Why a Strong Brand is Important and How You Can Create One

A company brand is more than just its appearance. Everything from the mission, tone, and core values are what give a brand its identity. Then what characteristics make a brand strong? It’s ability to leave a lasting impression. Its uniqueness. A strong brand is effective at communicating something to its customers that will resonate with them. Think about Apple for a minute. When someone asks you what their logo is you can describe it without hesitation, right? The apple with a bite taken out of it. It’s clean, direct, and there’s no other like it.

But the thoughts of a brand don’t just stop at the logo. We usually get an internal feeling- our impression of the brand. And this is usually created from our relationship with it over the years. Also, how the people behind the business represent it in the public eye.

 

Why is this all important?

Because people buy from brands that are memorable. More importantly- brands they trust, that align with their core values.  If you want to build a strong business, you need a foundation of strong branding. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at how that’s achieved.

Discover Your Mission Statement

Every brand has its own story. Being authentic with yours is what will help you to build stronger connections with long-term customers. Whatever it is that led you to your line of business is your story. If you decided to sell teas from local farmers to support their business, give your audience the backstory. Make your brand more personable and people will be impressed. Whatever you stand for- profeminism, environmental protection, anti-animal cruelty- bring that voice into your mission statement. Standing for something forms stronger customer connections. More so than standing for nothing and trying to keep everyone happy.

 

Bring Your Mission Statement to Life

What I mean by this is, give it style. Make it visual. You know what your brand is and what it stands for, so put that into visuals.

• Since a logo is front and center in any brand, start there. You don’t need anything that’s over the top. In fact, with a logo, less is more.  Remember Apple.What’s more, you don’t even need to spend a dime to get a logo that’s professional and unique. Just check out a free logo maker for an effortless, straight-forward logo design process.
• Fonts are another key part of brand design that play a key role in creating a familiarity. You can use 2 or 3 different fonts in your branding, as long as they don’t clash.A helpful tool for this is called Fontjoy. With this free tool, you can browse and pick your favorite style. Then you’ll be presented with possible combinations- fonts that pair well together.
• Are you stuck on colors? Maybe you’d like a nice shade of green with some accent colors for your brand. But perhaps you need some inspiration.Head to Coiors to check out some perfectly paired hues. Choose from already-created palettes, or make your own from scratch. Then simply download the color codes for all future branding projects.
• Every piece of content coming from a business should be well-branded. So it’s also helpful to have a graphic design tool that’s multi-functional for branding various projects.For new business owners, Canva is a life-saver. Combine your logo with images and design elements to create beautifully-branded content. Design your brochures, business cards, social media posts, and much more.
• A strong brand reverberates in everything- even down to the Email signature. A splash of color here, a touch of design there- sometimes the little things go a long way.Customize your Emails with a branded signature by using Hubspot’s free tool. Putting that little bit of extra care into your Email Newsletters will leave a positive impression.

BY : Carla Ochoa