Whether you had it designed in-house or paid another professional to create one, your company logo is an important part of your brand identity. It's often a potential customer's first impression of your brand—and it's something that people will associate with your business for many years to come.
Still, it's not enough to simply create a great logo. In fact, that beautiful logo isn't doing your company any good if you're not putting it to use. So, why exactly is promoting your logo so important—and what are some practical ways to get started?
Why Promoting Your Logo is So Important
There are so many reasons to promote your logo as much as possible. For starters, it's likely that you put a lot of resources into creating that logo. It only makes sense, then, that you want to get as much mileage out of it as possible. Meanwhile, making sure that your logo is used in a wide variety of contexts (both online and offline) increases your target audience's exposure to your brand. This, in turn, can improve your overall brand recognition and reputation within your industry.
It's also worth noting that it takes an average of five to seven interactions for consumers to recognize a brand logo—so the more you're putting your logo out there, the more quickly that can happen.
Ways to Bring Your Company Logo to Life
Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of having and using a company logo, there are plenty of ways to get started.
1. Add It to Your Website
You may have done this already, but if you haven't, make adding your logo to your company website a top priority. Specifically, your logo should be placed somewhere along the top header (usually along the left side or centered on the page) and in the tiny icon next to your address bar (known as the favicon).
Having your logo on your website is one of the easiest ways to brand your website and its content while strengthening the association between your logo and your target audience.
2. Insert It in Your Email Signature
Having your logo in your email signature (and your employees' email signatures) is another great way to keep your brand at the forefront anytime you send an email, whether you're simply replying to a message or reaching out to somebody for the first time.
Not sure how to add a logo to your email signature? The instructions can vary based on whether you're using Outlook, Gmail, or another email server. However, it's usually as simple as going into your settings and uploading your logo file. There are also logo maker tools or email signature generators available to assist you with this.
3. Put It on Company Swag
Who doesn't love to receive free swag? Handing out promotional items with your company logo printed on them is a great way to strengthen relationships with your customers while enjoying some "free" advertising of sorts when people use their swag. The possibilities are endless—from business-specific merchandise, like restaurants, fitness, and arts, to more general products, like mugs and phone cases.
The key is to figure out which promotional items your audience would find most useful and go from there. Finding a reliable printing company that will make sure your logo is portrayed in the best way possible is also a must. From there, you can hand out company swag at industry trade shows, company events, or in any other context you see fit.
Many companies also find success with doing branded giveaways, especially on social media. You can do this in the form of a competitive contest, a random drawing, or simply a free-for-all giveaway for the first 100 people to claim. Regardless, you might be surprised at how much of an impact giving away branded swag can make in your brand recognition and loyalty.
4. Set It as Your Default Device Wallpaper
Another idea to show your logo to more potential customers is to make sure that you're using it as your default wallpaper on any and all company devices. This should include cell phones, laptops, and tablets that are issued to employees (either permanently or at company events). Having your company logo as a default wallpaper is an easy, effective, and free way to get your branding out there.
You can design your own company wallpaper that incorporates your logo, or you can use a free platform such as Canva to handle this for you. Make sure that your wallpapers are appropriately sized and optimized for each device. For example, a wallpaper for your company laptop will be a different size and orientation than an iPhone wallpaper.
5. Use It on All Your Social Media Channels
Having a strong social media presence is a must these days, regardless of what industry you're in. But it's hard for your followers to associate your social media pages with your actual brand identity if your logo is missing. Make sure, then, that you've incorporated your company logo into all of your social media channels (Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc.).
You can do this by uploading your company logo as a profile picture. For many companies, this will be the easiest and most practical option. However, you may also want to take advantage of other opportunities to use your logo, such as in your Facebook cover photo. If you use social media platforms like Zoom or Skype to handle company video calls, adding your logo as your profile photo on these accounts is also a good idea.
6. Order Business Cards
Having a stack of business cards on hand is a great way to ensure that you can always exchange contact information with a potential customer that you run into. Likewise, who doesn't love seeing their company logo on something tangible? In addition to your logo, you may also want to include some basic information about your company on your business card, such as:
- Contact information (phone number, email address, etc.)
- Your name and company name
- Company website (or a QR link to your website)
- Social media handles
You'll also want to take care to find a quality printer for your business cards to ensure they look as professional as possible. Don't hesitate, either, to play around with different designs, orientations, and types of cardstock/printing materials. You'll want your business card to stand out as much as possible while still being practical enough for prospects to store in their wallets, purses, and bags.
Speaking of business cards, do you have a digital business card yet? Because of social distancing guidelines that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are actually shifting away from physical business cards and using digital ones instead. If you're getting on board with digital business cards, you'll absolutely want to include your logo as part of your design.
7. Don't Forget the Presentations
If your company does its fair share of in-person presentations via PowerPoint, Google Slides, or similar software, you may also want to incorporate your logo into these slides. Not only does this reduce the risk of plagiarization by putting your company's "stamp" on your presentation, but it's also a great way to instill your brand/logo into the minds of your audience members.
You can quickly and easily add your logo to the footers of your existing slides. To save time in the future, you may even want to create a presentation template with your logo pre-loaded onto it. This can come in handy for anything from client pitches and trade show presentations to company training sessions and more.
8. Make Custom Stickers or Labels
Looking for a versatile and portable branding idea? You can't go wrong with custom-printed labels and stickers to show off your company logo. These can be printed in a wide range of sizes and shapes to suit your needs, and a large roll can last you for a long time. You can use stickers to brand your packaging or even hand them out at events. Regardless, branded stickers with your company logo are a cost-effective way to get your name out there and increase brand exposure.
9. Use It on Images and Other Visual Assets
Images and other visual assets present another great opportunity to show off your company logo. Adding your logo to things like social media cover images, product photos, infographics, and other visual assets not only protects them from being used by another person/brand but can help to build your own brand identity as well.
The main thing to keep in mind when it comes to adding logos to visual assets is to use a version of your logo that has a transparent background. This will ensure that your logo can be added seamlessly to any image without looking choppy and without the need for further editing.
10. Upload It to Image-Sharing Platforms
Taking the time to upload your company logo to some popular image-sharing platforms is another great way to get it "out there" and to increase its chances of circulating. There are plenty of free and paid image-sharing platforms to explore, but the one you choose will ultimately boil down to the features you're looking for and your audience. Pics.io, which has been around since 2012, has more than 40,000 users and offers a wide range of features to suit any growing company's needs.
In addition to uploading raw logo files to an image-sharing platform, these are also great spaces to upload your branded content (such as the visual assets we were just discussing in the previous section).
11. Promote It in Public Spaces
The possibilities for promoting your logo in public spaces are only limited by your imagination. Likewise, finding unique ways to get your logo out there publicly is an effective way to increase local brand recognition. Consider something as simple as asking a local coffee shop owner if you can leave a stack of stickers/labels or business cards at their register. This way, you can get even more use out of the branded materials you've already had printed.
This is also where things like decals and vehicle wraps can come in handy. You might consider, for example, having your brand logo printed on a large decal and then placing that decal on one of your company vehicles. From there, each time you hit the road in your company car, you'll be advertising your business and spreading awareness of your brand literally everywhere you go in public.
12. Have It Made Into a Stamp
Looking for another versatile and cost-effective way to get your logo out there? Have it made into a stamp! It doesn't get more convenient than that. By having your logo readily available in the form of a rubber stamp, you can add your own branding to just about anything at a moment's notice. From packaging to printouts and everything in between, you can use a rubber stamp and a little ink to leave your brand's mark on the world.
Rubber stamps are relatively inexpensive to have made, and they're available in both traditional and self-inking options to suit your needs. When ordering rubber stamps, consider having a few different sizes made so that you always have access to the size you need. When choosing a company to make your rubber stamp, you may also want to find one that will include ink in the exactly correct color/shade that your logo requires. This will keep your branding more consistent, which is important for recall.
13. Add It to Employee Workspaces
Incorporating branded materials into employee workspaces is an effective way to engage your employees, make them feel valued, and even boost morale and productivity. From branded pens and mouse pads to laptop stickers and stationery, providing your hard workers with branded items that are actually useful to them in their everyday work shows them how much they are appreciated.
Meanwhile, when your employees use their branded materials outside of the workplace, this serves as another form of advertising that can help spread awareness of your brand. It's a win-win! And, of course, what better way to make a new hire feel welcome than to get them started with some branded essentials at their workstation or office?
14. Include It on Invoices and Purchase Emails
Last but certainly not least, don't forget to add your company logo to any invoices, receipts, and/or purchase emails sent out by your company. After all, even though the sale has already been made, you never want to miss an opportunity to leave a positive impression on a customer.
The exact process you'll need to follow to add your company logo while making receipts and invoices using online invoicing software like Moon Invoice, QuickBooks, Wave, etc. However, you should be able to upload your logo relatively quickly and easily.
You'll also want to make sure you're including your company logo in any direct email marketing messages and/or "thank you for your purchase" emails as a quick and easy means of branding these communications. More than likely, you can do this directly through whatever platform you use to handle your email marketing (such as MailChimp or a similar resource).
The Final Word on Using Your Company Logo
From incorporating your logo on your website and social media to having it physically printed on promotional items and more, there are so many genius branding ideas for getting the most use out of your company logo. The best news? Many of these ideas are relatively inexpensive (and some are even free!) to execute.
The more you get your logo out there, the better your audience's brand recognition will be, and the more established your brand identity will become. And, of course, if you're still not thrilled with your company logo, it's important to address that before you take any of these measures.
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