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THE MEANING OF BRANDING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Leave a Comment / Graphic Design / By Justine Lamer

You stopped here because you are serious about starting branding your business and wish to know exactly what is the meaning of branding for small businesses?

Well, you are about to learn everything you need to know to get started!

Let’s dive right into the meaning of branding for small businesses.

1- WHAT IS BRANDING?

So, I think the first thing we need to talk about is “branding”.

You probably know what’s a brand right? If you see the M of Mc Donald’s, you know who they are and what they do thanks to their logo. That is their “brand”.

Now, if you look at Mc Donald colors, typography, tagline, and packaging, that is “BRANDING”

Basically, branding is the way your target audience recognizes your brand thanks to different assets.

So, what are those assets?

2- WHAT ARE BRAND ASSETS?

There are a lot of things incorporated in Branding, but here are some examples.

As a small business, to have a strong brand identity, you will need:

Primary logo: That is the logo that includes any logo mark, logotype but also taglines. This is considered a more “formal” presentation.
Secondary Logo: This logo is another variation of the primary logo. It will be displayed on most consumer-focused products/services.
Text Only Logo: This format works well where the logo mark or symbol cannot be used.
Icon or Brand Mark: Used when the consumer is already aware of the company name. (also used as watermark)
Responsive Logo: This one is used for super small areas like mobile headers, social media profile pictures, etc.
Color Palette: Strong 3 to 5 Primary colors to represents your businesses model and voice.
Typography: Come up with a typography system by always using the same type and fonts. Up to two different types.

2- WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO BRAND MY BUSINESS?

Well, if you did all the basics and wish to do even more, here is what you can start working on:

Packaging: for product-based businesses! How awesome to have packaging that incorporates your business colors, fonts, and logo?
Business Cards
Thank you Cards
Flyers
Social Media Templates: You must be aware of how important social media platforms are for your business. They are really powerful lead generators for your products or services. So, one of the things you can do is designing social media posts that using all of your brand assets.
Digital stickers and Gifs

I hope this article helped you understand a little more about what is the meaning of branding for small businesses and that you have enough to get started.

If you are interested in working with me to build your DREAM business brand, you can check my services here and then contact me there.