Let’s talk about one of your most valuable assets- your brand identity! Your brand’s unique vibe is the thing that makes you stand out in a crowd! It also sets the tone for everything you do- from your marketing to your website, to your package design.

If you haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about your brand identity, it’s time to start! Your brand identity tells customers what to think about your brand- it’s the major factor that shapes their perception of your business. That’s a big job, right? And not something you want to leave to chance.

So, let’s take it step by step.

First of all, you have to figure out exactly what your brand’s personality is. Are you serious and authoritative? Fun and playful? Quirky and unique?

If you’ve never taken the time to really think about how you want your customers to see your brand, do that ASAP!! It lays the foundation for everything you do to cultivate your brand identity. Write down adjectives that describe your brand. Ask your team what words come to mind when they think of your business. You can survey some of your top customers, as well. It’s great to get a well-rounded idea of the image you’re currently projecting.

Now you need to focus on cultivating your brand identity and making sure it’s consistent and cohesive across the board:

• Start with your look. You want your brand to be recognizable at a glance, and that usually begins with your logo. You need a logo that makes a statement and is instantly recognizable.
• Next, consider your color palette, design, typeface and more. You choose all of these based on the vibe you want to project. Once you’ve developed your look, it’s important to keep it consistent across all forms of communication- from your logo to your web design, social media, newsletters, packaging- anything you put out should reflect the look of your brand identity.
• Once you’ve got your look in place, it’s time to turn your attention to your voice- it’s just as important as your look, and consistency matters here as well. You have words and phrases that you use frequently that are unique to your brand. You have a tone that reflects your personality and should be evident in your social media posts, your blogs, your emails- everything. This plays a big part in developing the trust and loyalty you want from your customers.
• Once you’ve fully developed your brand identity- your look, your voice, your vibe, it’s time to apply that to your marketing strategy. When you create a new lead magnet, or Facebook ad campaign, or email funnel, you can go back to your brand identity profile to make sure you’re keeping your look and message consistent. Your brand identity becomes a guide for everything you produce.

To learn more about developing and maintaining your brand identity, tune in to this week’s episode of Building Your Empire with SophieZo. In it, Sophie talks about creating a consistent brand identity, as well as using your customers’ personality traits to create a personalized message that really resonates with each segment of your audience.