours

It’s been proven that a human brain process images 60,000 times faster than text. Hence, it makes sense to brighten up your message with a splash of colour. However, make sure to stick to the same colour palette; like that, you will stimulate brand recognition and make your brand identity more memorable.

Source: Daniele Levis Pelusi via Unspalsh

To choose the best colours for your brand, leverage colour theory and colour psychology as people have strong psychological associations with colour.

Typography

If you know your Brand Personality, choosing typography won’t be difficult. Usually, a brand has two-three fonts, which makes it easy to stay consistent.

Source: Amador Loureiro via Unsplash

Don’t choose typography that is too small or hard to read. It should follow the common design patterns but convey the right message and be easy to read.

Be Professional and Consistent

Now when you know in what direction to move, you can consider working on Design for both digital and traditional assets. Remember to stay consistent and create designs that reflect your Brand Identity and follow your Style Guidelines.

Website

Your website is probably the first thing your potential customers see when browsing the Web. Make sure your domain follows the same design guidelines as the rest of your visual assets and has a user-friendly interface.

You don’t need to know how to code to make a beautiful and functioning website. WordPress offers different free templates, or if you want to have more flexibility, you can invest in drag-and-drop widgets.

Promotional Materials and Product Packaging

Whether it is a flyer, catalogue, packaging, direct mail or branded stationary, your promotional materials is a great way to strengthen brand recognition. By handing out your marketing materials, you spread the word about your business and help your customers remember your brand better and longer.

Social Media

Now even B2B companies have Social Media accounts. Being a vital source of online sales, Social Media is your marketing ally. To boost the success of your SMM, plan your content marketing campaigns and make it consistent and relevant to your target audience.

Stay Unique

Source: Levi Saunders via Unsplash

No matter what you do, don’t be like other brands. Your voice should come through in your designs on both digital and traditional assets. Only by being unique and customer-oriented, you will earn trust and recognition.

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