Title: 
What Is Branding?

Word Count:
502

Summary:
We as business owners hear a lot about branding, and brand design – but what is branding exactly and where do you start with branding your business?


Keywords:
logo design, web design, print design, logo design, web design, stationery designer, illustration


Article Body:
Most business owners start with hiring a logo designer to work on their business image, and whilst this is right, it’s important to be clear on what your brand ethos will be before ink hits paper…or with modern design methods it’s more like ‘before mouse hits screen’.

If you aren’t clear on what important messages you wish to present to your customers, you will end up marketing an all together ineffectual image for your business – resulting in reduced impact on your target market and hence less sales.

Whilst it's very important to utilise the services of a high quality logo designer to ensure the success of your business through proper brand design, your brand is about more than just your business name or logo design.

An effective brand tells potential customers what you do and who you are. In addition your brand image is how your business is perceived by it’s customers. Brands are in the minds of customers and nowhere else, and you need to make sure you develop the correct brand image by engineering it deliberately.

A good logo design should however be your starting point for developing a firm footing for the brand development of your business.

Good quality brand development, and indeed your logo design itself as the icon behind this branding, will give you the edge over your competitors, and despite the fact that most small businesses won't have unlimited funds for branding campaigns, they do have several methods available to them for developing a high quality brand and in turn benefit from the perception of the value of that brand.

It's well known that customers will happily pay much more for goods and services provided by 'brand name' companies, and your sales team will find it easier work converting customers who have already heard of your company through your brand marketing and exposure of that all important logo design image linked to this.

A high quality logo design and brand will allow you to introduce new products and services to your customer base and expect a better reception for them, than had you presented yourself as a new unknown brand and a good quality logo design is the image that customers will link with your brand and use to ‘visually remember’ your brand.

If your customers can’t remember you, you’re in trouble. I’m sure you can now understand why a good quality logo design to link to your brand image is so important.

<b>Before you commission a logo design decide on your ethos;</b>

What are you values? What sets you apart from the competition? Once you are clear on that ethos you can work to ensure that you and your team reinforce it with everything you do and say.

Evidence to your customers that that they can trust in your brand to deliver what it always delivers them...that they can always rely on your company to provide this particular quality of products and/or service.