Tips on How to Create a Brand Identity

We hear a lot today in all aspects of life just how important a brand identity is. Branding has made its way outside of just the business world and into the world of individuals and how they interact and present themselves; when a friend does something that’s consistent with how they always act, we call it “on brand.”

When you’re starting out with a new company, however, your brand identity may be a bit more unclear. Before you hit the market you need to make sure that your brand has a clear and understandable brand. Not having a strong brand identity is one of the main reasons why businesses fail. 

Let’s look at what a brand identity entails and how you can create one that communicates exactly what your company is all about.

What Is a Brand Identity?

First, we need to figure out what exactly an effective brand identity is. 

Your brand identity is the sum of its appearance, logo, brand color palette, communications, forms of business storytelling, and name. Your brand identity is pretty much what the outward face of your brand looks like to potential clients and customers, as well as other companies and just about everyone.

It’s the core of what your brand is to the outside world.

What Does an Good Effecive Brand Identity Look Like?

What makes a brand identity great? Here are some of the things that the best brands have accomplished:

• Memorable—It Marketing material sticks out in customers’ minds.
• Cohesive—Your brand is one unit that is has consistent brand elements throughout marketing.
• Distinct—The brand position stands out and grabs attention.
• Easy to Understand—Outside contractors can easily communicate it without extensive knowledge.
• Flexible—Your brand is always able to keep up with a changing market.

How do you put together a strong brand identity for yourself? These are a few tips and tricks to build a memorable, unique brand identity.

Research Your Audience, Competition, and Value Proposition

The first thing that you’re going to need to do is your research. You need to look at the analytics to figure out who your target audience is, where they can be reached, how they can be reached, and how to make things interesting for them.

You also need to take a look at your competitors who are operating businesses similar to your own and what their brand identities look like. This isn’t to be confused with copying them, which we’ll get into later.

Lastly, you need to take a moment to outline your business value proposition to state clearly what value you have to offer to your audience and why they should pick you over your competitors.

Take a Good Look at What Your Brand Strategy Is

Next, you’re going to want to take a good look at just what it is that your brand ultimately wants to do. This, along with meeting the needs and desires of your audience, is the single most important tool you have to design your brand identity. 

Look at Your Mission Statement and Vision Statement

At the core of your brand strategy are your mission statement and your vision statement.

Your mission statement should reflect your business’s objectives and what your approach to those objectives is. A vision statement outlines what you want your company’s future to look like in the short term and long-term future. Read our article about how to write a vision statement for more details. 

Both of these should play a big part in creating your brand’s identity. You need to make sure to consider the heart of your brand before creating a visual brand representation.

Create a Good Visual Representation of Your Brand

Now that you’ve done your research and taken a look at the core of your brand and its values, it’s time to move on to building the aesthetic for your company.

Creating this visual element is going to encompass a few different aspects, each of which you need to consider carefully when curating a brand identity.

Some of the individual considerations that you need to take into account are things like:

• Your brand’s logo
• Color schemes for materials
• Typography
• Form and layout of marketing materials
• Photography
• Illustration and iconography
• Your brand voice and personality

It’s important to make sure you formulate a voice to go along with the visual aspects of your brand identity. This ensures that what you’re saying and what it looks like go together in a way that makes sense to your target audience on social and printed media. 

Build a Brand Style Guide

Once you and your team have settled on an aesthetic and all the visual components of your brand as well as the voice and tone you want to use, it’s time to put it all together.

Create a style guide that encompasses a sort of “how-to” for anyone you may contract out for freelance work. This brand guideline will serve as a quick rundown of what you want visual identity – advertisements and social media posts – to look like and what you want written materials to sound like.

This style guide Your brand identity guidelines and style guidelines can help any outsiders understand the brand personality so that they can create content and a brand image that aligns with your vision. This makes for a more consistent brand identity across the board, keeping your brand identity cohesive and structured.

Keep Up with Your Brand’s Presence and Presentation

Once you’ve successfully created your brand identity, all that’s left to do is to implement it. Use the analytic tools you have to see how your audience is responding to your brand. Which posts are getting the most likes? Are people enjoying your content? Is it reflecting your brand in the way that you want it to?

Creating surveys is also a great way to make sure that people are following your brand easily. If you notice that parts of your brand identity aren’t clicking with your target audience, make small tweaks as necessary. You should always remain a bit flexible with your brand identity.

Your Brand Identity Is the Core of Your Business

Your brand identity is the first thing that people, including business collaboration partners, are going to notice when they get introduced to your brand. It’s essential to have a clear brand identity that your audience finds engaging and interesting.

For help putting together a winning brand identity strategy, head on over to Maui Mastermind to get expert consultation on how to create a brand identity that will work for you.