Stage 1

Business Branding

Creating the road map to your online success

As with any project, the key to success is planning! This first stage of the Web Rocket is geared to helping you put together a complete action plan for your Digital Marketing Campaign.

Using our FREE Digital Marketing Plan Template, this stage allows you to identify the key areas that you will need to cover when preparing to launch, or build on your online business presence.

Having a solid plan with set goals, metrics, and strategies in place is critical to creating an effective online presence. In this stage of the guide, we will address the key factors that need to be considered and help you formulate these into an actionable plan that will be referred to throughout your campaign.

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Createing your Digital Marketing Plan includes;

  • Free downloadable Digital Marketing Plan Template
  • Example Digital Marketing Plan reference
  • Understanding the Digital Marketing Team
  • Writing your Company Overview
  • Establishing Business Goals and Identify Target Audience
  • Understanding and deciding Key Performance Indicators
  • Conducting Competitor & Industry Research
  • Creating an SEO & Content Marketing Strategy
  • Implementing a Social Media & Advertising Plan
  • Creating a Website plan

 

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Establishing your business brand - Let's get started!

In this first stage of the Web Rocket, we are going to take you through the creation of your Digital Marketing Plan.

Whether you are a start-up, small business or enterprise level company, everyone should have a plan in place to effectively manage their online presence. It is crucial to understand your target audience, competitors, and industry and have a clearly defined brand to promote and communicate your services and products.

You should understand how to effectively decide and monitor your business goals and have clear milestones in place to measure the effectiveness of your campaign. We will also address how to strategise for your website, Social Media, SEO, and advertising.

For each step below, you will find the relevant reading, guides and resources. Make your way through each step and complete your Digital Marketing Plan as you go in the template provided here. You can also use the completed example for reference.

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Step 1 - Brainstorm your brand

Understand your brand to communicate it effectively

Whether you have an existing company or you are starting from scratch, you need to ensure you have a clear idea of who you are as a brand.

Your brand is the personality of your business and should be used consistently throughout all of your marketing activities.

Your brand is crucial for successful marketing of your company, and creating a positive, lasting impression when communicating and engaging with your customers.

As with any aspect of our business, we start with research;

  • Examine your target audience to identify the types of business personas and brand styles which they respond to positively
  • Consider competitors in your industry, what works for them and what doesn't
  • Refer to your business plan with your team and brainstorm a set of keywords and phrases which best describe your brand
  • Make a clear list of what makes your brand unique within your industry
  • Now work to align and highlight the qualities and aspects of your brand which correspond effectively with your target market

Once you are confident that you and your team have an in-depth understanding of the qualities, ethos and persona that you would like to communicate and represent your company, you can then move on to solidify your brand marketing persona.

Check out this useful article from HubSpot about developing a brand identity >>

 

 

Branding Resources

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Step 2 - Your Company Name & Slogan

Creating words that stick

Now that you and your team have a clear understanding of your brand and what you need to communicate, it's time to start work on your key brand assets.

These are the elements of your branding which are using to communicate your company personality to the world.

 

Business Name

If you are an established company, you will, of course, already have a business name. Unless you are considering changing your business name, you can check this task off as complete.

If you are a new start-up, and haven't yet decided on your business name, you should get your team together and start putting together a shortlist of ideas.

For each of your business name ideas, consider a few key factors before making this important decision.

You'll need to factor in;

  • The relevance of the name to your business and whether it reflects what you offer
  • The ease of spelling and pronunciation, is it catchy and memorable
  • The availability and current usage of the name and associated assets, such as website domain name

These are just a few considerations, but we highly recommend reading this full article on choosing a business name from the Entrepreneur Handbook >>

 

Company Slogan

Here's your opportunity to have a little fun! Whilst your business name may be subject to some restrictions, your company slogan is where you can really get creative and make your branding mark.

This branding asset will be used in a number of ways across your marketing and is a great way to connect to and engage your customers.

You'll need to think about;

  • Making your slogan memorable, catchy, unique and emotive
  • Keeping your slogan timeless and relatable
  • Ensuring that your slogan is representative of your company ethos and personality

This fantastic article from HubSpot explores the creative art of making a successful company slogan with some great examples >>

Writing your company overview

 

Name & Slogan Resources

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Step 3 - Your Brand Image and Voice

Clear, consistent representation of your brand

Bringing together the ideas generated from your branding brainstorm, it's time to set out some clear guidelines for your company image and voice.

The key to communicating your brand and making a memorable impression is consistency. This brand image and voice is how we humanise our business, and should consistently represent your company ethos, values and personality.

As some examples, you should think about;

  • Will your written style be fun and conversational, or more formal and matter-of-fact?
  • Will your use of imagery be bright and bold or glossy and atmospheric?
  • What fonts will be used across your website and marketing materials?
  • Should your adverts be exciting and emotive, or informational and corporate?
  • In what manner should your employees engage with customers?

Each of these aspects should all align to your brand personality. You should, at all times, when identifying your brand image and voice, keep your target audience in mind. You need to be relatable to them and communicate with them effectively.

To use a fairly obvious example, should you be promoting your services as a funeral director, you would want your brand voice to covey a certain sense of respect, support and understanding.

You would look to avoid the use of loud, colourful language, ill-fitting imagery or quirky slogans, tag-lines and advert quips.

You can read more about establishing your brand voice over at 99 Designs >>

Identify your business goals

 

Branding Resources

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Step 4 - Understanding Colour Schemes

A splash of colour goes a long way

Now that we're starting to think about image and how we present our company, we should turn our attention to the colour schemes that will be associated with and define our brand.

Certain colours have different impacts on users, or are more popular with different demographics than others. We should consider our brand, our target audience and the message that we want to communicate.

Check out this useful article from Canva on how to choose the right colours for your brand >>

We should think about;

  • What colour scheme best represents our brand personality
  • What colour schemes are most popular with our target demographic
  • What we want our customers to feel when they see and engage with our brand
  • The psychology of colour in the marketing context
  • What colour schemes will work well across our digital, print and other promotional materials

You should come up with a selection of ideas and colour palettes, so you can compare and evaluate initial reactions within your team or even with a sample consumer group.

You should look at some inspiration online from existing companies and check out this useful article on colour combinations from Looka >>

A great online tool for exploring palette combinations is ColourLovers >>

 

Key Performance Indicators

Colour Scheme Resources

Tools

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Step 5 - Designing your Company Logo

The iconic flagship symbol of your company

Your company logo is the pinnacle of your brand recognition. It needs to be instantly synonymous with your business. Remember, your company logo is just part of your brand identity, so needs to reflect everything you have explored up until this point.

A great logo should be memorable, evocative, and simple.

Whilst it is important not to overcomplicate your logo, there is a process involved in fine-tuning your ideas to design the perfect logo for your company. Whether you are hiring a logo designer or creating one yourself, it is crucial that you are involved in the process.

The key considerations for your logo design are;

  • Your brand identity should be effortlessly communicated from your logo
  • Think about the brand image and voice you have identified
  • Consider the fonts very carefully - legibility and clarity is key
  • Think about the colour schemes you have identified and work those in
  • Will your logo incorporate brand marks such as icons or symbols?
  • Maintain the flexibility of your logo design - it will need to be used in multiple contexts so being able to create alternate, synonymous versions is important
  • Will your slogan be part of a version of your logo?

We recommend reading through this helpful article from Sprout Social on How to Design a Logo >>

Once you have a full understanding of what is involved, you should begin your research and putting together some ideas.

Even if you are hiring a logo or graphic designer to produce the final version for you, it is always a great start to have some concepts put together to give an idea of what you are looking for.

Make some sketches, list some fonts, and supply the designer with your brand identity overviews, so they can get a full understanding of your company.

If you are producing the logo yourself, or simply generating some ideas for your professional designer, there are some great free logo design tools available online >>

Remember, free or paid online tools can be limited in what you can create. Whilst they are fantastic for concepts and can even generate a finished product for some more minimal designs, a brand asset as important as your logo is worth the time, effort, and budget to get right.

If you would like to talk to us about logo design, get in touch >>

Identify your target audience

 

Logo Design Resources

Tools

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Step 6 - Brand Kit & Application

Rolling out your brand with consistency

By this stage, you will have the majority of your brand assets in place and ready to roll. You will have everything you need to consistently and accurately define and represent your company.

You will be looking to apply your brand to;

  • Your website
  • Social media platforms and business directory listings
  • Business cards, email footers, and stationary
  • Marketing and promotional materials
  • Signage, uniforms, and vehicles
  • Products, accessories, and merchandise

To prepare for effective brand application, it's important that you pull all of your final branding elements together into one easy to use referral document, known as a Brand Kit.

If you have hired a designer or agency to produce your branding, they should provide you with this finished document as part of the process.

This document, usually saved in PDF format, is a summary document of your brand and the guidelines with which it should be applied across a range of contexts, both in-house and externally. Your Brand Kit will serve to assist in maintaining consistency throughout.

Your Brand Kit should include;

  • An introduction to your company, business traits and characteristics, values and ethos
  • Your final logo, along with any acceptable variations
  • Size, spacing, and usage guidelines to ensure your logo is applied correctly in different contexts
  • Acceptable fonts, displayed with correct font and variation names
  • Your final colour palette, with acceptable usage examples
  • Examples of acceptable imagery styles

Check out this great article from WIDEN - What to include in your brand kit >>

You can also find some great Brand Kit resources on Canva >>

 

 

Brand Kit Resources

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Stage Complete

Have you completed your Business Branding?

Once you are happy with the principles of producing your business branding, you can tick off your Action List >>

If you would like to speak to us about producing your company branding, please get in touch >>

When you are ready to proceed to the next stage of the Web Rocket, it's time to explore the design and development of your website. We'll take you through the process of working with your developer to bring your business online.

Web Development Process

 
 

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Your FREE Digital Marketing Guide

Your very own FREE Digital Marketing Checklist

Are you a new start-up, looking to prepare for your digital marketing journey? Or an existing business ready to review and improve your current online presence?

We bring you Web Rocket. An interactive, step by step resource, guiding you through your digital marketing process. This FREE online resource is a collaborative project brought to you by industry professionals, sharing expertise in their relevant fields.

Web Rocket covers every aspect of your Digital Marketing, from preparing your business and branding, to building your website, implementing SEO, and planning your content and social media strategy. We also look at Search Engine Marketing, website analytics, email marketing and much more.

We take you through the process with your personal check list, reading lists, guides and downloadable resources in which you can save your progress as you complete each stage. Web Rocket ensures you cover everything you need to know when getting ready to launch a new business or review your existing presence.

 

Web Rocket will be launching June 2023 - if you would like to pre-register for the course, please enter your details below and we will email you when your free account is ready to access.

 

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The Web Rocket is a collaborative project developed and updated by industry professionals

If you have skills and expertise in the areas covered in the course, we always welcome new contributors to enhance our reader's experience.

The digital marketing landscape is vast, and covers everything from web design, social media and SEO, to photography, printing, and PR. Our readers not only need informative content, but they also will benefit from reliable contacts across the industry.

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