The Basics of Branding
You’re here to learn about branding and how to get it right for your business, but first, you need to know the basics of branding.
What is it all about? What is branding and why do you need a brand for your business?
Branding is a particular look and feel you give your business. Branding considers your business’s place in the market, its personality, its tone of voice, the way it looks, and the way it sounds. A strategic brand researches and delves into all of these quirks to create a plan, a plan that will build your brand and attract your ideal clients.
Going on Canva and creating a logo from a template is not creating a brand. Although you are starting one of many foundations, unless it is well thought out, you are simply using someone else’s design to create your business’s identity. Surely you should be the one to decide how your brand should be perceived?!
So, how do you create a basic brand for your business?
The look and feel of your brand should be created visually and verbally.
Visually the most common aspects of branding are your logo, colours, and fonts. You could go on to develop your brand further with design elements such as imagery, patterns, video, photography, brochures, brand stationery, etc.
Verbally the most common aspect would be the tone of voice. How you sound, how you talk, and the written word.
Branding is how your audience perceives your business and helps them make a decision on whether they should buy from you or not.
You might want to look luxurious, you might want to look budget. You could be a huge corporate company or a freelancer offering a more personable service. Whatever story you need to tell, your brand should help you deliver so you can reach your ideal clients.
A Night Out
Imagine, you’ve been in lockdown for 2 years, you haven’t had your hair done, the last fancy outfit you wore was a lifetime ago, you’ve forgotten how to put makeup on and you feel a bit crap about the whole situation. But then lockdown lifts! You get to go to the hairdressers, you get your nails done, you go and buy that amazingly gorgeous outfit you’ve been dying for, you get your makeup on and you look & feel amazing.
You go out, it feels like everyone is looking at you, looking at how well you scrub up, people comment on your outfit, they want to know where it’s from, they say you’re hair looks amazing and you look so well!
How do you feel? Bloody brilliant, that’s how! You have an awesome night and wish you could do it all over again!
Well, my friend, this is what a rebrand can achieve for your business. We can get rid of that brand that’s making you feel a bit crap, a bit meh, a bit bored. We give your business a facelift. We boost your confidence, we get you seen, and get everyone talking about you!
Sounds good right?! So how do you get started with the basics of branding your business?
Here are 5 necessities for creating the basics of branding your business:
1. Business Name
Make it simple, easy to read, easy to say, and easy to spell. This will make it much more memorable.
2. Logo
Again, less is more. I’m not saying you just need to find a nice font and slap it on. Create something unique, something that’s you and something your clients would love. Get creative!
3. Fonts
Fonts can be tricky, which one do you choose? You need to think about this strategically. Choose one that’s easy to read but that also reflects your brand.
4. Colour Palette
Same as the fonts guys! You need to think about this strategically and don’t choose 5 million! Keep it simple, especially if you’re going to DIY!
5. Mini Brand Guidelines
These are an absolute must, they are a set of rules that stop you from going off course and using different colours & fonts. Consistency is another vital rule of branding and brand guidelines will help you with that. You can download my free Canva Mini Brand Guideline template here.
There are 3 ways you can create these basic brand assets:
1. DIY
Do it yourself! You can hit up Canva, or get your sketch on and create a design on Procreate.
2. Purchase Templates
Places like Creative Market, PlaceIt, and Etsy offer templates that you can purchase and edit with your business name and brand colours.*
3. Invest in a designer
Choose a brand designer who you like the style of to help you create a fully bespoke brand. And if they are a strategic brand designer you’ll know that whatever they create will be working for you as a marketing tool too, rather than something that just looks nice.
*FYI just so you know, when you use a template you don’t own the copyright of the logo so you wouldn’t be able to trademark it.
Having these assets in place allows you to begin building brand awareness of your business. Brand awareness is an evolving process that helps you build that know, like, and trust factor which in turn makes you:
- Memorable! And you want to be memorable right, especially when someone is thinking “hmmm I need a coach, oh yeah, I remember what’s her name because she uses that awesome colour I love.”
- Professional! Let’s be honest, if you’ve got a crap brand are people going to take you seriously?
- Trustworthy! Having a brand (not just a logo) I’m talking a full-blown brand, like matching social media graphics, beautiful slide decks, and a gorgeous website… Well, you’re going to look really established and trustworthy. Which is what you are! People will recognise how amazing you are and invest in you.
Looking and feeling memorable, professional, and trustworthy helps you gain your cheerleaders, people who will rave about your business, buy from you or refer you to others. It builds your brand, creates a sense of belief. Branding can instill loyalty and help your business flourish.
If you’d like to chat about your brand’s identity design please fill in the contact form below!