You already know that your brand is so much more than your logo, fonts, and colours. But this isn’t a blog about your brand foundations. This is a blog about how to use your brand identity to grow your small business.
Because when you understand the role your brand identity plays as a business tool for growth, you’ll quickly discover new opportunities to maximize your efforts for increased recognition and revenue.
CONTENTS
THE UNSEEN POWER YOUR BRAND IDENTITY HAS OVER YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH
Your brand identity is like the stuntman in movies. (Okay, yes—maybe I just watched Fall Guy and this metaphor is top of mind. But it’s true.) Stuntmen are executing unthinkable maneuvers and, by design, are not to be seen.
Your brand identity’s success operates much the same way. Its conversion power goes unnoticed. You’re not meant to understand the reasons why a brand identity is drawing you into a business. It happens on a subconscious level—and it happens in an instant.
Your brand identity plays three significant roles in your business growth. Each one of these roles supports your client’s along their conversion journey.
Let’s dive in so you can optimize your brand identity to grow your small business.
1. BUILDING BRAND AWARENESS TO GROW YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
The easiest way to build brand awareness is with a distinct and memorable brand identity. There are a lot of brands vying for our attention these days and if you want to grow your online business, your brand identity needs to be easy to recognize.
Using a logo template or other generic brand identity will only have your small business blending in with the crowd.
Investing in a truly original brand identity with tailored brand assets will give your small business what it needs to stand out online visually.
However, a distinct brand identity on its own isn’t going to be enough. You need to be using your brand identity consistently. This is supported by having a brand style guide with brand guidelines to uphold.
This visual consistency makes your brand memorable and easy to identify for new audiences—boosting brand awareness. The visual brand consistency and memorability also keeps you top of mind with your existing audience.
I give you the full scoop on how to use brand consistency for increased conversions in my free Brand Consistency Guide.
The point is, the more familiar your brand becomes, the more your audience begins to trust your brand. This is known as the mere exposure effect.
To grow your small business, the first step is building brand awareness. And it’s your brand identity that is designed to facilitate this top of funnel attention.
2. OFFER AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION THROUGH YOUR BRAND EXPERIENCE
A significant part of our decision to buy or invest in a service is based on emotion. Understanding your ideal client in a nuanced way is vital to grow your small business. Specifically, the emotional needs and desires of your ideal client.
Here are a few brand discovery questions I ask my branding clients to reflect on when designing their brand identity:
what is the problem your ideal clients face that your business solves?
what emotional problems arise from having that problem? (i.e. consider the ripple effect their problem has in their lives.)
how are they currently feeling?
how do they aim to feel instead?
what feeling are they seeking from a business or brand like yours?
These discovery questions help you put yourself in the mind of your target audience so you can design a brand identity that caters to their emotional needs.
Client Case Study
In developing the brand identity for the Cultivating Calm app, it goes without saying that we needed to create a brand experience that catered to the feeling of calm. Their target audience is women living with high-functioning anxiety, so it was important that every design choice would counter their feelings of anxiety. If we were to have created a very busy, chaotic brand experience, it would certainly hinder their growth.
Having this kind of awareness around the emotional needs of your target audience allows you to design a brand identity that will quickly resonate with them and make them feel comfortable buying from you.
So consider the emotional state of your ideal client and how they desire to feel instead. Do you want your brand identity to:
bring them joy?
inspire them?
activate them?
calm them?
Using emotional branding strategies in your brand identity will support your small business growth because it fosters an emotional connection with your target audience. They want to work with a business that has a clear understanding of who they are and how they’re feeling.
And while it happens on a subconscious level, it’s those subtle but strategic design choices that will make them feel a connection to your brand, leading to their serious consideration of your business.
3. YOUR BRAND IDENTITY SETS EXPECTATIONS THAT WILL GROW YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
When you’re on the hunt for the right service provider, chances are you’re doing some reconnaissance. You’re visiting their website and social channels looking for any and all clues that your investment will be worthwhile.
In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Ries and Trout say:
“All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.”
How you show up as a brand is so significant when it comes to making that sale or landing that next client. Your brand identity sets the expectation around your business and what you’re able to achieve for them.
If you’re a service provider, the quality of your brand identity and the perception it creates is everything. Unlike your product-based peers, you don’t have a tangible product that a potential buyer can analyze and judge for themselves.
You’re selling something that can’t always be seen. And when you sell something that can’t be shown—especially if it has a high-end price tag—your potential client will look to the outside of your business (i.e your brand identity) to form their opinion.
If your brand identity looks like it was made in Canva, it may suggest you’re a new business that’s inexperienced. This could lead to a lot of tire-kicker leads and rate barterers.
But if you have a thoughtfully designed brand identity, a strong and consistent brand experience that carries across your brand touch points—it suggests your business is paying attention to the finer details.
It offers your potential client a positive feeling, a sense of care, and a glimpse of what it may be like to work with you.
First impressions are everything in the world of branding. Keeping in mind just how short our attention spans are, when you have a kick-ass brand identity that’s been designed to be memorable, emotional, and communicate your caliber—you’ll be able to grow your small business with so much ease.
This is exactly what I help my clients do and I would love to support you in the same way. Join me for an intro call to tell me about your business goals and I’ll paint a picture of what’s truly possible on the other side of professional branding. Your small business deserves to get noticed and my small business branding services will help you earn more recognition and revenue.
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Jenny Henderson Studio develops memorable brand experiences and strategic brand foundations to improve recognition and revenue for service-based small businesses.
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