So, you’ve found your million-dollar idea, you’ve developed the product, and you think you’re ready to head to the marketplace. Then you realize you haven’t really decided what your brand is going to look like or how you’re going to promote it.

Brand recognition basically drives sales for brands. According to Nielsen, the average consumer spends 13 seconds purchasing a brand in-store. Online is not much better, with the average consumer spending 19 seconds to purchase, and the majority spent less than 10 seconds.

A brand identity includes the logo, colors, typography, packaging, messaging, etc. All of these elements are apart of your brand’s personality and are an expression of your values and what you have to offer the marketplace. A good brand identity attracts new customers and makes sure existing customers feel right at home. You need brand guidelines for consistency in messaging and campaigns. Consistency allows your customers to identify with your brand and it gives your brand a better position in the mind of the consumer.

Design Brand Identity

As the Internet has evolved into a much more cluttered landscape, standing out from the competition has become increasingly more difficult. One of the best ways to stand out from the competition is to be intentional when choosing design elements for your brand.

Good branding and design are key elements to brand recognition. There are millions of startups and microbusinesses looking to break into the marketplace, and if you are launching your startup, it is especially important to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Design is all about solving problems visually and it is ingrained in the way brands communicate with their target audience. According to a survey by Tyton Media, 48 percent of people name website design as the biggest indicator of a company’s credibility. They’re more likely to trust, remember, and connect with the brand in question. So, here are some tips and tricks to branding your startup.

Logo Design in Branding

The logo is probably one of the first steps people think of when they think of branding a business. A good logo will definitely help to promote your startup, and it is an easy way to show some creativity. An effective logo should allow you to use it across multiple platforms. The adaptability of your logo will allow you to market your startup across as many platforms as you please. Branding should be flexible; your logo should be able to fit into many contexts and should be versatile.

The Shell seashell is one of the most recognizable logo designs around the world. Shell’s seashell and company name has changed and evolved over the year, despite that, that seashell has remained a prominent part of their logo design. Over the years the logo became a more simplified version with more prominent colors and is an excellent example of a logo getting older but not aging.

Modern logo design calls for simple, minimalistic, but bold designs. Minimalism has almost become a necessity because it allows you to send a clear message to customers free from any unnecessary clutter.

Your logo should be timeless, you may have to make little tweaks and changes here and there to keep up with modern design trends, but it should remain similar as an identifier of your company. For example, Shell Oil has been using an iteration of the same logo since 1904. As you can see by the figure depicted below, the shell has been an identifier of the brand since it’s early days in business.

When you choose your logo make sure it’s the right one, because this will be a major identifier for your brand for years to come. Remember, the logo is only the first step in developing your brand’s identity, but branding your startup goes beyond a logo.

Tagline Creation for Branding

Branding your startup goes beyond making it look good. You may have a great idea, but you cannot sell anything without presenting some sort of value to your target audience. Your branding should make it apparent to the customer what value(s) your product or services can provide to them. To do this, you should develop a tagline for your brand.

A tagline is a catchphrase or slogan that’s usually creative and may employ a play on words. They’re like a condensed version of  your mission statement. A good slogan should be memorable and should include a key benefit. Notice I said benefit and not features.

People are not buying the features of whatever you are selling; they are buying the satisfaction they will receive from your product or service. For example, one of the most recognizable taglines is Apple’s, “Think different.” The Think Different campaign was launched in 1997 and ended in 2002, and the slogan is still relevant and resonates with people of all ages over 16 years later.

Steve Jobs introduced this slogan at Macworld, by stating, “I think you had to really think differently when you bought a Mac. It was a totally different computer, worked in a totally different way, used a totally different part of your brain. And it opened up a computer world for a lot of people who thought differently…”

Jobs did an amazing job of selling value to the audience, that value is exclusivity. You had to “think different” to own a Mac computer, Apple wanted to position itself as a luxury item that was the best of the best, an item that would open new horizons and ways of thinking. The campaign included montages and posters of creative thinkers and other influential people using Mac products with the slogan and Apple’s logo placed into the advertisement.

These are other examples of popular taglines:

Disneyland – The Happiest Place on Earth

Gillette – The Best a Man Can Get

KFC – It’s Finger Lickin’ Good

McDonald’s – I’m Lovin’ It

Walmart – Save Money. Live Better.

Branding First

Great planning and thoughtfulness in terms of branding for your startup should precede any marketing excursions. Coming up with consistent brand messaging and imagery while employing some modern design trends will make marketing your product and services much more effective. It’s much better to start with some amazing marketing and advertising efforts early on in your business’ life rather than going back to undo the negative perception people may have developed because you came out the gate with no or poor branding efforts.

Your startup is your baby, so you should do everything intentionally and with good attention to detail. This will ultimately lead to greater brand recognition and better positioning in the mind of your audience.