Building Your Brand Identity: Tips for New Businesses to Stand Out in a Competitive Market
Developing a brand identity requires more than the logo and colours you use. It is a multi-disciplinary strategic effort that encompasses everything that supports your overall business goals and makes your brand stand out. Combining the business’s purpose with accompanying visual and written elements helps to create a personality for your brand that consumers recognise instantaneously, boosting your reputation through a consistent and persuasive message. Think of some of the most reputable brands in the corporate world and how quickly you can envision their logo and branding style.
The Nike swoosh and the McDonald's golden arches are iconic symbols that instantly evoke their respective brands, even without the accompanying brand name. However, their recognition and impact aren't solely attributed to their logos. These symbols are just one aspect of a comprehensive brand identity strategy that utilises various elements working together harmoniously to convey the brand's values and promise to its target audience.
Brand identity is vital for businesses and as a new start-up fighting to gain a reputable spotlight in a competitive market, it is important to understand the key elements of how to establish a presence that makes you stand out and accelerates your business growth.
3 top elements to building a successful brand identity:
1. Define Your Brand
Clarifying your mission, vision, and values is a fundamental aspect of creating a successful and compelling brand identity. Every aspect of your branding should be in sync with your overall business strategy and overall goals. This step would also include thorough market and audience research to identify who you are targeting and what their needs and motivations are.
By outlining your business's ultimate aims, defining your unique selling point, and understanding your audience’s pain points, you can tailor your marketing efforts to resonate with the right people and the right markets. This increases the likelihood of engagement and conversion, whilst also maintaining consistency with your brand identity.
2. Create Visual Elements
Designing a memorable logo that represents your brand is one of the most obvious forms of brand identity. It is the face of your business that aims to communicate your brand message visually and instantly.
Choosing a colour palette that reflects your brand’s personality is another key aspect of visual identity, as certain colours evoke different emotions in audiences and enhance brand identity. For example, think about Google’s colour palette and the consistency across all their apps and platforms. This helps to build a sense of familiarity and trust between consumers and the brand.
3. Crafting Powerful Brand Messaging
Brand messaging is the language and copy used by a brand to convey the overall mission, goal and aims whilst communicating its personality and continuing to align with specific target audiences. This is an important part of pushing your brand’s value proposition and conveying the core values that resonate with your audience.
As a new business, focusing on these three key elements can help you establish a strong brand identity that sets your name apart within a competitive market and helps you resonate with your target audience better.
The key aspect of maintaining a successful brand identity lies in consistency. This means ensuring that the way you present your company, its story and values, are the same across all your marketing channels. Adhering to your brand guidelines establishes authenticity and trust, increases recognition, differentiates your business from competitors, cultivates consumer loyalty, and ultimately drives business goals by attracting and retaining customers.