5 Essential Tips for Crafting a strong brand identity
Your brand identity is more than just your color palette or logo-those are the visual aspects of branding but the non-visual components have to do with the personality and voice of your brand. A strong brand identity helps you stand out in a world of clutter and chaos, it helps you connect with your target audience and build trust over time. But how do you develop an identity for your brand that truly represents the vision that you have? Here are five essential tips to help you shape a strong and impactful brand.
1. Define Your Brand’s Core Values and Mission
Before you even begin to think about visuals you have to take a step back and define what your brand’s mission is, the purpose and your core values. What drives the businesses decision making? What does the brand stand for? What do you even exist? The brand identity should reflect these answers and drive decision making for all employees of the business. A clear purpose that helps drive decision making will also support in attracting the right audience.
2. Know Your Audience
A brand identity should speak directly to your target audience. In order to do this it takes research and time to understand your ideal customer-what are their interests, their behavior, what drives their decision making and how do they engage with brands. You then wan to gocus on crafting your brand’s voice, communication/messaging and aesthetics to resonate with your audience and build meaningful connections.
3. Create a Cohesive Visual Identity
Companies that have a strong brand identity will include a consistent visual language that enables your business to be instantly recognizable. This includes:
Logo: A unique and versatile logo family that represents your brand’s personality.
Color Palette: Colors will evoke different emotions so choose wisely and choose one that aligns with your brand’s message
Typography: Fonts should be legible and they should also reflect your brand’s tone
Imagery and Graphics: Ensure your visuals are all cohesive and that they also support the story of our brand. Consistency across all digital platforms-from your social media to you website-reinforces brand recognition and professionalism.
4. Develop a Distinct Brand Voice
A brand voice is how a company communicates with their audience. Is it playful and fun, professional and authoritative or is it friendly and conversational? The tone should align with your brand’s personality and should remain consistent through all touchpoints including merchandise, printed media, social, email marketing and any website copy.
5. Stay Authentic and Evolve Over Time
A brands ability to stay authentic is the key to building trust with their audience. This is supported by staying true to the brand’s values. As the business grows, allow the brand to evolve naturally and be cautious of trends and customer preferences as this may go against your values. Any updates that are being implemented should still connect to the brands core mission and purpose.
