Retaining customers, building client loyalty, standing out from the crowd, driving sales – what’s one thing that can help you to achieve all those things and more? A lot of your success as a business will come down to your brand identity design. With unique products, a clear objective, and an appealing aesthetic, you can make a big difference when it comes to your performance as a business. 

What is a brand?

Firstly, let’s clarify what exactly constitutes a brand. A brand is a name, design, symbol, or term that identifies a seller and sets their service or product apart from other sellers in the market. Brands are essential in business, marketing, and advertising and they play a large role in the value of the business and its reputation with customers, owners, and shareholders. In many ways, it goes beyond just a name or logo. It encompasses the expectations, memories, and even relationships that make a consumer choose one product or service instead of another. It’s good to think beyond the tangible when it comes to creating and designing your very own brand – it’s emotional and visual, creating an emotive response that makes an impact on the life of the consumer.

What is brand identity?

The identity of a brand is the visual component of a brand that summarises the bigger, intangible ideas that it stands for. This can include things like logos, color schemes, packaging, and communication style with all of these elements working together to bolster the reputation of the brand. It’s crucial that the identity of the brand remains consistent throughout to truly reinforce the image of the brand and what it represents. Investing in a brand management system is therefore a great way to do this, to ensure consistency while still having the flexibility to adapt and expand in response to the needs of today’s market. 

What is brand identity design? 

In its most basic form, brand identity design is the application of the brand identity. This is the actual process involved in creating the elements that form the brand identity. This process includes the design and creation of logos, typography, color scheme, and more.

Photo by Timothy Paule II from Pexels

How To Grow Your Brand

So, what is going to make your brand stand out from the crowd? Since the brand identity is such a powerful asset in telling the story of your business, here are a few ways that will help you to grow your brand and design a strong, unique identity: 

  1. Define and know your brand. Know your values and ethics, and truly understand what makes you unique. Be convinced of what you stand for and reflect this in the visual identity of your brand. 
  2. Don’t make things too complicated. A simple visual identity is easier for customers to understand and remember. Resist the temptation to have an elaborate, overly intricate logo and a limitless color scheme. Keep things simple so that the key information is easy to read and retain.
  3. Don’t skimp on images, use high-quality graphics. When it comes to marketing material, nothing is more off-putting than a grainy, low-quality image. It doesn’t convey a professional appearance and will put people off from choosing your brand.
  4. Be consistent. As previously discussed, consistency is key. Consistency builds trust and instant recognition with your audience. This means you need to use the same color scheme, font, and design throughout all of your marketing material and business information.
  5. Connect with your audience and tell your story. Your brand identity should tell the story of your company in an aesthetically pleasing way, a way that will connect emotionally with your audience and leave them with a lasting impression about your business. 
  6. Think about your audience. Consider what your target audience wants and the kind of visuals that are most likely to appeal to them. Use your brand identity design to get a positive response from your audience.
  7. Be ready and willing to adapt. As your business grows and evolves, and the market changes and updates, be willing to change things up in order to keep up the pace. An updated brand identity design will give your whole business a fresh look and show your customers you are not stuck in the past but looking ahead to the future. 
Brand Growth Plan

Photo by Olya Kobruseva: Pexels

Use Social Media

When it comes to brand identity, social media play a big role in creating an online presence that advertises your brand. It will help your customer to build trust in you and you will have a platform on which to showcase your brand and prove your reputation. According to one recent survey, in 2021 alone there were over 4 billion social media users around the globe. Tap into this captive audience by creating a variety of content, from blogs to videos, and social media posts to e-books. Build up your online presence by posting regularly and again with a consistent image.

Create a Website That Is Easy to Use

If your website is complicated or difficult to navigate, you’ll lose a lot of potential customers straight away. Have a clear menu structure, combined with fast load times, to retain your customers once they start to look at your website. Make use of a search engine so that customers can find what they want when they want it. The easier your website is to use, the more visitors will arrive. The more visitors see your website, the more you will boost the recognition of your brand. 

Grab the attention of your audience in whatever format you endeavor to contact them in. Create interesting, engaging, and visually appealing content that makes it easy for potential customers and clients to interact with your business. Don’t be pushy, but again, be consistent. With a little time, effort and forethought you can create a strong brand identity design that will make it a lot easier for your customers to know who you are and for your business to stand out from the crowd.