27. The relevance of VISUAL BRANDING for your small business
DO SMALL ENTREPRENEURS NEED TO MANAGE THEIR VISUAL BRANDING? OR IS THIS ONLY FOR BIG CORPORATIONS?
Branding is how to DIFFERENTIATE from the other million people who do the SAME that you do.
But you see? You do it in your own particular way and Branding will help you bring your uniqueness to the front.
So, now, what is the difference between Brand identity and Visual Branding:
BRAND IDENTITY encompasses the Visual + non-visual elements that represent a brand, including intangibles like a brand voice, style, brand values, and emotional aspects.
Read about the importance of brand identity for your business, yes, even if you are a small entrepreneur.
Full article here
VISUAL BRANDING focuses on the visual aspects that help you represent your brand for example logo, colors, fonts, photo styles, store design, packaging, etc. There are two main goals it should accomplish:
It should awaken an emotion that is associated with your brand (peace, excitement, inspiration, desire, fun…)
It should be consistent so that it can be recognizable and help your awareness.
““In short, brand identity describes who a brand is on the inside whereas visual identity expresses who a brand is on the outside.””
Elements considered part of the VISUAL BRANDING are:
Any graphics, the logo being the most important.
The fonts, choose fonts that you can use consistently throughout your communication
Color palette - a series of homogeneous colors that you utilize consistently and homogeneously throughout your communication: posts, website, flyers, etc.
Brand assets, like promotional items
And my favorite to talk about: photography, unique images created for you exclusively that can incorporate your brand values, your color palette, and physical elements that can be associated with your brand.
However, it is possible that you might need to grab stock photos, which should be as well in line with your branding. I wrote a blog post on how to select stock photography AND stay on brand
““Your social media should have CURATED content AND Unique Content (for authenticity and legitimacy)” ”
Good Visual Branding
I am a strong believer that good Visual branding starts with having a clear understanding of the Brand Identity, here is a great resource to get clarity in your Brand
Click here to download the Personal Branding PDF Workbook
However, I also believe that as soon as you can afford a good graphic designer and brand photographer, these are two investments that will pay off in the long run by bringing consistency and uniqueness to your business. Remember there is more to colors and fonts, there is a whole psychology behind it.
Hi! I’m Blanca!
I’m a Brand Photographer and Personal Branding Coach, helping female entrepreneurs to create a Personal Brand online that STANDS OUT.
I bring your vision to life, help you come up with one and take you by the hand into the online World if you need me to.