Referrals

Word of mouth remains to be one of the most powerful brand awareness and lead generation tools your business will ever have. It’s free and it can bring highly targeted prospects ready to purchase your products or services. For small business, you can use word of mouth effectively to raise brand awareness by creating a simple program to reward and empower your current clients for referring their peers to your business. Be sure to let the current clients know about the existence of such a program in your business so that they can make good use of it.

Hold an event

Irrespective of the business or the industry you are engaged in, holding a live event will make you attract the attention of both clients and prospects. The event could be anything, either directly in line with your products or services or something complimentary to what you have to offer to your clients. It can be as simple as a social summer barbecue or a party and for better results, you should structure it to coincide with of a product or a new promotion in your business. If possible, you can run a free workshop to share with the potential clients about your business and the kind of value your products and services can bring to them.

Increase your networking

Networking is another awesome way to meet new people and potential clients to your business. You can attend a local networking event and even the though the results may not be apparent immediately, those whom you will share your business with will have the name of your company at the top of their mind should they need your services or products in the future.

Hold Exhibitions

By exhibiting yourself, you create an awesome avenue to show your products or services to hundreds of highly targeted prospects and it is also very possible to make sales during the exhibitions. Though it might be slightly expensive, the results will be worth it in the long run.

Additionally, you can organize a relevant giveaway or a competition as a means of making more people aware of your products or services. Giveaways and competitions have always performed well because people love free things and if you tell them that you will give them something without them spending a dime, they are likely to register for the giveaway or the competition in multitudes. Just ensure that whatever you will be giving away is relevant and will provide real value to the winners.

Sponsor an event or a product

Sponsoring an event or a product is another nice way small businesses can reach targeted audiences and increase their brand awareness. Through sponsoring such events, the business will have a face-to-face time with attendees and this will give you an awesome chance to get leads which you can follow up once the event is over. Be careful however, when choosing the event to sponsor. It should something related to your business.

Consider the social media

Small businesses can also consider offered by the social media for short term and long term branding options. Social media is a fertile ground for people seeking to raise brand awareness on their products or services since it contains all types of audiences. All that is required is for one to build a large base of active following and interact with them on a regular basis. It is also possible to increase the results from social media by using paid ads which can be very effective if the targeting is done in the right manner. The best social media sites to target for brand awareness currently include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Google +.

Invest in promotional merchandise

Promotional merchandise is also a nice avenue for businesses to increase their brand awareness. The merchandise can be given to customers after they make a purchase and also to the potential customers who come to make inquiries about the business. Such promotional items don’t have to be expensive, but they should be relevant and also provide some value to the recipients. Additionally, the items must be branded with the company’s name, logo and contact details. In this manner, those who get the promotional items will continue having the business in their minds for as long as they have the promotional items and they will also have the business contacts readily available should they need to contact the business.

Take these 5 steps to brand a new business

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At its initial stages, social media was perceived to be a fad for the teens and the young lads who had nothing but a lot of time to waste away.

But as it has been proven over the short few years that the platforms have been around, social media is a force to reckon with when it comes to marketing and building brands.

By having a powerful social media branding strategy, you can have the ability to increase your following and fan base across the multiple social media sites and have traffic on demand to grow your online or offline business.

But just with every other aspect of branding, a logo will be at the center of it. However, it is imperative to have in mind that there are certain tweaks you need to make to your logo so that it becomes more effective for social media.

Highlighted here are some of the optimization techniques recommended for quality and high performing social media logos.

Keep the Social Media Logo Simple

To begin with, the logo ought to be simple not only to suit use in social media, but simplicity is the current thing in logo design.

The logo should be of the right size so that you can resize it quite easily for the various social media websites.

Consider the right aspect ratio, since a wrong ratio may make the logo lose its effectiveness when used as display picture or icons in some of the sites.

Also remember not to cram it with all the words and all the colors in a bid to try and make it beautiful.

You’d rather have a simple and functional social media logo than a beautiful and less functional logo.

Always Use the Same Image

One of the aims of your logo is to make your company recognizable each time your viewers sees it.

It should be such that they are able to connect the image on the logo to the company name in their minds instantly.

Though logos adapt over time, the best performing ones such as Apple and Nike use the same image across all their marketing materials and such a dedication to consistency has worked wonders in their marketing efforts.

Similarly, be sure to use the same image as well as colors for the logos you intend to use in social media.

Keep Text and Images Separate in a Social Media Logo

A logo can look very nice when the images and text are intertwined.

The problem with this approach, however, is that the social media websites have issues with dimensions.

Whether you want to have the image displayed on the sidebar, as display picture or on the page, the image will be resized for a couple of times.

If you use a smaller image, as many people use most of the times, things will mesh up all together.

As a result, the social media logo can appear cluttered and unprofessional, rather than help your branding needs in the social media space, it will simply work against you.

Minimize What you Say

There is no need to attempt to include too much text in the logo as if you are trying to explain a point about the company.

That is never the responsibility of the logo, hence you should try to keep the details as minimum as possible.

Don’t try to shove what you do or sell in the logo, but instead use an appropriate image to tell the story.

Besides, your business will appear unprofessional and you may scare away people from interacting with you in the social media.

Consider Recommendations of each Social Media Websites

Most of the social media websites will give guidelines for their social media logo dimensions and the quality of the media they prefer people to share on the websites.

Instead of trying to figure it out on your own, it would be nice and easy if you could just read the guidelines and know exactly what is expected so that you do the right thing the first time.

This will save you a lot of time and energy and will make your logo look great across all the platforms because you designed it just as per the recommendations of the websites.

Test the Logo

The last thing you should ever do is to try and change your social media logo when it is well established and popular amongst your followers.

But since you can’t know beforehand if this is going to happen, it is highly advisable that you take it for a spin by trying out different sizes, colors, images and other design elements so that you know what is working best for you in the social media.

After testing the various components, you can then go ahead and optimize the final design which will have proven to get good reception in social media.

If you need help in designing and creating a Social Media Logo, then download our LogoMaven software, It’s the modern way to design any social media logo.

Check out these famous pink logos!

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The competition in the technology industry is always a cutthroat one, and the companies realize that for them to stand out from the ground, branding is very important, and this begins with the design of the company logo. A beautiful logo won’t just make the company appear professional, but also will be memorable amongst the potential audiences and in so doing, the company has a chance to build a strong and a lasting brand in the minds of their customers. Whereas there are many tech companies with extremely gorgeous logos, some not already famous, below are the ones with the hottest logos currently.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a file storage company providing users with the ability to store and share files in the cloud. The company is relatively new, yet it has become immensely popular because it has negated the need for people to constantly walk with their memory sticks. Perhaps the other reason for the popularity of the company is its awesomely designed logo. It is simple, easily recognizable and a single glance at it will let you know immediately what the company deals in.

Storific

This is an app that allows its users to order food using their phones and they get notified with the food is ready for pickup. The logo features handwritten lettering on a bright blue background. It is beautiful, stylish and elegant, exuding a nice and warm personality.

Jelly

Jelly is a new tech company founded by Biz Stone, Twitter Co-founder. It is a platform where people can ask questions and get responses from other members and it is designed to be used by mobile devices, but allows for seamless integration with the social media websites. Just like Dropbox, Jelly’s logo is ultra clean, stylish and very simple. It depicts a shape of a white jelly fish against a light green background.

Snapchat

Snapchat is now one of the most popular social networks, and it uses a mascot as the logo. The logo is minimalist against a yellow background. The choice of the mascot is derived from the premises of the platform, in the sense that messages disappear immediately after they have been viewed. In this manner, it is like a ghost, since you won’t access the message again, and the choice of the logo has worked very well for the branding and overall success of the tech company.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a startup tech company which allows designers, artists, musicians and other professionals in the creative industry to have easy to build websites. Their logo features a beautifully elegant design, minimalist in nature and it can be easily recognized. The fact that the font is in white against a black background makes it conspicuous enough and it easily stands out from the rest.

Simple

Simple was created with a bold idea of replacing the high street bank. The design of the company logo is as simple as the company’s name – it is a beautiful design which will help you see as you spend your money. The logotype is all in uppercase, looking stern but professional.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a tech company that allows businesses and internet marketers to collect email addresses for purpose such as email marketing, and newsletter distribution. It is one of the top autoresponder companies you will ever come across in the present times. Their logo is a very simple logotype with the name with the name of the company written in a playful font against a white background. It is the perfect definition of minimalism in logo design.

Visual.ly

This is a startup tech company dedicated to creating different kinds of infographics to aid in presenting information in a more interesting way. Their logo features a sweetly designed logo mark which relates to its visual approach to data and it is well suited for the company.

GitHub

GitHub is a tech company that allows for code storage in the cloud and it’s a service that has grown immensely in terms of popularity. They have made it easier for programmers and developers in different parts of the world to share code with one another and also to work on projects together. GitHub’s logo is an interesting and a quirky one, perhaps to depict the personality of the company, which is now the most preferred for people working on open source projects. Their logo is half mascot and half cat and they have named it as “The Octocat”.

Hall

Hall is a communication app designed for businesses. It has various chat rooms that can only be accessed by the people who work for the respective companies. The Hall logo design is simple, clean and easy to recognize.

Check out why Uber’s head of design quit here!

The post The Hottest New Tech Company Logos appeared first on LogoMaven | Easy Logo Design Software & Logo Maker.

The logo must be recognizable, regardless of the size

For a successful clothing label logo, it must be designed in a manner that it will still remain recognizable irrespective of the size. This is because logos are placed in different kinds of mediums such as billboards, stationery, including online platforms such like mobile applications and websites. It is thus imperative to have a logo which will be easily scaled up or down to suit the required sizes without it losing its qualities.

Consider black and white

A look into most of the successful clothing label logos will show you that a majority of them are in simple black and white colors. Glaring examples include sportswear manufacturer Adidas, H& M, Louis Vuitton, Emporrio Armani and many others. Working in black and white is not just being minimalist, but it introduces a certain kind of simplicity that makes the logos memorable for many years to come. Besides, when only two colors are used, the effectiveness of the logos are enhanced, since there will be no colors to distract the attention of the viewers.

Consider using negative space

The use of negative space is a very powerful concept in logo design. Negative space may be used to pass across hidden meaning or messages in the logos, thus increasing their effectiveness in branding. Besides, the application of negative space in logo creation has always led to the creation of timeless logos with the ability to retain their charm many years after the design.

Display your values

Since your clothing label logo will be the first point of contact between you and your potential clients, it needs to convince them about your ability to provide them with the quality products they are searching for. This may depend on your choice of colors as per the color psychology as well as the logotype you choose to work with. If your marketing message is strong enough to convince them that you are the real deal, then it will be easy for them to trust you and start buying your products.

Consider different formats

Just as with sizes, the logo should be available in different formats to allow for effective branding across various medium. As a clothing label, it is likely that you will desire to brand various items such as business stationery, some of the clothes, umbrellas, the packaging bags etc. You may also decide to revamp your branding by using billboards, television ads, websites etc. A good logo should be in formats that will allow its rendition in all the possible branding platforms for the business.

Hire a designer

Unless you are a professional graphics designer with the skills and experience needed to create top performing logos, you should never consider creating a clothing label logo on your own or by using the numerous free logo creation tools available on the internet. You should have in mind that the fashion industry is such a competitive one, where companies are spending millions of dollars in branding and marketing. It will thus be a good thing for you to use the services of skilled designers to create the clothing label for you. Besides, the clothing label logo will be the most important branding tool your business will ever have, hence, its creation should never be taken lightly.

Consider Geometric shapes as the basis of your logo

If you look at the logos of the top clothing labels, you will notice that they are based on geometric shapes, with the most common ones being rectangles, squares, triangles and circles. For instance, Louis Vuitton, Adidas, and Armani all exhibit some sort of geometric shapes in their designs. The use of geometry in such designs leads to accuracy and coherence between the various logo elements.

Protect your design

Great endings usually have humble beginnings. Once you’ve had your logo created, it is important to protect at all costs. This is because it may not be apparent to you the kind of reception the world will accord your clothing label. When that happens, you don’t want someone claiming copyrights over your logo. Hence, remember to secure the trademark and copyrights in good time.

Learn why the shape of your logo matters here!

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A good logo as your signature should be simple, professional and informative. You can effortlessly implement this on your signature without making it look dull and boring. Presented below are some of the ways to use to make your email signature cool with a logo.

Don’t include too much information

One of the most common mistakes people make with their email signature is to thing that they are mini autobiography. They end up jamming them with lots of unnecessary information and links which ultimately make them look dull and boring. When you create your signature with a logo, there is no need to include too much information.

The essence of the logo is to market your brand, and if people can take note of it, they will definitely head over to your website where they will find the rest of the information you are tempted to include in the sign. Therefore, try and keep the signature clean and to the point by not cramming it with the logo in addition with lots of other information.

Consider the color of your logo

As noted earlier, the signature will be the last thing the reader will see after reading the email. When you use a logo as the signature, it is important to consider the dominant color of your design. There are instances when the color may appear a little dull when used in the signature and in such cases, it is advisable that you tweak the colors and probably use some bright pallets to attract the reader’s attention to the logo. Obviously, when the color of the logo doesn’t contrast that of the email, then decipherability will be hampered and the logo will not be as effective as it would have been.

Use just the right size

For proper organization and better display of the logo on the signature, the size ought to be just the right one. A large logo size will not just be boring and annoying to the reader, but it may also affect the rendition of your email and make the structure and the organization disjointed. Additionally, if the signature takes more space than the actual content of the email, you may appear as imposing your brand to the recipients and it may make them change your perception about you.

Use smaller font pallets

Too many fonts are not a disaster for your logo alone, but also for your signature. Ideally, it is advisable not to use a lot of fonts in your logo and if this is the case, you will have to do some tweaking when using the logo in your email signature. This is a nice way to keep the logo simple and clear as the name and thus making it more effective in your branding efforts.

Let the logo be in the right format for small screens as well

It goes without saying that the logo should be able to render properly in computer screens before you use in the signature. Some businesses not fond of using communications may just pick any logo format and use it as the signature. You need to ensure that the logo is in a format which can be rendered across multiple devices, and especially on small screens, without its quality being affected. This is very important given that the number of people accessing emails via mobile device keeps on increasing and if the image in the signature can’ be displayed well on mobile devices, it may be a blow to your marketing and branding efforts.

Full width email signs

For most people using emails in their signatures, they follow the conventional format of position the signature at the bottom left section at the end of the email. Whereas this is the position which has been in use since time immemorial, sometimes a little creativity is needed to stand out from the crowd. For instance, you can modify the logo size to have an extended width to make it larger and more conspicuous.

In this way, it will draw in a lot of attention from the reader, besides making the email appear aesthetically appealing. However, you should consider this approach only if the logo can adopt a landscape layout without compromising its quality and overall visual appeal.

For better results with the logo as the email signature, there are other common mistakes that people fall for when designing their email signatures. For instance, there is no need for you to put all your phone numbers and email addresses on the signature. Watch out for such mistakes and you will never get it wrong with your email signatures.

Learn more about building a logo for a beauty company here!

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Unlike other industries, branding needs for contractors are slightly different. The contractors are faced with the task of passing across the message that they are ready for the next assignment while at the same time distinguishing themselves from the hundreds of similar contractors competing for the same jobs. Additionally, contractors who are still new in the industry face a massive task of getting established.

However, it is important to remember that confidence is grounded in the image. Through the creation of a solid logo, a contractor can create the perception of trust and start to win the hearts of potential clients, and by doing so, the business will be well on its way to growth. Below are some tips any contractor can use to create a logo guaranteed to stand out from the crowd and bring them immense marketing and branding success.

Use symbols associated with the trade

Proper use of symbols is imperative in the design of logos across all the industries. For contractors, appropriate choice of symbols is needed depending on the specific industry being plied. By using images relevant to the industry, it becomes easy to tell the potential clients about the kinds of services offered and they won’t have to struggle to figure out what the business is all about. As a general rule, the images must be simple and clear to understand and preferably, a single dormant image or text should be used. No need to cram three or four images in one logo.

Be niche specific

In as much as you may be one out of a thousand contractors in your niche, you may be providing an add-on service not being offered by most of the other contractors, thus differentiating your from them. For instance, you could be offering more personalized service, 24/7 emergency services, or competitive pricing amongst others. These extra services have the ability to create a huge difference in the client’s perception and so they should be clearly indicated in the logo. They will act as the strong selling points you will use to attract most of the clients interested in your services.

Stick to the colors defined by your trade

Just as with every other logo design, the psychology of color must be considered keenly when creating a contractor logo. Due to the extensive nature of the contractor businesses, there is a wide variety of colors to choose from, and any color chosen must be in tandem to the trade offered. It has been realized that most of the best performing contractor companies prefer to use bold colors such as brown, black, yellow, orange and red in their logos.

These colors are not only bright and conspicuous, but according to color psychology, they represent safety, trust, friendliness and professionalism – great attributes highly admired in most contractors. For contractors offering services related to the environment, there is a general trend to adopt blue and green colors in their logos as these seem to be more fitting for such services.

Let the logo deliver the marketing message effectively

Due to the high competition faced by the contractors, the winning logo must have the ability to pass across a strong marketing message which the potential clients will relate to by just taking a glance at the logo. Out of the marketing message, you can demonstrate trust, expertise and credibility to make people believe in you. The best way to do this when creating a contractor’s logo is to use a powerful slogan or tagline and position it conspicuously on the logo so that it is easily visible.

Consider the right choice of fonts

If your logo is not decipherable, then people will have to strain when trying to read it. For contractors, this might sound the death knell for the business since no one will be attracted to it. The solution to this however, is to use the right fonts that will guarantee readability. The preferred fonts for creating logos for contractors include Eras, Cambria and Gill Sans. It is also preferred that they should be set in bold typeface to create a commanding presence. Additionally, it is recommended that you combine graphics and type by doing away with letters in the company name and include relevant tools used in the industry.

When used correctly, the above tips will make every contractor come up with a winning logo that will make them stand out from the crowd and get the right kinds of customers needed to grow their businesses.

Learn how to build a logo for a used car dealership here!

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Brand exposure is important and by getting a professional logo and then sharing it in the right places you can work at improving your brand recognition. By improving your brand recognition you can improve your sales. This is really the only way that your small startup can turn into a bigger, more successful business for the future.

Here are some of the top places you can use your logo as a small business to improve your brand awareness:

Social Media:

If you don’t have a social media profile, you should think of creating one now. The most successful online businesses have their own online profiles today. That’s because they can market products and services out to their target market cheaply and effectively. Using your logo in marketing materials and for your profile picture on social media is important. Once you have a logo finalized you should consider using it for your profile picture on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and more.

Promo Items/digital advertising:

If you are building a banner ad or a print advertising spot, this is the perfect place to put your logo. If you put out a flyer or produce any kind of advertising online, you need to strongly consider including your logo somewhere on the same material. Without including your logo on print advertising or online advertising slots, you could be missing out on a prime chance for exposure. Including your ad in the bottom corner or as a main part of the advertisement if you are a new company, is a great idea.

Packaging:

Your logo is a must on your packaging. If you are selling a product that will be in retail locations or even a product that will be sold/shipped from an online store, you need to include your logo in the packaging. Logos on packaging are a fantastic way to improve your brand recognition. That’s because even if someone happens to see the box your product was shipped in located in someone’s recycling bin, this can show your product is being used in their local market. Packaging gets people excited to try your product. With a logo that shows your business culture, you could potentially influence a purchase.

Emails:

If your company uses email marketing or sends out any kind of email newsletter, you need to include your logo into the template for your emails right away. Showcasing your brand in any email message is a fantastic way to increase brand awareness. It can also help to improve the way that people feel about your brand. A customer or potential customer can see your logo whenever they get new news about your company. You can also influence their opinion of your logo or branding by showcasing different deals or offers with your logo distinctly displayed.

Webpage:

A logo must have a place on your company webpage. Including your logo on company webpages is essential for your logo to reach an international audience. You can go a step further as well and index your page with Google business. This will ensure that your logo comes up every time someone searches for basic info on the search engine about your company, but doesn’t visit the main page. A logo can be a big part of a webpage. Any small business needs to take advantage of displaying one on their home page/ throughout their pages. Even blog pages and businesses that are entirely based on the web know the value of branding. They also have strong logos distinctly displayed across their posts and main page content. Following this kind of visibility can only bring you success in brand awareness.

Business cards:

A logo displayed on a business card is a very professional move that is great for expanding your industry contacts. Many of the world’s top executives carry business cards that showcase the professional logo design of their company. Any small business needs to showcase their logo on business cards. Imagine being able to improve your brand awareness by showcasing your business cards at trade shows. People would be passing by and anyone could pick up your business card! By displaying your logo on your business card it becomes more than just a tool for contact information. It becomes a promotional tool as well. With a unique business card design as well as a trendy logo, you can really make an impact as a small business.

Keep these top areas in mind when you are thinking of where to put your logo. If you are in the early stages of your business and you need to increase brand awareness, don’t forget to take advantage of all of these spaces and more!

Check out this article on who needs a logo!

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High quality apps with a poor logo is likely to fail to reach its full potential because app icon is one of those elements that make users decide whether or not to download a given app. Since logos are used to communicate with the target audience, if an app logo fails to convince the potential user that the app contained therein is of good value, then the user may just rubbish it aside and never install it on their devices. This is why app logo design is such a serious matter for the final success of any type of app.

There is a plethora of mobile phone apps with great icon designs currently in use. Presented here, however, are the top app logos for the iOS devices. The fact that these apps have the best app logo designs is no wonder given that they also rank as some of the top mobile apps for iOS devices. They include the following-:

Pudding.to

This is a photo sharing application with one of the sweetest app logos in Apple Store. Gone are the days when the very basic and traditional cameras were used in photography but the logo of this icon does a good job taking you back in time by featuring a grey traditional camera. Despite this, it still manages to look fresh, new and very welcoming.

Instagram

It is no doubt that Instagram is one of the biggest social media websites at the moment, with millions of active users. Being that the predominant activity that takes place in this social site is photo sharing, there are hundreds of mobile applications dedicated to sharing photos and images in Instagram. But for an app to stand out amongst the hundreds, it must provide real value to the users.
This doesn’t refer to the functionalities alone, but also it must be beautifully designed, complete with an awesome logo. This is exactly what you get with the InstaGenius App. Its app logo design brings together a vintage camera and modern printing technology to give it an Apple-eque twist with a great sense of personality. It’s personally one of my favorite app logo designs.

Well

With the Well App, you get powers to manipulate your social lists in various ways using the iPhone. The app logo design for this application features an image of the traditional wells reminiscent of the Roman Empire. It comes with awesome shades of green and blue to create very powerful visual effects. Looking at it for the first time will remind you that there is a font wisdom waiting to be tapped out there so that you can share it with your lists in the social media. It can’t also be disputed that this is one of the app logo designs out there.

Wunderlist

You may have heard of Wunderlist if you are keen on task management apps. It is a free app that helps you in personal organization so that you can manage your tasks, prioritizing them from the most important to the least important ones. But with the capabilities aside, its logo is simply magnificent and it easily finds its way to our list of the top app logo designs. The logo features a 20^th century nationalist and communist image, which is a good thing if you want your working life to be more organized and regimented.

Galileo Offline Maps

If you love navigation then you will be well acquainted the various navigation tools by Galileo. Galileo Offline Maps is an awesome maps application that allows you to prepare your offline route before you embark on your journey. It features the globe, gently floating in the universe, and encircled by the letter G. The use of planetary bodies like stars is very strategic for its function since these were the modes of finding direction during the ages of our great grandfathers. But most importantly, the app logo design is solid, signifying that Galileo means business and the kind of confidence it has on its ability to help you find your way around, thus making it one of the best app logo designs you will encounter in the app store.

Evernote Hello

Note taking is a phenomenon that cuts across all the mobile apps eve
r since the growth of Smartphone. No need to walk around with your pen and note pad when you can do so with lots of ease using various mobile apps. Evernote Hello is one such app available to iPhone users. With regards to the app logo design, it features a happy character in a magnificent shade of green, smiling and waving at you. It can make a very nice advert for superior customer care services. The logo, however, though it looks simplistic in design, it is beautiful and one of the best app logo designs for these kinds of apps.

Check out these 5 green companies that also have great logos!

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. AppMaven LLC or LogoMaven is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned on this post. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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If you protect your logo it will summarize your business’s beliefs, cultures, values and quality without the need of any further explanation. The logo is the face of your business to the entire world in the sense that whenever anyone sees it; it will act as an immediate reference to your business. The design itself, as depicted by the fonts, the unique graphical perspective as well as the colors is a statement of your brand and as such, you ought to acquire exclusivity in its adoption and use.

However, if your logo becomes so successful and it manages to acquire a fanatic following for a user base, it risks being mimicked, copied or knocked off by unscrupulous businesse entities for promoting their poor quality products. If you had not taken the necessary steps to protect your logo against such unethical business practices, you wouldn’t just lose a huge chunk of your business to the competition, but also, you risk tarnishing the image of your company. This is because the knockoffs will be of poor quality and the consumers may not tell that they are imitations of your products and all the blame will fall back on you. It is therefore of utmost importance to protect your logo so as to preserve your company image and brand.

Presented here is a series of steps to help you take the appropriate measures to shield your logo against being used without your permission by any third parties.

Logo Search and Assessment

The first thing you need to do when you want to protect your logo is to determine if there is already a business using a logo, symbol or words that can be used to identify your company or your brand. If there is no such logo, symbols or words already in use, then you are free to go ahead with the rest of the process. However, you must also assess the logo and be sure that the images, symbols, and words used directly identify your business or brand.

Trademark Search

In trademark search, you want to do a thorough search with the relevant bodies to confirm that no other company has registered anything similar to what you intend to obtain a trademark for. There are certain instances when your phrases or wording may reflect those used by another company, in which case you will be compelled to revise such phrases since you will be infringing on the trademark rights of those businesses. In the United States, you can use the Trademark Electronic Search System as well as the Design Search Code Manual to find out if various components of your logo are already in use by other parties. This step is very crucial when you want to protect your logo because you can get rights when your logo is unique in all aspects.

Hire a trademark attorney

At this stage, it would be prudent to decide whether you will need the services of a trademark attorney for the rest of the remaining process when you want to protect your logo. This is especially crucial if you found that are other businesses using design components like the ones you use for your logo and need legal counsel on how you can navigate around it without necessarily losing the core of your design and marketing message. If you hire an attorney at this point, they will be in touch with the patents office until the whole process of acquiring a trademark for your logo is complete.

Trademark Application

The next step to protect your logo is to apply for a trademark. This can be done online using the Electronic Trademark Application System and is the most preferred methods of applying for a trademark when you want to protect your logo. Alternatively, you can also use the US Patents and Trademark’s Office to apply manually. It is a slightly tedious process, and you may get confused unless you enlist the services of a trademark attorney.

Trademark Monitoring

After you submit the application to protect your logo successfully, there will be a long waiting spell that can last for up to six months. But during this time, you will be presented with a trademark serial number tied specifically to your trademark. Additionally, you can monitor the application process and exactly which stage you are at when you apply to protect your logo. You can monitor the process by using USPTO’s trademark application monitoring tool.

Final Verdict

Eventually, you will receive a verdict on your application to protect your logo. This can be an approval or a denial of the application. If the application is successful, you shall have acquired all the trademark rights to your logo, and you will thus have the ability to protect your logo against use by any other party and consequently preserving the image of your company.

For more information on trademarking your logo check out our previous post!

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One thing you will notice about any business that has recently taken off is that they have successfully managed to get their customers to connect, relate and identify with their brand. The ability to create such coherence between the customers and the brand is usually irrespective of the services or the products that the business is offering.  Understanding how they achieve this is not rocket science, and you don’t need a Harvard degree to get the principles of building a brand identity for any business venture.

Knowing the basics of how to create a brand identity has the potential to catapult a company to great success with a minimal budget. Examples are all over of businesses that became successful overnight by simply developing a strong brand and growing an enormous community around it. For instance, Black Milk got over one million followers on Instagram, leading to the immense amount of user generated content and a customer based group with audiences all over the world.

So how exactly do you become successful in building a brand identity that will connect with your target audience and give them the inspiration to engage with your brand? Presented here are three basic but very fundamental steps you need to take if you want to create a brand that will drive your business to the next level of success-:

Know Your Market

The first process towards building a brand identity is to know who your target market is. It comes before you even think about defining your brand’s personality or planning your positioning strategy. It is at this stage where you spend a considerable amount of time researching on your marketing, carrying out SWOT Analysis and evaluating the competitive environment to identify the weak links you can exploit in your competition.

In market research, you will consider conducting activities such as secondary research, investigating pre-existing data for more insights into the market, carrying out online surveys with target groups to let you know more about them and to ensure that you position your products and services appropriately to meet their needs, demands and expectations.

A SWOT Analysis, on the other hand, is to enable you to understand better the strengths and weaknesses of your brand as well as your business. It will also reveal to you the opportunities that currently exist in the market as well as the potential threats that may hamper your process of building a brand identity.

Positioning Strategy and Value Proposition

Once you have a thorough comprehension of your market, the next step in building your brand identity is to determine how to acquire a unique position in the market and also a value proposition that will make the target audience interested in your products or services. Most of the businesses that thrive in the current environment are those that have something unique to offer to their clients. This is what sets them apart from the rest and make customers coming back to them. It is thus of paramount importance to find a unique value proposition that will relate to your target market and give them a reason to look towards your direction.

On positioning strategies, many businesses are fond of using more than one strategy to get into the market. This type of approach is never advisable because it will imply that you will have multiple marketing strategies, and these might end up cluttered and confusing to the target audience. As much as it is true that you may multiple value propositions, it is advisable to pick one positioning strategy and stick to it. Besides giving you the focus you need in building a brand identity, a single position strategy will also create coherence amongst your target audience, and it will be easy for them to relate to it well, leading to faster growth of your brand.

Always use Human Elements

At this stage, you have a clear picture of what your target market looks like and you have also identified how to position yourself competitively so as to address the needs, expectations and the wants of your audience. The next task now is to have your audience resonate with the products or the services you are selling to them. To effectively do this, you must have in mind that the target market is comprised of human beings. Hence, you must infuse human characteristics in your marketing campaigns. Consider the following elements when building your brand identity-:

The Brand Essence – the brand essence refers to the intangible benefits or the particular emotions that will be invoked in your target audience whenever they see or hear about your brand. This should always be toned down to one word. For instance, Disney’s essence is “Magical.”

The Brand Personality – brand personality refers to the characteristics of the brand. It refers to how the brand thinks, speaks, acts, behaves and reacts to the audience. To identify your brand’s personality, you must personify it and make it a living human being. This must be portrayed consistently across all the contact points with your customers. It needs to be a personality that the customer can like and relate with, or else, you endeavors of building a brand identity will go down the drain.

Whether you are brand new in business, or you have been struggling for a while in creating a brand identity, these steps will give you the headway you need in establishing a quality brand that will be loved by your market and ultimately bring lots of success to your business.

Learn more about Brand Strategy in our previous post!

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