Marketing and Branding
These things arent the big mystery everyone thinks they are. In essence, both of these elements in your business are about telling your story and building relationships.
Introduction
Branding and marketing are possibly the most important aspects of the customer experience besides the product or service, itself! Your brand is your visual identity with and character of your company to clients. Let’s get started by thinking of some of the brands you’re most familiar with and what you associate with them.
- What are two of your favorite brands?
- Why are they your favorite brands?
- How do you recognize your favorite brand?
- Where do you learn more about your favorite brands?
You can increase sales through attracting an audience with strong branding and marketing. We’ll be thinking about: What problems or needs does your business solve? What makes it unique? Answering these questions will help you to develop a strong brand identity.
What is branding?
Branding is how your business is perceived by the public. Your brand is what sets you apart, builds trust, and fosters recognition. It’s not just about what your business sells, but how you make your audience feel and how they connect with your values. It includes:
- Your name
- Logo
- Messaging
- Overall identity.
While there’s a lot more to branding when you have a brick-and-mortar store, let’s focus on establishing your brand digitally for now. This is often where people will first interact with your business, so it’s essential to make a strong and lasting impression
Designing your brand identity
Logo and visuals: Your logo is one of the first things people will notice about your business, so it should reflect your brand’s personality. The colors and design of your logo help create recognition and consistency across all your channels. If you’re starting from scratch:
Logo creation tools (requires purchase):
FREE logo creation tools include ChatGPT/ Other AI Image Tools.
DIY logo design, both free or paid versions:
Color scheme and fonts: Choosing your brand’s colors and fonts is essential for creating a cohesive identity. Stick to a limited color palette (3-4 colors) that reflect the mood and message of your brand. The same goes for fonts—pick 1 or 2 fonts that you’ll use consistently across your website, social media, and marketing materials. Remember to use fonts and colors that are accessible to people with visual accommodation needs. High contrast, font size, and use of images to pair with words can help with accessibility.
Social media graphics and consistency: Every post, graphic, or story you share should align with your brand’s visual identity. This helps create a consistent experience for your audience. If you’re making graphics for social media:
- Use your chosen fonts and colors.
- Keep your branding consistent with every post so people instantly recognize your content when they scroll through their feed.
Social media management as part of your branding: Your social media presence is an extension of your brand. Everything you post—whether it’s an image, video, or text—needs to align with your branding strategy. Consistency is key in building a trustworthy and recognizable brand.
By regularly posting content that reflects your brand’s personality, you will help your audience feel more connected to your business and ultimately drive more traffic to your website.
Establishing your brand online
Your website: A professional website is crucial—it serves as the digital hub for your brand. Think of it as your storefront, but in the digital world. It’s where people can learn about you, see what you offer, and take action. There are several platforms that make website creation easy and affordable, including:
Key elements of a website include:
- About page: This is where you tell your brand story, introduce your values, and connect emotionally with visitors.
- Contact information: A clear way for people to reach you, whether it’s through an email, phone number, or a booking form.
- Location: If you have a physical location, make it easy to find your address and business hours.
Email signup: Building an email list is key to growing your business. Make it easy for visitors to subscribe to your newsletter or updates.
Social media: You don’t need to be everywhere on social media—just focus on the platforms your target audience uses most. Whether that’s Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, or Facebook, choose platforms that align with your audience’s habits. If you’re just starting out:
- Instagram: Great for visual businesses, showcasing your products, services, and behind-the-scenes content.
- X (formerly Twitter): Useful for sharing updates, engaging in conversations, and building thought leadership.
- TikTok: Perfect for short-form video content that can go viral and engage a younger demographic.
- Facebook: Still a solid platform for local businesses and targeted ads.
Additional branding concepts
Consistency matters! Whether its print materials or virtual/web-based materials, everything should match! You will always use the same imaging and fonts and colors everywhere – so as you think about your choices – think about things that will easily translate into every kind of space. Do not create intricate logos that you’ve spent hours hand drawing that will be challenging to recreate with the same visual experience once printed very small or blown up to very large.
Consider testing some ideas with target audiences to see what folks most react to and remember! Drafting a few versions of a logo (if you have one) and your brand name and getting user feedback is a smart strategy.
The name itself is a big part of this! How will you name your business? Remember the name should help people understand what the business is about – even if it’s not so explicit as Hot Chocolate Delivery Company. It should reference the work you do: such as Triple Tree Accounting, or Sod Bros Landscaping.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is the process of promoting and selling products or services, including market research, advertising, and customer engagement. It focuses on how you reach and attract your audience through different strategies and platforms. Here are a couple thoughts to consider:
Think about who your business is speaking to: Are you targeting Gen Z, who are typically digital natives and gravitate toward short-form video content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram? Or are you reaching an older demographic, who might rely more on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, or even the newspaper to gather information and make purchasing decisions? The age, habits, and values of your audience should shape not only where you market—but how.
Consider which digital platforms are most active for your audience: For instance, email marketing might be a strong fit for an audience that prefers long-form updates and personalized messages, while a younger or more mobile-savvy audience may respond better to fast, visual content on TikTok or Instagram Stories. An even older audience may rely on morning or evening local news on TV or the daily newspaper. Each platform has its own culture, audience, and strengths. Understanding this helps you tailor your messaging more effectively.
Types of marketing, based on business model:
Brick-and-mortar business: Local businesses with physical locations. They often rely on:
- In-person events for milestones or product launches.
- Special deals for local customers.
- Community partnerships and word-of-mouth marketing.
Example: The Hot Chocolate Delivery Company is not exactly a brick-and-mortar business. However, since we’re an in-person business, we will be offering in-person events! We plan to rely on word-of-mouth marketing as a main source of sharing about our business because we know how tasty our hot cocoa is. We will have to plan for other forms of marketing as well, since we’re a mobile company, you will need to know where to find us. We can use newspaper advertisements and TV spotlights to showcase our participation in community events, etc.
Online business: Digital-first businesses typically capitalize on:
- Holiday sales, birthdays, and seasonal promotions.
- Email marketing, posting on social media, and paid social media ads.
- In some cases: Influencer partnerships and viral campaigns.
Example: HC/DC will be using online marketing to help folks locate the cart and schedule online orders for delivery. This means if you buy online, we have the opportunity to offer promotions for scheduled purchases (that will help us plan for inventory, etc.) Maybe, if you create an account with us, you can get a free cocoa (hot or frozen) on your birthday!
Choosing the right marketing channels:
- What are the best platforms for your audience? Why?
- How will you be able to tell if your marketing strategies are working?
Consider trying out additional strategies once you know you have some that are working just to see if additional audiences can be brought into your customer base. Consider the costs associated with different marketing strategies against the potential return from that audience. Said differently – don’t spend more on marketing than the customers will spend on your business
Put your learning into practice:
Explore Reflection Activity #1 in the workbook.
Check what you learned
The Young Entrepreneur Academy unit assessment tool is available to you to help you practice what you learn. You can pause and exit at any time and take the assessment as many times as you want. We don’t collect personal information nor do we use or show your name. Any data we do collect is anonymous and will be used to improve the curriculum. Your anonymous responses may be subject to public disclosure under RCW 42.56.
