Your brand identity is a very important factor when it comes to establishing a brand.
A strong identity provides you, loyal customers, as well as make your brand trustable and reliable. That is the reason many of the small businesses focus on building a brand image. To gain more recognition and acknowledgment in the digital market and the local market.
Creating a strong brand image with the help of design and element will not only help you digitally but also provide you a reputable place in the local and international market.
In this article we compiled a list of 7 key elements of brand identity, to explain to you the branding basics and help you create an identity of your own.
But first, we’ll put some light on the basics:
What is Brand?
The word brand collectively means logo, typography, content, website, and everything that represents a business, as well as a product, the services, the price, and quality are a part of the definition too.
Brand identity is basically an icon, a logo that represents your business. A brand depends on the design and elements, which identify symbols and features. A brand is what distinguishes you from other concepts and services.
What is a brand identity?
A brand identity is like personal identity rather, it’s the image you create for the customers of your business through different techniques, services, design, and elements.
The importance of brand image is highly notable in this fast-growing world. A brand identity is what makes your business different from other brands. To create a brand identity, you need to know about the usage of a proper style guide is essential to communicate brand identity.
A brand identity is a constant strategy that attracts new customers and keeps loyal customers attached. To manage your brand identity, you need to be consistent and persistent.
That is why we have brought you design and elements of brand identity that you can use to develop your brand and grow your business.
Here are 9 key elements of brand identity:
1: Decide Your Brand Purpose
The reason for your brand’s existence is the main point you should be clear about. What is the purpose of your brand and why did you start it? These questions should be answered before you start your business. These are the questions your brand design and elements depends on, such as your logo design, your brand color, your website theme, typography, etc.
As a branding basic you should decide the purpose of your brand and that purpose will become your brand identity and brand marketing strategy.
The purpose of your brand will become your brand back story, which is a strong marketing strategy to attract customers. This will build a bond and trusting relationship between your business and your targeted customers.
2: Create a Brand Logo
Once you have recognized the purpose and attributes of your brand you need to create a logo that will represent your brand forever.
Follow the basic principles of art to create a logo, make your logo simple yet attractive. Not using many fonts or colors. Make your logo flexible and adjustable, to make it easier to advertise.
You must create something that reflects your brand and its attributes, using colors and fonts that stays in the consumer’s mind.
3: Follow Typography Rules
Typography is an important design element that plays a huge part in brand identity. Fonts are the main factors when it comes to typography, then comes colors and styles.
They provide a visual identity to your brand image and make it memorable. As mentioned above, the usage of the proper style guide is essential to communicate brand identity.
Here are a few tips for beginners related to typography:
- Research design and elements basics
- Fonts used should be simple
- Avoid fancy fonts
- Choose colors using color strategy
- Use readable fonts
- Try to avoid the mixture of fonts, if you are not pro
- Do not use more than two fonts at a time
Rules can be broken and mend but as a beginner avoid experimenting with typography rules. If you are confused get help from a professional.
4: Better User Experience
A website with a better user experience stands out and does not let customers move to another website. The better experience your visitors have the better traffic you will receive.
With the help of better design and elements and using basic branding techniques, you can not only attract customers but with a clear design and navigation signs you can gain trust and more traffic.
5: Add Valuable Content
An important factor to build a stable website that builds its identity and appeal to its consumers. Good content will not only engage your website visitors but also provide recognition to the brand.
Informative and great content builds up the path for more traffic. Great content speaks for itself and so it will for your brand.
Your content can vary from writing blogs, videos, graphic images or infographic that will keep your audience hooked and provide information related to your brand.
6: Social Media Presence
Social media is an effective platform to reach your customers, according to research, 66% of website owners use a social media marketing strategy for expanding the reach of their business.
Social media strategies change the way people perceive information as well as has a vast reach to aware people of your brand.
You don’t have to book billboards and give away flyers if you are running a social media marketing strategy. An ad on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube will not only boost your website traffic but also make people aware of your brand identity.
Consumers trust the reviews on social media regarding the brand they are interested before using it. A consistent presence on social media will help you build new customers as well as provide you a cheap branding opportunity.
7: Use of SEO Techniques
Apart from social media marketing techniques, most of the small businesses use SEO techniques to promote their business and indorse it on the web.
Even SEO techniques are hard to maintain but they work 100% to gain the popularity and build brand identity your brand deserves.
SEO strategies help you rank better on Google, drive traffic towards your website, and increase your ROI.
Develop an SEO strategy with the help of researchers and professionals to improve your brand identity.
8: Color Psychology
You must have heard of color psychology, ever thought of using it? The colors used in a logo don’t only add up to the design and elements of a brand but plays a huge role in the brand identity.
Every color has a meaning and purpose behind them, and that is the reason graphic designers consider color psychology before working on a logo or design. Choosing the right color would instantly help your audience recognize what your brand is about.
Different colors have different meaning and they play a role in the psyche of the audience according to their effect. The color range goes from warm to cool colors such as:
- Red: Passion, Love, Anger.
- Orange: Energy, Happiness, Vitality.
- Yellow: Happiness, Hope, Deceit.
- Green: New Beginnings, Abundance, Nature.
- Blue: Calm, Responsible, Sadness.
- Purple: Creativity, Royalty, Wealth
9: Website Color Theme
For a brand, a website is just like their home, their style, the place where people judge them. A website shows what kind of personality does the brand have and the personality helps the user decide whether to trust it or not.
The color psychology not only affects the design and elements of your brand and is not just limited to the logo making but also applies to your website. A right color combination would decide what theme your brand has and what is to be perceived.
Both the primary and secondary colors of the website should be in sync and should complement each other. Use the color theme like your logo but take care of the white spaces and don’t overdo it.
The correct combo would help you build brand identity, as well as help you gain personality and brand recognition.
Conclusion
We included the 9 elements of design and branding basics that are crucial to lifting your brand identity. With the usage of a proper style guide is essential to communicate brand identity. Follow the principles of art to excel in making your brand image.
The digital market is a vast market for both local and international businesses, small and big, it is important to keep up with the trend and updates.
Create the place your brand deserves the use of various design and elements, logos, UX, content, and SEO techniques. Plan everything ahead of time and create a checklist to stay on track and grow your brand.