You need to have a clear brand identity. Your brand should reflect who you are, what your business is, and have a clear message. If you have been frustrated and you aren’t being seen, perhaps you need to take a closer look at your brand identity. I have a few simple steps you can take first to freshen it up.
Colors.
You created your logo when you started your business. More often then not, you chose 2-4 colors you liked (or you thought might have been a good fit for your business) and these colors are a part of your logo. Now that you know what they, USE them! They are a part of your branding and you need to use them. They should be on your website, they should be in your social media pages.
Colors are important. People will see your color combo and start associating that with you. Let me see if I can spark a few color combos for you; I bet you’ll know exactly who they are:
- A brown truck
- A golden “M”
- A white bird on a blue background
- A blue “F”.
Did images of UPS, McDonald’s, Twitter, and Facebook just jump in your head? We all know them because of their color combinations. People remember and associate colors with a brand. If I said Target to you, you immediately know their brand color is red. You want to spark that type of remembrance in your clients and customers. YOu spent the time to come up with the brand colors, now use them!
How?
So, you took a fabulous picture of you working at the beach. Your colors aren’t sandy brown nor ocean blue. What do you do? Add a filter on your image using your brand color. Why not add text to your image using your brand colors? You could do this right on top or add a grey/black or white box on top of the image and then add in your colored text. Make it simple and add a simple frame with your brand colors.
Font.
Let’s think back to when you created your logo. Yes, almost everything circles around to that. When you chose the colors, you probably grabbed a font or two and tried them out. Some were a NO right away and maybe one or two stayed. These fonts will be a part of what you are known for.
If your logo has a pretty, swirly font you make not be able to keep this cohesive all the time. Use only swirly fonts for larger text. If you use it too small, no one will read your message. And you want them to read your message! Use the font in your logo as often as you can but find a font or two that you use consistently. Here are a few more examples:
- Coca-Cola
- Yahoo!
- SubWay
- Paypal
I bet you immediately can identify the above. You may even be thinking about the look of the font, the colors of the logo, and you may even be thinking about what kind of company is associated with that brand. Beverage, Food, Information, or Money. Your brand goal is to make sure that this happens when your customers see the fonts you choose. And don’t forget to use those brand colors for the most impact.
How?
Use one or two fonts in your social media posts regularly. Hopefully these are from your logo. Have these fonts installed on your device and saved so they are easy to grab when you are editing a photo or creating a text image. A good rule is to use 2 fonts on a website. On occasion, 3 fonts but mainly keep to 2. One for headings or things you want to stand out and one for the main content of your page. That third one may be good for specials or if you have a hard to read swirly font, you may need to stick with 2 and 3 and not use the original swirly font too often.
Message.
This one is a little tougher. If you have a tag line, that is your message. But while everyone “should” have a tag line, not everyone does. So, what do you do then? Make sure what you are selling or offering is clear. Make sure people know, when they see your logo, see your brand colors, see that font, you are selling/offering (your offer). Let’s review the companies above. You know what each and everyone one of them offers or sells. You see those colors, that font choice or their logo and you immediately can say, they offer/sell (delivery, soda, food, money, etc.)
What if your message isn’t clear? I’ve struggled with this as well. I’ve maintained my logo, my colors, my fonts but I offer not only web development but also some course creation, virtual assistance services and art classes. Sound like a lot to put in a tag line. So, I took a good look and shortened it up a little – Creative Tech VA. Hits on a bunch of points. The creative artist, the creative web developer, the creative course creator, the creative virtual assistant. It covers a lot. Will I always keep all of these in my offerings? Maybe not but that’s why there is such a thing as ‘re-branding’.
Take a good look at what your offers and services are, write them down and see where they overlap. Then build your message off of that. If you’ve been in business a while, you should know what your message is. Put it out there. Put your message in a social media post. Make sure your message is clear on your website. Get out there and let your message be known.
How?
Just tell them. This is the easiest way to get it out there. Use that tag line and put together an image, photo or post about what you offer or do. Just put it up on social media. Just have it on the first page of your website – above the fold! (above the fold just means on the top, before they have to scroll down). Another option, ask questions. People may see your message, your tag line but they may not realize what it is your are offering. What services/products do you offer that will help your potential client? Ask questions around that. Let it be known that your services/products will help them.
Be Consistent.
These are just three simple things you can do consistently to help people identify with your brand. How are you doing? Are your being consistent? What do you need help with? Let us know in the comments, maybe we can offer some help.