Business owners can leverage their marketing power by understanding the difference between their brand and their brand identity. A company’s “brand” is defined by its core values. It’s what a company wants to be known for; the reason why people buy from a particular company and not their competition. “Brand identity,” however, is an outward expression of a company’s brand and resonates in every company touch point that comes in contact with a potential customer.
When you think of great brands, who comes to mind? Apple, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Ralph Lauren, Cover Girl, just to name a few. What do these companies have in common? They know how to connect with people, turning those individuals into customers (brand). But it’s the look of a logo or a product’s feel that helps the brand emotionally connect with individuals or customers (brand identity).
Three things to do right now to create brand identity within your business:
1) Create your own brand. Has anyone ever labeled you personally and you felt they labeled you incorrectly? If you don’t brand yourself, others will. The best brands pull at the heart strings of their customers. A perfect example of this is in the movie Mr. Mom where Teri Garr’s character created a marketing campaign for the tuna company she worked for: Tuna with a Heart. It connected with moms everywhere.
2) Whether you are a sole-proprietor or a large company everyone must look and play the part. Shortly after moving to a new city, I was searching for a hairdresser and met with a hairstylist. She looked sloppy and her hair greasy. After speaking, I informed her I was interviewing several stylists before booking an appointment. Had her hair looked fantastic I would have scheduled an appointment on the spot.
3) Developing social media for your business is a direct reflection of your company’s branding. First, create pages that are uniform among all social media platforms. Second, since most people are visual learners, use this to educate individuals on your products and services with your company’s branding in mind. Lastly, once your site visitors have learned about your products use social media to learn about them. Engaging with visitors can turn potential customers into customers so this is not a place to skimp when budgeting on an advertising campaign.
If you’d like to get a free report of your online brand identity, then please contact us at 702.900.3419. We will give you a report of our findings, along with suggestions for improvement.
