Creating a brand identity for small business: You must know.

Creating a brand identity for a small business is critical to show off its uniqueness. Brand identity makes up the perception of consumers about your business. But hold on. Can a great logo or catchy slogan cover all aspects of your strong branding? No. Brand identity is one piece of the puzzle for building a strong brand—not the whole thing.

Let’s understand this by an example. Take strong branding as cooking up a delicious recipe. Your logo and colors can be your active ingredients to make a perfect finger-licking meal.

However, in this fascinating modern world, consumers are looking for a great experience. You have a tasty meal to serve, but the ambiance is not up to the mark of what consumers are seeking—then it will impact your overall branding. 

In the world of branding, these additional bits that contribute to the overall brand experience are referred to as “’brand touchpoints.”

Let’s explore the importance of creating a brand identity for small businesses and the brand touchpoint that can leave an everlasting impression on your consumers. Stay tuned till the end to get valuable insights.

What is brand identity?

Brand identity is a set of visual, verbal, and symbolic components that represent a company’s beliefs. It conveys the unique personality of the brand to its targeted audience. Your company can make its name in this competitive market by crafting a strong brand identity.

Let’s make it easy for you to grasp the concept of brand identity. You have your own identity as a person that makes you unique from the rest. Your clothes, shoes, personality, and beliefs make up your overall identity.

If you want to attract an audience, you will brush up on your looks and personality that everyone loves to be around.

The same is the case with your company—brand identity is your company’s visual appearance and personality. There are millions of businesses out there, and to stand out in your small business, you need to create a potent brand identity.

Some of the core elements of brand identity are logo, typography, colors, slogans, voice, tone, and messaging.

Importance of creating a brand identity for small business

A well-developed brand identity is critical for any business to succeed in the long run. Here are some of the benefits you will reap after creating a robust brand identity for your small business.

1. Distinguish your business from the rest.

Brand identity is the face of your business that depicts your values and beliefs through visuals and slogans. When you create a strong brand identity, it sets you apart in your industry.

As your competitors have the same offerings and products, it’s your brand identity that can separate your company. 

2. Credibility and Trust

When you consistently deliver what you convey in your brand identity, then it builds credibility for your company. In the meantime, it fosters customer trust and loyalty that help you thrive in your business.  

3. Helps in marketing and advertising

With a well-defined brand identity, you will be able to run a successful marketing and advertising for your product or services. Brand identity guides you to add on brand essential elements and leave an impression on your potential customers. 

4. Add on New Customers and please current ones.

A well-developed brand identity attracts new customers as it gives them a sense of belonging. When you create an excellent product or service, then it will provoke customers. However, when you do strong branding it produces advocates for your company.

Crafting a Memorable Brand: Beyond Aesthetics

Creating a memorable brand is just more than a logo, colors, and slogan. Branding is an experience that the company provides, and the audiences cherish it. Customer experience is everything in branding. 90% of customers expect brands to deliver similar experiences on every platform.

At the same time, the company touchpoint determines the experience of your target audience. 

When you are looking to book a hotel, then you consider

• Their social media review
• Website to book a reservation
• Quality of service and comfort
• Good location
• Ambiance

These are all the touchpoints of hotels beyond their brand identity that carry weight for customers. 

Examples of brand touchpoints

While the brand touchpoints mainly consist of

• Pre-purchase touchpoints
• Purchase touchpoints
• Post-purchase touchpoints

Here is a quick brief of brand touchpoint types.

1. Pre-purchase touchpoints

These are the touchpoints of your company before a customer purchases. Pre-purchase touchpoints mostly stimulate interest in the product or service. Let’s look at pre-purchase brand touchpoints.

• Advertising: Through company advertising(Google search, TV and radio ads) public gets intrigued by a product or service. 
• Social media: It’s important to have an active social media accounts company to engage with customers and deliver value to them.
• Website and online presence: Your business website has a key role in fostering customer experience for your brand. An easy-to-navigate website provides details about the product and makes the purchasing process easy.
  

2. Purchase touchpoints

With the purchase touchpoints, brands can improve their customer experience. Here are vital elements of these interactions.

• Packaging: When a customer gets what they are expecting from the brand, then it boosts the customer experience, and from this interaction, you can retain your customer. 
• Welcome kit: When a customer purchases from your brand, then give them your welcoming equipment. You can provide them with a thank you note, promotional material, and samples of the brand. 
• Environment: The atmosphere your company provides to the customer is really important in enhancing their experience. It includes both physical and online stores.
  

3. Post-purchase touchpoints

The post-purchase brand touchpoints are vital for the satisfaction and retention of customers. Here are the core elements of fostering post-purchase touchpoints.

• Loyalty programs: From your company loyalty program, you can offer rewards to your customers after purchase. The bonuses can be membership cards, exclusive offers, promotions and so forth. 
• Customer service: Excellent customer service is one of the important elements that boost brand touchpoints. You can offer exceptional customer service through calls, emails, live chat, and social media support.
• Product experience: Of course, this is an important brand touchpoint, as when your customer gets their hands on your product and has outstanding experience with it, it leads to loyalty and trust. 
• Follow-up: You must stay connected with your audience and get their feedback on your service or product. Send them emails, calls, and surveys to engage and improve your services.
   

Apple’s Brand Recipe for Success

Apple has created a successful brand identity along with outstanding brand touchpoints that everyone admires. People love apple products because they consistently deliver core values across every interaction with customers.

• There’s no doubt that unboxing an Apple product is a splendid experience. The sleek logo, premium quality products, and packaging design enhance the brand touchpoints.
• Their website is easy to navigate with simple and modern design, high quality and consistency in style. 
• Apple retail stores are designed to boost the customer experience that aligns with their brand values. When you walk into the store of Apple, you can see a difference and a whole new experience from other retail stores. While clean aesthetics, good lighting, and well-arranged products (iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Watches, Apple TV,…) genius bar and welcoming staff make a perfect execution of the store. 
• Apple staff is trained and friendly—they give the ins and outs of the product and talk casually. They honestly help the people instead of compelling them to purchase a product. Apple stores are more than a retail store. It is like a communal meeting place that provides experience. 
• Indeed, Apple has stepped up the game of brand touchpoints to ensure that it reflects its brand values.

Final Thought

No doubt that creating a brand identity for a small business that includes logos, slogans, and colors is a vital aspect of the company. However, the holistic approach that can make your brand memorable is to watch out for those touchpoints.

Brand identity and touchpoints together build up a brand that generates raving customers. In a nutshell, investing in your brand identity while fostering the brand touchpoints is the smartest move to be a successful company in the long run.