How to Create a Brand Identity - Chicks in Business

What is Brand Identity?

Your brand identity is how your audience sees you.

When you come across someone new, you probably form an opinion about them. Then, you commence a conversation with that individual and your opinion of them extends even further.

You form an impression of their character. Undoubtedly, all of your subsequent dealings with this individual will depend on this initial impression and judgment you formed.

Your brand identity is much the same. The attitude and demeanor of your business are evident in its positioning, messaging, and design.

But a strong brand identity doesn’t develop overnight. Rather than happening by chance, it is deliberately planned and advertised utilizing a branding policy. Comprehensive research of competitors and target audience is essential when working out a brand strategy. It helps you to differentiate your brand and comprehend the reason for its existence.

See below for a breakdown of the procedures you should complete in order to create your brand approach and eventually assemble your brand image. But first, let’s address an important question.

Why is Brand Identity Important?

A few primary explanations exist as to why it is so important to have a strong brand identity. We’ve illustrated these in the infographic below. Continue scrolling down to get more information about the benefits in greater detail.

1. Build trust and familiarity among your target audience.

Almost sixty percent of people opt to purchase new items from brands they know.

You too? Me too! Why would you purchase from a stranger rather than from someone you’re familiar with?

From a business point of view, having a clear idea of how the brand should be presented in the marketplace and a concise set of messages to communicate this is essential.

A distinctive tone helps to identify a brand across different advertising platforms, like social media, by capturing the audience’s interest. This way, you stand a good chance of luring in new customers by developing recognizable branding.

2. Stand out in a sea of competitors.

How many online clothing stores are there to choose from, and which one do you think you will purchase from? The most likely solution: is the one that has a strong, recognizable brand.

I once contacted Frank And Oak, a clothing store, to ask a question. I wasn’t even buying from them at the time. I was blown away by their swift response to my inquiry, which is part of their image as a company providing fast customer service.

The result? I’m showing my appreciation for them by giving them a shoutout today!

How you connect with possible purchasers, the color palette and other visible factors, the principles that drive your company, and all other factors that make up your brand identity are all clearly reflected.

If your enterprise has a distinct persona, it is probable that you will create an unforgettable remembrance in the group of people you are targeting. By doing so, you end up beating your competition.

3. Plant seeds of customer loyalty.

I stay devoted to Frank And Oak due to their reliable brand attributes, and you can also become a customer’s top pick by following through with a consistent brand.

Providing the same values and a unified visual identity can assist in creating an exclusive branding experience for your consumers.

In the event you weren’t aware, individuals will commit violence for a pleasurable experience. Rather than annihilate it, they would shell out an additional 16% for an enhanced customer experience.

These satisfied customers are swift to share their experience with others, thus helping you to acquire new patrons. See what’s happening here? To create a powerful brand, you need to have a well-defined brand image.

How to Create Your Brand Identity in 4 Simple Steps

No matter if you’re changing your brand’s image or setting up a brand identity from the start, the instructions here will direct you throughout the whole process.

A major part of establishing an effective brand identity is rooted in recognizing your essential values, target market, and rivals. Forming a visible brand identity and establishing a set of rules to adhere to for constancy is part of it.

So, let’s give you the soup-to-nuts guide to developing a strong brand identity:

Step #1: Understand the purpose behind your brand.

Why? Having an awareness of your purpose can allow you to gain insight into your essential principles, goal, and what you have to offer.

It is not possible to explain what makes you stand out or the reasons why people should patronize you if you are not aware of these specifics.

Hence, a good starting point is grabbing your planner and answering the following:

Why is your business, well, in business?
What makes you different?
Why should your target audience care about you?

These responses can be used to construct your slogan, company tone, brand message, and additional items.

An example of how Frank And Oak differentiate themselves from other firms in their industry is by offering swift customer service.

Likewise, POP Fit has an exclusive claim to fame from their emphasis on making everyone feel welcome. Look at this poster from their website.

Their brand’s visual representation is very precise, demonstrating that they are a welcoming company at a glance.

Do not simply think about what separates your business from the rest. Write it down. You should inform your team of this data, and make sure it is incorporated in the instructions for maintaining a consistent brand voice.

Step #2: Research your audience and competitors.

In step two, you’ll need to put on your researcher’s hat and conduct two types of research:

1. Audience research.

In order to build a recognizable brand, it’s critical that you gain extensive knowledge of who you are aiming to reach. By doing this, you can establish a name that elicits an emotional response from them.

If you’re targeting entrepreneurs, you should be able to determine the exact person you are selling to: are they solo entrepreneur who does many tasks in 24 hours or an experienced entrepreneur who has people working under them?

The tone of your brand can be tailored to fit the individuals you are targeting with your message.

When researching your audience, ask the following questions:

Who is your ideal buyer and what do they do?
What are their goals, pain points, interests, and motivations?
Where is your target audience likely to hang out?
Why and when are they buying?
What’s their budget?

If you have been around for a while, it is advantageous to communicate with your audience. Conduct surveys and polls to gain insight from your hosts, monitor conversations about your brand on social media, and communicate with your network to gain feedback regarding your own positive attributes and what people appreciate about your rivals.

Include all the results of your survey within the specified template so they will be easily accessible while you create your corporate image.

Here are some questions to ask your audience:

How likely are you to recommend our business to others?
What’s the one thing that you think makes us stand out from the competition?
Who else did you consider before choosing us?
How has your experience been with us?
If you could change one thing about us, what would it be?

Inquire as to what their expectations are of you in the future.

2. Competitor research.

Your work here is simple: study your competitors. Find out what it is that makes them different? Why do customers buy from them?

Don’t just visit their website. Investigate their utilization of social media, email marketing promotions, gatherings, workshops, and so on.

Study the following about your competitors:

Their tagline, slogan, brand mission, and value proposition.
The marketing channels they use.
What their customers say about them.
Their voice and tone when they communicate.
The visuals they use and whether their visual identity is consistent.

The goal isn’t to copy them. The objective is to examine other businesses to discover how to distinguish your brand.

Gather your results from audience research and put them in an organized template for easy analysis, similar to the one provided.

Step 3: Research your target audience

Your brand identity should be formed with both your desired outward presentation and the preferences and expectations of your target audience in mind. Be as precise as possible when identifying who your audience is and work to figure out what might attract them. What images and messages will appeal to them?

For example, even though your business operates in the B2B space, the main demographic you are targeting is hip, millennial industry leaders. In your investigation, you find out that they favor informal and friendly styles of speaking instead of using overly technical and stiff language. You create your brand’s character, manner of speaking, and visual representation in accordance with the results.

Step 4: Develop your brand voice and personality

Given the information you have accumulated, it is now time to construct a distinct personality and tone for your business. The success of your sales efforts will largely be determined by the item you intend to offer and the type of customers you are looking to get.

For instance, B2B businesses usually have an authoritative brand vocalization and an earnest personality. However, as pointed out earlier, if the primary group of people being addressed prefers a conversational style, the tone may instead be welcoming and informative.

The tone of your brand identity might be jovial, amiable, and chatty or else it could be competent, complex, and trustworthy, subject to the components cited above. In a similar way, the characteristics of your brand could be dependable, impulsive, friendly, grave, and further. You have a seemingly countless range of adjectives to pick from so long as it speaks to those you are trying to reach.

For Freshly Chopped, part of providing healthy food includes upholding a trustworthy character and a conversational style, as demonstrated in their posts on Twitter.

Apart from your presence on social media, you should aim to make your brand’s personality visible through every media platform or channel available. It is essential that you always employ the same tone and style whenever you are communicating with your customers or running campaigns.

Step 5: Develop your visual identity

Having an effective visual identity is essential for building a successful brand identity. The visuals you create are a great part of the overall image you want to convey. Begin by converting all the information you have compiled about your company’s brand and applying it to visual ideas.

Select the most important descriptors you want to connect with your brand and attempt to create a visual representation of them. The elephant logo for Evernote, the note-taking app, is a visual representation of the phrase – an elephant never forgets. This helps to reinforce the notion that the app is incredibly trustworthy when preserving your records and thoughts.

Additionally, shades can help communicate strong communication regarding your corporate image. For instance, dazzling and joyful shades might signify vigor and juvenescence while black and white can translate to graceful, straightforwardness, and finesse.

Furthermore, various colors can create various atmospheres, and further enhance the visual description of your company. Green might be associated with wealth, durability, expansion, or even a powerful bond with the environment. Dark blue could stand for maturity, trustworthiness, and security. Instead, yellow may denote childhood, hope, and liveliness.

Gaining an understanding of how nuances of color possess various symbolic meanings would be beneficial in comprehending which hues will fit well with your company’s appearance.

In addition to visual elements, your font choices will also be a major factor in establishing your brand identity. For example, serif typefaces have a timeless feel to them, giving off a sense of reverence and reliability. Script typefaces, such as the official Rebrandly font, convey a personal atmosphere, stimulating notions of originality and gracefulness while maintaining a friendly aura.

Integrating your brand identity into your business

Following the steps provided will help you to construct a brand identity, but the process does not stop there. It is essential to make sure that your company’s essential characteristics are present in all parts of your company. This is essential for building recognition and recall with the general public. Be certain to advertise it effectively across all of your platforms, such as your website, physical stores, social media, content marketing endeavors, wrapping, and more.

Make an effort to stay informed of the most recent visuals to gain a better understanding of where and how you can enhance your branding. If you’re uncertain about constructing a brand identity, please leave us your questions in the comments section.

Pro tip:

The connections you form and share over the internet are also a representation of your image. If you aspire to strengthen your company’s reputation, taking advantage of all available possibilities for branding is an absolute must. Having the right tool can make those link-based opportunities more accessible.

Instead of having normal web page addresses, you could try using Rebrandly’s custom URL shortener to make them shorter and more recognizable. By completing this action, your company will gain more recognition as well as people being more likely to trust the links you post.