Brand Identity: How to Make it a Solid Investment for your Business
Your brand identity is the first thing a prospect experiences in your business. It is the personality of your brand and your first customer drawcard.
Here’s why a standout and well-curated one is crucial in today’s digital marketing world.
What is Brand Identity?
Simply put, it is the complete construction process of your brand’s visual elements and the message behind them. Your business values are the foundation. Like any home, you want this to be strong as it ensures the strength of everything that comes after.
How you communicate your business to your customer is the finishing of the house. It’s what makes your entire project come to life and the site attractive to your audience. This is what provokes a connection between your business and its clients.
In a growing digital world, customer connection will set you apart from the competition.
A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another – Seth Godin, American author and entrepreneur.
Brand Identity Elements
Building your brand – much like building a house – involves many materials and steps that need to reinforce each other. Every component of your brand must support your central brand message and business goals.
Every business is different, and no two brand identity designs are the same. But here’s a few universal elements.
Your Unique Brand Purpose and Positioning
Your purpose and positioning are what make you unique and determine your target market.
Your brand purpose is the reason your business exists. Brand positioning is the means of bringing the purpose into action. It’s like the approved house plans received from the architect that give life to the project at hand.
A Distinct Brand Personality
Your brand personality strongly influences your brand design and plays a part in connecting to your customers.
Think about what kind of house your business would be. You may choose a Greek Revival style, unique and eye-catching, or a beautiful cabin, classy and understated.
When you have a firm grasp of your brand personality, your customer will connect with you easier. There is no room for wishy-washy here; a solid direction is the only way to go.
An Advertising Approach
Get an idea of your advertising approach before focusing on your brand identity. It might look like we’re putting the cart before the horse here but hear us out.
Knowing the advertising mediums and social media platforms that you plan to target can help you form your brand’s identity.
A brand whose target market consists of Baby Boomers would target Facebook and Pinterest over Instagram and Snapchat. This is the market that connects better with a flashy contemporary home more than a cottage.
For more on Generational Marketing read Marketing to Millennials and Other Generations in South Africa 2021.
The advertising strategy your brand leans towards gives you a direction and a defined personality. It shows your customers you know them, which is essential to connect with them.
Brand Identity Design
If your brand identity is your businesses personality, then your brand design is its face. The exterior finishes like paint choice, wall texture, pillar styles, and even the landscaping around the building itself.
The logo, packaging and typography of your brand are the visual components of its identity. However, there are some key things to keep in mind during the design process.
- Your Logo: Simple logos are easier to work with and have a powerful impact.
- Your Colour Palette: Keep your brand striking, fresh and exciting. Stick to a few primary colours as a brand standard and use secondary colours to compliment these.
- Your Typography: Fonts are an underrated but powerful resource in branding. Like your logo and colour palette, it is wise to stick to something simple.
- Your Supporting Graphics: In digital marketing, your supporting graphics need to stay on brand. Any graphics, icons and photographs you use need to be informed by your logo and colour palette.
Famous Digital Media Tips for Creating a Solid Brand Identity
Brand identity can be tricky to create and maintain. Famous Digital Media is here to help. Here are three of our top tips to keep yours powerful.
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- Consistency is Key: Even a brand with a seemingly weak identity will stand out if its presentation is consistent.
- Know Your Audience: When you know what your audience expects from you, you can deliver on the impression your brand creates.
- Create Templates: Templates using brand design choices help present a unified, credible and professional appearance.
Your brand identity is what makes you stand out from the crowd. In a world where consumers have access to several companies for the same thing, this is important. If something in your brand building design doesn’t sit quite right, we are here to help!
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