Tarletta Williams
Your Brand Identity
What is Brand Identity and Why is it Important
Your brand identity is the personification of your business. It’s the values, attitudes, style and it’s lifeblood of your organization. It’s the promise you make to your customers when they decide to do business with you.
Just like people, the first thing we learn to market is ourselves. Your business is no different.
Let’s get this out of the way: your brand is not just your logo – it’s so much more. If your brand is a person, consider your logo as clothing. There’s much more underneath that makes up why people want to be your friend and why your audience wants to become your customers.
In this article I’m going to break down the 5 killer components that we use when helping our clients create a memorable brand identity.
Let’s go….
“What makes you different is often what gets your paid. Don’t be afraid to be out of the ordinary.”
Promise
The overarching dedication behind a brand’s purpose. It’s the foundational value the brand commits to each of its customers.
Your Brand Promise
Your brand promise should be a part of everything you do in your business. It defines the ‘why’ behind the existence of your company and should be portrayed to every customer, through every experience from sales to billing to customer service.
There’s no cookie cutter way that your promise should look, but just a tip: it should inspire customers and employees. It should be the rally cry behind everything you do and every change you make to keep your business in peak performance.
Brand Values
Having a distinguishing list of brand values is a great way to communicate another commitment that you’re making to your customers. While your values and your promise are related they’re not the same.
Unlike your brand promise, your brand values speak directly to the way you communicate with the world. They should be evident in the language, images, content and relationships you develop through customer service and interactions.
Whether you’re a production company focused on quality or a service company that dives deep on ‘down to earth-ness’, your brand values should be evident.
Values
Strong company values are a great way to identify your company’s mission and vision. It’s also a very important step in building trust with your customers.
Clarity
If you’re trying to speak to everyone, there’s a good chance that no one hears you. Some aren’t listening at all and others just don’t care what you have to say.
Your Positioning Statement(s)
Your positioning statement should identify three things: who you help, how you help them, and why you’re the best fit to do the job.
When you started your business it was to solve a problem for at least one type of person. They were the main target of your advertising and the people that you knew you could help.
It’s not uncommon to have multiple positioning statements. Your positioning statements allow you communicate how you can help each type of person with your unique solution.
Brand Logo & Design
Having a memorable logo and consistent design features are a great way to increase familiarity.
Working with our clients we ensure that the colors, shapes, images and logo are all aligned with the attitude and personality of their business. This includes blog post images, social media posts, your website and your business cards.
Oftentimes ‘brand’ and ‘logo’ are used inter changeably, but your logo is just a small part of what makes your brand stand out against the crowd. Creating a visually memorable and consistent experience for your customers helps them identify you from the crowd and positions you as a professional that knows what they’re doing.
Logo & Design
For most businesses, your logo is the first identifiable object that personifies your business. It’s important that it’s not only appealing, but purposeful.
Language
How you speak to your audience matters. Quick example: Do you say potty, restroom, or bathroom? Every audience is different so make sure your brand is speaking the right language.
Language
The do’s and don’ts of English class no longer apply. When it comes to communicating with your audience there are two things to keep in mind: tone and word choice.
Key point here: it’s what you say AND how you say it. Do you want to come off as suit and tie professional or are you more of a paint on my face person? We connect through language. The writing style and word choice should resonate with your audience. Become ‘one of us.’
Remember This…
Your brand identity operates just like a person. It has it’s own opinions and attitudes. Some people will love it and others won’t care one way or another. But, most of all, your brand is alive. Taking the time to develop a strong identity will save you tons of time when it comes to marketing your business and building relationships. We’re here to help you do it right.
Also, keep an eye out for an article on Visual Brand Boards. It’s going to be awesome.
If you found this article helpful, let us know in the comments. What was something you learned or something you’ll do a little differently?
