When visiting a new client for the first time they are often very excited about the potential for new marketing materials for their business. They want to get started right away, but don't know where to begin. I like to sit down with them and figure out more about them, their business and talk about branding. 

What is branding?
Branding is: a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service.

And why is it so important? 
1- It creates DIFFERENTIATION. You want your business to be the first thing that customers think about when they need a product or service in your industry. That is a difficult goal to achieve if you don't have a consistent brand identity. You need to choose colours and a logo that sets you apart from your competition and makes you easy to remember. 
2- It causes LEGITIMACY. A consistent brand identity makes your business seem more legitimate. Make your logo, colours, font and layout consistent across all branded materials so they become well-known and in return more legitimate in the viewers eyes.
3- It creates a better OVERALL IMPRESSION. For you to know how your customers will percieve your business, you need to know how people interact with brands. Most people build brand relationships through many, lightweight interactions over time. Because of this it is very crucial that your brand identity remain consistent so the customer makes connections between your brand and your business and will choose you. 4- You gain CUSTOMER CLARITY. Your brand must remain consistent so everyone has the same idea of your business. A customer's purchase decision is a very fragile process and you must do as much as possible to make it an easy decision for them to make when choosing your brand. 

Remember, identifying and creating an identity for your business is very important for both you the owner and for your customers. Start your marketing plan with a branding campaign and then you can move on to marketing your business.