Your company logo is your visual identity. It's how prospects and customers identify you when they see your marketing collateral.
So whether you're using a logo on your t-shirts, signs, storefronts, or brochures -- it's all helping to meet a single purpose.
To get consumers to know your brand.
Logos are a significant part of your branding, which is why we urge you to include it inside of your invoices.
But if you're not sold that this is a must, then continue reading to see the benefits.
1. Build Your Reputation
Your reputation plays a major role in building trust with customers. It's a lot like receiving a receipt that has no business name on it -- shady.
Consumers want to know who they're doing business with, especially when you're in the B2B market. By adding a logo to your invoices, you can instill trust and help customers identify who the invoice is from.
If your clients can identify your invoice just by looking at the logo, then you're doing an excellent job with your branding.
2. Support Your Marketing Initiatives
Hopefully, you're pushing out marketing collateral to help drive more traffic to your business. This may include online and offline ads, brochures, business cards, newsletters, and so on.
Each of these materials should have your brand logo attached. When your customers see your logo on your invoices and then in other areas around the web or community, they'll know who it is.
It helps to add support to your marketing campaigns and build company recognition.
3. Set Yourself Apart from Competitors
It's not uncommon for customers to shop with your competitors. So to help give them a lasting impression, you should brand all interactions you have with them.
From the first email they receive to the final invoice after project completion.
Including a logo on your invoices can help to make your invoice stand out. Especially if your competitors aren't branding their invoices.
4. Showcase Your Professionalism
You won't find any large business sending invoices (or anything for that matter) that doesn't contain their brand logo. So by emulating the more prominent companies, you can showcase your professionalism.
Appearing to be unprofessional is one of the biggest killers of a company's growth potential. It's difficult to convert leads and retain customers without showing you're a professional in your industry.
So how do you go about creating a logo? Let's take a look at a few best practices.
Create a Unique Logo
If you can do something clever -- even better. Remember, the goal is to make something memorable to your audience.
So rather than just using your company initials in Arial font, you can make it look different, while still matching the theme of your industry.
Take a look at what's out there and try to do something, but in a good way. One great example of this is Starbucks.
Choose the Right Logo Colors
This is one of the main issues businesses run into when deciding on a logo design. You want to create something that's both eye-catching and trustworthy.
Color plays a big role in both. Here's a quick rundown of what different colors "mean":
- Red: bold and energetic
- Yellow: optimistic and inventive
- Blue: trustworthy and professional
- Orange: friendly and creative
- Black: powerful and credible
- Green: organic and instructional
- White: clean and simple
- Brown: steady and rural
- Purple: evocative and wise
- Pink: flirty and fun
The best idea is to combine colors that exhibit the feel you want to portray for your brand. You should have a pretty good idea of what your brand is about and how you want to present it to the world.
Don't Overcomplicate Your Logo
On your mission to create an eccentric logo, you should avoid overcomplicating it. Sometimes, simple is the best way to go.
Some great examples of logos that are simple but stand out are FedEx and Amazon. Mistaking their logo for some other brands is difficult.
Also, make sure you don't create a logo that's dated. You want it to last for generations to come.
Designing Your Own Logo vs. Hiring a Professional
When it comes time to create your logo, you'll have to decide if you'll do it all yourself or get professional help. You can hire an expert to come up with design concepts for you.
Or just to take your vision and make it a reality.
Another option is to do it all yourself. You can take your ideas and use online resources and tools to make it on your own.
For example, Logomaker and LogoYes are great options to try. There are also shops that'll use your logo to design t-shirts, hats, mugs, and other supplies.
Take a Look at Competitor Logos
If you're coming up short on ideas, then you can browse through the logos your competitors have. See if there's a theme in colors, fonts, and styles.
You may find your biggest competitor is more established and has already gone through the logo-making process.
The idea isn't to copy what they're doing but to get inspiration. Maybe they're doing a bad job of accurately representing their brands via their logos.
Customize Your Font
If your business name or letters are a part of your logo, then consider going with a custom type. There are custom letterers out there who can help you out.
This is an excellent way to go when you're struggling with designs. Just include your business name and maybe a tagline in a unique font.
The Frisky Goat Coffee House and Coca Cola are great examples of this.
Go with Something Overly Simple
You don't always have to do something fancy or extravagant to stand apart. Sometimes, it's the simple things in life that matter most.
With the right symbol, you can leave a lasting impression on your customers.
Some great examples of these include Nike's check mark and Apple's bitten apple.
They will forever be associated with these brands although there's nothing all that unusual about them.
Again, it's about being memorable.
Do Some Research On Your Target Customers
Your logo is for your brand, but it's also for your customers. You want it to resonate with your company, as well as the audience it's pursuing.
The last thing you need is a logo that offends or turns off your target customers. But the only way you can ensure this is if you research your customer base.
Once you dive in, you should look at their professions, region, family lifestyle, age, gender, and ethnicity.
All of this can give you an idea of what they'd find appropriate and memorable. For instance, what you'd use for an older professional crowd would be much different than a logo you'd create to attract a customer from Gen Y or Z.
Make Your Logo Align with Your Brand Identity
It's ideal to understand your brand's identity first. This isn't the time to go through an identity crisis -- this will tarnish your reputation and make it harder to gain consumer trust.
So it's essential for your logo to align with your brand on every front. If it's a serious tone company, then you don't want to create a logo that's comedic.
It just doesn't match up.
If you're in the beginning stages of your company, then you should sit down with your partners to figure out your brand. Only then will you be able to come up with how you will market it.
Including how you'll design your logo.
Start Reading Up On Branding and Design
If you're clueless about branding and design but would like to do it all yourself, then there are plenty of blogs and books you can read through.
This will give you expert insight into what it takes to develop a brand that's innovative, relatable, and trustworthy. Network with creatives in the marketing industry who can help you out as well.
Selecting an Invoicing Tool for Simple Logo Insertion
Alright, so you have your logo design ready to go. But now you need an invoicing tool that'll make it simple to add your logo to.
With invoicely, you're able to create professional invoices using template designs. This includes uploading your logo, so it appears on all of your invoices.
Just do this once, and it's automatically there on each subsequent invoice you send out.
Now, what's also great about this platform is that you can save client details, so it's even faster to submit invoices. Your business details are automatically saved as well.
The entire invoicing process is simple, right down to the time you're paid. You email your invoices to recipients, and then they can pay you online using their bank card or supported payment platform.
Ready to Start Using Logos in Your Invoices?
Great! It's simple to get started. Just sign up to the free version of invoicely to test out the system.
Then you can go into the platform to see if it's right for you. There are affordable payment plans to choose from as well.
So check it out and let us know how professional your invoices look!