Consumers today are inundated with thousands of different marketing and advertising messages. With so much content being produced daily, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. So what sets mediocre brands apart from successful and recognizable ones? The answer is branding. Keep reading to learn our five tips for creating a brand that stands out!
As Jessica Wong, CEO of Valux Digital and uPro Digital, states, “Branding is your organization’s fingerprint. It is unique to your business and helps you stand out in a crowded market.” Branding, however, takes more than simply throwing a logo and color palette together. To get you started on your branding journey, the Leverage Team has put together this guide which covers: What is a Brand, The Importance of Brand Consistency, and Five Tips for Creating an Amazing Brand.
“Brand identity is more than just finding the right logo…It’s about crafting a personality that amplifies the core elements to your brand’s DNA.” – Jared Rosen, Senior Brand Manager
What exactly is a brand?
A brand is your company’s identity. It tells your company story and communicates to potential customers what your company values. Your brand is what helps you stand out from competitors and is a way to cultivate customer expectations and experiences.
When marketers reference the term “branding,” it refers to both the process of brand creation as well as all of the supporting brand materials, including logo, brand style guides, social media templates, key messaging and taglines, and overall brand personality.
The importance of brand consistency
“89% of consumers say they’ll buy from a brand they already follow and recognize over a competitor.” – HubSpot
Think about branding from a sales perspective. Only 3% of your target audience is actively looking to buy, and it typically takes an average of 7-8 touches before a prospective customer considers making a purchase. If your branding is inconsistent, how is your target audience supposed to even identify your company, let alone remember the last ad you just ran?
Now it is time to consider branding from a psychological perspective. Recent studies have shown that predictability is crucial for brands. Customers like purchasing from their favorite brands because they know what to expect. Inconsistent messaging and unpredictable brand experiences will end up leaving your target audience confused and potentially lead customers also to assume they cannot trust your brand.
Customer loyalty and retention are won through exceeding expectations and building trust. Trust is built when customers feel emotionally connected with your company – they identify with your values and feel like they personally know your story. And the only way for your audience to understand (and remember!) your story is through clearly identifiable logos, designs, and messaging.
Don’t make your audience guess your next move! Consistent branding efforts and messaging help customers to remember you, trust you, and ultimately, consider your company when it comes to making a purchasing decision.
“Having inconsistent visuals makes the process of nurturing trust and becoming remembered a nightmare. You’ll be introducing yourself to them for the first time every single time.” – Taughnee Stone
Five tips for creating an amazing brand
- Define your short-term and long-term strategies. Before any creative work can begin, you must dedicate time to understanding your audience, your vision, and your values. This is how customers will identify and recognize your products and services. The strongest brands have a long-term strategy and clearly defined goals, and utilize consistent messaging and designs across all platforms.
- Be authentic and champion your company’s values. Don’t try to be everything for everyone. It simply isn’t possible! People connect emotionally with and become advocates for brands that match their unique worldviews. Authenticity sells! Don’t be afraid for your company’s values to shine through in each piece of content and design.
- Understand your brand’s personality. In order to capture your audience’s attention, consider how you will communicate with your customers and how you want your brand to sound. Ask yourself, if you were having a conversation with your brand, what would that sound like? Joking and fun? Technical and professional? Laidback? Serious? Once you have your brand’s personality and voice decided, infuse this personality into all company platforms and marketing content.
- Create memorable designs. Designs, logos, and other visual elements graphically represent your company and your company’s values. They also help to make your brand instantly recognizable to your target audience. Your logo literally “tells” people to associate this image and text with your company. Again, consistency in design is key to cultivating a memorable brand. Develop a style guide to ensure that everyone in your company uses your brand elements properly.
- Develop key messaging for your company. Brands build credibility when they can tell their story succinctly and present customers with clear and consistent messaging. Consumers want to support companies that share their values. Create a messaging guideline that utilizes language that matches your values and brand personality to give your team a clear template to follow when creating content for email campaigns, social media, and more.
Connect with us to get started!
The most successful brands tell their story well, and they tell it consistently. At Leverage Marketing, our goal is always the same: to consistently reflect the identity of a company and resonate with its target audience. We utilize strategy and research to drive our creative process and help you to develop guidelines that will provide your team with the consistency it needs to give your brand clout in a crowded marketplace.
Need help telling your brand’s story? Connect with our team! We look forward to the opportunity to learn more about your brand and company vision and are excited for the opportunity to turn your business idea into a reality!
