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Design and branding in china
Today, new businesses are emerging like the heads of a Hydra- and to stay afloat and gain visibility, they all need to ace the branding and marketing game. Additionally, with the emerging new trends in terms of sales and marketing, when business owners fail to compete with rival businesses, they need to up their branding and marketing game. In both these scenarios, a branding agency comes to the rescue. The main aim of these branding agencies is to uphold the company in a manner that its goals become objectively communicated, and a positive and memorable image is created for the targeted customers.
Aarts, SGK, Leo Studio, ATop Digital and Surgyy Design Labs are some of the many well known Indian branding agencies. They are dedicated to the overall success of a firm, and not just to delivering exactly what they are paid for. If these companies could succeed in making a name for themselves in India, so can you!
If you are considering kickstarting your own branding agency, now is THE time to do so. Needless to say, as the economy expands and more businesses crop up, the need for branding also exponentially increases. That being said, there shall never be a dearth of clients for a branding agency.
In this article, we will discuss some of the ways in which you can start your very own branding agency in India, and steer it to success.
The Fundamentals of Building a Good Brand: Branding for Your Branding Agency
Wondering what are the key steps to building a formidable branding agency that is a force to reckon with in today’s market? Follow the steps below.
1. Development of the Necessary Skills
Finding and identifying what you enjoy- what feels fun, and not like gruelling work. Do a bit of research and seewhat has a high demand in the market and you can earn well from. Finally, connect the dots and finalize your niche. Focus on skills you have already honed; begin by focusing on your area of expertise, and broaden your offerings over time as you grow revenue and your team.
2. Building a Reliable Network
It is of utmost importance for you to utilize your existing contacts and maintain a cordial relation with everyone you work with. The power of references and word of mouth are incredible and you can use the goodwill it generates to get your work done. The network provides the much-needed guidance or introduction to boost your new venture.
3. Recruiting Talent
When starting out, it may be tough financially to hire full-time employees with specific expert niches that usually take a hefty budget to afford. The more budget specific option would be hiring supporting freelancers or SMEs for client contracts by using resources such as Cloud Peeps, Upwork, Torchlite, Freelance India and Guru.
4. Creating a Website
First impressions play a crucial role when it comes to budding agencies, you need a website that not only impresses your visitors, but also clearly lists the prospects, shows your capabilities and talents. The website should also be unique, appear professional, and be easy to navigate.
5. Consistency
Success does not come overnight; you need to be consistent. Brand building takes time, but doing it right can help you establish your company and connect with your customers in a way that simple advertising cannot. Consistency in your workplace culture will create consistency in the messaging your employees create, which will inspire customer trust and encourage loyalty.
6. Content Strategy
You have heard “strategy” a zillion times, it feels complicated, and you certainly aren’t confident that your strategy will work! Creating a strategy means creating a proper plan to follow every day to reach your goals as a beginner. Learn to channelise your content in a way that yields the best results for you, start with writing blogs, the content on your blogs can extend onto your social media platforms. Inculcate a habit of using key words. Key words play a pivotal role in getting your content in front of the right people at the right time.
Startup Handbook: Build A Business From Scratch
Must Haves for a Branding Agency in India
Some of the rudiments of running an agency in India include finding a business partner who will shoulder the gruelling turn of events with you. Finding a physical location; when you are starting out, it’s tempting to forgo a physical location.
However, in order to ensure high paying clients, you will have to show them that you are a legitimate firm and not a fly-by-night operation. Most importantly, you must set up a website, having a strong online presence, particularly a website, can be make or break for generating more revenue. A business’s online presence, regardless of industry, can have a massive impact on its success. Lastly, hiring a reliable and dedicated team of designers, account managers, brand directors, media specialists who will effectively carry out their tasks.
Areas of Specialization & Services to Offer as New Branding Agency in India
Branding services help companies with any aspect they might be struggling with, whether they need to create a brand identity to communicate their core messaging and company values. These agencies specialise in services such as naming, research and analytics, brand positioning, SEM, SEO, campaign management, ORM, brand identity etc.
A range of select services offered by a branding agency:
- Building a brand identity from scratch.
- Rebranding and revamping established businesses.
- Establishing brand positioning and messaging.
- Creating a branding strategy more suited for the world today.
- Designing engaging company logos.
- Formulating brand guidelines.
- Mapping out a social media strategy that aligns with the company’s brand identity.
- Writing copy for websites and other digital assets that accurately reflect the brand.
How to Get Projects as a New Branding Agency?
The way you plan and strategize, will determine the outcome of it. While everyone uses the same old method, you could use some really cool, out of the box tricks to get projects as a new agency.
First of which would include promoting yourself so that you are easily discovered by potential clients looking for your specific help. Making yourself visible will allow prospects to see your expertise and possibly seek out your services. In addition to this, use PR to build inbound links and brand awareness.
Another tried and tested method to get projects has got to be partnerships. As an agency, you can partner up with non-competing companies and organizations that are complementary to your business and whose target audiences are similar to your own.
When in doubt, a publicity stunt to sell your services always comes handy. Flex your creativity with a publicity stunt, stirring ‘controversy’ (don’t go too crazy with this one) or launching a hilarious campaign can get you some valuable exposure and boost your business.
Lastly, in addition to all the aforementioned hacks, you could build a reputation in local communities. This will ensure a good rapport with the ones like your agency.