The Importance of Branding

Branding is what sets you apart and helps you stand out in a saturated market. It’s the first impression you give to your potential customer and the reason they’ll choose you over the others. Whether you’re an established business or just starting out, consistent branding will leave a lasting impression.

Start with a strategy. Before you hire a designer to create your logo or website think about what message you want to convey. What are you selling, who do you want to attract? These are things that come into play when thinking about style and colors and graphics. Look at what your competition is doing. Think of ways in which you can set yourself apart from them so customers will choose you. This is all part of good branding.

Consistency is key. Using the same fonts and colors throughout your messaging keeps the guesswork out of how your packaging, website or social media campaign should look. Consistency creates credibility with your customers and helps them to remember you.

Your branding should reflect your values and clearly define who you are as a business. If you’re an organic food company your packaging should highlight your commitment to the environment. Recyclable, earth-friendly packaging would be a better choice than styrofoam containers. A company shipping artisan chocolates might choose a higher quality custom designed box to set them apart from other chocolate companies.

Make your packaging, “good enough to eat.” You want your customer to taste what’s inside before they even open it. Think about “curb appeal.” Design your box so it stands out in the recycling bin. You’d be surprised at how many people pay attention to discarded boxes sitting with the trash! A great example of this can be found here

As a small business or one just starting out, costs play a huge role in branding decisions and may make it feel like it’s an unnecessary expense. But setting the foundation with a consistent message and branding from the beginning will set the course for your business as it grows and make it less likely you’ll need to make costly changes down the road.