Recently a lady approached me about her brand because she felt that her competitors looked more professional and more successful, despite the fact that her business has so much going for it – she was able to list three things that differentiated her right away.
This is a huge reason why brand design is so worth investing in. There aren’t that many businesses out there that don’t have competition – so how do you make sure that YOU are looking the most professional, the most successful and standing out the most out of all of them so that people will buy from you? By working on your brand identity. (Of course).
If you have a compelling business image that your customers relate to and that shows the value they get from working with you then that will help put you miles ahead of everyone else.
How can you make sure that your business looks like the success that it is?
You need to know what your business is all about before you start and crucially, what success looks like to you.
So you need to think about what it is that you do, what it is that makes people buy from you – maybe you’re quirky, maybe you’re knowledgable, perhaps your products are really high quality or you’ve invested in the latest technology to be able to deliver outstanding results, maybe your people are massively talented or your results are incredible.
You need to know who the people who buy from you are. Perhaps they are women looking to change their lives and be in charge of their own future, maybe they’re mums looking for something a bit different for their kids – do they watch the soaps or read books, which ones? Are they interested in Mickey Mouse or Harry Potter? Do they spend time in the garden or on the beach? Do they shop at the supermarket or at the local farm shop? Get as specific as you can.
What are your business values? Are you about imagination or freedom? Independence or individuality? Ambition or Inspiration? Hope or passion? Working out your values can be very time consuming – but it’s really worth it. Try to pick values which are unexpected. For example ,if you’re an Accountant, don’t choose professional. That’s a given. Pick crazy or retro or some other unexpected value (provided it fits with you) as this is going to help you stand out more.
And success – if you want your business to look like the success that it is – what does that mean? That you’re making loads of money? That you’re working part time around your family? That you’re able to help lots of people and make a difference? That you’ve regained your confidence? Success means different things to different people – so think on that one. What does a successful business look like to you?
Showing your business as the success it is doesn’t mean adding gold sparkle to everything.
Once you’ve had some introspection and you know your business inside out and backwards too, it’s time to develop your brand identity – all of the visual aspects of your business. What do you need to create to help your business look successful?
- A strong logo which is easy to read and memorable.
- A strong colour scheme. This doesn’t mean strong colours necessarily, but a colour palette which works for your business.
- The right fonts so that people get a certain impression from the font as well as what you’ve written.
- Consider your photography carefully and choose a style for it. Maybe it will be really bright, or really saturated, black and white, set in nature, similar props – there are so many options. Choose a style that works for your business and stick with it.
- Symbols/ elements/ illustrations/ patterns which enhance your brand
With all of this in place, your business will be looking it’s very best. So you will apply all of these considerations across your stationery, social media, printed items, website and anything else you can think of to help reinforce your brand identity so it becomes memorable and trusted by all who see it and you can look successful online and offline.
Showing your business as the success it is doesn’t mean adding gold sparkle to each page on your website, it means showing your business in the best possible light, ditching the DIY design and upleveling your brand so that your clients can get a feel for you immediately and can see that you’re doing well too – because your brand identity is so inline with your business and shows that you’re taking your business seriously – and yes, that you’re successful.
How have these tips for creating a successful business image helped you?