Here’s the fact that you probably didn’t know: 99.9% of businesses in the United States are classified as “small businesses.” That may seem impossible, but considering there are more than 30 million businesses listed by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy, it may only be a matter of perspective. And those numbers continue to grow every year.
One of the most important aspects of helping your small business grow is having a logo. But unfortunately, this aspect is often overlooked.
Perhaps, as an owner of a small business, you may not need a logo at the moment. There are many alternatives for establishing your brand identity consistently. You can use fonts, colors, imagery, or any or all of them throughout your designs and layouts, digital or in print. But deciding whether you want a logo for a brand is an important choice to make.
If you’re still unsure about choosing to have a logo, the following reasons might make you realize why your small business would benefit from having one:
A logo makes a good first impression
As long as it’s well-designed, a logo will make a good first impression on your audience. This is important for a small business, especially if it’s a new business. Small businesses will succeed if they are professionally run and know how to reach and communicate with their audience, providing what is needed.
Unfortunately, a lot of small businesses put their branding on hold, opting instead to focus on the actual products or services they provide.
Of course, there’s no denying that quality products and services are important. But no matter how good they are, your audience won’t be able to try what you offer if you don’t know how to attract them. So, you should take the first step – to captivate your audience.
A well-designed logo will give an accurate representation of your company. But if your logo is badly designed, it may very well put people off from giving your products the benefit of the doubt and trying them out.
You might not be able to get a second chance to make a first impression. It doesn’t make sense to put your audience at risk by having a poorly-designed logo.
If you think you can’t have a suitable logo because you don’t have a design experience or have a very limited budget, there are other alternatives. You may hire a freelance designer or a graphic arts student looking for some buck. Or you can choose to make one from a plethora of logo-making tools online, where you’ll have a range of options for customization.
A logo is your identifier
This may seem obvious – after all, many logos bear the name of the company. But it’s so much more than that.
A well-designed company logo conveys facts (and even history) about the brand behind it. It’s not just the name but also the type of brand personality your business has, what kind of business it is, and its target audience. You may also indicate what type of products or services you offer in your logo.
For example, if you’re running a small ramen restaurant, its logo may have a graphic representation of a bowl of ramen as its primary focus. Even it doesn’t show the name of your restaurant, customers know instantly what kind of food it offers.
If you choose your graphics and typography for your logo carefully, it will help identify your business, even if it doesn’t have the name included in it as part of the design.
A logo builds recognition and loyalty
Besides stamping your identity everywhere it’s used, a logo for your small business goes a long way to building brand recognition and loyalty.
With a well-designed logo, customers will have something to connect to. It makes your logo synonymous with your business. It also enables your customers to pick your logo out in a sea of other logos, making yours a standout from the competition.
A logo design should be simple but well-thought-out: a careful but ingenious choice of graphics, colors, and fonts. It can contribute to an immediately recognizable logo.
Once your customers recognize your logo, their loyalty to your small business naturally follows. Your customers will connect your logo to the good experiences they’ve had with your business. With every good experience, they will be more likely to patronize your company again and again. A well-designed logo will make that process a lot easier.
A logo builds trust in your brand
Building trust is as essential as building loyalty for your brand. After all, logically speaking, trust is a follow-up to building loyalty.
The more customers seek out your business, the better experience they have, the more satisfaction they will and the bigger the trust that your business will continue to provide what they want.
However, building trust begins with your logo. Part of what your logo does is making a promise, an assurance, or a guarantee – whether it’s your products or services, a location where your company operates, or your target clientele. Remember the ramen restaurant we mentioned earlier? By using the bowl of ramen graphic in the logo, the restaurant implicitly promises that it serves ramen, telling the customers what they can expect from your restaurant.
This is an important reminder when designing your logo to avoid promising anything that you cannot follow through on.
When customers catch sight of your logo for the very first time, this is where trust is also established.
A logo creates brand consistency
A well-designed logo allows your company to create consistency within your brand.
Your business needs to remain consistent throughout your designs and layouts so that your customers will know which company is marketing to them. As your business’ main identifier, your logo should belong on every piece of marketing – on every page of your website, your social media, business cards, packaging, and more. Using your logo on all marketing materials makes your branding consistent.
Having a well-designed logo contributes to making a good impression on your audience, identification, recognition, loyalty, and trust to your brand.
Conclusion
Regardless of how big or small your business is, it deserves a logo. And not just any logo – a logo that is well-designed and accurate, best represents your brand, and helps your business stand out from the competition and keeps it growing and thriving.