5 Steps to Start

Your Brand

Written by: AShley Brown

360° Sensomedia© All rights reserved
January 29th, 2019
 It l Begs

wh  Idea

Starting your own company is a daunting task,

and one that not everyone is up to. The sheer
amount of competition that is out there can be
staggering, making it essential that your brand
stand out from the rest.

Essentially, your brand is the image and person-

ality you want applied to your products or ser-
vices, and we at 360° SensoMedia understand that
this is one of the most essential parts of your
new business. To make this process easier for
you to complete, we’ve compiled a list of the top
5 steps you need to take to create a strong brand
image.
 Creae Yr Logo

The first step to developing your brand is creating a logo.

This will serve as a visual representation of everything your
company stands for, so the elements that make it up should
express the unique attributes of your business. This can be
something that can be as simple as a mark (think Nike), or
as complex as a full out drawing (Bass Pro Shops).

One great starting point for this is to focus on what your

company does and the values that you want it to represent.
They need to be found within your brand logo and will help
you better connect with your target audience.

Here is a quick breakdown of what you should keep in mind

when developing your logo:
Se a
eme

When you begin designing a logo you’re going to have to

decide on how complex it is going to be. Nike and Bass
Pro Shops (mentioned above) are two great examples of
where your logo can go. Do you want something more
minimalist? Or would you rather it tell a bigger story?

Vs

We recommend keeping things on the simpler side so as

not to overwhelm people when they look at your logo. You
want to convey your message as quickly as possible to po-
tential audiences, so choose a theme that will help you do
this.

Some other themes include:

include
1. Wordmark:
Best for companies whose names describe what they do, like
Walmart, Office Max, Home Goods, etc.
2. Lettermark:
Looks more like a monogram, similar to CNN and NASA

3. Pictorial Marks AKA. Symbols:

Think of companies like Target, Twitter, and Apple. They
use only an icon to represent their brand, and in doing so
had to decide if they wanted it to play off of their names, or
to be an image of what they represent (such as the World
Wildlife Fund’s panda).
4. Abstract:
An abstract mark is a different type of pictorial mark that
is a geometric form chosen to represent your business.
Creating one of these may take some time, but will
ultimately create something that represents your brand
symbolically.

Think of your brand’s

personality’, or mood

If you could describe your brand in two words, what would

they be? Is it innovative and trustworthy? Or more edgy and
energetic? Write down a list of adjectives that fit your brand
image, and then use those to guide your branding activities.
Complete the following exercise
to take the 1st step

Your company’s name: come up with three

and vote for your favorite!

Design Preference

wordmark lettermark

Abstract Pictorial Mark

Do you have a font family picked out? (See step 3 for more
information)

Doodle your logo ideas

Complete the following chart with adjectives of your brand

 C
Perhaps the most important part of creating a logo is
deciding on the colors that represent your brand. The
best way to start is by studying which colors are the
most popular for other brands in your industry, as these
will give you ideas about which ones to use in your own
logo. Each color will serve to evoke a certain emotion
in your target audience, so researching your potential
competition and why they chose their own colors is a
great starting point.

Once you’ve done that, take a closer look at what your

brand stands for and think of the colors that correlate to
it. Research what each color represents and then connect
them to your company’s message. For example, the color
blue symbolizes trust, knowledge, confidence, and truth.
Because of that, many technical, medical, and insurance
companies use this color in their logos.
 We have created a great guide that lays out the emotions
that each color evokes. Take a look at it and then think
about the companies that are included in it and where
you own might fall on that list.
 Ch se a

C Pe
Once you have created your logo, you will need to create a
color palette to be used in all of your business materials. As
one of the most important factors in branding, you’ll want
to select a range of colors that are not only complimentary
to one another, but that play off of your logo as well. We’ve
already looked at the importance of color and the different
emotions they each evoke, so now we are going to take the
colors from your logo and expand them to include a larger
range.

There are two main strategies graphic designers use to

create their color palettes. The first one is to take one of the
colors from your logo and apply multiple degradations to it.
This will give you different variations of the colors and allow
you to create more contrast in your branded materials while
still staying in line with your logo.
 The second strategy is to use colors that are considered
opposite to your chosen one. This is done by looking at a
digital color wheel and seeing where your brand color lies.
When doing this, look across the wheel to whichever color is
directly across from the one you’ve chosen. By inverting the
first color and adding its opposite to your palette, you will
add more contrast, life and energy to your palette to impact
future designs.
Complete the following exercise
to take the 2nd step
What colors represent your brand’s personality?

Adjetive Color

What colors do your competitors use?

Competitor Colors

Pick up 3 combinations of color (up to 3 colors per combo)

Combination Colors

#1

#2

#3
 Cpe Design

Elemes

Now that you’ve created your logo and decided on your

brand’s color palette, you can now move on to creating the
many different design elements you will be using as your
company grows.

These can best be thought of as templates for you to use in your

marketing and business activities. As a good starting point, we
recommend you have templates for the following initiatives:

Email Marketing
When sending emails to our subscribers or people interested
in your company, you want to make sure that all forms of
communication have a professional, consistent look to them,
especially if you send out newsletters.
Social Media
Banners, image layouts, filters, blog post layouts etc. These
are the things that you will need to keep consistent as you
post to your social media accounts. Maintaining a consistent
brand image will help you grow in audience engagement and
reach, and make it easier for people to recognize your brand.

Presentations
Banners, image layouts, filters, blog post layouts etc. These
are the things that you will need to keep consistent as you
post to your social media accounts. Maintaining a consistent
brand image will help you grow in audience engagement and
reach, and make it easier for people to recognize your brand.
Font family
Similar to how colors elicit different emotions in people, fonts
also serve to evoke a certain response from those looking at
your brand materials. We recommend you choose at least four
fonts to use for all business and marketing materials. You will
need these fonts to be used in headings, titles, subtitles, and
body text, as well as for any text seen in social media posts.

Moon
Plantagenet Cherokee

Dmas

This is a Header
here is a subHeader
This is a paragraph. Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do ei-
usmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore
magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis
nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut
aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute
irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit

Script f Emphasis
 Complete the following
Questionnaire to take the 3rd step

Do you have a website?

Would you like to do bookings or eCommerce on your site?

Do you keep in touch with your clients through email?

Do you create presentations for your clients?

Do you write industry driven blogs or film vlogs?

Which of the following social media channels do you use?

Facebook Instagram

Linkedin twitter

Youtube pinterest

blog others

Which of the following social media channels would you

like use more often?

Facebook Instagram

Linkedin twitter

Youtube pinterest

blog others
 S Brd Tоe

A company’s brand tone is an often-overlooked part of

creating a brand identity. Even though you may have already
decided on its logo, colors, and design elements, the next
step is developing the tone of voice, or personality, you want
to use when representing your brand.

This will be used in all of your brand’s written content,

including its website, social media posts/messages, and
emails. To determine what kind of tone you want to use,
look at your brand’s personality, values, and offerings. For
example, government entities will use more formal writing
than a company involved in social media marketing will, and
a luxury fashion brand will use different adjectives than a
non-luxury brand will.

Formal Vs Casual
When deciding on your brand voice, think of its personality
and how it would communicate with others if it was an
actual person. What kind of language will it use? What
adjectives and slang? The more genuine it is then the easier
it will be for you to connect with your target audience.
 Complete the following
Questionnaire to take the 4th step

What kind of language will your brand use?

Which adjetives and slangs could you use?

Are there any promotion or advertising restrictions on

verbiage/adjectives in your industry?

Do you have a slogan or catch phrase?

What are some common calls to action in your industry? For

example, “Book Your Vacation Now!” “Free Estimates”

What emotions drive your clients to work with you? fear, in-
centives, positive reinforcement, etc.

What are the benefits of working with you over the competition?
What makes your company special?

What drove you to start your company and/or brand?

 Know Yr

Audience

As you begin your journey as a brand the biggest tip that we can
give you is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. Every business has its
ideal customer, and knowing who this person is will help you
attract, engage, and convert them into loyal clients.

The best way to do this is to create brand personas of the people

who make up your core consumer. By understanding who they
are, how they think, what their needs are etc., you will be able to
better position your company to win their business.
 When creating your brand personas, start by analyzing your
audience’s personality traits, interests, values, and location.
Conduct market research to gain as many details as you can
about them, and then use that information to create the personas.

Once you have these personas in place, refer to them whenever

you are creating content, whether it be in an email newsletter,
choosing keywords for your blog, or just responding to an
internet review. Understanding them will help your team create
the perfect messages to resonate with that audience and move
them to action, no matter if it is buying your latest product or
clicking a link to learn about one of your latest updates. Your
audience is key, and focusing on that aspect will make creating
your brand much easier in the long run.

Complete the following

Questionnaire to take the 5th step

What is your target audience? Please look at actual data from

your business. If not available, describe your preferred client

Where is your audience from?

What age groups?

What motivates them?

What channels do they see your content in?

What are they looking for? What problems do they have that
your company can solve?
Think you’re ready to dive in and
start brainstorming?
Reach out to one of our business
specialists at the link below for a
personalized consultation

Contact our team

Creag Brds

a Std O!