6 Essential Brand Assets You Need to Create for Your Business

When setting up your new business, you need to focus on branding as much as your operations. Brand assets are the essential elements of your branding strategy, and they’ll serve as the foundation for your marketing. But, which brand assets do you need, and how do you create them?

Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list of the top six assets to focus on. These elements work in tandem with each other, so you can build a strong foundation for your company. Let’s break down how to create each one and why they’re so valuable.

Brand Research – Audience and Competition

Technically, this isn’t an “asset,” but it’s a crucial part of building any brand. The research phase of creating a business will help shape your brand and ensure long-term success. Without this step, you’d be flying blind, meaning you’d be scrambling to keep up with market trends and consumer demands.

But, what does brand research involve exactly? Let’s break it down:

Target Demographics – In this case, it’s better to be hyper-focused than generic. For example, instead of appealing to women ages 20 to 25, you should focus on married women with at least one child and a household income of $80,000 or more. By narrowing your demographics, you can address specific needs and solve unique problems. During this stage, you need to figure out what’s important to your audience so you can figure out how to market to them.
Competitor Offerings – Regardless of your business strategy, you’ll have both large and small competitors within the marketplace. What are those other companies doing right or wrong? What advantages do they have over your business and vice versa? What can you offer that they can’t? Not only should you pay attention to what other brands are doing, but you should also see how their products appeal to your target demographics.
Competitor Branding – When looking at the competition, pay attention to the brand assets for each company. What do their logos look like? What about color schemes, fonts, and brand identities? If you can define these elements for other businesses, it’s much easier to figure them out for your own.

Brand Name

What’s in a name? Well, as a business, your brand name means everything. It’s the first thing people know about your company, so you need to make an immediate impact all the time. Here are some tips on how to create a captivating brand name:

Keep it Short and Simple – Did you know that Mug Root Beer used to be called Belfast Old-Fashioned Mug Root Beer? As you can imagine, the original name was too much of a mouthful, and since everyone called it Mug, the company shortened the name. You should take the same approach to your brand. If it’s too long, it’s harder for people to remember, and it might be challenging to enter into a URL bar, to get creative, we suggest using a Word Combiner to come up with a new and great name for your brand.
Make it Memorable – Complicated names or phrases can be tricky to get right. So, you want a brand name that’s easy for customers to recall later. Imagine if someone only sees your brand for a second, such as on the highway. Will they be able to remember your company at the end of the day? They should.
Incorporate Your Brand Identity – A brand identity is what you want customers to think of when they see your business. Do you want to be light and fun, or serious and authoritative? Make sure your brand name reflects that. For example, if you’re opening an indoor playground, a name like The Fun Zone fits better than John Smith’s Play Area.

Brand Voice

Your brand’s voice is a bit different than your identity. While an identity is the core foundation of your business, the voice is how you choose to represent it. As with your brand name, the voice should reflect your company type.

For example, perhaps you run a doggy daycare center. In this case, you want a breezy, informal brand voice. Maybe you could pretend that the dogs are in charge, so they’re the ones creating the marketing materials. Conversely, if you use a formal and professional brand voice, customers may get the wrong idea of what your business is all about.

In addition to developing a unique voice, you also have to consider the visual elements, such as the font and color scheme. Choose fonts and colors that fit the tone and personality of your business.

Logo

Once you have a name, you need to incorporate it into a logo. A logo is an essential part of any branding strategy, as it serves as the basis for everything else. For example, you can’t build a website, print business cards, or set up social media profiles without a logo. If you don’t already have one you can create a logo by yourself with a logo maker tool or hire a designer from one of the many freelancer platforms.

When having your logo designed here are some of the key elements to pay attention to.

Colors vs. Black and White – Ideally, you should make both versions of your logo so that you have options when putting it on marketing materials. Also, consider how colors can interact with those on various pieces, such as social posts, business cards, and more.
Easy to Read – Kerning and spacing refer to the readability of a font. If your text is too squished or spaced out, it can make the logo hard to read. Look at it, both enlarged and shrunk if possible. Ideally, you should be able to read the logo when it’s super small.
Unique Compared to Other Fonts – When conducting competitor research, you need to figure out what can set your logo apart from the pack. For example, if everyone else uses similar graphics, what can you do to be different? Overall, you want to make sure customers can identify your brand and not get confused with others.

Website

As far as brand assets go, your company website is where everything comes together. Here is where your logo, color scheme, brand voice, and your company name can work as a cohesive unit. Fortunately, it’s never been easier to build a site from scratch, thanks to platforms like WordPress.

When building a site, keep in mind that it should be your primary touchpoint when communicating with new leads. Realistically, all of your marketing channels should funnel to your website, so each page matters. So, whether it’s a product listing, a landing page, or the home page, make sure it looks incredible.

Google My Business Listing

If you’re running a brick-and-mortar business, you’ll rely on foot traffic to increase your sales. One of the best ways for new customers to find you is Google Maps. However, you have to fill out your Google My Business listing to maximize your brand’s potential. Fortunately, doing this is free, and it can empower you to take advantage of Google’s suite of marketing services. The essential elements of your GMB listing include:

Brand Name
Address
Contact Info (Phone Number and Email)
Website
About Us Info

Be sure to optimize each section with relevant keywords so that your business pops up in local searches.

As you can see, brand assets can help elevate your new business to the next level. Without these components, it’s harder to build a loyal and long-term audience. Now that you know what it takes to create these assets, success is around the corner! Happy branding!

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