Enhancing your customer base. You may have a quality product but the simple truth is - if no one knows about it, you will not be able to sell it. Your marketing strategy has to stand out and in order to create such a strategy, you need to have a unique center around which it can be woven – your brand’s identity.
This identity entails many elements, such as the business’ name you chose as well as the color scheme that users will associate with your products but most importantly, it needs to reflect the essence of your business vision and plans. So, here are a few suggestions to help you create a positive reputation and attract prospective customers with one of a kind presence.
Research the market thoroughly
This first step will help you set up guidelines so as to avoid wasting time correcting some basic elements which could have been spotted in the early stages. You would need to look into your prospective audience and learn more about the expectations your customers have of a company in your line of business. In order to create a brand which will be loved, you need to discover what your customers want, need and care for.
Checking out your competition is a good way to get an overview of both good and bad practices and to find your own angle to a particular product. Once you become more familiar with the customers and competition, you would be able to conduct a SWOT analysis on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats which will help you build your unique path as well as an identity like no other.
Create a distinctive logo
Although not the only, the logo is definitely one of the most crucial elements of your brand identity since users get attached to memorable visual displays and will remember them. Your logo will become an integral part of your products and it will be dominating your website. It is also the most prominent element on your business cards design meaning you would want people to recognize your company as soon as they take a glimpse at the logo.
Naturally, the choice of colors and style is crucial because it has to reflect your business identity and to be memorable. There are many templates online but perhaps it would be best to hire professionals who will listen to your wishes and offer a concept that would suit your needs best. Also, it is essential that you stay consistent with the design because that is the only way for the user to actually notice your logo and take an interest in your brand.
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Consider language as a tool
Now that you have a clearer perspective on the visual elements, audience, and competition, it is time to find your unique brand’s voice. It is the tool that helps build your brand’s online presence via every social media post, blog text on your website, newsletter that you will email to your customers and many other channels.
For instance, if your products are intended for teenagers, your brand and its voice would be more conversational, as opposed to a strictly professional tone if your brand identity is high-end. Also, social media are immensely popular, so features such as live stream videos are the perfect tool to show your distinctive brand voice and positively influence conversion rates as well. One of the essential aims is to establish an emotional connection with your customers so presenting your brand experiences and growth through interesting and gripping stories is bound to set you apart from others.
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Yet, what about combining language elements with visuals and taking the best of both worlds? There is a way to combine both to your advantage. How? With infographics, of course. Infographics are a great way to engage your audience, they are both fun and educational and they can suit the tone of your audience perfectly. There are a few free tools like Canva for example that could help you create infographics that your audience may find relevant. If this sounds too basic you can always consult professionals in this field like Infostarters that could help you create something of value to your audience.
Be original at all times
It is allowed to look for inspiration, to research different options and ideas but copying your competition will not help you get established as a unique brand. As mentioned, information that you can find on your competition’s offer is valuable in terms of providing insight into good and bad practices which is important for a novice in the business world. However, any ‘borrowed’ units will eventually be revealed and that can cause irreparable damage to your business and brand.
Being unique doesn’t automatically mean that you should aim for eccentricity, so sending mixed messages to your customers is not something they would find interesting. It can actually harm your brand since the idea behind it will not seem consistent. The topic of consistency also reflects on the offline presence of your brand because even though it will be somewhat different, the main characteristics such as your colors, logo, and message should be the same as on online channels.
Monitor the performance
Just as with many aspects of running a small business, you need to constantly observe the results, how different elements fit in and evolve and to be ready to make changes if necessary. In order to know the reception of your brand identity, you will need to follow different pointers which will give you an idea about the market and how your business fits into it.
Among many available tools, Google Analytics is the most widespread software and it can provide you with information on many topics. You will learn about the traffic on your website as well as how many of the visitors actually purchase something and on which section. The collected data can also show if you need to improve the website’s loading speed and which website segments are the most popular. These analyses will give you an opportunity to tweak certain aspects of your brand identity until you achieve what you intended.
Conclusion
Building a distinct brand identity is not just tending to come up with a name and a symbol. The visual representation needs to go hand in hand with a meaningful and consistent presentation to depict a unique idea that stands proudly behind your brand.
The color scheme you opt for will act as a background to your logo, just as a flag would to a country and this combination, if merged properly, will be what customers will recognize on any product, flyer or a business card. However, the manner in which your story has been written is also of importance so staying true to your voice is what you need to strive for in order to be memorable. At this very beginning of your business journey, you shouldn’t be afraid of the competition but instead, find your own voice and identity which will guide you to success.
