Nike, Ford, and other industry greats have one thing in common: effective brand recall.
As a business, you need to create an identity that will help you stand out from the competition. It’s not enough to just have a great product or service; you must also have a strong brand identity that customers can recognize and identify with. This is where branding comes into play.
Here are some tips on creating a successful startup identity.
Define your purpose and values
Before anything else, it’s important to define your company’s purpose and values. What do you do? What do you stand for? Answering these questions will help provide clarity as you move forward in creating your brand identity. Once you have your purpose and values established, make sure they are reflected in all of your communication materials—from website design to marketing materials—so that customers will understand what makes your company unique.
Definitive purpose and values connect you more to your intended market, and beyond. Ben and Jerry’s dedicated at least a number of pages to their values and mission, expanding on their purpose, core values, and corporate social responsibility drives.
Choose a memorable name and logo
The name of your company and its logo should be memorable so that people can associate it with the products or services that you offer. If possible, opt for something catchy or unusual—something that stands out from the competition! Your logo should be simple yet recognizable so that customers can easily identify it when they see it again in the future.
Meanwhile, you don’t need to be a proficient graphic artist to come up with a memorable logo, or even hire a professional. For example, the famous Nike swoosh started as a design by a graphic arts student for $35.
Create an Identity
When most people think of branding, they think of logos and slogans—and for good reason. These elements are key components of any successful branding strategy. A recognizable logo helps create awareness about your business and builds recognition over time; if done right, it should become synonymous with your company in the minds of consumers. Equally important is crafting a slogan that sums up the essence of what you offer in just a few words—something catchy that sticks in people’s minds after they’ve encountered it. Much like “Finger lickin’ good,” a catchy slogan added to your logo on your materials like corporate advertisements, posters, and even letterheads emphasizes your identity and also greatly helps in brand recall.
Stay consistent across all platforms
Once you have chosen a name and logo for your business, use them consistently across all platforms: website design, social media, marketing materials, etc. Consistency is key here; if customers come across different logos or names on different platforms, they won’t be able to recognize them as yours! Customers should always feel like they are interacting with one unified brand when engaging with your business online or offline.
Some tips on staying consistent:
- Create a uniform color scheme for your branding. The colors should be complementary on-brand and make sense with the brand logo.
- Choose fonts that are easy to read and work well across different channels like digital, print, or web design.
- Make sure that the text size is legible and the right fit for the channel or materials used—website, business cards, corporate signs for advertising, etc.
- Remember that icons create an emotional connection with customers and make them feel like they are part of something bigger than just the product or service you offer them—this can be done in the form of social media posts or promotional materials such as posters or flyers for events your company sponsors or co-sponsors with other organizations in your industry or community at large.
Focus on Quality Content
No matter how great your logo or slogan is—or how effectively crafted your mission statement may be—it all means nothing if you don’t back it up with quality content. That means creating regular blog posts, utilizing social media platforms, writing engaging e-mails, and offering valuable content through webinars or podcasts. People want to know that they can trust the products or services they’re buying—and nothing says trust like producing quality content on a regular basis that provides value to customers and prospects alike.
Creating an identity for your startup business is essential for success in today’s market. By defining your purpose and values, choosing a memorable name and logo, and staying consistent across all platforms, you will create an identity that reflects who you are as a business while helping customers recognize you from other competitors in the marketplace.
