Learning how to build a strong brand identity is essential to building a successful and profitable business. But what makes a good brand? How can you develop your own?
In this post, we explain what makes a good brand. And why brand identity is so important. If you want to start a business, develop your brand, or better understand branding, this guide is for you!
What Makes a Good Brand?
Building a good brand takes time! So, as you learn how to build your brand, you need to take a combination of consistent actions over the long term – coordinated steps over time – to achieve positive brand positioning. That is, what we want others to say, think and feel about our brand.
What Is a Brand Exactly?
A brand is the set of actions and perceptions generated around an activity (commercial or not) that makes it different and unique. Among the attributes of brands are:
1️⃣ Distinguishing from the rest.
2️⃣ Indicating quality.
3️⃣ Brand positioning.
4️⃣ Increasing sales.
5️⃣ Generating consumer trust & loyalty.
The brand lives at the intersection between what you do and imagine about your brand. And what consumers and users think and feel about the brand.
Why Is Brand Identity So Important?
Brand identity is the set of characteristic elements that make up a brand and make it unique and recognizable in the eyes of consumers and potential clients. Among the elements that make up a brand’s identity are ????
???? Customer experience.
???? Visual and verbal identity.
???? Its mission and values.
????♀️ Sensations.
For example, the customer experience is the overall experience your customers have when interacting with your brand. It encompasses all touchpoints and interactions. From the first interaction with an employee to the last interaction with a product or service!
On the other hand, visual identity involves all visual elements. Such as the brand’s logo, color pallet, visual language, and typography.
The logo is a symbol used to represent a brand. However, it can also be used to represent a company, an institution, or even a person. It is characterized by the fact that it consists of images, symbols, and/or letters.
In the color palette of a brand, it’s important to consider what sensations and emotions should be evoked by colors. Therefore, they should be used consistently and congruently in the different application formats.
In addition, clear and established esthetic and photographic guidelines will help you complement the viewer’s visual experience with your brand. Therefore, they must be connected to the visual universe you are trying to create.
Finally, choose a distinctive font – or pair of fonts – that really makes a difference and conveys your brand’s personality.
10 Brand Building Strategies
#1: Invest in Creating a Brand Name & Logo That Represents Your Mission
As mentioned earlier, when building your brand identity, both the name and the logo are key elements of your visual identity. After all, both are the first things customers see of our brand. That’s why it’s so important to maintain a cohesive visual identity over time.
The brand name should meet the most important characteristics to be remembered. These include brevity, suggestiveness, originality, and recognizability.
If we’re constantly changing it, it will become really difficult to build a solid and identifiable brand image!
#2: Be Consistent With Your Messaging
To build a strong brand identity, it is essential to be consistent across all points of communication and contact with your customers and potential customers. This includes product packaging, your website design, advertising campaigns, and more!
A detailed verbal identity is key at this point. As we mentioned earlier, verbal identity includes a specific brand name, voice, tone, and tagline.
The tone of voice is how the brand’s voice is used in different situations. While the voice should be unique and enduring, the tone can vary depending on the audience the brand is addressing at the time and with whom it needs to identify.
For example, a brand may use a humorous tone when addressing its customers on social media. But it can also use a more formal tone when contacted by the sales department.
#3: Build a Brand Community
When building your brand identity, it’s more important than ever to encourage your customers to talk about your brand. Especially if you want those conversations to happen online rather than in person.
Create an online brand community where people can interact with each other and with you. As a result, they’ll be more willing to share their experiences online as well (which in turn means more visitors).
Community-based marketing is all about building a two-way conversation between your brand and its audience. When building a community around your brand, you’re looking to engage your audience in a non-intrusive and transparent way!
#4: Develop a Storyline
One of the most important things to consider when building your brand identity is developing a good storyline. This involves developing a storytelling strategy to create an emotional connection with your brand’s audience.
A great way to apply this technique is through videos. Content produced in this format can convey a lot of information in a short amount of time. It also strengthens the emotional connection with the audience.
#5: Create Experiences That Connect Customers With Your Brand’s Identity
One of the best ways to engage customers is to create memorable experiences that connect them to your brand’s identity and values.
For example, if your company represents values such as creativity and innovation, you should create experiences that reflect those values at every touchpoint with the customer.
That way, they connect with your brand’s identity and are more likely to come back!
#6: Work on Your Brand Image
Brand image is the overall emotional feeling consumers have about a product or service, based on their perceptions of its features, benefits, packaging, and communications with the brand. These include advertising, public relations, package design, and other marketing efforts.
A strong brand image will help distinguish your product or service from others in the market. Making it easier for consumers to remember you when they are ready to buy.
#7: Involve Everyone in the Construction of Brand Identity
Make sure all employees understand their role in supporting the company’s brand identity and core values. Ensure that they don’t inadvertently contradict them through their words or actions when interacting with customers, potential customers, or other employees (including suppliers).
#8: Incorporate Social Media Into Your Marketing Strategy
Social media is a great way to connect with customers and build brand awareness. They also give you the opportunity to interact with them on a personal level. Otherwise, this could be difficult with other forms of communication like email or phone calls.
#9: Partner With Influencers in Your Industry
Influencers are people who have a large following on social media or through other sources such as blogs or podcasts. By working with influencers, you can increase brand awareness by reaching new audiences through their channels.
#10: Have a Branding Strategy
Finally, while each one of these strategies is important, they will not work on their own. Therefore, to build a strong brand identity, it’s essential to have a comprehensive branding strategy that includes each one of these individual strategies, but doesn’t stop there!
How to Turn Your Business Into a Brand
There are many different types of brands. Some are better known than others. And some are more popular than others. But all great brands have one thing in common: they have a clear brand identity.
Why is it important for companies to have a strong brand?
A strong brand gives you an advantage over your competitors. It helps people remember you and gives them something to talk about. It also gives people an idea of what they can expect from your company and how they can identify with it.
People don’t buy products or services: they buy experiences, feelings, and emotions these products and services induce.
When we think of brands, we often think of big companies like Apple or McDonald’s, but not small businesses like law firms or cafes. So even if your business is not as big as Apple, there are many ways you can improve your brand and stand out from the crowd!
1️⃣ Know Your Audience
The first step to turning your business into a brand is to know who you want to reach and what they expect from you. This means figuring out what problems your product solves and who those people are.
2️⃣ Create a style guide
A style guide is basically an instruction manual for how your company communicates with its customers. It should include everything from fonts and colors in marketing materials to the tone of voice on social media like Twitter or Facebook Messenger.
3️⃣ Understand how brands work
Ultimately, branding isn’t just about logos and slogans, it’s about telling the story that makes your company unique. Branding is about creating an emotional connection between customers and the products they buy from you.
For this reason, good branding focuses on values, not just features ????
