Business isn’t just business. Business is about emotion.
Not just mine and not just yours, but the people close to us. It’s also about the feelings of your customers and the people close to them. This applies to ALL businesses.
We’re in business because we love working with brands to create identities.
Real estate agents help their clients find the home of their dreams where they can raise their families while feeling safe and secure. Hardware store owners help customers get the tools they need to finish a job and create a sense of accomplishment. Career coaches help clients feel worthy and deserving of a career they love and make that career a reality.
Your branding is the first building block to positioning your company in a way that speaks to your clients and customers. Your brand identity does so much more than just tell your clients and customers what you do. It tells them how you can change their life.
Branding –> Positioning –> Elevated brand perception –> Feelings of belonging
This concept is two-fold. The feelings of belonging that we’re talking about here are yours and your customers’. As an entrepreneur, you’ll feel a sense of belonging for the significant effort you’ve put into your business to succeed finally paying off. And for your customers, they’ll feel the raw human emotion of belonging thanks to using your product or service.
Those feelings – those REAL HUMAN feelings – are what compel people to take action. They’re what make people feel good about working with you.
Drawing inspiration from those raw emotions is the most impactful way to speak to your customer. The person you seek to help. The person you seek to change.
The basic elements of your brand identity include:
- Naming – Does your name convey who you are?
- Positioning – Who is your target audience?
- Logo – Does it feel like something your target audience would be attracted to?
- Typeface(s) – What typefaces support your brand?
- Colors – What colors identify you? How do they make your audience feel?
- Voice – How do you engage with your audience?
- Value – What value do you provide?
- A more in-depth identity can also include your brand promise, core values, mission statement and customer avatars.
This is all built on the Elements of Value pyramid by Bain & Company. When you’re talking to your customers through you marketing and your brand voice, the higher you position yourself on the pyramid, the stronger loyalty you are likely to have with your customers.
We’ve written about the fact that your brand is more than just a logo, and these elements of value are a great example of why so much more than just your mark goes into your brand position. A well thought out and well executed brand identity can attract more of the customers you’re trying to reach so you spend less time treading water, and more time closing deals.
So we’re not here to sell you a service. And we’re not here to help you sell more of whatever it is you sell. Sure, those are by-products of our work, but when it comes down to it – we’re here to help you grow your business. So you can do more of what you love, and more of your customers can enjoy what you’re creating.
Can we help you elevate your brand’s perception? Contact us to get started.