The meaning behind "branding" is often vague in business, as many people use it interchangeably with things like your logo, slogan, design, and more. The true definition is somewhat all-encompassing. Your brand is the string that ties all of these things together.

What is your brand?

To get more specific, your brand is the set of experiences people have with your business, products, and services. If someone purchases something from you and doesn't remember where they got it, then you don't have a brand, even if you do have a cool logo.

In order to have a brand, there has to be some kind of relationship between your customers, your products, and your business. Logos, slogans, and color schemes are all a part of that - they're the pieces that make up your branding.

The importance of branding design

Branding design is the process of creating all of these different elements in a cohesive way. And though the biggest phase of branding design should take place early on in your business's journey, branding design is an ongoing process that never really ends.

According to research by Adobe, 73% of businesses invest in their branding design - which should tell you something about its importance. Branding design is the reason you know which company I'm talking about when I say, "Just do it." By investing in branding design, you can achieve the same level of recognition for your business.

Aside from bringing in additional revenue and helping with your marketing, branding design has a few key benefits for your business.

Build trust with your customers

First and foremost, branding builds trust with your customers. Has anyone ever bought a pair of Nike sneakers or an iPhone and wondered if it was a safe purchase? The reason consumers remain loyal to these companies is because of their branding.

The Nike swoosh and the half-eaten apple are a promise between these companies and their customers. In one image, tagline, or color palette, these businesses are telling the world what they're about.

Without some kind of promise or statement backing your business, without a brand, your widgets are no different from the next guy's widgets. And in business, if you don't stand out in the minds of your customers, they'll replace you with someone who does.

Unify your business

Second, building a brand will help unify your business. A recognizable brand is, in essence, your business's signature. Anything that has your branding becomes synonymous with you, the rest of your products, and the values that your business upholds.

Unifying your business behind a brand not only helps identify your products to your customers, but also helps to build their value. Let's say that you only offer one product in the beginning, and it becomes closely associated with your brand. It's loved by consumers for its high-quality and reliability.

Now, when you launch Product #2, you hardly have to worry about marketing it. Because it's backed by the same brand as Product #1 (a product that everyone already loves) people will attribute the value of Product #1 to Product #2. This unity creates synergy among your products and services, yielding compounding benefits.

Protect your business from copycats

Building off of the importance of unity is the idea of your brand's identity. When you envision all of the different fast food restaurants in America (and there are a lot) the majority of them probably seem distinct from one another, even though many of them have very little differences (Burger King and McDonald's, for example).

What separates these companies apart is the identity that they've cultivated through their branding. Without an identity, there's no way for your business to claim part of the market. A business without a brand is a business that's up for grabs.

Your brand is what gives your products value over the others offering the same product. It's the voice, identity, and values that make your product more than just another product. Copying a product is easy, but copying a brand is nigh impossible.

What should branding accomplish for your business?

Your brand is your reputation. As Jeff Bezos famously put it, "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room."

Therefore, the goal of your branding is for people - your customers - to have as many good things and as few bad things to say about your business as possible.

To be more precise, your brand should:

• Affirm your business's credibility
• Inspire loyalty and trust
• Express your business's values
• Build a relationship between you and your customers
• Persuade potential customers to choose you over your competitors

Your brand should establish your business as the go-to for whatever it is that you have to offer. You want to become the Coke, the iPhone, or the Google Search of your industry. That's a tall order, but one that's doable if you put it in the time to build your brand successfully.

7 ways to get the most out of branding design

1. Know your audience

Before you begin designing your first logo, you should determine who your target audience is. Otherwise, you don't even know who you're designing your logo for. The more specific your audience is, the better your business will perform.

It's tempting to try and market your business to everyone in the beginning. However, this can water down your brand and waste your marketing investment. Coke doesn't bother marketing to health nuts because they know their audience.

To figure out who your target audience is, try to envision the person using your product or service. How old are they? What gender are they? What do they do for work? How much money do they have? Why do they want to use your product? Ask yourself these questions and build your brand around the answers.

2. Apply branding design to your website

Today, the most powerful marketing and branding tool you have at your disposal is your website. It's a way for people to instantly learn everything there is to know about your business, make purchases from you, and contact you, all in the palm of their hand.

If you aren't building your brand into your website, you're making a huge mistake.

For many companies, their website is their only storefront. It is the only place where customers will interact with your products and services before purchasing them, making it your business's hub.

For many companies, their website is their only storefront. It is the only place where customers will interact with your products and services before purchasing them, making it your business's hub.

Making your website an effective hub means incorporating your brand into every aspect of it. The colors, the website design, the blog, the About Us page - it all needs to be a reflection of your business and its values. If you need a website that's built with your brand in mind, check out our web building services right here at B12.

3. Keep an eye on the competition

Next up is keeping an eye on the competition. If you aren't familiar with your industry, then you don't know what it's going to take to set yourself apart. Not only that but researching your competitors is a great way to build your strategy.

You can use your competitors' mistakes to find unexpected pitfalls and even potential market gaps. See what your competitors don't do that you could be doing. What products, services, or values do their current customers want from them that they aren't delivering?

By looking for these mistakes and openings, you'll start to understand how your new business can find a place in the market. You don't want to be the next Amazon or Apple; you want to be the next company that does what Amazon and Apple aren't doing.

4. Understand your strengths

Speaking of mistakes, one of the most common mistakes that new businesses make is striving to be a jack of all trades. Though this may seem like a great way to reach the most amount of customers possible, you're more likely to end up not reaching any customers at all (like we discussed in Tip #1).

Instead, you should play to your strengths. Identify the one or two things that your business can do better than anyone else and use these things to set yourself apart. Maybe you have some kind of insider knowledge or are using a different material in your products, a different theory behind your services.

Whatever the thing is that can give your brand a unique selling point, use it. Not only does this help separate you from your competitors, but it also gives people a reason to choose your business. Customers that are looking for your unique X-factor will choose you when you incorporate that factor into your brand.

5. Find a tone that suits your brand

By now, you should start to be able to see the different components that make up your brand. The next element of your branding design (and one that helps tie the others together) is your tone. This is the emotion, status, or vibe that your business conveys.

Google and Apple are great examples of two companies in a similar market with two very different tones. Google is the playful, more laidback company, while Apple is the more professional, possibly pretentious authority. Neither is right or wrong - they just have different brands.

The biggest factor influencing your tone should be your audience. What kind of business are your customers looking for? Being the funny, brash business on the block may work for a new cafe, but probably won't go over so well if you're running a divorce attorney's office.

6. Integrate your branding design throughout your business

For your brand to become synonymous with your business, it needs to be present throughout your company. This not only includes your products and website, but also the uniforms your employees wear, the pens sitting on your desk, and the sign sitting over your storefront.

Your business and branding should become one. To make this easier, try to come up with a logo, name, font, and color scheme that's easy to replicate and identify.

7. Use your branding in your marketing

Finally, point number seven, one that's probably obvious to most people, you should use your branding design in your marketing. And we don't just mean putting your logo in your ads (although you should definitely be doing that!).

If you are interested to know more, check out the Branding statistics for 2020 by Venngage.

Remember that your brand goes beyond your logo and color schemes. It's your business's identity, reputation, and values. Use all of these elements cohesively in your email marketing, social media campaigns, and blog posts. This will help your marketing rise above the average infomercial and become something that people remember.

Start brainstorming!

Building a brand is one of the hardest parts of creating a successful business, and it's why companies like Apple, Nike, and Amazon are so revered for their branding success.

We hope this article has given you a place to start exploring and crafting your brand! For more marketing ideas and advice, check out the rest of our blog here at B12.