When we talk about branding, most people think about logos. And they’d be right. Well, kind of. Having a swish company logo is a great start. But you know that your company is so much more than a logo. In fact, without you, or your project, or your amazing team, or your very special customers, your logo is pretty useless. So when we talk about branding, we need to look at the company as a whole.
Put on your sunglasses and look cool, it’s the Big Picture time!
Sounds a bit silly, but we like to think of branding as the company’s ‘identity.’ How the company looks and talks, and it’s personality. Because, when you see a logo enough times you start to recognise the name; it feels like you know the company, and they become familiar. So if you ever need their product or services, you are likely to look them up. That’s why logos are amazing. And the more you can get your logo, or brand, out there, the better!
Then we make some nice clear guidelines that keep all your written and visual materials consistent across all your marketing. So things like your branded workwear, social media banners, email designs, shop signage, website, letterheads, presentations and tender docs will all look nice and uniformed. Your social media posts will talk like your brand, and the pictures will all be in a nice consistent style. This means that, over time, people will come to recognise (and hopefully love!) your brand.
Having branded templates and guidelines also keeps things nice and simple for your marketing team. Think of this as a uniform for all of your visuals and a voice for all of your copywriting. It sets the tone and look of everything related to your business, and makes you stand out from the crowd. Because we all love to be special, don’t we :)
Well, I do like to be special… so how can we make my business look great and stand out?
Okay so this is where things start to get fun! Here is the part where we get to make you look amazing. We’ve worked with start-up businesses and companies that have been going for the past 100 years, and everything in between. Over the four years, we’ve helped over 200 businesses with their branding, but the thing that excites us about marketing is that every project, and every business, is unique.
And finding what is special in your business is key to developing your brand. So whether you need a fresh new brand, or a rebrand, we need to understand what your customers want and why they will choose you.
We do competitor research, and we look at how we are going to position your brand differently. Then we present creative ideas to you, like colours, design choices and visuals; we learn what you love and what will work best to attract your target customers, and we continue to refine ideas until we find your brand. Ta daaa! It’s a process, but one that our customers (and us!) really enjoy. It’s quite amazing to see where you start vs the new brand.
Anyway, we can’t admire the work for too long, because the next step is to develop Brand Guidelines; this is the handy little book that makes your life so much easier. Inside you’ll have templates to help you make gorgeous marketing materials nice and quickly. So when you need a social media post or email campaign, you’ll just need to edit a template. We’ll make branded and editable Pitch Docs, so all you’ll need to do is tweak the info. If you need vehicle wraps, stationary designs, menus, workwear or letterheads, it’ll all be in your Brand Guidelines, so no matter how quickly you need something, you’ll never have to worry about looking unprofessional again!
Sounds good! So what is my Brands voice again?
This is just how your brand talks. Sounds a bit nuts again, but if all of your marketing talks the same, it does the same thing as your logo. Quite a few businesses around here play on the Yorkshire accent, and that’s a great way to give yourself a friendly personality. We always think your brand should talk like you do, so making sure that we get a tone that is approachable and reflects your business is key. All we do then is make sure that your brand voice is used consistently across all platforms. So anywhere your brand is talking, it should sound like you - your shop sign, your menu, your website and your social media should all sound the same - just like your logo!
It’s about putting out messages that easily communicate what you do, in a style that will appeal to your perfect customer; think website copy, email content, social media content, article writing and brochure content. Consistent language choices and tone become the familiar voice of your company. And the more familiar you seem to your audience, the they’ll want to talk to you.
A key thing people forget here is to be familiar and consistent across printed and online marketing content. Anything produced by, or associated with, your company should sound the same. Nail the tone, and people will make quick, subconscious connections between your content. And if they keep hearing you, they’ll keep thinking of your brand, and they’ll come and say hi when they need your product or service.
Okay you’re brand now looks and sounds amazing! Um, and now what?!
So you’ve got your branding sorted, but what do you do with it? Where will it be seen, and by who? What do you want people to think of when they see your brand? And how will you make more money? For this, we need to look at positioning and strategy; finding the right people, making introductions, getting familiar, and helping people to say hi to your brand. It’s like going to a party and making introductions. Social media, websites, paid advertising, blogs, SEO - where are your customers, and what is the best way to advertise your product or services? You need a marketing agency, and you need one fast!
So how deep will I need to dig?
It will differ depending on the marketing agency or digital agency you talk to. You’re lucky though, if you’re looking for a nice local marketing agency in Yorkshire, or a digital agency in Huddersfield, you’re likely to pay far less than our southern friends! (I’ll remind you of this at the end! ha)
Okay so new brand. I mean, you can get a logo for free. But you can also cut your own hair. And if lockdown taught us one thing, it was not to cut your own hair…
For a brand or a rebrand, expect to budget £500 up to £2,000 for a small business, and around £3,000 to over £5,000 for a medium sized, bricks and mortar business. Most agencies offer the complete branding experience. Tell them about your company, and they’ll get all excited and help develop the brand with you (I can say this as this is what I do!); they’ll turn your thoughts and ideas into incredible designs and words, and produce guidelines to keep the branding consistent across all platforms and materials.
You’ll get templates to help you make future marketing materials quickly and independently too. Agency prices vary depending on the size of your business, location and project scope, but for a marketing agency in Yorkshire, expect to pay anywhere from £1,000 to £10,000 for a complete branding project.
For a new website, expect to budget somewhere between £1500 and £5000. Each of our websites is unique and built to appeal to your target customer. Most of our websites are pretty straightforward builds, so 90% of our website projects come in under £2000; the other 10% are more expensive because they need some crazy functionality - you’ll know who you are!
How long will it take?
Again, this depends on how big the project is, and the capacity of the agency. As a Digital Agency in Huddersfield, we try our best to work in line with your ideal time frame. Some companies like to take the process a little longer, and others just want their new fresh brand now! A typical time scale is difficult as it varies so much from project to project, but our branding projects generally take anywhere between one to three months. A start-up or small business is typically a faster turn around as the owners tend to review works and updates faster, so it’s a speedier feedback process. Medium and large businesses tend to need pass work through various stages, teams or stakeholders, which naturally leads to a slower process. In short, we move at a speed you are comfortable with :)
And no matter how long it takes, we always work closely with you to make sure we get that wow at the end of the project!
Finding the right team for you!
You might be searching Google for things like: Digital Agency Yorkshire. Or asking to find the best: Marketing Agency Huddersfield. And there will be lots! There are brilliant Digital Agencies in Huddersfield, and great Marketing Agencies in Yorkshire. You just need to find the right team for you! So if you think that we might be able to help, please get in touch 😊
Ready to see how we can help?
You can call 07903731455 anytime to talk to Katie, or our office number is 01484 950560. Alternatively, ping us a message, and one of the team will be in touch!
Have a lovely day, and we hope to speak soon!
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