How to Increase Brand Recognition for your Creative Business

Looking for ways to increase brand recognition as a creative business? This post is the perfect place to start. Brand recognition refers to your audience’s ability to visually identify your business: when they see your content, they instantly know it’s yours. Brand recognition is what makes your business immediately identifiable—and it’s something you can intentionally cultivate.

For creative businesses, increasing brand awareness isn’t about huge ad campaigns or flashy television commercials. Usually, in our space, it comes down to consistency: showing up with cohesive visual designs (online and in person). The best way to increase brand awareness is consistent use of your brand materials across all touchpoints: social media, website, collateral materials, packaging, and more.

If you want to increase brand recognition, you can start by implementing a few achievable strategies. Take a look below for three easy ways to solidify your brand image, become more recognizable, and stay top-of-mind for your audience:

1. Use your brand fonts and colors.

It sounds simple, but it bears repeating: use your brand fonts and colors—not the fonts and colors that come with a Canva template. Canva is an amazing design tool that has opened up so much creative freedom for small businesses… but one of the major drawbacks is that it often becomes a source of brand confusion.

I see this all the time: small business owners select a template on Canva because it has the content layout they’re looking for—but then they fail to customize the template to their own brand. The result is a design layout that looks nice, but does not reflect a consistent and cohesive brand image. Posting graphics that use different fonts and colors muddies your brand and makes it indistinguishable from all the other content floating around the internet. Your goal is to create a consistent and identifiable brand: using your fonts and colors consistently is an easy way to cement a recognizable visual identity.

Now I’m not saying you have to avoid templates completely. You can absolutely use templates to create graphics for your business! Just be sure to update the fonts and colors to match your brand. (Need help? Here’s how to update the colors for your entire Canva design with one click).

If you want to create a cohesive, elevated brand… consistent typography is key. Over time, using your brand fonts and colors is a simple way to solidify your brand recognition.

2. Invest in collateral pieces.

Collateral pieces are all the design pieces that bring your brand to life (both on-screen and in print). They are an ideal opportunity to impress your clients and increase brand recognition. From welcome guides and presentations to printed paper goods, collateral pieces are a key opportunity to make a visual impact. These design elements are the perfect way to tie your brand together with thoughtful design and careful consistency.

When deciding which collateral pieces are a best fit for your brand, think about where you have the most opportunity to increase brand recognition. If you are a speaker or online educator, you’ll need presentation slides that match your brand. If your business sells products, you’ll want to consider thoughtfully designed packaging like custom tissue paper or branded ribbons. If you’re a vendor who frequently works on-site for installations, you could consider custom shirts or hats with a branded logo.

Here are a few ideas for branded collateral elements you could incorporate into your business:

Collateral for Collins (Available Now!):

Collateral for Emily Caroline Events:

Collateral for Grace & Grandeur Bow Co:

3. Handwritten thank you notes.

Nothing will ever replace a thoughtful handwritten note. If you want to make an impression on clients and colleagues, a handwritten thank you note goes such a long way to show your appreciation—and to increase top of mind awareness for your brand.

Branded thank you notes are generally inexpensive, but they look polished and professional. It’s an easy way to reinforce your brand image, while also expressing a thoughtful sentiment. Your recipient will enjoy the surprise and delight of finding something unexpected in their mailbox… and you’ll associate a positive experience with the visual memory of your brand.

Here are a few instances where a thank you note might be appropriate:

• Client Booking: Send a thank you note to express your excitement about working together.
• Client Offboarding: When the project is complete, be sure to thank your client for the opportunity.
• Vendor Collaboration: Thank you notes aren’t just for clients! Send notes to vendors after working together.
• Podcast Guest: Thank the host for having you on the show.
• Event Host: Thank conference hosts and event organizers for all their hard work.
• Speakers: Tell a speaker from a conference or event how much you enjoyed their keynote.
• Anytime! There’s never a bad time to send a thank you note—your thoughtful gesture and kind words are always appreciated by the recipient.

In our digital world, so many people are quick to send a digital thank-you via email (which is also very nice!)… but a heartfelt thank you note makes such a memorable impression. Sincere gratitude will always be a core value for our brand; handwritten thank you notes will always be one of my favorite ways to express our thankfulness.

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There are so many fun ways to showcase a brand—and this is just the beginning. How do you plan to increase brand recognition for your business? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

And if you need help brainstorming some ideas for your particular business… please feel free to reach out! We love designing collateral pieces to bring a brand to life. Our custom Brand Design packages include extensive Brand Strategy, including a SWOT Analysis to help identify opportunities to increase your brand recognition in a way that feels aligned with your goals and values. We’d be honored to collaborate with you!