How Much Does Branding Cost For A Small Business
Sept 13
by Jude Shuma
Branding is a process that allows a company to differentiate itself and its products from its competitors while establishing positive links to its customers in order to create and preserve loyalty. Branding is important in competitive markets as it provides a means for consumers to make buying decisions based on their perceptions of the brand; this may include quality, safety, luxury, value or other considerations that are important to the consumer at the moment of purchase. [ Ambrose & Harris 2019 ]
There is no one size fits all for the cost of branding. Unlike many other services, you can't apply the same price tag to every business, because every business is at a different place in their journey and has different needs. A quick DIY brand you create yourself can cost as low as $200. A freelancer might charge around $4000 for a basic brand identity and a small boutique studio might charge upwards of 10-20k. A full brand strategy, identity, architecture, & roll out from a design agency might charge over $100,000.
It all depends on where your business is at and how much you want to invest.
Under $1000 | DIY Budget-Friendly
This is the Do It Yourself brand. The people who are paying subscriptions for a couple of tools like Canva and Chat GPT. They can generate a logo and identity for a minimum fee. They should expect to outgrow the identity quickly if everything goes according to plan. And there will most likely be some loose ends in terms of consistency and cohesion. This is a great place to start if you really aren't sure what it is you're trying to accomplish yet.
$1000-$5000 | Hire A Freelancer
A step above the DIY would be finding a freelancer through a website like Fivr or Upwork. You can expect the brand to be a little more cohesive and put together. Designers typically in this range won't be strategic. They will act of their gut of what feels right or looks best. You'll get all the deliverables such as a logo, color and font suite, some templates but the market research and positioning most likely won't be there.
$5000-$20,000 | Boutique Studio or Small Agency
In this range you can expect to receive a brand strategy & brand guidelines. Guidelines are used in order to exercise control over how various people will implement the use of a brand. Companies also develop brand usage guidelines so that the company identity is effectively represented as intended.
Brand guidelines are a clear set of instructions on how to use a brand, and equally importantly, how not to use it. They help visualize the brand in action.
You're not just getting a logo, color scheme, font library, and some custom templates. At this tier you can expect research on your target market, competition, and how the brand design will be used to position your company. You can expect more revisions and attention to detail. The brand should be derived from a process that helps you uncover your company's values, belief systems, and purpose.
$20,000+ | Boutique Design Studio to Full Scale Agency
You can expect the same deliverables, strategy, research, and positioning - on top of brand architecture if you are already an established business, trademarking and copyrighting, stress-testing, as well as brand guidelines for every department of the business to help the roll out move seamlessly.
There's No Simple Answer To What Branding Costs
As you can see the cost is dictated by the complexity of the business and what your specific needs are. A small mom and pop shop won't need to worry about a hundred thousand touch points and thousands of employees interacting with the brand every day. It might only be a few employees with a much more simple functionality.
Hello, my name is Jude and I run a solo creative studio in Chicago, IL.
Every brand project I touch involves research, strategy and design meant to last. I've built brands across medical supply, marine manufacturing, activewear, AI apps, mental health, hospitality, music, and fashion, from first time founders to funded startups ready to raise.