Branding is something you should care about deeply, even as a small business owner without a dedicated marketing team and operating on a limited budget. Branding deals with perception management or, essentially, positively influencing your customers’ viewpoint when it comes to your business. If you play your cards correctly, you can leverage your brand to make an unforgettable impression on customers – new and old – and form a lasting emotional connection with them. You don’t necessarily need to invest a great deal of money to create a brand either.

Here, The Humanista Co. takes a deep dive into the art and science of branding, starting with the basics and moving into what you need to design your own impactful brand:

What is branding?

Your brand is who you are, who you want to be, and who people perceive you to be. You can think of your brand as your business’s personality – everything that makes you unique in your non-unique niche. It covers your identity, core values, your style, culture, and the unique way in which you do business.

To give you an example, Ford and General Motors both make cars, but they do it in their own inimitable way. They have distinct styles, customer service, and identities. Their products are easy to tell apart. Each company has a separate reputation, which draws a certain kind of consumer to them. Much of their success can be attributed to their brand, which was carefully shaped over time.

Why you need to care about branding:

If you aren’t convinced of the value of branding yet, here are 4 extra reasons that may help:

1. Your brand makes you recognizable

Your brand, being your distinct identity, makes you more recognizable and memorable in the marketplace. Your brand elements – such as striking colors and a powerful logo – can draw attention to your product or service.

2. It makes your USP clearer

Your brand makes your USP clearer and easier to understand for customers. Depending on the branding strategy that you use, your customers can tell at a glance what you do and how they can benefit from your product or service.

3. It gives you and your employees an image to live up to

Your brand identity will bring with it a sense of pride. The values associated with your brand – like putting the customer first or transparency and trust – can give your employees a set of standards to emulate.

4. It’s indicative of quality and can boost your revenues

Brands are associated with quality and professionalism. When accompanied by aesthetically- appealing branding, your product or service will be taken more seriously and will likely be picked up faster and maximize your profitability.

The difference between brand, branding, and brand identity

Brand, branding, and brand identity are three interrelated concepts that you need to know about. They’re often used interchangeably (we’ve used them that way ourselves), but there are some key differences that you should know about. Your brand refers to the core identity – your values, mission, and products or services. Branding is the act of creating your brand and also making sure your audience perceives you the way you want to be perceived. Last is your brand identity. This refers to your logos, taglines, colors, business cards, websites, and other tangible elements that you use to communicate your brand.

Consider the type of brand you need

Brands aren’t cardboard cut-out from the same generic template. They’re living, breathing, and constantly evolving WIPs. You may find that the perfect brand identity for you and your unique business differs significantly from what your competitors have – and that’s okay. Below are some of the most popular types of brands (or branding templates):

• Personal: Personal brands revolve around a person. This type of branding is suitable for solopreneurs or the self-employed. A good example of someone who has built a thriving business out of a personal brand is Oprah Winfrey.

• Product or service: This is a type of branding that is centered around your product or service more than it does your business name. For instance, the Google Search engine or the iPhone from Apple.

• Retail branding: This is when retailers sell many different products under a unique brand name. For instance, Walmart sells everything from groceries to electronics, all under the Walmart brand name.

Identify your ideal target market to focus your branding efforts

The type of branding that would best suit your unique business depends heavily on your target market. Your brand needs to be particularly appealing to your ideal customer’s sensibilities. You have to start by defining your ideal customer’s unique characteristics first – starting from income, age, geographic area, revenue, industry, and more. Then, you need to come up with a unique blend of core identity and aesthetic design that would most appeal to them.

Which branding projects can you DIY?

Branding involves many tangibles and intangibles. The process can involve market research, creating branding assets like logos, coming up with a branding strategy, implementation, testing, analytics, packaging, naming, copywriting, branding experience, communications, and refinement. You will find branding agencies out there that specialize in a few of these processes.

As a small business owner, you don’t necessarily need to hire a branding agency (although that is always an option) for any of these processes. You don’t need a full-fledged branding strategy either. You can do the basics by yourself – including coming up with a basic brand identity. At the very least, you can design your business logo yourself.

A business logo is a core element of every brand’s visual identity. It makes you seem credible and put together. You don’t need a graphic designer to create a logo and peripherals like a banner. Try creating a banner design online instead to make an appealing and creative one on your own. Simply choose a style and icon, add in text, adjust font and colors, and pick from an assortment of templates.

Some other branding elements you can DIY include a tagline, website, images, symbols, typography, colors, voice, and tone. Start by defining your core values and also identify your ideal customers before you proceed with this stage.

If you’re looking to DIY your website, we specialize in high-end Squarespace website templates to meet your branding needs. Designed and customizable for all three brand types: personal, product, and service-based brands.

Sharpening your business skills can help

Sometimes it’s worth the time and effort to seek higher education that would aid you with your branding and general business efforts. For instance, if you go back to school and earn a business degree, you would develop your business acumen and be better able to make branding or marketing-related decisions. If you’re busy running your business or tending to family obligations, you can pursue an online degree program to achieve your diploma in your spare time. If you pick an online school, make sure it’s accredited and offers competitive tuition rates.

Conclusion

Your brand isn’t just about who you are as a company today but who you want to be one day. Design your brand and business logo in a way that captures your vision for the future of your company. Keep an eye on changing market conditions and keep evolving your brand accordingly for long-term success.

Guest post written by Sam Marcum from bizbenefitguide.com