One of the most common “calls for help” I get from customers is to create a color palette for their businesses. Now, while I admire them for wanting to get this finalized (and that they understand the importance of brand aesthetics) I like to remind them that their brand is more than just a color palette.
The term “branding” is thrown about so often these days – and with good reason!
A brand is the identity of a business. The first thing people see when they come into contact with you. If your brand does not give a good impression, it’s really hard to recover the interest of any potential customers/clients.
But what exactly makes up a brand?
A strong brand is made up of a few components that work together harmoniously to bring your vision and personality to life. It is important for these elements to compliment each other or else your branding will come across as confusing and all over the place. And, unless these are the traits of your target audience, you are going to turn people away from your business before they even make a move to interact with you.
In this blog post I am going to share the 7 components of a strong brand that will help you attract your dream clients.
Components of a strong brand that attracts your target audience
1| A Color Palette
Whenever I begin working on a new design project I’ll always start off by creating a color palette. The color palette is the base of a brand so it is important that they are chosen carefully.
When deciding on brand colors you need to remember that it is not so much about what colors you like, but more about what colors would be appealing to the person you are looking to attract to your business, and eventually work with you.
You also want to be sure that the colors you choose do not contradict your brand vision and purpose. For example, a little bakery who specializes in quirky cupcakes wouldn’t choose brand colors that are natural and rustic. They’d go for bright, cheerful colors that compliments the product they’re best known for.
2| Font Styles
I like to recommend choosing 2 – 3 font styles that work well together. My business brand makes use of serif, sans-serif, as well as a script font that I use very sparingly throughout my designs. Typically, I’d only pair the script font with the sans-serif font for a clean, polished look, never using all three fonts together at once.
Google Fonts is a great place to find free fonts, while Creative Market offers many high quality fonts for all budgets.
3| Logos
The next part of the branding process would be to finalize the business logos. I like to have one main logo and three submarks which can also be used as secondary logos.
You logo is going to be what people are going to recognize you by before they even get to read your business name, so you want it to be something that’s easy to remember. Something that will stick at the back of their minds and become familiar.
Of course, if you want an elaborate logo with a lot of details then that’s completely up to you and your branding. But, I prefer to opt for simple logos that packs a punch. They should be impactful yet subtle, instantly recognizable and very specific to the brand.
4| Imagery
An image has the power to make or break your overall branding, which is why it is so important to choose photographs that are of high quality, and fits in with the feel of your business. There is NO excuse for grainy, poor quality images in this day and age with free resources such as Unsplash and Canva.
However, as your business begins to grow, you’ll find yourself looking for images that are more exclusive. This is where styled stock photo subscription sites such as ColorJoy Stock come into play. With access to over 4000 stock photos to uplevel your visuals and attract your dream clients, you can rest assured that your brand will look the part of a confident pro!
5| Patterns and Textures
Incorporating patterns or textures into business branding has become increasingly popular over the last couple of years as it adds an added bit more personality to a brand.
Using this type of element will also give your audience something extra to remember you by, increasing the chances of your visibility and familiarity.
The important thing to remember when choosing a pattern or texture is to treat it the same as any other brand component – it needs to work well with the rest of your branding or else it will just seem out of place.
6 | Graphics
While your branding may work like a dream on your website, you need to remember to incorporate it into all aspects of your business; including the social media platforms you’re using.
A great way to do this, especially if you’re sticking to a strict budget, is through Canva Templates which I also sell in my shop.
Using templates is a great way to remain consistent in your branding since the design of the graphics are already created to work well together. All you need to do is add in your brand colors, fonts, images and content, making it super easy to keep your business looking professional all over the world wide web!
7 | Collaterals
The final bit that you may not even think about incorporating your brand style into are your collaterals, ie. ebooks, opt ins, workbooks, pricing guides etc that you usually hand over to potential or existing clients.
Adding your branding to these items will ensure that your vision, personality and business values are carried over to anyone who wants to work with you and they’ll know whether or not you’ll be the right fit for what they need.
If these items don’t fit in with the rest of your branding, you won’t come across as the professional expert you want your clients to believe you are.
If you are struggling to put together a client welcome pack for your service-based business, I have a few different Canva Template options just waiting for you to add your own special branded touch to truly make them your own.
To ensure that your brand remains consistent and cohesive, you need to stick to your branded items. It is good practice to keep your logos, font styles, color palette, images, etc together in a brandboard which you can always refer to when needed. This especially comes in handy when you outsource tasks that require your branding.
Want to know the exact brand style you should have to start attracting, wowing and booking your DREAM clients? Take the quiz below to discover the dreamy brand for your biz…
