The Importance Of A Strong Brand Image For Your Company

It is a question for those new entrepreneurs. Are you struggling to gain a competitive edge against your counterparts? Or is the disconnect between your business and customers widening every day? This could be a problem with your brand’s public image, but don’t worry, we have created a guide to sort it out. When a brand introduces a new product or service to the world, 9 times out of 10, it already has a bunch of competitors out there. It always happens. 

This is where the business owner (or marketing department if we’re talking about a bigger, more established brand) needs to get creative and figure out how to stand out and cut through the noise, and having a strong brand image is a great way to resolve this obstacle. 

Interestingly, if a strong identity can make a brand, a confused identity can destroy a brand. Do you remember Yahoo? Once upon a time, it was the most influential internet company in the world. It had brilliant brand visibility, talent, cash, and products, but it lacked focus on its identity. A vague identity might not cost a brand as long as the competition is not powerful, but in the case of Yahoo, one after another, new internet players such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube emerged. Gradually, the market shifted to new players, and Yahoo lost its dominance and advertising revenue. Let’s have a look at the factors that contribute to building a brand’s identity.

What does the term brand identity mean?

Brand identity is the collection of all elements that a company creates to portray the right image to its consumer. It is different from “brand image” and “branding,” even though these terms are sometimes treated as interchangeable.To build this concept you should know what makes you instantly recognizable to your customers. Your audience will associate your brand identity with your product or service, and that identity is what forges the connection between you and your customers, builds customer loyalty, and determines how your customers will perceive your brand.

Make a note of the list below, we have collected steps to keep in mind:

1. Research your target audience and your competitors:

Before you start making any decisions about how to create a business brand, you need to understand the current market, i.e., who your potential customers and current competitors are.

There are many ways to do this step of how to make a brand:

• Google your product or service category and analyze the direct and indirect competitors that come up.
• Check subreddits that relate to your customers and eavesdrop on their conversations and product recommendations.
• Talk to people who are part of your target market and ask them what brands they buy from in your space.
• Look at the relevant social media accounts or pages your target audience follows and are receptive to.
• Go shopping online or offline and get a feel for how your customers would browse and buy products.

2. Name:

A name identifies, differentiates, and reflects the essence of the owner, and the same is true for brands. The brand name is the company’s first impression; it’s strengthened by good customer experiences and destroyed by bad ones. 

3. Logo:

Start with an effective logo design, then creatively drafted adverts that speak the brand’s outstanding features while leaving unforgettable memories that can help you build an enduring identity. In establishing your brand identity, you need to answer the questions: Who are you? What do you offer? What makes you stand out, and why do you trade?

4. Mission, vision, and values:

It’s important for everyone in your company to understand where you are going before you can get there, so be sure to define your mission, vision, and values. Everything about your brand should line up with these values as inconsistency will only damage your brand image.

5. Invest in Effective Communications:

There is no use in formulating your desired identity and attempting to shape a consumer’s real image of you without adequate means of communication. Brand image can be influenced by creatively advertising what you stand for, thereby creating strong, unique, and relevant associations in consumers’ minds.

6. Employee Advocacy:

More and more brands realize the power of their employees in building a strong brand identity. Some of the statistics surrounding employee advocacy are truly impressive — brand messages shared by employees got 561% higher reach than those promoted by regular brand channels. Plus, employee advocacy contributed to a 65% increase in brand recognition. Employees of an organization are natural partners in brand marketing; they know the company inside out, and they have a personal stake in the brand’s success.