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Want your business to stand out? Here’s how to build a strong brand identity people never forget.

Source: tailorbrands

When most people hear brand identity, what usually comes to their mind is the beautiful colours, a logo, or a catchy slogan. They are right in thinking so, only that brand identity is more than that. 

Referring to brand identity as just the colours alone is simply scratching the surface of what a memorable brand identity means. Your brand identity is your business’s personality; it involves the visual elements you’ve chosen as well as your brand voice and tone. 

A business brand identity is the face of the brand. 

If you can create a strong brand image, it will always represent and show your brand values, mission, and purpose. 

Now here’s the catch: almost every article out there already tells you the following: know your audience, choose your colours, be consistent, etc. These are all true, but if you stop there, you will end up sounding like other brands out there.

For that reason, in this article, we’ll go beyond all of that. Yes, we’ll briefly touch on the essentials, but we’ll also explore often-overlooked elements that actually make a difference, for example, aligning your team behind the brand, designing for inclusivity, making your brand attractive on an emotional level, and even how your digital experience enhances your brand identity strategy.

Think of it this way: your logo might get someone’s attention, but it’s everything else you do that keeps them loyal. 

The Basic Things You Should Know About Creating a Sustainable Brand Identity 

Before we dive into the overlooked elements we initially mentioned about building a successful visual identity for your business, let’s take a brief look at the foundation. 

a.) Mission, Values, and Purpose: For every business to succeed, you must have a strong why. What problem is your business solving, and why are you doing it? A clear purpose keeps your messaging focused and affects how you deliver your message, which in turn attracts customers who share the same values.

b.) Know Your Audience: You can’t build your brand image based on what you think. You’ll have to know who your audience is, their pain points, and how they think to develop a successful brand identity. The sharper your insights, the stronger you build a successful brand identity. 

c.) Visual Identity: Logos, colors, fonts, and imagery are the visual cues that help people recognize you at a glance. They’re a core part of your brand identity. Think of them as the “face” of your brand. When choosing colours and visual elements for your brand, it’s best to work with a brand Identity designer to ensure you’re sending the right message to your target audience.

An expert will not just design your logo blindly, but will bear in mind your business purpose and your target audience. 

Color improves brand recognition by up to 80%, meaning that customers are 80% more likely to identify you if you consistently use the same color(s) on your branding material.

d. Brand Voice and Tone: If visuals are the face, your brand voice is the personality. Do you sound friendly and playful? Or serious and professional? A consistent tone makes your brand feel human, instead of robotic.

These four basics are where most businesses stop. But building a truly strong brand identity means going deeper, which is where we’re heading next.

Beyond The Basics: The Overlooked Brand Identity Elements For Small Businesses

To build something that actually sticks in people’s minds, you need something richer than just the usual. You need to do extra just to beat the noise. 

When talking about how to build a strong brand identity for your business, most articles don’t mention these elements. Here are some often missed elements that can set your business apart; 

1. Internal Culture or Employee Alignment: No one talks about how important it is for your team to buy into your vision and how internal company culture affects a brand’s image. Despite how catchy your visuals look, if your company culture and employee behavior do not align with your overall brand personality, it goes a long way to undermine your brand identity efforts. Your employees are your brand ambassadors, and everything your brand represents should show in their behaviours and your company standards. 
2. Inclusive Brand Identity: A strong brand should speak to everyone, not just a select group. This doesn’t mean you should try to focus on people who aren’t your target audience. It rather means that you should design websites that are easy to navigate, use colors that are readable for all, and do not exclude anyone. Brand inclusivity builds trust and effectively matches your visual identity efforts. 
3. Sensory Branding: Your logos and colours are only a part of the story. How about the sound of your notifications, the feel of your packaging, or the atmosphere in your store? These may look like nothing; they create memories that last longer than when your customers felt them. A sensory branding example can be this: imagine that you were a coffee shop owner, and in your store, customers are always welcomed with the signature coffee smell. How about you create a playlist that reflects your brand personality, soft jazz for a calm feel? These things create experiences for the customers such that even when they hear such music, they instantly think of you. You could also include your brand colours in your uniforms, packaging, etc. 
4. Brand Attractiveness and Emotional Branding Strategies: Brand Attractiveness has to do with how your brand makes people feel about themselves, not just about what you sell. Most times, customers buy from a brand because of how they feel about the brand. You can improve your brand attractiveness by being distinct, relatable, and creating an emotional connection through your messages and style of delivery. 
5. Technology and Digital Experience: As a result of the present age, your brand identity lives in your website, your app, your chatbots, and even the little interactions you have with customers, like confirmation emails. If all of these are designed or managed poorly, it will badly affect your brand identity. However, if you have a smooth digital experience, it will strengthen your brand identity strategy. 

Brand Image VS Brand Identity

What is the difference between brand image and identity? Brand identity is what the business wants to be known for. It includes the logos, colors, brand voice, and tone., Whereas brand image is what the audience thinks of a brand, and is created by the customers themselves.

Brand Identity is how a company wants to be perceived	Brand Image
Brand Identity is how a company wants to be percieved	Brand image is how people actually see them
This is created by the business	This is created by the  audience
The brand has control over this	Brand Identity is how a company wants to be perceived
It includes logos, colours, tone of messaging, etc.	The brand can not control this directly, but can manage it based on how it maintains the other

How To Protect And Measure Your Brand Image

It’s one thing to build a strong brand identity; it’s another thing to keep it that way. A lot of businesses successfully create a strong brand identity, but with time, they end up losing consistency or getting copied. This is why protecting your brand identity is just as important as creating it. 

Here are measures you can take to protect your brand identity;

• Trademark Your assets: Your logo, tagline, and other surface elements that make up your brand identity can be legally protected. This can help to prevent your unique identity from competitors. 
• Create a brand style guide: This is for your team members and it contains an explanation on how your logo, colours, fonts, and tone should or shouldn’t be used across social media or other channels. This helps to improve consistency across all social channels or websites. 
• Train Your Team: Your employees need to know how to represent your brand at all times. They are also a face of the brand, and just as we mentioned earlier in this post, employee alignment also affects external image. 
• Monitor For Misuse: If you’re a brand that has partners or runs affiliate programs, you run the risk of distributors or affiliates representing you wrongly. You should monitor how these people represent your brand and ensure it all aligns with your brand image so as to protect your brand identity. 
• Engagement Level: You can check how people are responding to your brand image. Do they share, respond, or interact with your content on social media or emails? With this, you can know if your brand tone and voice are effectively representing your values and brand identity. 

Conclusion 

Your brand identity is more than just the visual identity; it encompasses the entire experience your customers feel when they come across your brand, from the mission and purpose of your brand to the way your team communicates and the experiences you create for your customers. 

Learning how to build a strong brand identity for your business will improve your brand positioning, hence setting your business up for success. You may have the beat unique value proposition but if your brand is not recognizable by your audience, it would make no difference.

Also, don’t forget the importance of protecting the brand identity you put in so much effort to build. You can do this through trademarks and creating a brand style guide to ensure consistency across all social platforms. 

So this is what you should do: you should check your brand identity strategy. Are you just focusing on the visuals, logo, colour palette, fonts, etc? Go beyond the surface today and ensure that you’re building a brand that people can feel, trust, and remember. This could be a game-changer for your business, setting you apart in the crowded market.