Branding is absolutely critical to any business. Studies show that consumers are most likely to engage with a company when they share an emotional connection with the brand. This emotional connection is also driven by shared values and brand message.
A study published by the Maryland based University of Loyola, colour can alone increase brand recognition by as much as 80 percent. The study further found that consumers make a subconscious judgment about a product within the first 90 seconds and nearly 62% to 90% of this judgment is influenced by colour alone. Colour is a big part of small business branding.
All these stats underline the importance of logos in small business branding. Logos not only help a business create a distinctive identity about their offering, it also helps establish credibility among the target audience.
Logos for small businesses
Branding is traditionally associated with large businesses that spend thousands of dollars each year on marketing. The rationale here is that small businesses operate with a low client-base and branding (especially logos) is not particularly important.
This cannot be farther from the truth. Unlike large businesses, small businesses rely on a relatively smaller pool of customers. Yet, these businesses face the same level of competition (if not higher) as large businesses do. It is for this reason that most small businesses depend on word-of-mouth marketing for new customers.
Branding, and logos in specific, help build better visibility for a small business and this is absolutely essential to widen your client base and build a diversified marketing pipeline that is not solely dependent on word-of-mouth referrals.
Investment in logos
Enterprise businesses spend several thousands of dollars creating a logo for their business. The reason logos cost so much is because of their significance in brand management. The colour, gradients, fonts and icons represent specific things about a business and it is important to build a logo that not only captures the true essence of a brand and its mission, but is also attractive and captivating as a marketing tool.
While such heavy investments into logo building may be out of question for small businesses, modern day AI-based technology has helped bridge the gap between small and large businesses. Tools like those from Designhill make use of artificial intelligence to generate logos for a business that capture the best branding practices without having to invest thousands of dollars in the process.
Impact on marketing
The impact of logos in marketing can be best assessed through various types of surveys and conversion tracking systems. Consumers start recognizing a brand through consistent exposure to the logo and branding messages. The use of logos in your signage and marketing assets help drive this exposure. One of the best ways to study the impact of logos on marketing is through multivariate testing. For the experiment, marketers may expose two discrete consumer groups (customers from two different neighbourhoods or cities, for example) to two distinct logos with other branding and positioning statements remaining the same.
Surveying these consumers and prospective buyers about your business and positioning could give your business an idea of how the logo can drive public perception. You may also passively track the impact through measuring the conversion rate of customers from these two groups.
Small businesses do not invest adequate time and resources in designing a logo that is apt for their business. But as the studies and experience of several successful businesses show, logos can not only influence public perception, but also drive revenues up or down.
Have you redesigned your business logo in recent times? Share your experience on its impact on your business in the comments below.
