Did you know that your Brand and branding are NOT the same things? While it’s almost impossible to have one without the other, there are some important distinctions when it comes to leveraging each to help your business thrive.
Did you know that your Brand and branding are NOT the same things? While it’s almost impossible to have one without the other, there are some important distinctions when it comes to leveraging each to help your business thrive.
Your Brand is the feeling people get when they interact with you.
Think about it like a familiar smell or the beginning of your favorite song. Do you feel nostalgic? Happy? Do you feel comforted or excited?
Your Brand can have the same effect on people. Your customers are the ones who define your Brand. It’s the feeling or impression they get when they use your product or service. By using visual branding, you can help steer them toward the feelings you want them to have.
So practically, how can you shape others’ perception of your Brand?
The word branding is an action verb. It’s what you do to shape and define your Brand. This does include your visual identities, such as colors, logos, and guidelines, but it also includes how you present yourself verbally and in writing.
Your branding is a tool that allows you to visually and verbally communicate your Brand to customers and potential customers.
The simplest reason we would say that Brand and branding are not interchangeable is because they are two different things.
If you’re thinking, “Yeah, but I’m not a marketer, I don’t need to get that technical. Does it really matter?”
Yes, if you want to have a strong Brand and effective marketing efforts.
When each of these is understood and used correctly by your team, there will be a unified effort behind your sales and marketing that aligns with your Brand. It also clarifies to those in your target market to recognize who you are and what that means to them.
We’ve worked with several companies who knew who they wanted to be but weren’t sure how to turn this into branding actions that supported their desired Brand.
What was the solution? A Design & Branding Guide.
Every business needs a design & branding guide. After seeing just how important this is for an effective marketing strategy, this is the first thing we discuss with potential new clients considering a partnership with us.
A design & branding guide is a simple document that describes the rules and guidelines for how your business visually represents itself with logos, colors, icons, and text. For example, you can have several approved logo files in different colors depending on the background used. This provides options while providing rules against stretching, cropping, or recoloring your logo for any reason.
And once you have your design and branding guide, it’s essential to be consistent. It’s only effective if you stick to it!
To learn more about design & branding and your Brand, download our FREE eBook! We share more about the differences between Brand and branding and what you need in a compelling design & branding guide.
We would love to chat if you have other questions about marketing your business! Reach out to us here, and we can discuss it over a cup of coffee.
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