Guest article provided by: emmajaynecreative.co.uk
Setting up a new business isn’t the easiest of tasks. There’s so much to do, the list can feel never ending. It’s tempting to push tasks such as setting up your brand to the bottom of the list, but here’s why it’s important to think about it from the outset.
You need clients to bring in the money
The whole point of starting the business is to make a great life for yourself, right? So you’ll need to be able to attract clients who will buy your products or services. Clients pay the bills at the end of the day, so you’ll need to be positioning yourself to attract them!
It’s not as simple as just launching a brand and people will come. You need to think about who you are aiming your services at. Who, specifically are you hoping to attract? Once you know this, you can go about tailoring your offering to best appeal to them.
Know your target audience
The best brands start by knowing who their target audience is. Start to think about your niche and ask yourself the following:
Are my clients male or female?
What is their age?
Where do the live?
What sort of careers do they have?
What media do they consume?
What hobbies do they have?
What excites them?
You can also think about WHY they will be buying your product or service.
What drives them to buy?
Are you solving a big problem for them?
In what way can you help them?
How do they feel prior to coming to you?
How would you like them to go away feeling afterwards?
Remember emotions play a big part in purchasing behaviour!
Know your core values
Now lets think about you as a business. What do you stand for? When you’re building a brand, you want to be known for something – what is that?
Honesty?
Trustworthiness?
Being approachable?
Being traditional?
Go back to how you want the customer to FEEL about you, and see what key words come out. Once you have all your values and ideal clients written down, it’s time to combine the two into a wonderful strategic brand.
Strategic design
Once you have all of your research nailed down, it’s time to think about your logo mark. You may want to enlist the help of a designer with this, but if you’re starting off on your own, this is where your notes become invaluable.
Remember, it’s all about appealing to your target audience and conveying the messaging you want them to feel about you. For example, if you want to appear traditional, a good place to start would be to look at traditional style fonts such as sans serifs. If you want to appeal to children, perhaps something more handwritten and fun might be the way to go.
It’s worth looking into a bit of colour psychology here too – it’s no accident that blue is a very popular colour, accounting for nearly 40% of the entire list of Fortune 500 companies. (Source: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/logo-design-stats/) Blue is the colour that makes people think of trust and reliability. It’s the colour of authority and stability, so it’s no wonder that many brands want to be seen this way.
Brand voice
Once you have the perfect design and colours, it’s all about rolling it out and being consistent. Remember, your brand voice is important. You need to come across in the same way, every time. Whether that’s when someone contacts you on social media, email or phone. Your brand is about every touch point you have with your customers, and the general perception they have of you.
Need a hand?
If this all sounds like a lot to think about, I can help at www.emmajaynecreative.co.uk Branding and print design are my speciality, so I can give you that helping hand to get your business in the right place – from the beginning. Alternatively, head over to my Brand Clarity Workbook for a step by step guide, leaving you with a clear direction for how to position your brand.
Written by Emma Venables,
Graphic Designer at Emma jayne creative
Image by Pixabay