Graphic Design Matters: How Hard Is Your Brand Working For You?
by Blair Cariss
Based on the odd conversation here and there I kind of get the feeling that some of our clients aren’t clear on what branding is about. So I thought I might take the time to discuss the three key reasons you need a strong brand in your marketing.
Brand Building Reason #1:
Emotional Connection.
Your brand is a key way your clients emotionally connect with you, which is critical for client retention and customer loyalty. A professionally designed brand increases the strength of connection.
Before they ever start on your brand a professional designer must first know the product or service you’re selling, the culture of your business, internal and external perceptions, and truly understanding your target market and competition. This is just a small sample of the research that goes into developing a strong brand – it is not just the logo and the colours.
Brand Building Reason #2:
Recognition & Familiarity.
Your customers prefer to buy from businesses they are familiar with. Your brand is a critical element of recognition.
A good designer knows that the more your customers see your brand, the more they will trust it. That is why they work so hard to get your brand consistent across everything you do. Brand recognition can be built through sophisticated incorporation into your business cards, letterhead, flyers as well as websites.
Brand Building Reason #3:
You Aren’t A ‘Backyard Business’.
There is nothing wrong with being a backyard business, but it does limit who your clients can be. When you are starting out and money is tight it makes sense to save money where ever possible.
So skipping on getting your brand 100% right might make sense early on. However, if you are concerned about your image and let’s face it, image is important in this day and age, then you need to shed the backyard business look ASAP – it opens up opportunities for higher quality clients.
If your business cards came as freebies from Vistaprint, your clients know it. If you did them on a home printer ‘business card kit’ your clients know it. If you did your logo up in MS paint or something, then your clients will know it.
So be sure that your brand has been professionally developed so that you can shed that backyard image and come across as the serious business that you are.