How to Leverage Your Brand Identity Properly, Getting Benefits and Standing Out

Starting a business today can be a challenge. In principle, competition is becoming more and more extensive in different business sectors, which, thanks to technological advances, are going further and further.

In addition, social demands and requirements are becoming greater and more difficult to meet. Offering a product or service, just by showing its characteristics, is not enough to ensure its sale. Nor is it enough to ensure customer loyalty.

The audience needs more and more to generate a connection with the company, its message, its aesthetics. All this is possible through the brand.

Nowadays, separating the brand from the product is elementary. While the product has a cost in the market, the brand has a value. A product solves a physical need, while the brand focuses more on the customer’s emotional needs, solving a specific problem or concern.

To undertake in the current scenario, you must not only differentiate the product or service from the brand. How, why, and what for? By applying Brand Identity.

Importance of Brand Identity for a business

Building a brand requires effort, perseverance, discipline, and organization, even more so if it is a new business. Many entrepreneurs may not give brand identity the importance it deserves. However, this represents the first step in making a company known.

First impressions count

Brand identity will help you create what people will see about your company. Who are you? What are you selling? Will you help me? That’s mainly the first thing people will ask when they come across your venture.

When you start your business, you must take care to convey each of these aspects if you really want to sell. Otherwise, you will become just another company, with nothing to distinguish you.

Attract attention

When it comes to new business, the need to attract attention is much greater than in an established company. That is why the need to stand out and provide value to the potential customer from the company, solve a need, and communicate it in a creative way is imperative.

It is precisely the construction of a constant brand identity which allows these aspects to be transmitted in a timely manner to the customer. And, have the appropriate effect of attracting their attention to the company.

You know and make known

Brand identity not only defines who you are to the customer, but it also allows you to show yourself to your prospects. Initially, it allows you to know about your company. It is important, before transmitting to the audience, to know who you are, in relation to the business.

Ensuring that every aspect of the brand meets our expectations is essential. Otherwise, our connection with it, will not be adequate and will not be transmitted to the potential customer, which is necessary for it to feel attracted to our business.

Control the narrative

The brand identity focuses on decisions and what is communicated to the potential customer. From it comes what we want to transmit to the audience, what we as suppliers offer to our consumers.

An entrepreneur is responsible for the brand in its entirety, the management of it should be its main focus. And it is, to a great extent, what will define the success of your business.

Benefits of Brand Identity

Once we understand the importance of brand identity, understanding the benefits it brings to our new business will help us feel motivated to build and manage our brand in the most timely manner.

Loyalty

Consumer loyalty is a very common term these days. The brand identity allows customers, beyond buying a product, to generate a connection. They will remember you for aspects that distinguish you from the competition, innovation, attention, aspects that set you apart.

Distinction

Either you distinguish yourself or you go extinct. In the current context, this phrase has become very relevant, especially for marketing. Generating content and strategies that distinguish you from the rest is what will guarantee your permanence in the market.

The management of a solid brand identity will allow you to maintain a prominent position above other companies or similar businesses.

Segmentation

A brand does not convey aspects of the product, but of the company. In other words, the brand shows the qualities of the company and gives the potential customer reasons to be part of it. The brand will help you attract quality customers who value and prefer your products or services over others.

Value 

A strong brand identity will add value to the company, and therefore, to your products. It is the branding that allows for a true conversation and follows up on the customer, their experience, among others.

It is precisely this aspect that allows you to generate a real connection. Only those customers who are satisfied with this process will remain loyal to your brand until they become promoters. They will make other people try your products.

How to build a strong brand identity   

Defining the importance and benefits of brand identity, it is necessary to highlight how to build ours. If you are starting a business, you must pay great attention to each of these details that will help you stand out from the competition.

Before you start with the steps of brand identity, it is important that you answer the following questions regarding your new business:

Who are we?

What do we offer?

What makes us different?

What experience do we want to offer our clients?

What do we want to convey to our customers?

Based on these questions, you can start building and further consolidating your brand. It is necessary that each answer is focused on the value you want to provide to the customer, not on your product or service.

However, brand identity encompasses everything. From the message, it conveys to how and where it is transmitted. The language and creativity to convey each content will also influence how attracted the customer is to connect with your business.

Generate connection 

As highlighted throughout this article, in an increasingly intelligent society, showing the characteristics of the product or service will not be enough. Customers want to make a connection, and that is where their attention should be focused on.

Every aspect of the business must originate in the customer a connection that provides comfort and interest to be part of it. Details that help create customer empathy for your business and loyalty to it.

Keep the course focused on a goal 

The purpose of your business is one of the main elements that distinguish you from your competitors. While the company’s focus is to generate profits and money. The intentional goal must be to provide value to customers. Solve their needs at the right time.

From there, it will be easier to determine the audience you want to reach and find the strategies to do it effectively through the brand.

Choose your image 

Every brand must have an image that represents it. It is important to take into account the colors and languages that will be part of your company’s logo. This will help people remember you and associate you with different aspects of their daily routine.

The consistent permanence of the brand in society will guarantee that people will return to your business website.

Deliver on your promises 

It is important to ensure that the promise of the brand remains throughout the process that the customer experiences in your business. You can’t promise something that is not in line with their experience, as it would detract from your credibility.

If you promise quality, you must ensure at every step of the customer experience, that they receive quality, otherwise, it would not be the process to which the brand communicates.

It makes a difference 

A key feature of successful entrepreneurship is looking at an opportunity where few, if any, people see it. This is also the key to a successful business. The creativity and audacity to convey content that appeals to the audience must be constant.

It is the courage to do something different from the rest, which will differentiate your company from those that already exist. Potential customers are waiting for the novelty. Start a business to make a difference, not to be part of what already exists.

Listen to your audience

There’s no better way to know if your brand is conveying what people need than by listening to the audience. Taking advantage of social networks, and the constant interaction that is generated to know what they think of your brand is essential.

Accept both positive and negative feedback. For the former, use it to strengthen the areas for which people support the brand and give more volume to those aspects. The latter will help you improve and know the weaknesses that exist in your brand.

Practice what you communicate   

The internal audience is as important as the external one. Make sure your employees love your brand, support it, and are a part of it. It will bring you more value in front of the audience. It is necessary to maintain the right organizational culture to ensure the consolidation of the brand.

Trust and transmit confidence

If you like, this is one of the most important points. Before starting, it is important to have confidence in what you are and what you offer. Based on this, transmit with clarity, accuracy, and creativity to the audience why they need to be part of your company and buy your products or services.

It is all these aspects that will ensure the consistency of the brand in the minds and lives of potential customers. It is appealing to emotions rather than data that provides greater positioning today when offering a product or service.

If you found this article useful make sure to share it with your network on social media tagging me (as Kevin Leyes on LinkedIn, or @kevinleyes everywhere else) and Influencive as @influencive. I would love to see how you all are building your brand identities and taking advantage of that!