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How to nail your company’s branding without breaking the bank

company branding

Branding a business has always been an obscure thought until recent years. Few businesses understood what a brand was or how to create one, but recently, the idea of branding has become a bit more solid. Most folks now understand that branding encompasses a few key items: consistency of message, consistency of look and feel, and a recognizable logo.
But you might still be confused about how to accomplish that. Below, find tips on the best ways to nail your company’s branding without spending a ton of time or money.

Have a professional logo, lettermark, or wordmark made.

This is the one area you don’t want to skimp on. Your identifying marker is the very essence of your company. It will provide your basic color scheme, the feeling a potential customer will get when they first interact with your business, and a few key elements of your marketing materials (like typography).

A logo is a symbol that can stand alone, without your business name, and be instantly recognizable as your company’s branding (think the golden arches of McDonald’s—which are really bent French fries, or the world symbol that belongs to AT&T). A logo needs to be exceptionally unique to stand alone and not present confusion.

A lettermark is one or more letters that are combined or styled in some way to denote your company (think Louis Vuitton or UPS).

A wordmark is your company name, usually stylized with another element (think FedEx, Walmart, or our own here at CloudQ).

This is where the bulk of your money for branding should go. From here, you’ll have your colors and your font, because when your logo is designed, the designer will show it with and without your company name.

Be sure your marketing team uses your colors and fonts consistently.

Your marketing materials need to use your branding colors (there should be two plus black) and have the look and feel your company is going for. If you’re serious and want to convey trust (like a bank), you’ll want to be sure your marketing materials aren’t funny or controversial and they all instill a sense of security when a potential customer sees them.
You’ll need to have the same imagery across all your social media. All banners, profile pictures, and color schemes should be identical. Have a quality control person who checks it.

Be sure your verbiage conveys the exact same message.

When your team is sharing things, the verbiage accompanying any imagery should always sound the same. One person should either be creating or checking everything before it goes out to the world.
This is true for blog posts, social media shares, and company documentation.

Have your marketing team prepare a media kit and company branding kit.

Your media kit will be what other companies pick up when they want to talk about your company or your brand. News outlets will have access to it so they can get your message right. Companies that want to blog about you have it so they can keep your message consistent.
Your branding kit should include letterhead, RFP or RFI response kits, a basic business card design, and any a template for any other printed materials your company produces.
As you can see, your peripherals are created after your logo, lettermark, or wordmark, and these items can be handled by an in-house marketing team. Branding doesn’t have to be expensive; branding only needs to be consistent.
Our marketing team works tirelessly to keep our message consistent. They’ve also created a wonderful kit for other businesses to use. If you’d like a free printable, fillable PDF to guide you in creating a product launch plan the way they do, join our mailing list here.

Why break the bank with more expensive options that give you the same results?

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    Contributor

    Jo Michaels

    Marketing Coordinator

    cloudq cloud

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