5 Tips for Reviewing and Boosting Your Brand
Branding or rebranding your business can be a fun, inspirational and thoroughly intoxicating journey. It’s so exciting to see how someone else interprets your business or concept, communicates your values + style and creates the ‘face’ for your brand. It can also be pretty intimidating, can’t it?
With the right amount of focus and an experienced marketing bff (that’s me) to guide you, you’ll have the 5 tips for reviewing and boosting your brand…with confidence.
#1. Start with the big picture.
What message does your brand (your identity) send out about your business? Is it exciting, colorful, uplifting, natural, rugged, tense, outdated, blah? If you aren’t sure, here’s our 10-Minute Marketing – 3 Word Branding Test you can do to find out!
#2. Go back to the original vision. Does this brand achieve what you set out to? Does it reflect the original vision you had? Sometimes brand identities can go off on a tangent, so you want to make sure your brand is headed in the right direction. A good thing to ask yourself is, “Does this brand message MATCH my ideal target customer?
Even if you work with a talented designer or branding specialist, make sure that the brand still conveys the message you originally hoped it would.
#3. Go with your gut. Trust your initial instinctive gut reaction you had when you first viewed your brand or brand concepts. How does the design make you feel? Does it speak to you? What does it say? Look back at your answers from tip #1.
I want you to identify the elements that aren’t working for you and why. This is a good time to take a deep breath, sleep on it and try to work out why it isn’t resonating with you. This is key to boosting your brand!
#4. Hone in on the details. Look at every single detail… Do you like the way things look? Are things lined up and balanced, do you like the color(s), the way the patterns or illustrations have been carried out, the size of the font, etc. Are you comfortable with how everything fits together? Does it work?
For example, if you’re feeling like your logo is too modern. Ask yourself, “How can I make it more timeless?” (My answer: thinner lines and less rounded corners – as seen in the Your Marketing BFF logo).
#5. Work with a professional. A professional designer or brand specialist are experts in their arena, but no one knows your business better than you. Communicate your brand, your vision, what you’re going for, what your ideal customer is attracted to, and what you love. If you’re not sure, an expert can help you answer the questions and help you create a brand you can be proud of.
Now take these 5 tips for reviewing and boosting your brand to seek some constructive critiques – this is an integral part of the design process! So whether it’s you, a family member or friend (who promises to be honest), or a trusted professional, make sure you’re tuned in to the image you want to project in order to boost your brand and be successful!