When many business owners think of branding, they just think of their logo. But branding is so much more. With many different meanings put behind the word branding, it can be easy to become confused.

Personally I think that there are three main components of branding:

Your brand design - your logo, color palette, and other design elements that make up your brand.
How you present yourself - how you show up in front of others verbal or written. This includes things like your Facebook lives, Instagram captions, and website copy.
How others perceive you - what words do people associate with you. These are things that come out during testimonials from working with you and how people talk about you to others.

But today, I want to talk about the first point and why I think brand design is extremely important.

In addition to your logo, here are the other important design elements of your brand:

Alternative logo/submark
Favicon
Color palette
Fonts
Graphic elements
Textures/patterns
Photos

In today’s online world, the design elements of your brand are someone’s first impression of you. Honestly, they could be someone’s last.

Why A Cohesive Brand is Important

The design elements of your brand should all flow together to form a unified aesthetic.

Is your brand fun and quirky? Is it serious and professional? Is it feminine and minimalistic? The words and emotions you associate with your brand are important in how they translate to the design.

For example, below are some style boards I’ve put together for clients.

Can you imagine how it would look if you were to combine elements from each of them? It would look so strange, wouldn’t it?

Your branding should be consistent EVERYWHERE you show up online. That means those same fonts should appear on your social media graphics, banner images, freebie PDF’s, and your website.

When you don’t have a consistent brand, people:

Think you’re unorganized
Assume you to be less credible
Think your business is a side hobby
Are hesitant to get in touch

Why do people think this way?

Because if you’re not going to invest in how you present yourself online, how can expect others to invest in you and your services?

When you have a consistent brand, people:

Will take you more seriously
Are more likely to jump on your email list
Are more likely to buy from you
Are more likely to recommend you to someone

So if you’re trying to DIY your branding, take a really good hard look at how you’re presenting your business online. Go through your website, social media profiles and other online profiles to see what you can fix.

Looking for someone to help you create your visual brand identity?

Imagine if you could…

Gain clarity on your branding so that you stop trying to figure out what fonts or colors to use in your marketing materials
Align your branding across various online platforms so that you can start creating brand recognition and increase your revenue
Save time on the design aspects of your business so that you can spend more time in your zone of genius

Set up a free consultation