Building a business identity that surpasses your competition isn’t easy. There’s a lot to consider and a lot involved in the process of developing your business identity when you’ve started your new business venture. Well-known brand names don’t create their identity overnight.
It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to develop their name into one that’s remembered years beyond their beginnings. So how do you create and build a powerful business identity? Here are some actionable tips on how you can build your company’s brand name into a household name.
1. Understand your company
The first key step in building a powerful business identity is understanding who you want to be and what you have that your competition doesn’t. To first work out and define who you are as a company you need to ask yourself a few different questions:
- In which industry sector/niche does your business operate?
- Who is your audience and your potential customers? (trades, nurses, shoppers etc.)
- What are you offering your customers; products, services, subscriptions and downloads?
- What makes your business unique; is it your service quality, location, efficiency?
- Why did you start up your business in the first place?
In defining who you are, why you’re in business and the value you offer your customers, you can begin to establish your brand personality. This will form the foundation for your brand identity.
2. Understand your Competition
It’s important to understand your market and your competitors. A successful brand identity will disrupt the status quo of other players in the market and allow you to secure your own position based on your unique differentiating qualities. To work out who your competition is, ask yourself.
- Who are the main companies operating in the same industry as you?
- Are they selling something that you aren’t?
- What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- Can you provide their customers with something that your competition can’t?
- How do they market themselves? TV, radio, website, social media?
Analyzing your competition will help you to identify opportunities to establish a foothold for your own business and the products and services you offer.
3. Create a Memorable Logo
One key element that all successful businesses have is a distinctive and memorable logo. The logo represents you as a company and should be something that people will automatically recognize when they see it. When you design your business logo, you need to remember a few key things:
- Keep It Simple – If you notice the most successful brand names, you’ll see that they all have one thing in common and that is a simple logo design. The reason why a simple design works so well is that it’s easy to remember. Even lines and simple drawings have the ability to stick in your consumer’s mind after they see it. This is why keeping it simple but inventive is important.
- Use Bold Colors – Colours are also a key element when designing your logo. Bold colours offer eye-catching results. This is why you’ll see many logos featuring vibrant bold colours. Choosing the right colours can also help to improve your appeal. Each colour you choose has a meaning. If you utilise this to your advantage, you’ll be able to create a successful coloured logo.
- Red – Urgency/High Paced
- Black – Power/Luxury
- Pink – Feminine/Romantic
- Green – Financial Security/Money/Wealth
- Yellow – Optimistic/Youthful
- Blue – Calm/Trust/Health
- Purple – Calms/Soothes
A powerful logo is all in the design. If you look at major brands such as McDonald’s, KFC, Subway or other major brands, you’ll notice that they all feature bold colours and simple designs. Experimenting with a few different designs and colours will help to improve your success on choosing a logo that’s memorable and competitive in your industry.
4. Powerful Visual Identity
Creating a visual identity that’s powerful is all about how you market your business to your consumers. There’s a couple of visual elements that need to be addressed in order for you to create a powerful visual identity. These key elements include:
- Use High-Quality Images – The first thing to help improve your visual identity is through the use of high quality and professional images. When you’re marketing your business through selected advertising channels you want to make sure any images you’re showcasing are of the highest quality. The reason for this is one; it shows you’re a professional business, and two; it shows that you take great care in your business and how you market it. It also helps to build trust as well.
- Use Simple Colours – When marketing yourself visually you need to make sure the colours you use are simple and mimic that of your logo. A general rule of thumb when using colours is using 2-3 primary colours. If you use more than this your business colours take the risk of being overwhelming and distracting to your customers.
- Use The Right Font – The font that’s chosen when using text to market your company is also important. Did you know that certain font resembles a certain voice? This is why you want to choose a font that’s close to your industry sector. The wrong voice may reflect poorly on your identity. Some examples are below:
- Professional/Corporate – Times New Roman
- Research/Technical Info – Cambria
- Comedy/Light-hearted – Comic Sans
- Relaxed but professional – Arial
Your visual identity is at the forefront of how your potential customers see you, so it’s important to ensure you present yourself well in our customer’s eyes.
5. Support A Cause
Supporting a charity goes a long way when building your business identity. By supporting a cause or charity your audience will see you as a caring company. It will also help to build trust amongst your followers as well. Some of the best charities to support are:
- Children’s charities
- Cancer charities
- Animal charities
- Homeless charities
- World poverty charities
Supporting a cause will help to improve your reputation and the way people look at you as a large company. This is why you’ll see many of your competitors support one or more charities.
In conclusion, building a powerful business identity is all about how you present yourself to your audience. If you build on these key areas, you’ll start to build your reputation and the trust of your customers. So, are you ready to improve your business identity?