If you are just starting out as a small business, it can be challenging to figure out which branding elements are the most useful for your business to increase brand awareness without spending a lot of money and valuable time in the initial stages. To help you navigate a successful brand launch, we’ve put together our top 5 must have branding elements your business needs for building a strong, consistent and attractive brand.
Logo
You probably know this but a logo is important for your business because it communicates the values, quality and ownership of your services. It’s the focal element that will be imprinted in the minds of your clients and on your products, business cards, website and social media channels. A logo is a combination of text and imagery with your business name. It creates a visual symbol of your vision and is likely to be the first point of interaction people have with your brand. A good logo creates an opportunity for your business to make a great first impression and visually express your purpose to your audience and portray quality services and offerings.
Color Palette
Once you’ve set up your logo, you will need to build a strong color palette that creates a vibrant visual experience for your target audience, while simultaneously showcasing your brand’s unique personality. The selection of your color palette doesn’t just make your brand material such as the website, logo and branded content more attractive, it also affects the way people will engage and remember your brand. Think Tiffany Blue, Target red, Breast Cancer Pink. Brands put lots of thought into their color palette for good reason, the correct color palette makes your brand attractive, affects the mood of your audience and subconsciously drives consumers to take action and buy from your services.
Typography
Just like the color palette will evoke a feeling for your customers, typography will set the tone and values of your brand. When your small business is just starting, a persistent type font should be set up across all your collateral. Correct use of Typography allows you to define your visual personality. Example, type can make your brand look modern, vintage, bold or romantic. The choice of font or font combination will create a non-verbal message your brand will communicate and create memorable experiences for your audience when they read the copy on your website, emails, logo and overall marketing material.
Branded photography or graphical elements
We’ve already established the first 3 branding elements on our list to get your business identity setup. Now that you have your logo, color palette and typography, having branded photographs or graphical elements elevates the look and feel of your brand. It can help customers better understand the benefits of the service you’re offering as well as stimulate inspiration of the life your clients will get. An example of successful branding through photography is the popular coworking space WEWORK which they’ve achieved over a period of time. When you think of a brand name, it’s likely that a distinct image of the brand will come to mind due to its unique style and vibe.
Brand consistency
Consumers look for reliability, when you’ve adopted the same visual themes across all your marketing and promotional material, then they are more likely to become returning customers and to refer other people to your business. Your branding elements should work cohesively together and be built out in a style guide which a designer would set up. A style guide can be a sheet or more that serves as a manual on how to correctly use your logo, color palette, typography, branded photographs and graphics across your marketing and promotional material. A consistent brand defined with a style guide will also help future designers and partners that your company works with to successfully use your material when it’s incorporated on external websites or publications.
The Takeaway
Having consistent elements with strong branding when your business is just starting out creates a great opportunity for your business to create a lasting impression and attract the right customers. How do you feel about your current branding? Do your branding elements represent your ideal business image and the type of customers you’re trying to attract? Schedule a brand consultation with us and gain clarity and insight into your brand elements and overall positioning.
