“Branding,” is a total buzz word right now, and if you’re anything like most business owners, you know you need it, but you’re not 100% sure what branding really means or why it’s so important.

Don’t fear, though, because not being able to define “branding” is absolutely normal; it’s a term that encompasses a myriad of meanings and connotations. We’re here to break down this seemingly convoluted word into a definition that you can easily understand and implement within your own business.

OUR DEFINITION OF BRANDING

Our favorite way to define branding is, “your promise to your customer.” While this definition may seem oversimplified, it truly encapsulates everything that strong branding can offer.

Strong branding should inform your customer about what they can expect from your business before they purchase your product/service, set foot in your office, or even have any contact with you.

Branding can take the form of your business’s core values, brand voice, marketing, visuals, or really any format in which you present your brand to the public. Keep in mind that the theme among all of these forms, though, is creating trust with your client or customer.

WHY DOES MY BUSINESS NEED A STRONG BRAND?

Branding is all about creating consistency within your business’s' public persona. When people begin to perceive consistency in your business’s image, verbiage, and marketing, they start to understand what they can expect from you and learn to trust your brand.

Strong branding also helps your audience envision what working with you or purchasing from you would be like. In our age of market saturation, it’s essential that your brand sets you apart from the competition by strongly representing who you are, what you do, and what people can expect when working with or purchasing from you.

BRANDING ISN’T JUST A LOGO

Many people succumb to the belief that their logo is their branding. However, the reality is that your logo should never be the first step when creating a strong brand for your business.

You should first spend lots of time considering the core values and structures of your business, such as a strong brand name, your mission, your ideal clientele, and your “why.”Your brand begins with a strong sense of who you are as a company, what you do, and why you do what you do.

You can pay tens of thousands of dollars for gorgeous visual branding, but if you haven’t first defined the major details about your company and your ideal customer, your visual brand is not going to serve you well.

BE STRATEGIC WITH YOUR BRANDING

Once you’ve worked hard on that strong sense of your business’s core values and structure, you can then move forward into expressing those elements in your visual branding. We are passionate about visual branding at Foxtrot Branding because it’s so important to create visuals that are not only beautiful but also highly strategic.

While your logo is a vital part of your visual branding, there are so many more elements to consider, such as the colors and fonts you use in marketing materials, your website design, and your print collateral, like fliers and brochures.

Essentially, every medium that expresses your brand is part of your visual branding. The most important things each of these elements should do are:

1. Reflect who you are as a company

2. Be designed with the intention of attracting your ideal customer

HOW SOON SHOULD I HAVE MY BRANDING FIGURED OUT?

Branding may seem like a part of your business you can work on later, and as business owners ourselves, we completely understand how difficult it can be to prioritize your own business on your task list.

Nailing down your branding, however, should always be high in your priorities to complete before you even begin marketing yourself. You need to project a strong and consistent image and voice from day one with your customers, as it will create brand recognition and trust, which is essential for your business’s sustainability.

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL

We said it once and we’ll say it again: your brand is your promise to your customer. The first step is to define your business’ core values, mission, ideal clientele, and your “why.” Really get nitty gritty when describing who you are, what you do, and why you do it.

Next, hire a professional to help you design beautiful and strategic visual branding to represent your business’ best self. Not sure where to begin with hiring a designer? Read our other post “How To Choose The Right Graphic Designer For Your Brand.”

Finally, after some time and deliberation, you and your designer of choice should have developed a strong, intentionally built brand that will help your business thrive, reach its ideal clientele, make more money, and change more lives.

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