New technology, intense competition, and modern consumers’ habits have changed the way businesses differentiate.
A catchy name, a cool logo, and a lot of visual elements are not enough to attract better customers for your business.
If you want to keep your business relevant in front of your customers, you have to work harder and smarter than anyone else.
In 2020, designing and developing your brand involves understanding and applying new trends. For that reason, this article’s purpose is to teach you how to design your brand while taking into consideration new trends.
Does it sound hard?
Keep reading and discover the easiest strategies that you can start applying right away.
How to design your brand in 2020 – Trends you shouldn’t ignore
#1. Do your research when designing your logo
In 2019, several big brands refreshed their image by redesigning their logos and visual identity.
But, what does it mean for new brands?
For this year, it has been forecasted that logo design will continue impacting old and new brands worldwide. If you want to be prepared, you should pay attention to the following trends:
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- Retro 80s Logo Designs are back: Several brands are taking advantage of the nostalgic people feel when remembering the great 80s. It is expected to see a resurgence of retro logos.
- Logos that show their geometrical composition: A new trend from the end of 2019, that is expected to grow in 2020, is the design of logos that purposefully illustrate how they conform to geometric logo design principles such as the sacred geometry or the golden proportion.
- Multilayer, shadow, and overlay logos: From now on, logos will get deeper through one layer after another. This is a trend in which designers try to move from flat and semi-flat design and that create more complex logos that use reflections, shadows, and overlapping color even more about the brands.
Now that you know the trends on Logo design, do your research and analyze the designs implemented by other businesses in your niche.
#2. Include Videos
A couple of years ago, Facebook indicated brands that video content gets higher reach and engagement.
Since that moment, many companies started producing more content in video formatting.
Another proof is the rise of YouTube as the most popular site visited worldwide.
Just think about it.
Videos are easier to consume and help to retain 90% more information than any other media format. Besides, they’re easy to be consumed on mobile devices, laptops, or tablets.
In 2020, you need to invest in video production to educate, guide, and attract more customers.
Here you can find a complete list of FREE video tools to start implementing videos in your branding strategy.
Also, if you want to take advantage of this trend, you should follow these tips about video production:
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- Adjust your video depending on the platform that you want to publish. For instance, YouTube videos tend to be larger than videos on Instagram or Facebook Stories.
- Create an outline of your video in which you create an expectation first, develop your topic, summarize your key points, and add a Call to Action at the end.
- Use images, data, and other visual support. Remember to follow your brand book.
- Record real people and avoid using too many images or videos from free or premium bank images.
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Also, it’s important that you remember to study some best practices for each platform that you decide to use.
Remember that you don’t need to have huge resources to start producing great content. However, you need to be consistent and trust the process.
#3. Appeal to emotions
Storytelling allows you to tell stories to interact with your consumers from an emotional perspective.
In recent years, brands recognized that rational messages convince but don’t attract more customers.
However, by appealing to people’s emotions, brands make people feel that they are part of something bigger and meaningful.
The value of positive thinking towards the brand is much greater than any reason.
When designing your brand, you must learn to communicate your brand story, to write a solid “About Us” page that attracts prospects, and to genuinely express your differential value.
It’s time for you to start building a brand that makes people fall in love through its story.
BONUS. #4. Start personalizing your brand
Google introduced ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth) a decade ago when they started noticing changes in consumers’ behavior.
Google tried to explain, with this concept, that people gathered more information about a product or service before buying.
This information includes customers’ reviews, articles, videos, or any other type of content that can help people to know more about anything that they desire to buy.
This trend became a habit among customers, so companies had to adapt and adopt new strategies.
A study made by the BRP demonstrated that at least 73% of customers buy from brands that personalized their experience before the purchase. Also, 91% of consumers say they would prefer to do business with a company with an authentic identity.
In 2020, companies are implementing new techniques to open better communication channels to facilitate the interaction between the company and leads. However, if you want to take advantage of this trend, you need to understand your audience.
Try the following techniques to know more about your customers, so you can design your brand accordingly:
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- Create a buyer persona
- Look at your competitors
- Talk with your current customers
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Once you have the information that you need, you should implement at least one of the following techniques:
• Designing and implementing Chatbots in Messenger, WhatsApp, or website applications.
• Developing a brand philosophy
• Sending personalized emails
• Building loyal audiences on social media
Remember that the main goal is to fill the gap between your company and prospects at every stage of their decision process.
Are you ready to skyrocket your brand this 2020?
Developing a winning branding strategy requires planning and hard work. However, the results are worth the effort in the mid and long-term.
Pay close attention to your niche and other similar industries and be flexible enough to keep enhancing your strategy on a regular basis.
Article by Brittney Gaddis – Co-Founder at Honey + Hare and Graphic and Website Designer at Brittney Gaddis Design