The Importance of Brand Identity

Creating a strong brand identity can make or break your company's success. Here is why it is so important, along with a few tips and suggestions to make yourself stand out!  

Hello, Summerville! We hope you're doing well. The smell of pumpkin spice abounds, all of our favorite stores here in the square are starting to put out decorations. We also might be a tad embarrassed about the number of baked fall goods from Swank that we've already sampled. To say the least, we are pretty excited about fall! Celebrating Summerville, supporting our fellow local businesses, and creating exactly what our clients want is a part of our brand. The bright orange color we use in our logo is a part of who we are. We are quirky, hardworking, and usually a little over-caffeinated. This is who we are and what makes us unique as a company. All of these are traits that we are proud of and what we want our current and future clients to know about us. 

All of these elements are a part of our branding. It's the part of our company that you see online, what you see when you drive by our office, and what you hear about us when you ask about us around town. Brand identity is the unique fingerprint that people will see and look into before they meet the people behind the business. This is why having a strong branding identity is so important.

More Than Just A Logo 
Granted, yes. Your company needs a logo, a color scheme, and fonts that you'll use consistently. There is something very special in seeing your signage, window decals, business cards, website, social media, and stationary all decked out in your logo, colors, and fonts. All of these tools are necessary because you'll use them to catch the eye of your future clients. When it comes to the whole of your brand identity, this is a very small part of the whole story. Your brand identity is so much more than your meticulously created logo. It is your reputation, how you want people to perceive you, your unique and individual voice, and what you want to be known for. It needs to stand up to the challenge, support your business, and get your message across. 

• It will influence your audience's choice of purchasing from you - or not. A strong brand communicates exactly who you are, what your product is, and why your audience needs it. 
• The strength of your brand will determine and influence your sales and business growth. 
• Your brand identity helps you stand out from your competitors. It will help your audience and future clients remember you before they remember your competitors. 
• Having a strong brand will help establish a lasting relationship and trust between you and your suppliers. 
• It portrays what you want your clients to feel when they use your products and services. 
• It explains and displays your values as a company. 
• According to Hubspot, "your products leave an impression of your customers long after you've made the sale. Brand identity is the process of shaping that impression." 

What It Does For You
Now that you've established what brand identity is what can it turn around and do for you? 

• It will give you creditability to clients, within your industry, with your peers, and to potential future clients. 
• You will have a much easier time creating a marketing plan and platform with an established brand identity. You know who and what you are, and you understand who your clients are. This will make advertising simple, fun, and profitable. 
• It will help create your mission statement as a company and help you stick to it. 
• You will keep current clients, generate new clients, and get people talking about your product in an exciting way. According to Hubspot "A good product generates customers, but a good brand generates advocates." 

It takes work to create your brand identity. Creating your logo didn't happen overnight, and your brand identity won't provide these amazing benefits to you overnight either. The steps to creating a strong brand identity aren't overwhelming, they're actually very straight forward. The challenge is implementing them into your workflow and your company's everyday life. 

How To Get Started
As we said, strong brand identity doesn't happen instantly. It takes time, research, and doing all of those necessary tedious things that arent the glamorous side of owning a business. 

• You need to know your audience. You created your company because you are excellent at the service or product you provide and know you can improve the lives of others with it. Now you have to ask the important questions. Who will want your products? What age group will benefit from them? Who is most likely to search out your goods and services? Once you've done your research and know the answers to these questions, you'll have no issues with creating marketing plans, copy, and graphics geared towards your focused group of potential buyers.  
• How you got to where you are, how you create your product, how you came to learn your trade, and why you wanted your business is all part of your story. Your story is unique to your company and product, so keep the story at the center of your mission and in your goals of why you're doing what you're doing. 
• You have to keep learning, keep growing, and changing with your customer's needs and grow with your industry. Don't be afraid to implement new forms of technology to use in your ad campaigns. There is nothing wrong with using Instagram and Facebook to their fullest capacities. Your brand and what you stand for will always be important, but don't let that stand in your way. Continue to discover other options and never stop inspiring yourself with the amazing innovations available to you. 
• You need to give something to your customers that they can go out and use right now. Give them a product of value. Let it make their lives easier, happier, and safer. 

The list goes on with the many ways you can create, strengthen, and grow your brand identity. This blog is just a peek into everything that is available to you. We did mention that this took time, right? Every company and business is different. You need to find what works for you. We just wanted to provide a little foundation for you to build on. The long and short of it is that brand identity is important and it's worth your time. If you need help or would like to learn more, please contact us! We look forward to talking to you soon!