How To Get The Perfect Logo – Just Ask A Focus Group

Possibly the biggest question any business owner faces when it comes to selecting a logo design is ‘which one will be the most effective?’ or should that be ‘which one will my customers get?’ Designing a great logo is only the first step in creating brand awareness but it is the most important because if you get your logo wrong, it will cost a whole lot more time (and money) to put right. Creating contenders…….rnIn order to choose the perfect logo you will first need to design one. This is something best undertaken with the aid of a professional logo design studio not just because of the reasons mentioned above but because creating a killer logo is more complex than most imagine. Once you have found a studio that shares your vision for your business you can work them to produce a number of possible logo designs, all of which should be designed with your target audience and industry sector in mind. Choosing ‘the one’…….rnYou might have your favourite but is it the right one for your business? The best way to find out which design (if any) is best is to consult with a focus group. The use of focus groups is common practice in marketing any new business, service or product. They are a great way of gauging opinion before you ‘go live’ with anything and their comments and feedback can be invaluable in your decision making process going forward. But before you rush out and ask anyone on the street, there are a few things to consider: • Budget: setting up a focus group will be an additional expense although it would be cheaper than having to re-design a logo that fails. Your design company maybe able to help you get a focus group together or suggest a marketing company who can help. If your budget is really tight then create your own focus group from friends and family whose opinions you trust and who you know will give you honest feedback. • Choose relevant people: when organizing a focus group it is best to choose people who have an interest in what your business provides, for instance if your business is related to childcare then select a focus group made up of parents or childcare professionals. If you hire a marketing company to organize this for you, they should be able to select the right people to give you valuable feedback. • Offer an incentive: in some cases people will voluntarily sign up to participate in focus groups but generally you will need to offer some form of incentive to entice them to get involved. An offer of cash or vouchers is common and whilst you could offer an incentive from your business, you may find you get better take-up if you select an incentive from a better known brand. • Be time efficient: depending on what you are looking for from your focus group – don’t forget it is also a good opportunity to get feedback on other aspects of your business; it is best not to keep people longer than necessary. If you organize a sit-down meeting then try to make it no longer than an hour (and include refreshments) and make sure you are prepared with a list of questions to ask them. If you opt to survey people in the street then keep it to a couple of minutes at most and only focus on your logo designs. What your focus group efforts should tell you is if any of your logo designs are perceived as relevant to your business, if potential customers will understand them and if they are eye-catching enough to grab their attention. A good logo design also needs to convey a sense of trust and quality in a business as well as in the products and services it provides but it should also be relevant so that customers can quickly perceive what you are about. The feedback you can get from a focus group session can be invaluable especially when it comes to making a final decision on that all important logo design. They may unanimously agree on one design or reject them all, meaning you will have to go back to the drawing board. If there is a split in opinion then you will need to delve further and ask their thoughts on what would make a good logo, such as taking elements from one and adding to another. It isn’t an exact science however, no-one can guarantee that the logo picked out by a focus group will be the perfect stepping stone to your business success, but if they can understand your design then chances are potential customers will too. And that is definitely worth focusing on!