When setting up a business, one of the most important aspects to consider is your brand identity. It’s how your customers will perceive you, after all, so you want to be sure it’s relevant and accurate to your values and beliefs.
Knowing where to get started can be challenging. For example, while you may know how you want others to feel about your business, you might not understand how to get the message across.
Are you interested in learning more? Below we will discuss some tips to help you define your brand identity.
Let’s get started.
Design a Logo
While many different visual elements will contribute to your identity, your logo is one of the most important. It’s what is the most recognizable, and it’s best to start here before thinking of any other aspects.
When creating your design, remember that you want it to be simple but still unique. It also has to be relevant to your field/industry. Otherwise, potential customers can get somewhat confused with the products/services you provide.
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Develop your Visual Direction
Once you’ve got your logo ready to go, the next step is to look further into your visual direction. This includes a variety of different elements, such as:
- Typography
- Colour Palette
- Iconography
- Illustration
- Photography
Remember, the goal here is to stand out from the crowd. You want to design a theme that looks great and is memorable and unique.
Understand Your Target Audience
To begin creating any type of branding, you’re going to need to understand the ins and outs of your target audience. These are the individuals who are going to buy your products, so you want your theme to suit their interests. It can’t just look good! Conduct the necessary market research and consider what is currently trending within that particular group. From here, you’ll be able to generate imagery, content, and graphics that are sure to generate sales.
Find your Tone of Voice
Sometimes we get so caught up in all the visual elements of brand identity that we forget about our voice. Your language has to match your personality, and everything should connect together.
When it comes to finding your tone of voice, there are a few guidelines to follow. You’ll want to think about:
- Your mission or vision statement.
- The attitude of your brand
- Unique vocabulary and terms.
- Grammar
Be sure to pass on your final thoughts to your employees or staff, especially if multiple members are running your accounts. Everybody should be on the same page.
Set Key Values
Your business values refer to the principles that you stand for. These can include integrity, perseverance, determination, passion, and respect. While they don’t directly fall under brand identity, they do play a critical part.
What you believe in will end up shaping your culture. Once you know your values, you’ll be able to focus on all of the other core elements. Then, you’ll be able to work towards communicating your story.
Know your Competition
You can learn a lot from your competition, and we don’t mean by “stealing ideas.” By doing the necessary research and comparing everybody together, you’ll be able to determine precisely how you can differentiate yourself from them.
Even if they are incredibly successful, you don’t want to be known as a copycat. Think about how you can break the norms and stand out. Being unique is good and will help you be known as the best of the best.
Aim to be consistent
Finally, as we previously mentioned, when defining your brand, you must be consistent. When you’re establishing all of the above, you have to be confident that every platform is following the same path. The reason for this is that it’s easy to appear untrustworthy or not reputable if your imaging is sporadic. Also, you don’t want customers to be afraid of purchasing from you. Otherwise, you’ll quickly develop a bad reputation.
Final Words
Branding in all aspects is highly critical, so if you haven’t already, take the time to cross off the above while working towards your business plan. It will improve your chances of success and ensure that everybody knows exactly what your company is all about.
What do you think? Are there any other tips that you would recommend to those who may be struggling with establishing their identity?
