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Creating Brand Identity: How to Develop your Brand

Stuart Crawford

Welcome
Creating brand identity is a significant part of starting a new business or rebranding an existing one. Here are some tips for creating your own brand.

Creating Brand Identity: How to Develop Your Brand

Branding is developing a consistent image for your company that customers will recognise. An essential part of creating a brand identity is consistency. 

To develop a strong brand identity, you must clearly understand your brand and communicate that consistently to your employees.

It's not easy to define your brand identity, but it's essential to differentiate yourself from your competitors and stand out.

When it comes to creating brand identity, it starts with asking yourself, “What's my brand really about?” Then, the trick is to create a personality and a vibe that resonates with your audience.

1 – Identify your brand's purpose

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Are you wondering why you are doing this business, or have you just started your business but don't know your brand's purpose? There is no need to fear because it is a common question everyone faces.

So, today we will share the best steps to identify your brand's purpose.

Step 1: What does your product or service solve?

The first step to identifying your brand's purpose is understanding what your product or service solves for your customers.

Step 2: Whom are you trying to reach?

You need to know who you are trying to reach with your product or service. There are many different types of people in the market, so it is imperative to identify their needs and wants.

Step 3: What is the problem?

Your customers have problems, and you need to find the root cause. Your product is not helpful if you don't find any problem.

Step 4: What are your values?

Your customers are unique and different. It is challenging to understand them by just looking at them. You need to know your values and beliefs to serve them better.

Step 5: Why are you doing it?

You are doing business and selling your product or service; you need to know your core values to succeed in your business.

If you don't have a clear idea of your brand's purpose, you waste your money and lose many opportunities. So, it is better to think twice before starting the business.

Create the Brand Promise

Brand Promise Examples

A brand promise is a promise that your company makes to its customers. It's what you communicate to your customers, potential customers, and business partners. 

This is important because you want to align your product or service offering with your customer's needs.

When discussing a brand promise, we discuss how the company wants its customers to feel about using its products and services. For example, if you're a clothing store and want your customers to feel comfortable when they visit your store, you would ensure that your brand promise is that “our brand defines comfort.”

What is a brand promise worth?

Your brand promise is worth many things. To name a few, it allows you to stand out in a crowded market. It also provides an opportunity to differentiate yourself from competitors.

Another thing your brand promise can do is allow you to build trust. Customers need to know that you're trustworthy. By giving them a strong brand promise, they know your products and services are safe and reliable.

How do I create my brand promise?

The best way to create your brand promise is to start thinking about your customers. 

  • What are they looking for in your company? 
  • How do they feel when they use your company's products and services? 

It would be best to ask yourself questions like these to get started.

Next, create a vision for your brand promise. You need to consider how your customers feel when using your company's products and services.

After creating a vision for your brand promise, write it down. Make sure that you use language that is clear and concise.

Finally, review your brand promise to ensure it aligns with your vision.

How do I use my brand promise?

Once you have created your brand promise, you must figure out how to use it.

Start by creating a simple tagline that defines your brand promise. This is similar to a motto or tagline. The tagline should describe your brand promise and what it promises to deliver.

Next, include your brand promise in every communication you send. You should include your brand promise as part of the copy for advertising.

Another way to use your brand promise is to include it in the company's mission statement. This statement gives employees a sense of purpose, which helps them be more engaged at work.

Now that you have learned everything you need to create a brand promise, you should feel more confident about creating one for your business.

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2 – Define your brand's personality

Brand Personality

What is your brand's personality? To know the answer, you need to define your brand's personality. You can't define your brand's personality unless you know what kind of company you are in.

Let me explain it with an example. If you are selling a product, your product's personality will be different from the brand of a company like Google. You need to know the kind of products and services you will offer.

Your product's personality will differ from a website designing company if you are a food company. The food company will have various products, including cakes, muffins, biscuits, etc.

But when you visit a website designing company, you will find different types of websites and designs. They will offer websites designed for business purposes or personal use.

So, you need to define your brand's personality by knowing what products you will offer the customer. You cannot define your brand's personality if you don't know what kind of products you will offer customers.

You can get the correct answers by talking to the customers. You can also know your customers by reading their reviews and comments on social media.

Defining your brand's personality is the first step toward success.

Define Your Target Market

The first step is to define whom you're targeting for business. To figure out whom you're aiming at, you need to think about what you want to get done with your new product or service.

You need to know your target market and what you want to accomplish. This way, you can narrow your target audience and ensure they're the ones you're trying to reach.

It's also essential to understand whom you're trying to target. You can either try to attract a larger audience and hope that a small percentage of them will be interested in your product, or you can focus on attracting people likely to buy from you.

What is a target market?

A target market is a group of people interested in buying your product or services.

A target market is different from a demographic. Demographics describe whom you think your potential customers are. You can get demographics through surveys and questionnaires, but a target market is whom you want to sell to.

Target markets are a great place to start when defining your business. They can also help you develop ideas for new products or services, which can help you determine the type of market you want to attract.

When determining your target market, the first step is to consider what you're trying to accomplish. 

  • Is it a product you want to create? 
  • Is it a service you want to offer? 
  • Is it something you want to sell?

Once you have your answer, you can look into the people trying to solve that problem.

  • Do they buy things from you? 
  • Do they have money? 
  • Are they looking for information?

You can use surveys or questionnaires to learn more about the answers to these questions. A questionnaire can be an online survey or a printed survey. You can ask questions like these:

  • What's the age range of your target market?
  • What's the gender?
  • Where do they live?
  • What problems are they trying to solve?
  • What kinds of things do they need or want?
  • What are their motivations for wanting to buy from you?
  • What do they want to know about your product?
  • Who are they?

After you have a good idea of your target market, you can figure out how to attract them to you. How can you get their attention? Is it advertising?

You can advertise in various ways, from print to radio and television commercials.

You can also offer discounts and special offers to your target market to help draw them to your business.

  • How do you want to deliver your message? 
  • Is it via email, snail mail, or phone?
  • Where do you want to reach them?
  • What kind of things do you want to tell them? 
  • Do you want to share your story? 
  • Or is it a sales pitch?
  • What do they want to hear?

Once you know the answers, you can start thinking about what kind of product or service you want to offer.

If you wanted to help people who need help, you could offer to help them learn a skill. If you want to help people and they need to solve a problem, you could offer them a solution.

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If you're offering a service, you could have your salesperson offer it to people over the phone or have them come to the client's home. You could also have your salesperson sell it online, or you could have your salesperson meet with the customer face to face.

Once you have your product or service figured out, you can decide how to promote it.

There are many ways to get the word out about your business.

  1. You can advertise in local newspapers and magazines, in local and regional magazines and newspapers.
  2. You can also advertise on websites, including your own.
  3. You can advertise on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
  4. You can also advertise on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines.
  5. You can also use a variety of paid advertisements like pay-per-click, pay-per-view, and banner ads.

You can also find out the price of different kinds of advertising. You can check with your local newspaper, magazines, or television stations. If you have a business, you can determine how much it costs to advertise with your local radio station.

3 – Choose a name that reflects your brand

How To Come Up With Good Brand Names

Choosing a name for your brand is an important decision that will impact your business for good or bad. If you choose the wrong name, you will lose money, and you won't be able to stand out from the competition.

Here are some tips for selecting a brand name that suits your identity.

Choose something unique

No two brands are alike, and the same goes for the names. A name is nothing but a representation of a brand. A brand should represent you and your products, services or whatever you want to sell. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a name that represents your brand.

Pick a name that reflects your business

It is not enough to have a name; it should reflect your brand and be something people will remember. For instance, if you are into selling cosmetics, you can get your brand's name from the colour of your products.

Select an available name

A name is nothing but an extension of your brand. Therefore, it is necessary to select an available name. If you find a name that you like and is available, you can buy it.

Make it short and sweet

If you want a catchy and unique name, make it short and sweet. People tend to remember names that are short and simple. Therefore, if you can come up with a short and sweet name, it will work wonders.

You have probably heard many names of the companies that you see. Many are unique and catchy, but only a few can survive in the long run. The name should be catchy and memorable and should reflect your brand identity.

4 – Discover your brand's core values

Main Idea Brand Core Values

Your brand's core values represent the essence of your company. They are the principles that guide and motivate you to make decisions while developing your brand and communicating your message to your target audience. When your core values are strong, you will find it easier to create a consistent identity and make effective decisions.

Core values are different from your business strategy. A core value is about what your company stands for, while a business strategy is how you plan to reach your customers.

There are two types of core values: business and personal. Business core values are the principles that will guide you through creating a successful brand. Personal core values will help you build a strong sense of self and realise your strengths and weaknesses.

Core values are the foundation of your company's identity. Without them, you might feel lost and struggle to create a strong brand. This section will focus on the business's core values and share a few tips on determining them.

Business core values are the principles that will guide you through creating brand identity.

1. Core values are based on the philosophy and culture of your business.

Let's say you are in the business of selling a home appliance. One of your core values will be “quality”.

If you sell a quality product, you will consistently communicate and advertise. You will strive to deliver the best possible experience to your customers.

Your core values will also influence your customer service. The best way to answer a customer's question is by showing that you care about your products and services.

2. You should know your core values before you start a business.

To determine your core values, ask yourself these questions:

  • What is my company's mission statement?
  • What is my company's purpose?
  • What does our company stand for?
  • What values do I want to convey to the customers?
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3. Core values are the foundation of your business.

You should think of your core values as the bedrock of your company. The principles will guide your decisions, marketing efforts, and internal operations.

You might struggle to make effective decisions if you don't have a set of core values. You will also have difficulty communicating your brand's values to employees and customers.

4. You can't be successful without them.

Many businesses fail because they lack a clear set of core values. They are the foundation of your brand and the basis of your company.

You will struggle to attract and retain the best talent without core values. Your brand will lose its uniqueness and become generic.

5. Core values are the foundation of your brand identity.

Your brand's identity is your company's image. It is the essence of who you are and what you do.

You can't be successful without a strong brand identity. Your brand will lack consistency if you don't have a set of core values.

6. Core values can be challenging to define.

In most cases, core values are simple yet powerful concepts. They reflect your company's mission and vision.

You will find it challenging to describe core values in a few words. You will need to write down your core values.

It will be easier to define them if you have a written business description.

7. Your core values will help you to make better decisions.

Knowing your core values will make it easier to make decisions. You will clearly understand what you stand for and what your brand is all about.

8. You should communicate core values to employees and customers.

The best way to communicate your brand's values to employees and customers is by explaining the meaning of your core values.

Don't worry if you are not sure what your core values are. Just make a list and share it with your team.

If you plan to launch a new business or rebrand your existing business, ensure you know your core values. It will make your branding and communication more effective.

5 – Create a logo that communicates your brand

Hospital Branding Logo Design Services

A logo is the face of your business; it tells the world who you are and what you do. A well-designed logo will communicate a message to the consumers and help them understand your brand.

Today there are millions of businesses worldwide, and they all have a unique identity. And each business has its personality and brand identity. So, to create a good logo for your business, it is essential to consider what makes you different from others.

A successful logo design will help you create a strong brand image and communicate the message to your customers. You don't want to look like any other business, so you must create a unique logo.

Steps to create a good logo:

The first thing that you need to do is to understand your business. What makes you different from others? What is your brand identity? How do you want to represent your brand?

You need to look at the current trends and find out what people are searching for.

The second thing you need to do is define your target audience. The target audience is those who will use your product or service.

Once you have figured out the target audience, it is time to create your logo. You can use a tool like Canva to create a logo.

After designing the logo, you need to make it appealing to the eyes. Your logo needs to be eye-catching.

Now, it is time to test your logo. So, you can upload your logo to different places and see what kind of response you are getting. Once you get the feedback, it is time to make your final adjustments.

 So, if you are a business owner and want to make your business stand out, you should consider taking these tips to heart.

Choose your colours

Brand Colour Psychology The Art Of Choosing Brand Colours

Creating a brand identity for any business is a difficult task to perform. It is because you need to think about all the aspects of the business. You must consider the colours, fonts, graphics, etc.

Let us discuss choosing the best colours to create a brand identity for your company. Let's get started!

1: Define your branding goals

The first thing you need to do is define your branding goals. This is the most important thing to do while creating the logo for your business. You should decide whether your brand identity should be simple or complex and what message it will convey to the target audience.

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2: Choose the right colours

Once you have decided on your branding goals, you can choose the colours that will reflect those goals. You can choose your organisation's colours if you work for a large corporation. 

You can even choose colours representing the products or services you offer. However, if you are working for a small business, you should choose easily visible and identifiable colours.

3: Make use of colour theory

You can't just use random colours to represent your brand identity. You need to use colours that are related to each other. For example, you can use bright and dark colours to contrast light and shadow.

4: Use your creativity

You can always use your creativity to create the best logo for your business. The only problem is that you might use complex colours to communicate.

Choosing the right colours for your brand identity is essential. You need to understand what the colours are trying to communicate. Once you understand it, you can choose the perfect colours for your company.

6 – Determine the message you want to convey with your brand identity

Consistent Brand Message

Your brand identity is your customers' first impression when they see your logo. When discussing brand identity, you discuss how your customers perceive your company and what message you want to convey. So, before you start branding your product, you should make sure that you know what kind of brand you want to portray.

There are various ways to make the best use of your brand identity. So, I have made a list of the best ways to help you determine the message you want to convey to your audience.

Focus on the logo

The first thing that will come to your mind when you think of branding is the logo. Your logo is the symbol of your brand. It is the first thing your customers will notice and should be unique.

The logo should be in a simple yet exciting way that can attract the customer's attention.

Be consistent

Your brand identity is the most crucial aspect of your company. So, you need to be consistent while branding your products. If you want to succeed, you should not change your brand identity.

Start from the top

You do not need to start from the bottom regarding branding. Start from the top and make your company a name that is known.

Create a memorable name

Your brand identity will be more memorable if you have a unique name. You can create a catchy slogan acting as your brand identity.

Get feedback

You should ask your customers and colleagues what they think about your brand. You should read it online if you don't know what they think.

So, these are some of the ways through which you can make the best use of your brand identity. These are the best ways to start branding your company.

7 – Build your brand's online presence and establish a clear identity

Digital Marketing Advertising Trends

What are you doing when you think of your brand's online presence? If you have an idea about the answer, you are right. Today, the online world is becoming a key platform for promoting your brand, so building an ideal online presence for your brand is imperative.

Your brand's online presence is more than just a blog or website; it is more than a social media account. An ideal online presence is a platform where customers can find your brand's products, services and, more importantly, your brand's promise.

There are many ways to build your brand's online presence and establish a clear identity, but I will share some best ideas for your online presence.

Build a website

You should first consider your website when building your brand's online presence. A website is the first thing that will connect you to your customers. Make sure you have a simple, easy website to navigate and a clear idea of what you want to share with your customers.

You can contact a web designer if you don't know how to create a website.

Share your vision

What is your brand's vision? What do you want to share with your customers? Your vision should be clear and help your customers understand what you are all about.

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Your vision is essential for you to share with your customers. Once you share your vision with your customers, you can easily connect with them.

Get Social

You can connect with your customers through social media, which is the best way to share your and your brand's vision. You can share your vision in a video and post your images on Instagram or Facebook.

Social media is the best way to spread your brand's vision. It is crucial to build an ideal online presence for your brand. You should also share your vision with your customers.

Create a website design that complements your brand

Fashion Website Design Template

Designing a website for your business is a big challenge. To ensure that your website stands out from the rest, you must create a website design that matches your business's brand identity. Here are some of the things to consider before creating your first website.

1: Determine the goal

Determine what your target audience is and your purpose for creating a website. 

  • Is it to promote your product or service? 
  • Is it to raise awareness about a particular issue? 
  • Is it to sell products? 

These things will help you determine your goals. It's not always easy to decide, but the goal is the main driver behind the website design process.

2: Determine the purpose of your website

After you decide your target audience, you need to decide why they would visit your site. What would make them come back to your site? What will be the reason they share the link? This is very important because if the website doesn't serve a particular purpose, it won't be able to convert well.

3: Determine the type of website you want

Once you have figured out the purpose of your website, you need to know what kind of website you want to create. Do you want a corporate website that sells products or services or a personal blog? It would help if you decided on this first.

4: Determine the content type

The next step is deciding on the kind of content that you will put on your website. If you plan to start a blog, you must focus on writing and creating high-quality content to encourage your readers to return.

5: Decide on the colours

Colours are an integral part of any website design. A simple colour scheme is often a great way for a website to stand out. You can use bright colours to catch the eye of your audience or choose dark colours to emphasise a specific element on your site.

6: Determine the navigation options

Your website must provide effective navigation options. If there are too many options, it will be hard for the user to navigate the site and may even be unclear.

7: Determine the content you want to include

The last thing you must consider is the content you will include on your website. Do you want to display pictures or videos? Are you going to include links to related articles and videos? The answers to these questions will help you decide what content you want to include on your website.

8: Choose a theme

Once you have determined your website's layout and content, you need to choose a suitable theme. You can find thousands of themes at ThemeForest. You can choose a template based on your purpose. For example, you can choose a corporate theme if you plan to create a website for your company.

9: Create your website

After choosing a theme, you can start creating your website. If you want to create a blog, you can add posts, images, and videos. You can add product descriptions, photos, and videos to sell products.

10: Promote your website

Once you have created a website, you need to promote it. You can post it on social media, write a blog post, and submit it to search engines. You can also use other marketing strategies to increase traffic to your website.

To create a website that matches your brand identity, you need to figure out the website's purpose, determine the content type, select the right colours, and determine the layout.

8 – Determine the type of content you want to create

Average Shares By Content Type

Content creation is gathering data and making it public in a form. A business can use various types of content to make money.

But some types of content may not directly impact a business, and the reason behind it is that the content is created for marketing and not to create a business.

The reason why people create content is to make it available and visible to people. Some of the content is made to impact the readers, and this type of content will directly impact the business.

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Some types of content are only designed to make money, and this type of content will not directly help the business.

So, if you plan to create content for your business, you must ensure that the content you create is for marketing and not for building a brand.

Here are some of the factors you should consider before creating any content.

1. The purpose of the content

There are several types of content that a business can make use of. But the most common type of content is written content. This type of content is written in a blog post, a web page, an article, a press release, a video, etc.

Writing a blog is the most common and one of the oldest ways to promote a product or a brand. To promote a product, you must write a blog post and make it available to the readers.

If you want to create a press release, you can do so. A press release is a way to publicise and make the news public. You can also create a video about your brand and upload it to YouTube.

2. The target audience of the content

You must determine who will be reading your content and whether they will be interested in it or not. If the readers are not interested in the content, you cannot expect them to promote or share it.

If the readers are interested in the content, you will get the opportunity to promote the content. The most common type of content that people read is blog posts. If you are writing a blog post, you must know who your reader is and what kind of person they are.

If you are writing a press release to get media coverage, you must know whom you are speaking to and the purpose of the release.

You must know your target audience if you create a web page to promote a product. If people don't know about your brand, you won't be able to promote the product.

3. The type of content

You must know what kind of content you are going to make. You can only create a specific type of content if you know the kind of content you will create.

If you create a web page, you must know what kind of one you will create. If you create a blog post, you must know what kind of post you will make.

You can't write a press release if you don't know what a press release is. If you create a blog post, you must know what kind of post you will make.

You must create content to promote a product or a brand. It doesn't matter if it is a blog post, a press release, a web page, an article, a video, etc. If you create a blog post or a press release to promote a product, you must ensure that the content is relevant to the product.

9 – Plan your marketing strategy

What Is A Marketing Strategy

There are many strategies to plan your marketing, but I am sharing the simple and effective strategies for planning your marketing strategy.

Let us start with the first step.

Define your target market:

Before starting any marketing campaign, you must identify your target market; this is the most crucial step because without knowing your target market, you will not know what products to sell.

The primary aim of any marketing strategy is to make a profit. To profit, you must sell your product/service to many customers.

You can start with your friends, relatives, and neighbours, but if you want to make a profit, you need to plan your marketing strategy with an audience with many customers.

Do proper research:

To plan your marketing strategy, research the product you want to promote.

You can start your research by visiting online portals like Amazon, Google, and eBay.

You can also ask your friends, colleagues and neighbours for any information related to your product.

Now you know your target market, the following are your target customers.

Know your competitors:

You can ask your friends, relatives, and neighbours if you don't know your competitors. But if you have any contact with your competitors, you can ask them for their marketing strategy.

If you are a newbie in business, it is better to start with your competitors because if you get any tips, you will make your marketing strategy much better.

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Select a marketing channel:

You have your target customers, and now you know what your competitor is doing. So, it is time to select the marketing channels for your product.

You can select any of the following marketing channels:

Online:

This is the best option for you if you have a website because this is cheaper and more effective in promoting your product.

Offline:

If you don't have a website, you can print the flyers and use other offline marketing tools to promote your product.

Email Marketing:

This is one of the best ways to promote your product because this is a free method.

Social Media:

If you have a social media account, you can promote your product.

Radio:

This is one of the oldest and most effective ways to promote your product.

The tips mentioned above will help you to plan your marketing strategy. Ensure you have a clear idea of your product and the target customers.

10 – Monitor and measure success

What Are The Best Web Analytics Tools 2021

Creating a brand identity is a tricky job. To create a successful brand identity, you need to know how to measure its success.

Why should you measure the success of the brand identity?

Because it is the first step towards your business and brand development, before you go for any new venture, you must ensure that you have everything in place and the plan is working effectively.

If you start a new business, you will be in trouble and chaos. So, to avoid such a situation, you should measure success.

How will you measure the success?

You can measure the success of the brand identity by checking the growth of sales, customer response, brand awareness, customer retention, brand loyalty etc.

Why should you measure success?

Because it will help you determine the real strength of your brand identity; if you cannot measure the success, you won't be able to find out where you are heading.

You can measure success by monitoring the growth of sales, customer response, brand awareness, customer retention, brand loyalty, etc.

What is the right way to measure success?

Before starting your new business, choosing the correct measurement is the most crucial factor you need to consider.

Some successful brands will fail because they are not measuring their success.

For example, Nike, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi are among the most successful brands. They have made their brand identity successful due to the correct measurement.

How to measure the success of creating a brand identity?

There are many ways to measure the success of the brand identity.

Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is the number of people who know about your brand. To increase your brand awareness, you need to advertise your brand correctly.

For example, you will see that Nike is very famous for its advertisements. They spend around $3 billion annually on US advertising alone.

Customer Retention

Customer retention is the number of people who are loyal to your brand. When you increase customer retention, you will get more customers, increasing brand awareness.

Sales Growth

If you want to measure the success of creating a brand identity, then you will need to check the sales growth. When your brand is famous, it will attract more and more people, increasing sales.

It is imperative to measure the success of the brand identity. You can easily monitor the success by tracking the sales, brand awareness, customer response, customer retention, brand loyalty etc.

Conclusion

Creating a brand identity is a significant first step toward any business, whether it's a blog, a side hustle, or something else entirely.

This is because your brand will become the foundation of your company. It's the image that people will see whenever they interact with you.

This includes your logo, product packaging, website, and everything else you put out.

When you build a strong brand identity, you can simultaneously develop your company and brand.

If you want to learn more about developing your brand, check out this article. It's filled with helpful tips!

Want to learn more about creating a brand identity? Subscribe below for more information!

Creating a brand identity is a significant part of starting a new business or rebranding an existing one. This article will give you some pointers on creating your own brand identity.

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Written By
Stuart Crawford
Stuart Crawford is an award-winning creative director and brand strategist with over 15 years of experience building memorable and influential brands. As Creative Director at Inkbot Design, a leading branding agency, Stuart oversees all creative projects and ensures each client receives a customised brand strategy and visual identity.

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