The Importance of Branding

What is a brand?

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com

Branding is how you are presenting yourself, the story you are telling, and how you are making customers feel. Branding is more than a logo. Branding is the message you are sending to all your customers and potential customers. It is how that message is delivered, through words, fonts, colors, graphics, and more. How you present your brand through your website, print materials, and social media should be uniform and reflect the values of your business. This will help people understand who you are, what you do, and why they should do business with you.

Why do you need a brand?

Branding is essential for companies because it give your company value and sets you apart from your competitors. Branding will give your company a uniform look, while establishing creditability with your customers.  If you are running a business, from an Etsy shop to a Fortune 500 company, you need branding.

How do you create the perfect brand?

Branding takes time. You really need to know who you are and what you want to say. To figure out your branding, you need to answer a few questions such as:

• Who are you?
• What do you stand for?
• What do you do?
• What makes your different from your competitors?

These answers will be a part of your story and with your story, you will be able to develop your branding. You will need a logo, alternative logos, a color palette, and more. Consider your tagline. What about coordinating materials to help support your story, such as patterns and icons? Have it all in place. Have it somewhere you can reference it often – a Branding Style Guide. Make sure everyone in your company knows how to use the branding properly.

Once you have your branding in place, you’ll need to use it everywhere. You worked hard to perfect the branding that reflects your company, so make sure you are putting it to use on all your materials. Start with your website. If you have an established website, make sure you update it to reflect your brand and story. Put it on your print materials – business cards, flyers, stationary. Also think about where people see you – on social media? Advertisements? Make sure it all reflects your brand correctly. Build that creditability with your customers everywhere they see you.

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