Many startups begin life in a state of chaos.
And that’s completely understandable. It’s a stressful thing to start a business and startups often spend their first few months or years of existence frantically trying to manage money, source talent, test out their products and services, and make sure that those products and services along with their customer service teams are adequately meeting their customer’s needs.
It’s not uncommon for us to see startups who are in their third or fourth year of business and either never had the time to really establish their brand identity beyond a logo and color palette or were unable to afford the expert designer who could help them do so.
So, we do get where you’re coming from.
However, if you’re a startup and you’re wondering if you should skip over your branding and “do it later” when you have more time or resources, then we’re here to advise you to stop putting it off because your brand management is way more important than you think.
If you’re curious as to why that is, don’t worry, we got you covered.
This blog is going to go over all the reasons good branding is crucial for your startup’s long-term success and why you should go to an expert now, not later, to help you establish your identity as soon as possible.
So, Why is Brand Management so Important Anyway?
Though most startups do find the time to slap on a logo and figure out a color palette, branding is just so much more complex than that.
It also requires a brand designer to do it right, an expert who can understand your target audience and help you bring your brand to life.
Why, you ask?
Well, here are some reasons why you absolutely must have a strong brand identity if you want your business to have long-term success.
Increase Brand Recognition
The very first goal startups face is the challenge of spreading awareness of their brand.
A big part of that is achieving brand recognition or making it easy for your customers to recognize your brand out of a crowd of your competitors.
A good brand designer knows how to take your differentiators and incorporate them into your brand identity, helping you better reach your target audience and stand out to them in a way that truly resonates and inspires brand loyalty.
Increase Brand Value
There’s a reason you can buy generic Oreos (Faux-reos?) for 2 dollars at most grocery stores, but the real deal sets you back 5.
They may taste almost identical, but one’s got that brand name, friend, and that’s what increases the perceived value of a product or service.
What can we say? Hate the player, don’t hate the game.
In fact, you probably already know that you can find generic brands of nearly anything in the store, like toilet paper, soda, cereal, and batteries, and they never ever cost as much as the one with a famous name like Charmin, Coca-Cola, Frosted Flakes, or Duracell.
That’s what a good, marketable brand can do for your bottom line.
How to Differentiate Your Brand
Good branding can set you apart from your competitors and convey that extra special something that only your brand can offer and not anyone else.
Whether it’s your tone of voice on social media, funny ads, a unique logo or design elements, or clever taglines, setting yourself apart is crucial to building up that initial customer base that ensures your success.
You want your customer to take one look at your brand and know that there’s something special about you, something special they just can’t get anywhere else.
How to Build Brand Trust and Credibility
Speaking of generic toilet paper …
Do you have the same confidence in that 99-cent generic toilet paper that you do in good ol' Charmin or Cottonelle?
Would you bother to try to contact that generic company if you had an issue with their product?
We’re going to go out on a limb and say probably not.
Brand names are just more accessible and for good reason. They’ve spent years building up their trust and credibility. They have Facebook pages you can reach out to, dedicated customer service numbers you can call.
Sure, buying real Kleenex is a little pricier than generic tissue paper, but, if money isn’t an issue, most of us would rather have the brand name, wouldn’t we? It’s just safer, more trustworthy.
And most of us call generic tissue paper “Kleenex” anyway because of that credibility and recognition.
See? Branding.
How to Find a Top Brand Designer
Of course, as a startup, you can only enjoy these benefits if your branding is good, memorable, and resonates with your target market.
And to get all that, to really ensure that you’re doing it right, it’s best to go to an expert. Brand designers work hard every day to truly understand individual businesses enough to carefully craft a unique brand image that can set you apart from your competition and help you steadily expand your customer base.
Here is a list of what a professional brand designer brings to the table.
Brand Design Experience
Like we just said, a brand designer has a specific set of skills.
They can help you build a brand identity because they’ve done it all before. Many of them have plenty of work experience in graphic design, branding, and logo design, and they’ve got several projects just like yours under their belt.
A professional can sit down with you and help you pick out everything from your color palette to your typography, and logo, and meticulously put together a brand guide to help you maintain the consistency that your brand needs.
They know how to take into account your goals, your target audience, the messaging you want to send out, and can help you craft everything from your tone of voice to your color palette to the collateral that will set you apart.
How to Accelerate Brand Development
Let’s face it, you probably aren’t a branding expert and that’s fine. You don’t have to be with a professional brand designer on your team.
Trust your brand management to the expert while you focus your special set of skills and talents on fine-tuning your products and services, getting them on the shelves, and getting your business off the ground.
Working together with a professional, you can quickly build up brand awareness, expand your customer base, and position your growing business for success.
Define Your Branding Strategy
A good brand designer can not only ensure that your color palette, logo, and brand elements are slick and professional, but can also expertly tell your brand story, helping you to emotionally connect with your target audience.
An expert brand designer knows how to set up your marketing strategies in a way that aligns with your brand messaging and goals, creating a cohesive flow to your entire brand.
Because they’ve got the experience to know what works and what doesn't, a professional brand designer knows how to strategize the process of building brand awareness in a way that can scale with you as your company grows and set you up for long-term success.
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Choose a Brand Designer
Since you asked, you can find expert brand designers right here at Designity.
Our Creative Directors are design, branding, and marketing pros and they are ready and willing to sit down with you and draw out every aspect of your branding until you have the image you want to present to the world.
And with the top 3% of US-based creative talent ready to join your team, you’ll have all of the graphic designers, web developers, copywriters, and video experts you need to create high-quality and professional brand elements and the marketing collateral that comes with them.
Have a look at our branding services page to see some brands we’ve already helped to get started on the right foot. We can offer a complete brand guide book, logo design, or copy style guideline services. Whatever you need, we’d love to be on your team and help your business succeed!
What does your branding say about you?
