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Craft your credibility, establish a strong brand identity without breaking the bank
Craft your credibility, establish a strong brand identity without breaking the bank
According to Hubspot: ‘A visual identity is the visible representation of a brand, from the logo and colors to the website and design of physical stores’.
The key term in the above definition is representation. Your visual identity represents or captures who you are as a business. It should reflect your personality, the value you deliver, your services and how you want to be perceived by others.
With such a strong purpose, it’s important to be familiar with the elements that can constitute your visual identity.
This may be:
- Your logo
- Colour palette
- Typography
- Photography
- Graphics
- Animations/videos
Most of the above elements will apply to every business, regardless of industry or business size, and every one contributes to the visual story of your company.
Why is visual identity important for SMEs?
As an SME, defining clear space for yourself in the market can be tough. You’re competing with larger and longer-established companies who’ve built up their reputations over time. Getting potential customers to put faith in your business is one of the first hurdles you’ll need to overcome.
Having a strong visual identity can help with that.
At first glance, a company’s visual identity can seem like something that’s nice to look at, but not much more. But once you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll quickly come to realise why it’s so important.
First impressions
When you encounter a brand for the first time (especially online), the initial experience is often purely visual. You won’t have the opportunity to talk to the people behind the brand straight away.
This means your visual identity needs to leave a positive impression from the outset.
To do this, you need to ensure that:
- It reflects who you are as a brand accurately
- It stands out from the rest of the market
- It’s consistent
- It evokes a positive emotional response
It’s across your entire business
Another reason why your visual identity is crucial is because it sits everywhere, across the entirety of your business.
Whether it’s your website, your products, your social media, your business cards, your advertisements, your event materials or your printed collateral, its impact is felt far and wide.
This means wherever your identity appears, your prospective customers, your existing customers, your partners and your employees will be experiencing and forming opinions about your business on a visual basis.
It communicates trust and credibility
A study in Corporate Communications: An International Journal concluded that a corporate visual identity plays a major role in supporting a brand’s reputation.
A brand with consistent visuals across an array of media will generate more loyalty from customers and, in turn, trust.
It also conveys you as a credible business. A company with a colour palette that changes across platforms, logos of different sizes and fonts that don’t match up instantly gives red flags.
This is because a consistent visual identity reflects the time and effort a business puts into itself, and therefore in its clients.
It gives you recognition
As mentioned previously, your visual identity is often the first thing people will experience regarding your business. If executed well, it will help you stand out and gain recognition among your audience.
This is especially important if you’re trying to make your way in a crowded market or sector.
Being recognisable boosts your top of funnel marketing, meaning you will attract more potential customers. This is great for growth and your business’s bottom line.
Establishing your visual identity – overcoming obstacles as an SME
As a small business, marketing yourself can be tough. You won’t have the same budget as your larger competitors, and gaining the brand recognition you need to grow can feel like an uphill battle.
But fear not, because with Powered by Proctors, we can help you establish a strong and professional visual identity and help you overcome some of the challenges of being an SME breaking into the market.
You may be wondering what Powered by Proctors is. Stay tuned, because we'll be releasing a new service in the coming months. If you want to find out more or have any enquiries in the meantime email enquiries@poweredbyproctors.com.
Often, businesses who aren't in the creative industry tend to struggle with establishing their visual identity due to their lack of creative resource or experience. Not every company can have an in-house design team ready to put together their visions.
In addition to that, we frequently come across companies who offer niche products or services which can be difficult to communicate visually to their audiences. Especially in a clear and succinct way.
And then tie this together with a pre-existing visual identity that isn’t cohesive with your overall brand and the prospect of having to spend large sums of money rectifying this.
Do any of these issues sound familiar to you?
With Powered by Proctors, our team of highly experienced, award-winning creatives can apply their extensive knowledge to your brand and form a visual identity that reflects who you are as a business in a way that stands out for all the right reasons.
We have experience across an array of sectors from manufacturing to technology, so we know what it takes to make a brand distinctive, no matter the products or services you’re selling.
Key takeaways
- A brand’s visual identity will sit across the entire business
- Visual identity is crucial for all businesses, including SMEs
- When done right, your visual identity can boost your bottom line
- With Powered by Proctors, we can help you overcome common obstacles faced by smaller businesses when it comes to establishing a visual identity
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According to Hubspot: ‘A visual identity is the visible representation of a brand, from the logo and colors to the website and design of physical stores’.
The key term in the above definition is representation. Your visual identity represents or captures who you are as a business. It should reflect your personality, the value you deliver, your services and how you want to be perceived by others.
With such a strong purpose, it’s important to be familiar with the elements that can constitute your visual identity.
This may be:
- Your logo
- Colour palette
- Typography
- Photography
- Graphics
- Animations/videos
Most of the above elements will apply to every business, regardless of industry or business size, and every one contributes to the visual story of your company.