Small businesses have several competitive advantages when they are developing their company logos. For example, small businesses have fewer “chefs” cluttering the “kitchen”. So typically when they are developing their company logo, they can focus on a clean stylized symbol. A symbol is the foundation of a great business logo.
A well-designed company logo will make your business look like a large, established enterprise. People feel more comfortable buying from large, established businesses. Consumers feel confident that these larger businesses will be around for the long-haul and must be doing great things or they wouldn’t still be in business and thriving. Most importantly, it all starts with your company logo.
Small businesses are also innovative and better equipped to leverage social media to bring attention to their company logo and new brand. This helps them build relationships that lead to business growth simply because they look like a structured business because of their clean, stylized company logo.
You don’t have to spend a fortune to design a company logo and marketing materials that make your small business look like a big company. However, you do need to ensure that your business logo design and marketing materials look comparable in terms of quality to big brands. All of your materials should coordinate with each other to provide a consistent brand image to consumers. Follow the 4 tips below to ensure your company logo and marketing materials convey brand consistency:
1. Design a logo that is simple and focused.
Look at the company logos from popular big companies like Apple, Nike, and McDonalds. The best business logos are simple in design. They’re clean and can be used in any media or size. They look just as powerful in one color as they do in full color. Your company logo is the most important part of your brand identity because it is the visual cue of your brand promise. Use your company logo in all of your marketing materials and business communications in order to tie them together.
2. Choose your primary brand color for your company logo.
Powerful brands usually have a single color that dominates their color palettes. Imagine seeing the Coca-Cola logo in blue. That would confuse consumers who associate the Coca-Cola brand with the color red. Choose the single color that will represent your business logo and use it in all of your marketing materials. That color should be different from your competitors, if possible, but it should also match consumers’ expectations for businesses in your industry.
3. Limit your materials to use just one or two typefaces.
Choose one or two specific fonts for your company logo and use them in all of your materials. Of course, you need to select fonts for your business logo that appropriately represent your brand and industry. For example, using a font like Courier, which looks antiquated (like an old typewriter created it), would be the wrong choice for most companies, but it would be a particularly terrible choice for a company that positions itself as cutting-edge, modern, and innovative.
4. Don’t deviate from your brand identity elements.
Your company logo, color palette, and fonts are all part of your brand identity, and these elements should stay consistent in all of your materials over time. When you’re completely tired of your business logo and brand identity elements, your customers are just starting to remember them and associate them with your brand. Consistency leads to brand growth, so stay the course with your company logo!
Today, anyone can launch a business and thanks to the Internet, any business can grow to be a global organization especially if they start with a quality company logo. The true size of your company is far less important than the perception of size that consumers have of your company. Go big or go home!”
