There are so many recruitment agencies on the market today that it can be extremely difficult for a new player to attract attention. There are thousands of employers out there, many of them wary of approach by yet another consultant offering some great resumes.

The good news for new recruitment agencies is that in this particular market many businesses neglect their branding, so there is ample opportunity to shine through the crowd.

Keep reading to find out how you can take a few easy steps to ensure your recruitment agency’s custom logo design supports and promotes your brand as much as possible.

First step – think different

Perhaps you have seen Apple’s classic "Think Different" advertising campaign. Apple is a master of company branding and for good reason. In the midst of the dull and clunky world of personal computers, Apple set out to get some space between themselves and the rest of the market. By characterizing themselves and their products as "thinking differently", Apple also managed to appeal and attract customers who also saw themselves as somehow distinct from the masses.

Apple's lesson here also applies to your recruitment agency. A company brand or logo that doesn’t stand out from the competition won’t help your business success in the market.

Once you’ve accepted the need to stand out, you might wonder next how this is best achieved.

Sell your strengths

The easiest way to stand out is to sell to your strengths. Give careful consideration to what makes your recruitment agency unique in your market.

In essence, you are trying to capture the single most important message you have to say about your company that would have potential clients to have them queuing at your door.

Apple is going to help you think differently. Google is going to find what you were looking for. Disney are going to take you somewhere magical.

Do you have a specific niche you supply? Does your agency pride itself on being particularly reliable? Or particularly fast? Are your consultants particularly experienced? Or particularly friendly?

As a recruitment agency you need to think about your brand from two different angles. You have two target markets to consider, clients and candidates, and each has different needs.

Clients will be looking for an agency that can reliably deliver the quality candidates at the right place in the right volume.

Candidates will be looking for an agency that they can trust to get the job that they want.

When putting together a recruitment agency brand, you need a message to the market that positions you well with both groups, effectively bridging the gap between their distinct needs.

A brand message that says “great candidates that work for peanuts” might excite clients, but it won’t necessarily appeal to the people who are considering registering with your agency.

Be practical about your needs

Modern recruitment agencies use a lot of internet marketing to attract candidates. That raises some specific concerns that you ought to take into consideration in your custom logo design.

Banner sizes will vary a lot, and in some cases you can expect that your logo will be squeezed into some very small places. You certainly don’t want your logo to look ugly or impossible to read. Many recruitment agencies like to use taglines or a slogan on their logos. While these might be great in communicating the brand message we discussed above, these can be a real liability when your logo is crammed into a banner only 60 pixels high.

You might also think about how the logo will look in grayscale. This is usually important for companies planning to advertise in newspapers. If you think you might need to print your logo on physical objects you might also consider how the custom logo design looks in two colors, three colors, or just black and white. This is because printing costs usually rise with the number of colors you are using, so a two color or black and white logo is often the most cost-effective option.