And when going smart in business, one might consider branding. Why? Because it’s a wise way to stand out from the competition out there… if you’re not distinct, you’ll get lost in the sea of businesses.
In marketing, branding is considered the holy grail in turning a name into a brand. If there’s no branding, there’s no brand. To successfully do branding, you need to excel in three areas.
- Standing out from the other companies in your field of business
- Targeting the right audience
- Communicating your story consistently
Before we go any further, maybe we should clear out the doubts on the term “branding” itself. Branding is all about using comprehensive messages, texts and styles to represent the services and products of a company. It actively creates a perception in the mind of people when they read or think of your business.
For example, Regal Wins as the business name already reflects a lavish and posh platform. And on both the site and the mobile app, they have developed the aesthetics to reflect a luxurious casino destination. Regal Wins adopts a language that fits the average consumer without leaving behind the luxurious feel.
For successful branding, all communications and pages that go directly in contact with your customers should reflect your style. As such, it becomes very important to decide the concept of the brand before working on your images, contents and layouts.
A good practice is to take your time and find inspiration from other brands. What are they doing right and anticipate what they might be doing wrong? You might consider doing a SWOT analysis after you’ve done your competitor research.
What’s A SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. That’s what it means. Each of the element will serve as a point to reflect on when deciding branding as well as customer experiences.
Watch out! Getting inspiration is one thing, but copying is another story! You cannot use another business’ brand identity. Another poor tactic is confusing people by making a small business branding very similar to another one. For example, you would obviously be ripping off Facebook if you name your social media platform Friendbook with blue and white colors. In order to create an attractive brand name, you can use a name generator to come up with a name that is appealing to consumers and is unique.
When branding, a good logo design comes a long way. It is always recommended to invest in having a professional logo designed. Loads of freelance graphic designers might help you in making a brand logo! But make sure not to overdo it. A good logo is easily identified, branded and understandable.
Branding is often followed by consistency. That means, everything you’re doing in one page will more or less be applicable in the second one as well… in the same style. For contents, using a consistent voice and tone helps in improving your branding. Will you be more conversational or formal? With the brand voice determined, you will ultimately work on the brand personality. That way, the brand is recognised as a “person”.
Branding takes time and you must be patient, which is the case in every business. Research and analysis are the only way you can evaluate if you’re doing things right or need to improve… or if you’re going overboard!