Building Your Brand’s Identity: Tips that Work in 2023 and Beyond

Is there a reason why customized merchandise by famous people costs so much? The price is sometimes comparable to designer outfits despite there being no objective reason for this. The reason for this is the strong brand identity of the person pushing the product. In other words, you’re not paying extra for the quality but for the brand.

This is an amazing way to get extra value from your product. Justifying a price increase is hard. Realistically, you would have to add an extra feature, increase the quality of craftsmanship/materials, etc. Or… you could just boost your brand identity. Since the first method increases your overhead (therefore decreasing your profit), it’s clear that the latter is more cost-effective.

Still, while improving the manufacturing process (or quality of service) costs more, it’s not like building a great brand identity is free. You need a strategy, potentially even some professional help. So, how do you handle all of this? Here are some tips and strategies that are known to work.

1. What are your business goals?

   First, you must understand that a brand is a resource. The value of the resource is sometimes determined by its potency to help you achieve a certain goal. So, before you can determine the current strength of your value or plot a course for its improvement, you must establish your goals.

   The first piece of advice lies in determining your priorities. Everyone wants a higher revenue, but you need to be a bit more specific than that. Do you want higher customer retention? Do you want each returning customer to increase the value of their order gradually?

   The most important part is to set the right KPIs. Without them, you have no idea how you’ll know when your goals are achieved. With that in mind, it’s essential that you make your goals SMART. This means that they have to be

   • Specific
   • Measurable
   • Achievable
   • Realistic
   • Timely

   All of this needs to be integrated into your business development strategy plan. Ideally, you would have this handled by professionals since DIY drafts are often crude.

2. Who is your target audience?

   Trying to appeal to everyone will usually result in failing to reach out to anyone. Some people will never become paying customers, no matter what you do. So, wasting your resources on trying to reach them is inefficient. Start by identifying your target audience and craft your strategy with them in focus.

   You can start with your current customer base if you’re already in the business. The simplest way to proceed is to take all the statistics and use them to craft a customer persona. From here, you have a vague idea of whom you’re addressing (which is better than being completely in the dark).

   Understanding the demographic is also important for choosing the right channel. Namely, different demographics are present on different platforms. You must have heard that Twitter has a predominantly male audience (63%), while Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have more female users. This alone is a great indicator of how you can reach out to them.

3. Does your brand have effective communication?

   When you have an audience and a message (that will help achieve your goals), your next objective is to convey it effectively. The audience should tell you where and how to send this message, as well as the approximate content of the message. Still, there are a few things you should work on.

   First, you need to find the right tone and voice. Depending on your target audience, they might respond differently to different messages. Determine their competence level and familiarity with industry-relevant terminology. Being simplistic can be interpreted as condescending or, even worse, like you have no idea what you’re talking about.

   Next, you need to apply a few storytelling techniques. When telling a story, your brand is not the hero. The protagonist is the customer. Your brand is merely an agent they use to solve their problem. This narrative is relatable and generally encounters a great response.

4. Does your brand have a visual identity?

   Visual identity is incredibly important. A while back, Coca-Cola had a campaign where they removed their logo from the can. Instead, they used the space to send inspirational messages. The thing is that everyone could still tell that it was Coca-Cola. How? Well, the package design and color palette were self-sufficient. Still, this doesn’t mean that you can just ignore the logo. If anything, the logo is an essential part of your visual identity. The only way in which Coke was able to do so is as a gimmick.

   People are not reading every package they encounter. Instead, they rely on pattern recognition. In other words, they’re more likely to remember the shape of your logo than interpret it as an actual word.

   Visual identity is important for your brand recognition. Seeing how you can’t have brand awareness without brand recognition is a step that you can’t afford to skip.

5. The importance of your website for your brand

   The whole point of your marketing campaign is to leave a breadcrumb trail leading back to your landing page. You’ll leave a link on social media, subreddits, and chatrooms that you expect potential customers to follow. There’s just no way around it.

   The quality of your landing page will tell quite a bit about you and your friend. Is the design poor? Your audience may assume that you don’t care. Is it too complex? They’ll make assumptions that this is what doing business with you is like.

   The key thing is that you need to be sleek, efficient, and professional. Most importantly, your site and landing page must be intuitive and responsive. This way, you can ensure that you get off on the right foot. This is your chance to make an excellent first impression.

Wrap up

In the end, a brand is an idea. It doesn’t matter what you stand for; it’s about conveying this message to your audience. What they think of you depends on your message and visual interpretation. How and where you say, something may be as important as what you say. Always keep these few principles in mind; your branding strategy will be a resounding success.