Brand identity refers to how your customers portray your business. It incorporates elements like the name, logo, colour and shape of your graphics. Brand identity goes far beyond visual elements into the tone of your messaging and the humour you sprinkle in your ads.
Brand identity differentiates you from the competition. It shows uniqueness and sets your business apart from other similar ones. Brand identity also plays an integral role in growing good relationships with customers.
Customers are attracted to recognizable brands with reputable values. Your eCommerce store has everything to gain from improving your brand identity. Here are a few proven ways to scale up your eCommerce brand identity:
Understand your audience, competition and identify a unique value proposition
When improving your brand identity, the first thing to do is conduct market research. Market research involves understanding your target audience’s pain points and gearing product solutions to meet those needs.
Communicate the potential of your offerings in solving your customers’ needs. Researching the competition is also an essential step in improving your brand identity. You need to know what works for your competitors and the gaps they are missing in the market.
Knowing your competition helps identify aspects that will set you apart from the crowd. Assessing the competition and your target audience will help you identify a unique value proposition to boost your brand identity and skyrocket your sales.
Design a unique logo
The visual elements of your business play a significant role in your brand identity. People think of your logo and tagline when someone mentions your brand. They breathe life into your brand.
The design of your logo needs to be an excellent ambassador for your brand to boost your brand identity. The logo is the most memorable and recognizable aspect of your brand. You cannot afford to skimp on it.
Have a graphic designer work on an unforgettable logo that works well with your industry. Use colour palettes that speak of the brand identity you wish to embody.
Improve your culture
Your company culture forms an important visual element of your brand. Your company culture informs your uniqueness hence offering a much-needed competitive edge.
Identifying your mission and visions help you build a company culture that improves your brand identity. Everything from your products to your employees should draw from your company culture.
Do not forget the packaging and presentation
Your logo is not the only essential element of your brand identity. How you package your products and present your services plays a part in brand identity. Your presentation and packaging need to be memorable.
Simple things like packaging with your logo and having your logo on emails and letters create a familiarity with your target audience. That familiarity makes you more recognizable and fosters customer loyalty. Loyal customers always come back and refer their friends and family. That means more business and profitability for you.
Know that consistency is the name of the game
All fail if you are not consistent in building a robust brand identity. Consistency is the difference between brands with a memorable identity that lasts for aeons and those that fade into obscurity.
Your brand identity should be cohesive and present in all your business areas. Integrate your brand identity in all your ads and social media engagements. Any article on your eCommerce site or social media should reflect and define your brand. Consistency improves memorability, which will keep you in the eCommerce game for longer.
Ensure that your language matches your brand personality
Again, consistency, even in your tone and personality, does wonders for your brand identity. If your brand is high-end, you must always use professional language in your messaging.
Maintain a conversational tone of language in all your brand communications if your brand is more laid-back. Integrate it throughout your entire business. Always craft your mood to match your brand personality for a stronger brand identity.
Prioritize excellent customer service and product quality
Your brand identity involves the perception people have of your brand. The best way to build a positive reputation is by providing the best services to everyone landing on your eCommerce site. Offer personalized emails and offers. Be sure to respond to customer queries and solve their issues swiftly.
In light of the increasing cybercriminal cases, prioritize security to make your customers feel safe. To make customers safe, use an SSL certificate like a wildcard, single domain, multi-domain or SAN SSL Certificate. Here, we can suggest you use wildcard SSL from trusted brands like Comodo SSL Certificate to protect your eCommerce site via encryption that can secure your multiple sites and their subdomains using a single certificate.
Know the don’ts
Sometimes it is not enough to know what to do. You also need to know what to avoid. Some practices will make your efforts fail. For instance, you should be wary of giving your customers mixed messages.
Use appropriate language and visuals that represent your brand identity accurately. Also, brand identity is about standing out from the competition. Copying your competitors beats the purpose. Always have your twist for a more long-lasting brand identity.
You should also beware of chasing trends that are not true to your brand DNA. You can scale your identity without sacrificing your core identity. Identify ways to iterate from your original identity instead of creating an entirely new one.
Monitor
You have to track your performance metrics to know if your efforts at improving your brand identity are bearing fruit. Employ tools like, surveys, social media engagements, comments and Google Analytics to gauge how people perceive your brand.
It becomes easier to tailor-make changes that improve your brand identity when you know what aspects need tweaking. Be ready to optimize your efforts to land in a position where your brand becomes more than a name and logo.
Bring an expert on board
You can only do so much for your brand if you are ill-equipped with the ins and outs of brand marketing. Your best bet is partnering with an expert.
A professional will give you a fresh set of eyes. They can also inform you on the best ways to articulate your services to your target audience. A 360-degree analysis of your brand might be what you need to improve your brand identity.
Wrapping up
Improving your brand identity is about being authentic to your values and skills. Authenticity takes the journey of building a brand identity mile ahead. Resisting the pressure to fit in or succumb to the trends makes it easy for your true self to stand out above the rest.