Branding can make or break your business—a lack of attention to detail when it comes to the way you present your brand to the world can result in lost customers, unhappy employees, and an overall tarnished reputation. There are plenty of branding mistakes that every new business owner should try to avoid, but we’ve reached out to some of the leading experts in branding today to get their best tips on creating an unforgettable brand for your restaurant, hotel, or other hospitality business. Here’s what they had to say…
1. Branding is more than a logo.
Branding is a way to understand who you are and what your business stands for. When you’re choosing a name, color palette, voice, or tone of voice for your brand, keep in mind that these elements form part of your personality. The decisions you make now will affect how customers perceive you and can even contribute to new trends.
2. Create a solid foundation for your brand before you begin the design process.
Creating a solid foundation for your brand before you begin the design process is crucial. It gives you a reference point, allows you to test ideas, and ensures that your customers are represented authentically. These experts share some of their best branding tips so that you can start building a brand people will love. Create a solid foundation for your brand before you begin designing it with these helpful tips.
3. If your brand is well-designed, it will be memorable, recognizable, and easily distinguishable from competitors.
From national restaurant chains to local high-end boutique stores, branding is used to create a lasting impression. A bad or poorly designed brand will be just as forgettable as a well-designed one. So how do you design an effective brand? Here are some top tips from successful businesses on what it takes to make an impression.
4. Identify your target customer and define their likes, dislikes, and expectations.
You should start your branding project by identifying who your target customer is. Start by asking yourself: Who am I trying to reach? Defining your target customer in a few keywords will help you make decisions when it comes to choosing colors, fonts, and messaging throughout your brand. For example, if you are launching a new e-commerce site for seniors selling home health care products, your target customer would be over 50-year-old women.
5. Determine what you want to communicate or represent with your brand.
The secret to a good brand is understanding what you want your business to communicate or represent. The elements of your brand will communicate things like identity, expertise, and hospitality. Ask yourself: What do you want people to think when they hear your name? What kind of personality do you want to establish for your business? And how can you make sure that personality shines through in every touchpoint with your customers and clients? Once you’ve answered these questions, creating a lasting brand becomes easier.
6. Create short but catchy taglines to stick in peoples’ minds.
Good branding is made up of many different factors, such as logo design, messaging, packaging, and so on. The one thing that all great brands have in common? A short but catchy tagline that sticks in people’s minds and reinforces your brand’s personality. Luckily for you, we’ve put together some marketing tips to help you develop your very own slogan—so keep reading!
7. Nail down your typography choices by determining what works best among what’s available.
Fonts and typography aren’t just for making things look pretty. They also play a key role in building a business’s personality, creating an impression of trust and professionalism, conveying important messages to customers, and expressing your unique style. Depending on who you ask, fonts may be more impactful than colors when it comes to branding.
8. Keep all these things in mind when developing your brand’s voice, tone, color palettes, and font choices.
Whether you’re a large hotel chain or a small boutique hotel, hospitality should be your No. 1 priority. Think about what differentiates your brand and creates a memorable experience for your guests, whether it’s through your font choices, color palettes, or even video content. It might also be as simple as using animated gifs to showcase some of the best activities in town.
Conclusion: A solid brand identity can be a foundation for success.
The hospitality industry is a perfect example of an industry where strong branding can make or break a business. Strong brand identity comes with baggage and promises. For example, if you’re planning to open a quaint bed and breakfast on Martha’s Vineyard, chances are good that your potential customers will have certain expectations about what they can expect when staying at your establishment—that’s part of your brand promise.
