Branding, Images, and Social Media
Many people think that “Branding” = “A Logo”. Well, a logo is certainly part of the branding for their business, but the truth is, it’s so much more than that! “Branding” has to do with everything visual that represents your business, and has roots clear down to your culture, business personality, customer service, and environment. If you’re developing your brand, here are a few things you need to think about.
What You See Is What You Get
The visual components of your business (your logo, images, fonts, and colours) should accurately represent the invisible components. Don’t present an unprofessional image if you are a professional business. It will send the wrong messages to your audience and you will attract the wrong clients. Likewise, if your ideal audience are in their 20s or 30s, and you don’t have a healthy social media presence you will fail to attract the right audience. So be thoughtful about how you present your business. Use images and words that truly reflect who you are, and use them in ways that will reach your niche.
Consistency Is Critical
First, be consistent with the visuals. Think about this: Apple doesn’t use 14 different apples for their logo. They may occasionally have slight variations on it, but it’s still the same apple. McDonald’s do not turn the “golden arches” into a different shape or colour. And the result is that anywhere in the world, you can see the apple or the arches and you know exactly what company you’re dealing with. If you don’t develop and use your images, logo, colours, and fonts consistently, you are fighting an uphill battle: people won’t recognise you when they see you.
Second, be consistent with how you use those visuals. Use them across your website, blog and social media platforms. Use them in your photos and videos. Use them often, use them faithfully. Definitely try new things once in a while to see if you will reach new people or get a better response. But be thoughtful and strategic about it so that you can actually compare results and know for sure that the impact was (or wasn’t) what you were looking for.
Be Original!
This is my very nice way of saying “don’t steal”. Did you realise that photos online aren’t usually there for the taking? Some people didn’t know that – and some did, but they steal photos anyway. And that’s just not cool. Or professional. It’s the visual form of plagiarism. Splurge a tiny bit if you need stock photos or vectors. Make them yourself – or hire someone to make them for you. Or get to know which sites actually allow free downloads. (Two of my favorite resources are Pixabay and Canva!)
If you are willing to put some time and effort into developing your brand clearly, you will position yourself to show off who you really are, and attract the right clients to your business.
This blog post was written by Rose McChesney, click through to her website to find out more about how she can benefit your business.
