Published on May 13, 2024
With all the hubbub promoting uniqueness and crafting niche identities for brands, the most modern markets of the world today have turned ‘standing out’ into the newest rat race. Paradoxically, in a competition where everyone scrambles to become the most unique, the brand truly most different from its competitors is only chasing its true essence and the best service provision for its customers.
Brand identity, in simple terms, is the perception of your brand in the minds of your customers. It's what makes your brand unique and memorable. A strong brand identity can lead to better customer retention, the ability to set higher prices, and the creation of loyal customers who become brand ambassadors.
So, let’s carefully examine how to create a strong brand identity.
Since we’re going for a real-and-rare brand image to be presented, the basics are all about investing as much personality into your brand as possible. At least one of these core values has to be customer-centric.
To illuminate, a particularly bold example would be innovation in design. A more tried and tested example would be something more integral, such as quality services or emphasizing trustful customer relationships.
The key here is to be good enough to maximize your appeal to the target audience without sounding too good to be true. If you can’t decide on business or brand names, understanding your core values can help. On the other hand, if you’re having trouble identifying suitable core values for your brand, using a brand name generator can be surprisingly inspiring.
Whether you're a large corporation or a small startup, your success is determined by how well you can articulate your core brand values. These values can be diverse, such as sustainable manufacturing, a commitment to local communities, or support for a specific social cause. By understanding and embodying these values, you can differentiate your brand and attract the right audience.
This step should be easy if you have a large enough social circle and a habit of keeping your ear to the ground. How did your brand come into existence? Think back to when you came up with the idea for your business.
If you are currently brainstorming, think open-mindedly about the products and services the people around you need. Either of these steps can serve as the yellow brick road (fortunately a very short one) to pinpoint to whom exactly you need to present your brand.
Now that you have this crucial information, you can work much more efficiently on developing a strong brand identity. Pour your efforts into the highest-yield avenues of communication with your target audience.
The entire brand experience, from the moment a customer discovers your brand to the after-sales interactions, has to be tailored to fit the demands of your target audience.
By this point in your journey, you should be able to think of at least two or three other companies catering to your target audience, whose capabilities are also roughly the same as yours.
Studying your competition is always a win-win. If they win, you know how to win. If they lose, you know what leads to failing. Focus on these critical points and how your competition integrates them into their plans:
There are many ways to observe the behavior of similar businesses operating alongside yours. Social media analytics, stock prices, and advertising are only a few. Keeping an eye on reviews from your competition's customers is especially fruitful: you might as well be looking at your reviews from an alternate timeline.
Having set your stage in the market using these tones and messages, it’s time to tackle the artistic side of building a strong brand identity. If you’re not good at aesthetics and designing, it might be time to hire someone skilled or consult with a trusted friend with artistic flair.
Remember, the only lasting brand identity is one that is constantly evolving. This doesn't mean abandoning your core values, but rather, adapting to market trends while staying true to your brand's essence. This reassurance should instill a sense of confidence and security in the continuous monitoring and adaptation process.
Turbulent market trends are often seen as bad news for businesses, but clever entrepreneurs have been known to become more popular than ever by riding waves that proved lethal to their competition.
As a day-to-day effort, focus on tracking brand mentions online and promptly address any negative feedback. Nothing inspires confidence en masse like going the extra mile for customers who haven’t had the best experience with your company.
Conclusion
Are you excited to apply all the new things you learned with us? Here's another tip: Every touchpoint is an opportunity to strengthen your brand identity and build trust with your clientele.
A brand is the sum of many moving parts, but a strong brand identity is the ability of these parts to move together in coherence. Dips and bumps are inevitable, but with just enough persistence and all of this knowledge, you are bound to lead your business to the top and immortalize its identity!
