As a business, it is extremely important that you have a brand identity. A brand identity is the look and feel of your organization. It is the name, designs, symptoms, and other distinguishable features that help your products stand apart from your competitors. Ultimately, your brand identity is what consumers use to identify your brand compared to another one. Without a brand identity, customers wouldn’t be able to tell your brand apart from one of your competitors. If they were looking at a wall of products, they couldn’t quickly distinguish yours or your competitors, and in turn, this may cause them to reach for another brand over yours. Having a distinguishable brand identity helps ensure customers can spot and identify your brand or product.
Your Unique Value Proposition
One of the things that your brand identity tells your audience is your value proposition. However, many business owners are unaware of what a value proposition is and why it is important. Here is what you need to know about a value proposition and how it impacts your brand identity.
What is a Value Proposition?
If you are considering buying something, the value proposition is typically what makes or breaks your decision to purchase the item. A value proposition very clearly explains how your product can solve a customers’ problems or improve their situation, states what specific benefits your product or service can provide them, and tells the customer why they should be buying your product over the competition, or what sets your product apart from other similar products.
Why is a Value Proposition Important?
Your value proposition is important because it is ultimately the piece of information that most customers use when deciding whether or not to buy from you. A great value proposition can increase sales. A bad value proposition can cause sales to decrease or remain stagnant. It is often one of the first things consumers read and digest about a product or service, so it has a huge impact on them, impacting whether they read on to learn more about the product, buy it, or leave your website.
What Makes a Good Value Proposition?
Since your value proposition is so important, it is important to figure out what makes a good one. This will help ensure that it stands out. When you are creating a value proposition, you want to ensure that it is clear and easy to understand. If it is confusing or complicated, consumers will tune out. Also avoid unneeded jargon or terms that the average person won’t understand.
It’s important to emphasize the results or what your customer can expect if they purchase your product or service. Be sure to let them know some of the key differences between your product and your competitors. And most importantly, your value proposition should be able to be read and understood in about five seconds. If it is longer than this, consumers may skip right over it.
How You Measure Up Against Your Competitors
The second thing that your brand identity tells your audience is how you measure up against your competitors. Here is some key information on why this is important and how doing so can help improve your brand identity.
Why Measuring Up Against Competitors Important
It is very rare that a business offers a product or service that is truly unique or one-of-a-kind. In reality, there are competitors out there who offer a product or service that is very similar to the one your company has to offer. As such, it is important to measure up against your competitors and stand out.
Chances are, you and your competitors are all saying the same thing. You are all actively promoting similar benefits and advantages for your similar products. By measuring up against your competitors, you can build on what is being said and say something different, helping your business to stand out and be more attractive to prospective audiences.
How Do You Gain a Clear Advantage Over Your Competitors?
With so much competition out there, you may find yourself wondering how you can gain a clear advantage over your competitors. There are many different ways that you can go about gaining a competitive edge over those who have the similar products or services.
First, address your customer pain points. Be sure to reiterate what their problem is and how your product can help solve the problem in ways your competitor can’t. Be sure to be memorable and delight your customers. Customers are tired of hearing the same pitches or seeing the same images. Stand out to stand apart from your competitors. As you look to stand out, be sure to deliver extraordinary service. Customer service goes a long way with consumers. And lastly, be sure to clearly define your company’s vision and mission. This helps customers to learn more about your business and why you fit in with their life missions and visions.
Your Brand’s Voice
The last thing that your brand identity is telling your audience is your brand’s voice. Learning what your brand’s voice is, why it is important, and how to develop it can help to ensure that your brand identity is actively conveying your brand’s voice.
What is Your Brand’s Voice?
Your brand’s voice is the communication style that you use when you talk to your customers. Your voice is conveyed through all of the written content that customers see, such as blog articles, website content, newsletters, email, and social media posts. Many businesses also take this voice and carry it over into other marketing and media channels, ensuring the voice that is used on their website is carried over and conveyed through their radio ads, television commercials, and marketing materials, such as mailers.
Why is Your Brand’s Voice Important?
Having a consistent and clear brand voice is important because it can help to set you apart from your competition and make you memorable. The voice you use can also help to elicit an emotional experience or attachment to your company. Your voice can be emotional, witty, playful, educational, or humorous, just to name a few styles. The style you select should align with your brand’s story, your brand’s motto and mission and the demographics of your targeted consumer.
How Do You Develop Your Brand’s Voice Within Your Brand Identity?
Developing a consistent brand voice that fits in with your brand identity is not an easy task. It is so easy to change your voice without even realizing it. As you are looking to select a brand voice and develop it, the first thing you will want to do is know or define your audience. You need to select a voice that appeals to them and resonates with them. For example, if your targeted consumer is elderly, using a young voice that draws on slang terms won’t appeal to them and won’t be something they understand. However, if you’re appealing to teens, using this style of voice may be perfect as it engages them and makes your company feel young and trendy.
The next thing you will want to do when defining and developing your brand’s voice is to determine what your goals are. What are you hoping to gain through the voice you select? Are you looking to appeal to customers or catch their attention? Once you have determined what your goals are, create guidelines so that everyone who is working on your marketing materials knows what your defined voice is, how to promote it, and how to use it to help reach your goals.
Lastly, it is important to continue to refine and polish your voice. This helps to ensure that you are continuously improving on it and making changes so that it does not become stale or dated.
Brand identity is important, as it conveys key pieces of information to your audience. A brand identity tells your audience:
- Your unique value proposition
- How you measure up against competitors
- Your brand’s voice
If you do not have a visual brand identity or your brand identity is not clear, your audience is not learning about your unique value proposition, how you measure up against your competitors and your brand’s voice. This can ultimately harm your brand and future expansion and growth.
Do you need help creating your visual brand identity? Then let us help you. Download the infographic: The Who, What and How of Creating a Visual Brand Identity to get more information on visual brand identities and creating yours.
