In 2015, brands and logos are everywhere. Look around – from McDonalds to Nike to Apple, logos and visual branding are becoming increasingly important for getting wordless messages to the public. Your visual brand is how you can influence the public perception of your company and tap into their needs and emotions. As the world moves forward into more instant gratification, visual branding is becoming ever more useful to convey messages quickly and simply.
Creating your visual brand successfully is crucial to good marketing and finding your place in the market, so enlisting the assistance of a quality London brand design agency is a wise investment. Whether you choose to tackle the goal yourself or you enlist help, here are some important things to remember and some tips to help you succeed.
Define your brand
What your visual branding and logo says about is enormous. Taking the time to pinpoint exactly what you offer, why you offer it and where you want to be in the marketplace is essential to getting the most out of your branding. What sets you apart from other companies? How good are you at connecting with your customers? How do you want your company to be perceived by the public? These are the important questions that need to be answered to allow you to define your brand and how you want it to be displayed.
Who is your target demographic?
Deciding who you’re trying to reach with your visual marketing is the next important step. If you don’t know who your message is aimed at, you won’t be clear on what you want to say. Spending time on research to determine your target audience will pay off when your branding reaches the wider market.
Relatable is marketable
Splashing your visual branding about on the internet and in public places is a waste of time and money if you try to be too clever and end up alienating the very people you’re trying to reach. Being accessible, transparent and honest is an integral part of advertising; with so much on offer, gaining the trust of the public is a big challenge.
Turning your brand personality into visual marketing
A key part of defining your brand is being clear about the “personality” you want your brand to portray. Depending on your product or service and who you’re trying to reach, you will need to come up with a theme and personality of your company in order to promote it visually. Are you an upbeat, fun gaming company, targeting youth? Or are you a law firm, wanting to portray professionalism and maturity? Pinpointing this aspect of your brand will greatly help your elected brand design agency in creating a suitable logo and visual display.
Keep it simple
Simple does not mean boring. Think about walking down a London city street and taking in the hundreds of brands around you. With so many things to take in, it’s likely to be the simple visual branding that’s most effective. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to take a step back from your logo or visual presence and decide – do all of those elements need to be there? Ideally, you want your demographic to receive your message loud and clear with just one glance.
Keeping up with social media – and regularly
It’s rare that you can catch a bus or walk down the street without people looking down at one device or another. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the many other budding social media platforms are being the go-to way for people to not only keep in touch, but to find what they’re looking for. How often have you searched for a restaurant, for example, and popped onto their Facebook page to check out reviews, opening hours and info? Staying up to date is vital to keeping your brand on the news feeds of your demographic and finding ways to interact with them. Businesses who take the time to interact with customers on social media are far more likely to succeed in word-of-mouth referrals and feedback, as this gives you instant accessibility and personality. Your customers want to know that you’re moving with the times and paying attention to what’s happening in the world – regularly being seen on various social media platforms is a great way to achieve this.
Now it’s time to be creative, be clear about what you are and what you want to provide, and create your visual brand!