We see it all the time. Hardworking business owners who have been focused on providing the best service they can and building a really solid reputation. Our hats are off to you! Way to put your focus and energy on your brand elements and building something really awesome!

 

Brand Elements

So you’ve reached some new milestone in your business. And perhaps you’re ready to expand. To reach more, new customers or clients. You take stock of the way you’ve been marketing to clients to evaluate what’s really worked. Maybe you have printed materials like business cards or brochures. Maybe you’ve mostly been focused on your online presence. 

Do Your Brand Elements Match?

 

As you look at the tools you’ve used to attract customers and clients, do they look like they all came from the same business? Here are some specific things to consider as you review your items:

• Have you used certain colors consistently through your marketing? 
• Have you used the same fonts in your written materials?
• If you have a logo, has it always looked the same? 
• Do you think your logo still fits your current business? 

Time for a Change

 

If your marketing materials are a bit of a hodgepodge and you’re focused on attracting new customers, it might be time to update your branding. Hopefully, this doesn’t sound like a scary chore to you. When we do branding for clients, it often ends up feeling like a celebration for them. They’ve reached a new level in their business and they’re ready to show off their updated look to attract awesome new customers. Its like getting a fun makeover!

Okay, so you’ve decided you do want to upgrade your branding into something consistent that attracts your ideal customers. Congratulations, that’s exciting! Now you may be wondering if you need professional help with this or if it’s something you can do yourself. We’re a big fan of people doing what makes sense for their business. If you need help deciding, though, you might want to check out this post: Are You Ready for Professional Branding?(link to post)

DIY Tips

 

Decided to go the DIY route? Cool, we’ve totally got your back. Check out some of our other blog posts, where we walk you through the DIY process. And, you can sign up to receive our free DIY Brand Audit Workbook here. The workbook is an easy, step-by-step guide to walk you through the process we cover in our blogs. You can put your notes right into the guide so you can refer back to them as you update your branding. 

Need color or font inspiration? Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to get ideas. We love coming up with new color palettes and fonts and sharing them with our audience. Now, just a tip — your brand colors don’t have to be your favorite colors. Your favorite colors might not actually be the kind of colors your audience associates with the type of service you offer. We talk more about how to make sure your visual branding matches your business here (link to Blog 3). 

 

Working with Branding Professionals

 

Maybe you’ve decided that you really want to upgrade your branding because you know it will bring in awesome new customers, but it seems time-consuming and overwhelming to you. Never fear! That’s what branding professionals like us are here for. And getting help from a professional doesn’t mean you have bad taste or bad ideas. It just means you want someone to help make the process easier and dare we say, even fun?

For example, if you decided to work with us, and you filled out any of the workbook, we would love for you to share your workbook so we could understand where you need help. Then, we would take you through our own custom process so we can get to know the details of your business and your vision. This isn’t about us telling you what to do. This is about us helping you bring your vision to life. 

Here is a branding sheet for one of our awesome clients. We make this sheet to help them keep track of their colors, fonts, and all the variations of their logos. THEN, they can use this as they create packaging, social media graphics, and other marketing materials for their clients. When Laura finishing the brand sheet, I can take it and get the website right in line with it.

 

Brand Elements

 

We know there are a million decisions to be made in a business, especially when you’re a small business owner. Perhaps the idea of updating your branding sounds kind of exciting, but you’re not sure if it’s worth the investment of money for professional branding or time for DIY. If you’d really like to nerd out on this subject, you can check out this in-depth study done on the world’s top brands. If you’d like the Cliff notes version of the study, it’s this: cohesive, consistent brands continue to grow sales even during a global pandemic. 

 

Now we’re not encouraging you to run off and duplicate some big business’s brand. If you think about it, those big businesses are trying to appeal to very large groups of people. Small business branding usually needs to appeal to a really specific audience and turn them into cult-level followers. 

 

We hope this information has been helpful to you. Being in a place where you can refresh or completely update your brand can be really exciting when it’s done right. It’s like a pat on the back for all the hard work you’ve done to reach this point in your business. And a way to stand out in a crowded market. Don’t forget you can sign up to use our free DIY Brand Audit Workbook here. Thanks for reading, and happy branding!

Do you have any other questions on brand elements?  Let us know in a comment below!