Custom Branding Ideas for Your Business

When you are just about to start your own business, one thing that cannot be underestimated is branding. Many new business owners struggle to tell a new audience what their business is about, how it stands out from the crowd, and what it can do to help people. It will make such a difference if you have some custom branding ideas in mind from the start.

You cannot build trust with your prospects overnight, it is a long-term plan. But the least you can do right from the beginning is to make sure your business appears trustworthy. And over time, when people see a familiar logo or name, they can related to the reliable nature of the business or product. In a world where there are so many choices, your business need to be able to stand out and be remembered, whether you are building a company or self-employed business. A strong brand can help with that.

Are you looking for some branding ideas for your business? Some great ideas include creating your logo and tagline, designing promotional merchandise like T-shirts, custom keyrings, confectionery, memory sticks, umbrellas, etc., and developing a strong marketing strategy. Keep reading to learn more about custom branding ideas for your business.

Logo

One of the first steps to building your brand is to come up with your company's logo and tagline. A good logo and tagline will leave a lasting impression on customers and help them remember your products and what you do.

We all know that a logo used to promote instant public recognition. Logos can be either simple designs or complex graphics incorporating text with the design. A complex design may be good because it's hard for others to copy, but to make your logo memorable, you may prefer to choose a simple design that uses the minimum number of colors.

Logos are used in a variety of marketing materials, including stationery, business cards, advertising, and signage. When creating a logo, keep in mind what your business represents. The colors and fonts you choose should reflect your company's values and mission statement.

There are many logo makers online which you can sign up for free and create as many draft versions as you wish before you make your final decision. But if you just cannot get inspired by the logo templates out there, it is possible to work with a professional designer who can help create something that accurately represents your business and will impress all customers who see it.

Tagline

A tagline is a brief phrase that sums up what your company does in a few words. It can be used in marketing materials or on your company's website. Good taglines are memorable and help to differentiate a company or product from its competitors.

Many new business owners fail to achieve is to make the tagline transparent and directly relatable to their business. The company is new, nobody knows what's being offered, and if the tagline is ambiguous, it can rather confuse the audience. For example, Nike's tagline is "Just Do It." This is great because Nike is already a very well-established company. But if a brand new company used a tagline like that, no one would know what the business was about. The company could be an educational institution, insurance, gaming...anything.

Spend a good time, not just to come up with a catchy tagline, but to plan how you can use it to maximize the impression. It may be a good idea to test it out on different people, for example, ask your social network followers for their opinion. How they feel about the tagline that you come up with, or run a contest and ask them to help you form a good tagline.

Promotional Merchandise

Promotional merchandise, also known as swag, is any type of product that is used to promote a company, product, or event. This can include items like custom keyrings, T-shirts, hats, mugs, tote bags, and pens. Promotional merchandise is a great way to get your brand or message out there, and it can also be a fun way to show your support for a team or organization.

There are a number of different ways to use promotional products. You can;

Give it away as a free promotional gift use it as a prize or incentive,
Sell it as a way to raise money, or
Promote a product or event.

Whatever you choose, make sure that the merchandise is of high quality and reflects your rebranding message. For example, custom keyrings should include your company's name, logo, and also optionally, your tagline or a promotional message so that the recipient thinks of your business every time they see it.

When choosing promotional merchandise, consider the audience that you're targeting, gender/sexuality, age groups, region, household income, etc. For example;

If you're targeting a younger audience, you might want to choose items like T-shirts, hats, or stickers.
If you're targeting a more corporate audience, you might want to choose items like metal keyrings with engraving, keychains, USB drives, pens, or notebooks.
If your audience is predominantly men, tote bags may not be a good idea. Colors such as pink or pastel may not be the best choice.

Marketing Strategy

The first step in developing a marketing strategy that incorporates your branding elements is to come up with a plan for how you want to present your brand to the world.

Each marketing method requires different techniques which you might spend a lot of time learning. If you are working on your own or you are running a small company, your time and resources are limited. You might like to focus on one or two channels to start with, and increase the channels as your brand starts to take off. Just because everyone is doing Instagram, doesn't mean you'll have to keep up too. Taking on too many from the beginning can waste a lot of time when engaging with a small group of audience is much more important in terms of monetizing your effort.

Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing For Your Brand

Your marketing strategy depends on which channels you focus on, and you will look at both traditional and digital marketing methods.

Traditional marketing - Billboards, posters, window displays, magazines/newspapers, catalogue leaflets, telemarketing, TV/radio if you have a budget.
Digital marketing - Website, email marketing, YouTube, social networks, apps, forums.

Your branding should be consistent across all marketing channels, from your website and social media profiles to your print materials and advertising. The look and feel of your brand should be immediately recognizable to customers, no matter where they encounter it.

This is one of the reasons building custom branding ideas for your business at the start of your venture is important. Because once you changed your mind (the logo wasn't impactful enough, for example), you would have to go through every single marketing channel and let your audience know of the change. It wouldn't be a realistic step to take.

Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel is where users can engage with your business through the integration of multiple marketing channels. For example, a customer asks you a question on your Twitter account, and you reply to the question by email. When a problem needs to be solved and things get complicated, the channel may not be suitable. In this case, Twitter's space is limited, so it'll be necessary for you to use a different channel (email to your customer).

All of your marketing communications should support one another. Your website copy should reinforce your branding message, and your social media posts should drive people back to your website or blog.

By using a coordinated marketing strategy, you can ensure that potential customers see a cohesive image of your brand every time they interact with you.