People often confuse brand identity with a logo, but a logo isn’t the entirety. It is just a small step towards it.
With businesses worldwide trying hard to establish themselves, building a strong identity to stand out from others, has become essential.
If you’re an entrepreneur and working to build your brand identity or doing it for a client, you must first understand the meaning of a brand.
Initially, the word “brand” was used to mark livestock so that cattle ranchers could identify it as their own. But now, the term “brand” has evolved to embrace much more than just a mark, name, or symbol.
A brand is defined as a name or a particular product manufactured by your business or anybody else’s business.
Now brand identity is a combination of your brand values, what it says, and how you put your product in front of your audience and what you want your target audience to feel when they see it. In short, your brand identity refers to the personality of your brand/business.
In simple terms, branding is when people talk about you or your product even if it’s not in front of them. A product leaves an impression on the buyers long after they have purchased it. And, the process of creating that impression is called brand identity.
For example, when you hear McDonald’s, you probably picture its well known Big Mac. You also think of its French Fries, and the time you were in McDonald’s for a meal. That whole scenario is brand identity. The golden arches of its logo also come into your mind. When a customer starts picturing your brand in their mind and heart, that is called the brand identity.
Now you know what brand identity is and what its importance is. Here is how you can develop a brand identity for your business in 2021.
1. Discover the purpose of your brand
Every brand jumps in the market with a great purpose. It’s the purpose that fuels them to reach their goals.
But before you could define a purpose for your brand, ask these questions first —
Why does your brand exist?
What problem does your brand solve?
What differentiates your brand from others?
Why should people consider your brand?
These ideas will help you lay the foundation of your branding through slogans, tagline, story, messaging, and more.
According to a study — 50% of worldwide customers say that they now purchase after seeing a company’s brand value and impact.
So, it becomes essential that you go deep into finding your purpose. You can consider these three rules to dig deeper.
What — consider the products/services you want to offer
How — explain the things that differentiate you from your competitors
Why — tell the reason why you exist as a brand
Once you find your purpose, it becomes easier for you to define your brand.
2. Research your audience and competition
Another step to creating a brand identity is to research your market. The market is full of different people wanting different things. You cannot target a college student the same way you would target a product to a child. Learning and knowing what customers want from a business is essential to create a brand that people will like.
Also, pay attention to the things that make your business unique in the industry. Think of what you can provide your customers that others can’t. Analyzing your competitors is essential to build a successful brand. It will also let you know what branding strategy works and what’s not.
With all this, you also have to ensure that your brand’s mission statement is clear. You can’t create your business personality if you don’t know what your brand is all about. You can perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to have a better understanding of your brand.
3. Create a buyer persona
Any brand that exists is because of the customers’ existence. If there are no customers, there will be no brand. When you go on describing your customers, take these things into account —
Age
Gender
Income
Location
Education Level
To further expand your brand’s buyer persona, consider retrieving these details —
Goals
Motivations
Influencers
Pain points
Brand affinities
Knowing the right target audience for your products/service is crucial as it will benefit your brand building process. You want the right consumers to click on your ads, read or watch your content, and opt into your subscribers list.
Consequently, knowing the ideal audience will affect your digital banding strategies.
Take an example of Nike that primarily targets athletes. It knows its audience well, and hence, launches products that fit their needs.
4. Create a logo to give your brand’s personality a face
In the brand-building process, here comes another important thing — to give your brand a visual look. This is the step that may need you to take help from your creative team.
Undoubtedly, the most important part of brand building is to create a tagline and logo for your business. It’s the logo that will be visible on everything related to your business. Eventually, it will become the identity of your brand.
So, make sure to invest both your time and money to create an exceptional logo that gives your business a visual face.
Consider the logos of famous brands like Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Domino’s, Audi, and more. Their logo is the presentation of their business, their mission statement, products, and more. Mere a single sight of their logo helps people recall the name, products, and other features they have to offer.
5. Know the things that you must avoid
You know the steps to creating brand identity, but do you know what may cause your brand to fail later? Here is a checklist that you should definitely consider.
Don’t convey mixed messages to your customers. Keep your message clear and know what exactly you want to communicate. Use appropriate tone and language for every message you send. Just because you like it doesn’t mean your customers will also love it.
Another thing that you should avoid is copying your competitors. Their branding may be exemplary, but if you’re offering the same products/services, apply the strategy that works for you. Take their strategy into consideration, and give your own twist to it to stand out.
Also, you shouldn’t lose consistency between your online or offline branding. Every material that you present to your customer should have a consistent theme, type, colors, and messages.
Conclusion
Creating a memorable brand isn’t hard if you put thorough research into it. Consider the tips mentioned in this blog to lay the foundation of your branding. If you have any other tips in mind, feel free to share it with us in the comment section below.
