Branding is everything these days.
If you run a tech startup, you probably have a pretty good idea of how to navigate the business side of things. But, what about branding?
If you don’t get branding ideas right for your company, you probably won’t go too far. It’s easy for new tech companies to get pigeonholed or misrepresented without a strong marketing campaign that tells you who they are and what they do.
By branding yourself properly, you can communicate to your customers exactly what your business represents out of the gate. Think about huge tech companies like Twitter or Spotify.
You know Twitter just as well by the little bird logo as you do by their name. Spotify’s lime green logo with the word “Spotify” bluntly written beside it is immediately recognizable.
Branding is like clothing for your company. You should want it to have nice new clothes and a unique sense of style.
Here are 7 branding ideas your tech company should pay attention to.
1. Your Logo
Sometimes a business idea can come from a logo. That’s how integral your logo is to branding. Without a strong, memorable logo, your company is immediately lost in the shuffle.
When coming up with your logo, you need to have a strong understanding of what your company’s overall identity is going to be. What is your archetype?
If you can relate your business’ goals to a famous figure from history or mythology, that’s a good place to start. This means that you’ll have to do a bit of digging through history books (or some googling).
Having strong associations to an idea or figure that people already recognize will give your customers an immediate sense of what your vibe is, even if they don’t know what you do.
Design, redesign and redesign again until you’ve got the right look. If you go through dozens of logos, that’s a good thing. It means that you’ve put in the work to find the right one. Your logo is the jumping off point for everything else.
2. Taglines
Branding doesn’t only come down to your logo, but your logo allows everything else to grow out of it. One of the other things that you’ll find is integral to your branding is a catchy and informative tagline to go with your logo. These will be the first things that customers see when they look into your company.
You want to write something that captures the essence of your brand. Keep it simple and concise, you’re not writing a novel, you just need to draw the person in with an enticing logo and a quick mission statement.
3. Sending Messages
As you begin hiring employees, they should be made aware of what your brand is all about. This will help integrate your brand into everything your company says and does. If your employees buy it, then so will everyone else.
It should come through in what your employees wear on sales ventures, to how they communicate with customers, to their email signatures, etc. Your brand and your company vibe should infiltrate every aspect of how your company runs.
4. Your Voice
This is what your “vibe” is. How you represent yourself to the public is so important to branding. If you’re a more laid back kind of business, you can have a more conversational, easy-going tone in your voice. If it’s more proper and business-like, keep a more traditional and formal tone.
Whatever you decide to do is fine. Just make sure that it ripples throughout the logo, tagline, and all other ways in which you present yourself to potential customers. That brings us to our next point.
5. Social Media
Your social media has to represent you perfectly. So much of your marketing is going to be done via Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. It’s especially important in the beginning stages of your business’ promotion because it’s essentially free to use for marketing.
Thoughtfully creating a social media campaign that’s in line with your branding ideas will go a long way with people. This is how most regular folks find businesses now, so its an easy way to promote your brand effectively.
6. Video
Having a great video team to make short informational pieces that explain your company and rep your brand is huge. There are a few directions you can go with your videos.
A good way to explain who you are and communicate your brand and vibe is by doing an “explainer” video. In this, you can have one or two camera-friendly people explaining what your products and services are. It allows you to establish your brand as an authority on the matter.
Another way to do this is with an animated short. If you don’t want to go in front of the camera or put one of your employees out there, you could hire an animator to create your explainer video. Doing this allows you to keep with the motif and color scheme that you’ve laid out with your logo.
Or, if you really want to get the culture of your company across, you could make a video showcasing your employees working together to achieve your common goal. It humanizes your business and it’s great for branding to show happy people at a positive company.
Choose one or all three of these examples and promote your brand through video.
7. Consistency
This is the most important point to make. If you want your brand to come across, you need to be consistent with everything you do.
Your social media, videos, and marketing should all have the same look as your logo and feature the same voice that you worked so hard to craft. If it doesn’t seem to match up, you’ll confuse people.
Branding Ideas Can Come From Anywhere
These are branding ideas to help you come up with the perfect brand that represents you and your company. The beauty of branding is that when you get sick of your current look, or if it feels a little stale with your customers, you can always go through a rebrand.
The best companies usually have their brand nailed down and make it synonymous with what their company is. It’s not easy to brand yourself, but it sure does pay off if you do it right.
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