How important is a good logo to your business? Forbescalls it “the most important quarter-inch in business,” pointing out that more than a throwaway bit of graphic design, your logo is a key part of how customers interact with your business. For its part, the BBCpoints out that the instant recognition enjoyed by some logos is “the holy grail for a business.” Professional logo designadds value precisely because it communicates your value, and values, so it’s important to get it right — and National Fleet Graphics can help.
Establish Your Identity
Carving out an identity is a challenge, especially for new businesses. What do you name yourself? Is the name going to mean anything to the average person? How will you communicate what you do, what’s important to you, and the benefits you offer? The secret to building a good brand is that you can call it nearly anything, and choose nearly any visual representation for it. But those things need to be consistent, because if you’re constantly making changes, you’re going to look like a business with an identity crisis, and one that isn’t confident enough in its offerings to stand firmly behind them.
Raise Your Voice
Brands speak. Whether it’s an invoice sent to a client, your email newsletter, your website, or any of your marketing materials, your logo exists to support what you have to say, and to lend consistency to your communications. Here again, it’s a subtle cue sent to your customers, but that attention to detail — consistency in your visual messaging as much as the words you say — says a lot about you. It may not register consciously, but your customers will see the attention to detail in all that you do, building trust in your brand.
Stand Out in a Crowd
Unless you’re the only person serving an exceptionally narrow niche, there’s someone out there — probably pretty close to home — who’s offering many of the same products and services to the same prospective clientele you’re targeting. At that point, you can either compete on price (which leads to low margins, burnout, and failure) or you can find ways to differentiate yourself from your competition. That starts with devising a unique selling proposition, but it’s just as important to set yourself apart visually as well.
Build Engagement
People don’t just wear their hearts on their sleeves. When we were kids, our rooms, our lockers, and our notebooks had plenty of evidence of the things we loved, whether it was a brand of clothing, a favorite band, or something tied into a hobby. Even adults wear the love of their favorite brands on their sleeves (or deploy it on bumper stickers, or in social media shares). Your logo is a key point of engagement for your brand!
Build an Emotional Connection
Those burgers or that ice cream sandwich may not be particularly healthy, but when we see the golden arches or the silhouette of a polar bear, we have an immediate and visceral response to them. They can call to mind family outings, stops taken on long road trips, a treat when we’d done well on a test, or to take the edge off a bad day at school. But that underscores something else that’s important: the associations formed by your logo will be directly tied to how you conduct your business, and you need to make sure everything — your products, your services, and especially your customer care — aligns with your values so your name and your logo mean something positive today, and for a long time to come. If you’re struggling with your business branding, there are two different approaches you can take. You can sit down for a few days’ worth of Google searches and get an awful lot of contradictory advice from people who don’t know you and your business, or you can sit down for a consultation with a company that takes the time to understand you and your business. So get in touch with National Fleet Graphicsand get a logo design with a personal touch!
