Top Tips For Improving Your Businesses Identity

Before you start your business, you will no doubt spend a considerable amount of time deciding what you want to achieve, who your target audience is, how you’ll fund the business and what level of income you expect. All very important aspects of your business plan, but one thing you shouldn’t overlook is the importance of promoting your business’ identity.

What is a business identity?

A business identity motivates your potential customers to recognize and engage with your brand. It encompasses your business name, your logo, your color choices on marketing materials, and even how you engage with your customer base. It represents your opportunity to influence how customers perceive you and to build their trust. It is your promise to your customers to be true to your values.

Why is a business identity important?

An effective business identity ensures customers and potential customers recognize and think of your business whenever they see your logo or need a product or service you provide. Developing your brand and building positive associations with it in the minds of consumers means that you will always have a loyal customer base.

A solid and trusted business identity leaves consumers feeling emotionally connected with your business and motivated to support you, ultimately driving increased sales.

How do you develop a business identity?

Developing a business identity takes time and effort and isn’t something that can be done once and forgotten about. For consumers to truly buy into your brand, you need to spend time regularly engaging with them.

You need to start with a memorable business name that accurately represents what you do and suits your outward-facing persona. Your logo needs to incorporate your business name, with a color scheme that is appropriate both for the type of business that you are operating and the identity that you wish to portray. You need a clear vision for the business that customers can buy into, so it is essential to decide upfront what you wish your business to achieve and how you plan to deliver this service to your customers so that you can promote it accurately in your branding.

An effective logo for your business is one that can be used across a multitude of media, from flyers and business cards to the public face of any modern business - your website and social media. It should be easily recognizable and associated only with your business. It will, of course, feature prominently on your professionally-designed website from IIH Global, reinforcing your brand values consistently across all pages. The aim here is to develop a logo that consumers remember so that when they need something that you can deliver, yours is the first business that comes to mind.

Building a reputation

It is hard to build a reputation and very easy to destroy it so it is essential that once you have developed your brand’s identity you work hard to build and then maintain a positive image. Digital transformation and customer engagement are among the key elements of success here.. You want your business to be remembered for all the right reasons and for consumers to have only positive associations with it.

In today's sharing economy, much of the consumer opinion about a brand comes not from personal experiences with a business, but from the opinions and feedback of others and perceptions based on the look and feel of a business’ public-facing assets. You can control the look and feel of your business’ digital footprint with a professionally delivered and easy-to-update website and by targeting your social media posts to promote your brand’s identity and values. But you cannot control the opinion of other people.

Therefore it is vital that you maintain a focus on customer service at all times, responding accurately and quickly to all comments and feedback, regardless of where they come from and the medium in which they are delivered. You must be seen to be continually striving for improvements, recognizing and addressing any errors, and always aiming to deliver on what your customers want.

Service delivery matters and so does communication, so make sure that you are fully embracing digital platforms to deliver high-quality content that encourages two-way communication with your followers. Taking on board the experiences and opinions of others will show you in a positive light and feedback travels at fiber optic speed. Its importance cannot be overstated.