What is a brand identity? A logo, a colour palette, a set of values, a way of doing business? 

The answer…all of the above. Your brand identity can’t be expressed within a single element of your business. Instead, a powerful brand identity is an amalgam of who you are, what you do and how you do it.

Your brand identity is your way of communicating with the word. A strong, well-positioned brand is key to the success of any business, as it forms customers’ perceptions of your brand and drives their experience with you.

So, how do you build a brand identity that’s seamless from one touchpoint to the next? Consistency.

Let’s explore not only why this consistency is so important, but how you can pull it off for your brand.

Think visually 

Your brand’s aesthetic is one key ingredient of your overall brand identity. 

As the first things to catch an audience’s eye, visual elements such as your logo, typeface and colour palette shouldn’t just look good – they should also embody your brand, and project what it represents.

Let’s start with colour. You should be thinking clean and flexible when opting for your brand’s colour palette – consider how adaptable your choices will be across different formats, for example. This will ensure consistency is achieved from the off, with your website, social feeds and forums seamlessly complementing one another.

To find the right colours for your brand identity, think about the emotions your palette elicits – do these emotions give users the right gut feeling about who you are?

Next, consider your typography. Of course, this isn’t something you’re always in complete control of – take social media captions, for example (where these networks’ own standardised formatting dictates how all text appears). Where you do have the freedom of typography, though, look to embrace a style that sets the tone of your brand.

From website headers to document titles, think logically about where best to incorporate your branded typeface – and use this to best effect where it counts. The trick is to ensure that each visual element of your brand contributes to a cohesive visual identity.

Refine your user journey

When you think of ‘design’, you’d be forgiven for assuming the focus was solely on visuals. 

However, service design can also be an integral part of implementing a consistent brand identity.

To borrow this great analogy from Marc Fonteijn, imagine two coffee shops side by side. Each sells the same coffee at the same price – service design is what influences a customer to choose one over the other.

Service design entails a whole lot of research. It involves getting to know the ins and outs of your audience – their habits, their behaviours, their pain points – and uses these as the foundation for any design decisions.

Service design also takes into account the experiences of all other parties connected to your business – your suppliers, your employees, your marketing team and the rest – to establish must-have features from the perspective of both brand and customer.

This makes collaboration the key to understanding both in-house and outward perceptions of your brand. Armed with this understanding, you can perform the necessary adjustments to create a targeted and satisfying experience for all involved.

The result? Cohesive user journeys across various formats and devices – mobile apps, websites, social media feeds and brick-and-mortar stores – to create a holistic brand experience.

Perfect your tone of voice

You’ve probably heard the term ‘tone of voice’ thrown around often in conversations about branding. That’s because it’s one of the primary facets of your brand identity. 

Your tone of voice is the style in which your brand communicates. As such, it should embrace your brand’s personality, values, purpose and vision – easier said than done.

Pinpointing your brand’s tone of voice requires a thorough understanding of both your brand and audience, so spend the necessary time taking a deep dive into user data and personas to get to know who your brand is communicating with.

Use your findings to inspire your tone of voice. Pay particular attention to the words you use and the way you use them. At a minimum, you should be able to define:

• Your diction
• The formality of your tone
• Your syntax 

From here, look to create detailed guidelines on your tone of voice to ensure consistency across all communications.

Tailor your blog content

Blog content is often overlooked as a brand identity tool, but, with your tone of voice established, your blog content can be an effective way to reassert who you are and what you do.

The key is to think about the types of topics you address. With a clear picture in mind of your brand’s personality, values, purpose and vision, ask yourself how these drive the sorts of conversations you want to be involved in.

Approach this from two angles. Firstly, that of the topics themselves. Are you creating blog content on topics that matter to your brand?

Secondly, think about the approach you take. If you’ve landed on a fun and informal personality for your brand, is that matter-of-fact how-to guide going to embrace this brand identity? Probably not.

That’s not to say you should actively avoid these formats or topics, though. It’s about being creative and finding the angle that’s unmistakably you.

Let’s say your fun and informal brand is positioned within the tech industry. As we’ve already agreed, a matter-of-fact ‘how to set up your X’ guide is unlikley to hit the mark. To bake your brand identity into the angle, consider a more vibrant take on the same topic: ‘the technophobe’s guide to not breaking your X’, for example.

See how easy that was?

Embrace your values 

We’ve already touched on how important your brand’s core values are.

This is because they define who you are as a brand. When it comes to building a consistent brand identity, this becomes particularly important – everyone needs to be on the same page as to who you are and what drives your brand forward.

To better understand how these values contribute to your brand identity, break them down and consider the influence each has:

• Social values – if your brand has a philanthropic stance, how will this impact your tone? Do you need to operate or communicate in a certain way? 
• Epistemic / functional values – if you’re driven by the validation of a mission, how will your brand identity affect your brand’s authority and success?
• Emotional values – are you driven by a specific belief or feeling? If so, how will your brand identity reflect with this position?

It’s important to note that this shouldn’t be left to interpretation. Find objective answers and detail them in your brand guidelines to ensure consistency across the board.

Know when to show off your brand identity

With a cohesive brand identity set in stone, don’t fall at the final hurdle. You need to know when to show it off and how to show it off.

Champion the mantra of ‘show, don’t tell’, embracing visuals, values, designs and content to create an all-encompassing brand identity that can (and should) feature in each element of your business.

The skill is in making sure you don’t overdo it. Whether it’s the amount of colour in your palette or the amount of content you churn out on a monthly basis, it’s always best to opt for quality over quantity.

Now, for the matter of how to show off your brand identity.

Never underestimate the power of subtlety. A consistent brand image isn’t about plastering your logo and brand colours here, there and everywhere. Instead, it’s about igniting the subconscious with enough familiarity and connectedness that the user always feels immersed in your brand’s world.

Our online community engagement platform is the key to giving your brand identity a whole new dimension.

To learn more about how the Six Circles platform could enrich your brand, get in touch to request your free demo.