Importance of Having Business Branding

When you have a business, you have a brand. Your brand is your face to the world: a visual representation of who you are and what you do. It is what people use to recognise and develop loyalty to your business. Today we're going to explain why business branding is important and share some tips from graphic designer Janelle.

Understanding Business Branding

There's more to your business' branding than your logo. We asked Janelle to explain it for us:

"Branding is important for businesses of all shapes and sizes. A big mistake I see too often is small businesses only investing in a logo design that they slop onto a poorly designed business card and think that's all that's required to build a brand. They have no consistency or authenticity and end up making their business look unprofessional and clumsy.

So what is branding if it’s not a logo and some colours? Your brand is how your client or customers see you, from the way your logo looks, the colours you use, they way you speak on social media, and the over all experience your customer receives.

Your vision - your voice - your visuals = your brand

In this day and age, you’re competing not only with local businesses but on a global scale, so having a consistent brand identity needs some serious attention. 

People share and talk about the brands they love, they won’t talk about a business that they can’t remember.

Branding is important to your business because it creates trust, builds value, improves recognition and in turn, connects you to your customers on an emotional level."

6 Reasons Why You Need Great Business Branding

You know that branding builds trust between you and your customer, but there are plenty of other reasons too, including:

• building recognition of who you are and what you do
• helps set you apart from the competition
• tells people what kind of business you are
• helps generate referrals
• let's customers know what they can expect from your business
• following your brand guidelines helps you to stay constant in your message to the world

For your business branding to be successful, you need to use it well! Next we'll explain what your brand guidelines should contain and how they can help you to use your branding like an expert.

Your Brand Guidelines: What Are They & How Do You Use Them?

Your brand guidelines are a collection of rules regarding how your brand works. Also known as a style guide, brand standards or brand book, they include information such as:

• your mission statement
• tone of voice
• where your logo can be used
• colour palette
• font styles and where to use them
• business card and letterhead designs
• examples of image style and photographs which work with your brand
• your brand's history and vision for the future
• key values and personality of your brand

A professional graphic designer can help you create your brand guidelines, so be sure to use their services if you are unable to create your own brand style.

Using your style guide is relatively easy, if it has been made correctly. Before you do any work on your website or social media, refer to your guidelines as to what you should do. Your style guide will explain where you can use certain imagery, what size it needs to be, the type of wording it should include, and give you examples of what your work should look like.

If you are still trying to decide upon your brand style, take a read of our article Popular Website Colour Schemes for some extra advice.