Lawyers don’t like to think of themselves as a product like Coca-cola. However, in a highly competitive marketplace, law firms must utilize marketing tactics just like any other goods or service in order to grab the attention of potential clients.

Law firm branding may not be the same as branding for consumer goods like soda or potato chips. However, it does need to follow some basic marketing precepts.

Here are five concepts your law firm branding should follow in order to be effective. 

1. Different 

A brand is literally what sets you apart from your competitors. You can even get in trouble if your brand too closely resembles that of another law firm. 

Brands are more than a logo. They are a representation of who you are and what you do.

A brand for a small firm like Sweet Lawyers that focuses on automobile accidents must be completely different from that of a large corporate law firm. It also must be different from the logo and other branding used by other car accident law firms in the same geographic area. 

2. Reproducible

Your logo and other branding will appear on all materials representing your law firm. It will be prominent on your website and any ads or sponsorships you buy. It will also appear on your stationery.

Make sure your branding can be reproduced on all kinds of collateral. For example, a long firm name may not be visible on a pen, which is a giveaway of choice for some law firms. It should look equally impressive in color or in black and white. 

You will also want to have branding in vertical and horizontal positioning for different purposes like banners or digital ads.

3. Reflective 

Your brand arises from your values, your strengths, and your focus. Often, an effective brand has a strong backstory, which is reflected in the imagery, font, and messaging in all marketing materials. 

If your firm has a niche practice, your brand may even be reflected in the name. However, you should be aware of any relevant state laws about trade names if you choose a nontraditional law firm name.

4. Multi-Faceted 

A brand must reflect many facets of your practice. It is not only visual. It may include the ways in which you demonstrate your values to the community and your employees.

A criminal defense firm may refect its values by donating time to civil rights organizations. A real estate firm focused on residential properties may want to promote its brand through sponsoring family-oriented activities like parades and sports clubs.

A law firm should spend time and energy on the development of a brand identity that will serve its larger business objectives. 

5. Memorable

The point of a good law firm brand is to make people remember you when they need you. It is an integral part of business development.

For example, if someone has had a vehicular accident and needs a lawyer, you want them to decide to call you because they remember that this is your specialty. Your brand remained in their memory. 

Law Firm Branding: It Should Accurately Represent You

Law firm branding can be an essential tool in promoting your practice to potential clients. When your branding is a mirror of what you do and what you stand for, people are more likely to remember you when they need what you provide.

From the look and feel of your website to your letterhead and giveaways, make sure your law firm presents a unified and consistent reflection that will stick in the minds of potential consumers. 

For more tips on branding your business or organization, keep checking back. 

As you build your company’s brand identity, you will find yourself looking for several ways to get ahead of the competition that you’re facing.

What aspects of branding can you use that they aren’t? Which avenues can you go down with your marketing to stand out above the rest?

One of the best ways is to design an animated logo for your business. Your logo will take action while everyone else’s stays put.

So, what are the different ways that you can use this to your advantage? Here are several ways you can use an animated logo to push your brand out to the world.

1. Trade Show Booths with Action

Imagine walking around at a local sales convention and coming across a sales booth that has an animated logo in the background. You would drop everything else to stop by that booth, right?

That’s the power that an animated logo can offer you. It gives off an advanced impression of your brand that can’t be matched.

Pair your animated logo with an interactive trade show booth and you’ll be the talk of the entire convention.

People will flock to your table to see what separates you from all the other companies in attendance. Then your products and services will seal the deal on why they should work with you!

2. Improve Brand Recall

Looking for ways to make your brand more recognizable to your prospects and clientele? What better way to do that than with a logo that has animation throughout it?

While all the other logos of the world are static and hold one position, your logo has action.

Customers will remember it as the logo with the running horse or the logo that winks at them anytime they see it.

No matter what the actual animation is, it will help people put a face to the name of the logo. If they meet you along with the logo, they’ll have it ingrained in their head that you are the face of that franchise.

3. A First Impression Unlike Any Other

Your company’s first impression to your prospects is of vital importance. If that first impression is negative, it can be hard to shake. In fact, it’s safe to say that prospects will never give your brand an ounce of attention ever again. Harsh, but true.

As such, you need something that will raise their eyebrows. Something that they don’t see every day. An element of your brand that they associate only the “big companies” like Coca-Cola and Sony to have: animated logos.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, an animated logo can create that kind of the first impression for your business.

Considering the fact that clients only give you a few seconds of their time as is, your animated logo will make it count. Then, they’ll be intrigued to learn more about what your business is and how it can help them.

4. A Story to Tell

Animated logos aren’t long. In fact, the shorter they are, the better. That said, there is a lot of storytelling you can do with those few precious seconds.

This gives you an opportunity to grow your brand within the logo itself. You can tell your company’s story and add layers to your overall brand identity in the client’s eyes.

For example, if you’re a clothing company whose mission is to design clothes with eco-friendly operations, that can easily be captured within the animated logo you have.

From then on, any client that sees it will immediately understand what separates your brand from the rest. They’ll understand that your clothes are designed with a greener Earth in mind. 

5. Show Emotions of Your Brand

The more personable your brand is in the client’s eyes, the more relatable that it becomes.

Gone are the days where companies have to abide by the professional suit and tie identity for their branding. Customers only want to work with the companies they understand.

You can capitalize on that with a logo that gives your brand emotion. Whether it’s a smiling face, a logo that gives a thumbs up, or anything else, it will create personability.

6. Sets a Professional Tone

Don’t get “emotion” confused with “unprofessional”. Your animated logo can create emotion and professionalism at the same time. If it achieves that, it becomes that much more unique for your branding.

Animated logos are commonly associated with top-notch brands. Think of the Intel jingle and animated logo that they use in all of their commercials or the Pepsi logo that fills up and bubbles like a freshly-poured soda.

You can add a professional element to your brand by merely having an animated logo in your repertoire.

7. Use for All Marketing Outlets

Any type of marketing that you use from this day forward can be capitalized on with your animated logo.

Pay for the animated logo to be designed once and have access to it in all your marketing material from this day forward. That means all commercials, social media videos, tweets, paid ads, etc. can end with your new logo.

Consider it the cherry on top of your sundae ice cream. It takes your marketing material from “good” to “great”. It brings a whole new layer of legitimacy to your brand.

Create Your Custom Animated Logo Today!

Now that you’ve seen all the different ways you can thrive with an animated logo, it’s time to get yours created.

Try to figure out different options for your animation and how you can best deliver on the brand you’re trying to convey.

Be sure to browse our website for more articles relating to marketing advice, as well as other helpful topics.

Even if you avoid looking at the calendar, you know when it’s getting close to the holiday season. Whether it’s pumpkin spice or frosty snowflakes, it seems like every business jumps aboard the holiday train by adding seasonal design elements to their brand.

While holiday branding can help with your brand awareness, there’s a fine line between spreading joy and seasonal overkill.

Before you make the season part of your brand, read our short guide to seasonal products and branding.

Let Your Logo Say Happy Holidays

Your logo speaks volumes about your business and what message you strive to relay to customers. A logo reflects quality, professionalism, and gives the world insight into the culture you’re building at your company.

Using a holiday theme, give your logo a subtle change by using holiday color schemes in place of your usual palette. Have fun and embellish your logo with a pumpkin, snowman, or bright red holly berries.

Notice the word subtle—keep in mind the critical part your logo plays in your brand identity. You don’t want to change the logo so much your customers no longer recognize it. Have fun with a seasonal design but keep your company’s voice speaking over the din of pumpkins and Santa hats.

Speaking of seasons, don’t limit your business to only using seasonal design elements during the winter holidays. Take advantage of the range of seasons, including those specific to your industry.

Seasonal Designs and Social Media

Social media is the ideal platform to implement seasonal design elements.

You can update your Facebook cover photo with a temporary design inspired by holidays. Switch your usual Twitter header for a seasonal-inspired design with a cozy, inviting message. Greet customers who visit your various social media pages with seasonal imagery and messages.

Make things easy and use a Logo Scheduler Plugin to seamlessly update your logo across email and social media pages for the seasons.

If your company has a blog, post content appropriate for the season. For example, if your business promotes sustainability or you offer green products, write a post about decorating with eco-friendly holiday lighting.

Tie Your Brand in with the Season

When you think about seasonal design, you’ll notice familiar elements that everyone associates with a particular season or holiday.

Even if your brand doesn’t represent pumpkin spice or snowmen, you can find ways to tie your brand into the season.

For example, if you run a cleaning company, create a festive holiday theme on your Facebook page and promote how your services help busy people prepare for the holiday rush or the company party.

There’s no limit to how you can use seasonal design to promote brand awareness.

Ready to Use Seasonal Design in Your Brand?

We hope we’ve inspired you to add a little seasonal cheer to your brand by using touches of seasonal design.

Whether you make subtle changes to your logo, or go all out with seasonal images on your social pages, have fun with it!

If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, continue browsing our blog. You’ll find an array of articles interesting to small business and branding.

If you’ve ever wondered whether Instagram is worth putting your marketing efforts into, hold onto your hat. Instagram gets over 1 billion active users on the platform.

500 million of those users scroll through their feed daily.

Building your personal brand has never been so attainable. All your potential followers and customers are on this platform waiting for your influence.

Wondering how to build a brand on Instagram? Read the following tips and watch the likes roll in!

Create a Foundation of Authenticity

If your only reason for wanting to build a brand is money, good luck. On social media, followers can smell that from scrolls away.

You need to be authentic everywhere you show up on the internet. What does that mean?

It means not being afraid to be imperfect. It means showing the good with the bad. And, it means storytelling, not just pushing sales copy.

On Instagram, you have an amazing opportunity to show followers the story of your brand. Take them behind the scenes in your Insta Stories or interview happy customers in your Instagram Lives.

Filters and planned content are great and important. But, not more important than coming across authentically to your followers.

Use Strategic Posting

Did you know there are optimal times to post based on your audience?

If your target followers are stay-at-home-moms, then late morning posts are great. If your target followers are college students, evenings work well.

Then, make sure your content is based on a theme. The most successful Instagram brands use a theme to design their grids. That could mean using a checkerboard layout, white framing, or a puzzle feed.

You could also make your posts correspond with your branding colors. And remember, consistency in branding is key.

Promote Engagement by Engaging

Today’s followers don’t want to simply follow popular brands. They want to engage with brands that will engage with them back.

But, wait. What does engagement mean?

Engagement is any type of interaction on your Instagram account with users. It includes likes, shares, follows, direct messages, and comments. High engagement rates lead to higher conversions and higher sales.

To encourage engagement on your content, get involved. Respond to comments, like your followers’ posts, and share your followers’ relevant content.

Another convenient way to boost your likes is with purchased engagement from this service. Supplementing your engagement traffic with purchased likes maximizes your efforts.

Instagram has rolled out new beta testing pilots in some countries. In these tests, you can’t see the total number of likes on any post. So, the focus is more on other types of engagement, like comments.

Still Wondering How to Build a Brand on Instagram?

Instagram is a lucrative platform for businesses and brands. It’s where your target customers likely spend time. So, it’s where you should be, too.

If you’re wondering how to build a brand on Instagram, start with the tips above.

Then, learn more ways to boost your digital presence in the SEO section of our site!