Introduction
Every strategy used to communicate what a business is to its customers 一 from its logo design, the shapes and colors used in graphics, down to the language tone of your content 一 are pivotal in building a brand identity. Successful examples can be recognized in an instant, like Nike and Coca-Cola.
The bigger question to ask, yet, is how to build a kind of brand identity that attracts more customers. This includes not only ensuring satisfaction in a company’s services or products but also building a potential and loyal customer base to boost your brand loyalty .
How Customer Identity is Linked to Brand Identity
Beyond pretty packaging and catchy visuals, a good brand identity differentiates a company from others, connects it with the target community, and reflects the experience being offered. Put together, this gives the right image.
Part of having an effective brand identity is customer identity. Customer identity is basically the data of specific individuals targeted as well as those already reached out to by the brand.
Data gathering plays a big role in figuring out true customer identity, including factors like consumer behaviors, geographic location, and preferences. Other pertinent data is also collected like other subscriptions, loyalty cards, and device usage.
What is important, then, for companies is to cull the right customer identity from their data sets in order to build an effective brand identity. What this does is fill the gaps in understanding the journey of a consumer. Also, this duo makes it possible to get consistent, coherent, and immediate data about potential and existing customers, regardless of channel. This helps spark better engagement and improved marketing.
Below are steps and tips in attracting more customers through established, solid branding that keeps customer identity in mind.
1. Build the basics
Before delving into details like creating the brand’s visual aspects right away, it is crucial to establish the bare bones of your brand first. What is the company about, and what does it seek to accomplish?
Weave a clear brand narrative. This means that clear articulation of the company's values, vision, mission, and purpose should be at the heart of the brand, including the brand name.
Aside from that, don’t forget to develop who your target consumer is. This is where customer identity will prove useful.
Finally, assessing the current state of the brand identity (especially if in the process of rebranding) later on is also crucial. This includes having the foresight and flexibility to tweak the brand depending on how aligned it is with evolving goals.
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2. Know the competition
Auditing one's competition is also part of building one's brand. This helps in making your brand distinct from others. Doing that requires an understanding of your competition and how you compare with them.
An example is Twitch, the video streaming platform. They did an all-purple brand as opposed to the reds and greens prevalent in their industry. This move solidified their brand, now a multi-billion dollar company.
3. Make visual direction matter
After knowing one’s foundation and competition, the next step is to work on the visual aspect. Design is a tricky element, for it makes use of words subject to interpretation and colors that may have been intended to convey something positive but may be interpreted differently, too.
Part of this process, therefore, is to have answers to all important questions that your brand and its logo need to have. That includes the company's key traits, what people should feel upon viewing the brand, and deciding which elements would help achieve that.
4. Combine everything to create a unique story
Once you have established the visual direction of your brand, then it’s time to tie in everything to create the overall story of your brand. If your brand is a person, how would it talk to its customers? What kind of personality will it have? Will your brand have a witty, friendly, or formal tone?
Consider all these different factors when you’re writing content, offering customer support, or even when reaching out to engage with people through social media.
Remember, a brand is not just the colors and fonts of your logo and visual elements. Instead, it’s a multifaceted icon that has its own personality.
5. Do marketing right
With your brand identity ironed out, the last step is to campaign it properly. Marketing and messaging that highlight the customers over mere profits is not only efficient but will also develop trust in the long run.
Have a team dedicated to monitoring tasks like social media listening. Pay attention to any mentions about your brand. Noting both positive and negative comments can help you improve current strategies.
Whatever social media strategy you come up with, remember to choose those that will allow your branding to shine through. With this as a guide, you’ll be able to make your brand more memorable in no time.
To Sum Up
Branding is definitely one of the key elements that can ensure a company’s success. Establishing it early on in the game is crucial if you want to dominate the industry later on. However, contrary to common belief, branding is composed of so much more other than just your logo and chosen brand colors. Instead, it is a living, growing creature with its own unique personality.
Think of it as an avatar you’ve created to attract your target demographic. Because of this, developing customer identity is also a must when it comes to making your brand.
By keeping the tips we’ve shared with you in mind, though, we are confident that you will be able to refine your branding to suit the goals of your business. Good luck!
