BrandingAgency

Qualifications to look for, portfolio highlights to check, questions to ask, and ROI metrics to measure when hiring a branding agency for your business.

How To Hire A Branding Agency

Branding is a type of marketing that business leaders rely on to make a company recognizable to potential customers. It may be a brand name, a logo, or a design element that's used in every product produced by the company. It makes products and services instantly recognizable and lets past customers know what level of quality or service to expect.

Brand management is a technique brand managers use to help customers feel a connection to a company. It increases customer loyalty and makes it more likely that customers will return based on positive associations with a brand. Professional brand managers create marketing assets, including logos, localized marketing materials, brochures, and branded emails.

Brand designers and graphic designers are often thought of as being the same. The difference between the two lies in the tasks they perform. Brand designers create visual marketing messages that express what a company offers its customers. For example, this could be a logo that customers associate with a specific company. Graphic designers use basic design principles and tools to create marketing materials that are visually appealing. Designing business cards is an example of a task a graphic designer might perform.

Building a brand begins with thinking about what a company is about and what it does well, and then applying those concepts to marketing materials and advertising. Using a branding agency is one way to speed up the branding process by bringing experienced professionals on board to help. Some things to do when building a brand include:<ul><li>Learning about your target customers and what they like about your business</li><li>Writing a slogan that emphasizes what your customers like about your business</li><li>Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your company and your competitors</li><li>Choosing which aspects of your company you want to highlight</li><li>Creating a logo that matches your business and corporate goals</li></ul>

To register a brand, or specifically a brand name, start by preparing your brand name mark and then visiting the <a href="https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics">U.S. Patent and Trademark Office</a> website. Use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to confirm that no other company is already using your mark. Write a summary of the goods and services you plan to associate with your brand. Then, submit your application and fees through the TESS system.

Brand positioning pinpoints the reason why customers choose one brand over another. Business leaders can use this information to craft effective corporate messages and marketing materials. Identifying the main reason why customers make certain buying decisions helps direct all aspects of communication and develop marketing messages that encourage customers to complete a purchase. Common brand positioning errors include confused positioning, double positioning, over positioning, and under positioning.

Brand equity is the value a company gains when a brand or product associated with a specific brand becomes recognized compared to an unbranded item of similar nature and quality. For example, customers who like designer handbags may be willing to pay far more for a purse with a certain logo than for a different unbranded purse of equal construction that's sold at a local department store.

A brand ambassador is someone who agrees to act as the face of a brand. This person will typically be featured in advertising, such as TV ads, magazine ads, and internet advertising. A brand ambassador may also make personal appearances on behalf of a company or prepare social media posts that share company promotions.

Brand awareness means putting information about your company in front of as many potential customers as possible. Begin by evaluating different ways to target potential customers, such as pay-per-view ads on Google or Facebook, and focus on demographics, such as age, gender, and geographic location. A branding agency can help you select the most effective methods for targeting customers.

A brand lift study surveys people about advertising messages they've seen. The study asks people questions about whether they have seen advertising for a given brand and their perception of the brand and advertising message. The information revealed in these studies helps business leaders understand how well a specific marketing campaign is performing. Platforms that have brand lift study options include Nielsen, Ipsos Connect, and Survata.

Branding is important because it helps potential and existing customers find your product or service when compared to similar products and services offered by competitors. It also helps customers identify your offerings as the better option. Hiring a professional branding agency helps you streamline the process and achieve results faster. Some specific ways branding helps a business include:<ul><li>Providing instant recognition due to a logo or design element</li><li>Enhancing brand awareness</li><li>Functioning as a competitive market differentiator</li><li>Increasing the overall value of the business</li><li>Encouraging both repeat and new customers</li></ul>