Your brand impacts every aspect of your relationship with customers. While the essence of branding looks like the old iceberg diagram—the logo, color scheme and other elements you see above the surface are only “the tip of the iceberg”—there’s no denying that most people recognize a brand primarily by its visual representation.
With this in mind, let’s break away from the intangibles—purpose, personality, values, etc.—and focus on what customers can see. The strongest brands are meticulously detail-oriented and consistent. Not only do they dot their i’s and cross their t’s, they do so to the exact same specifications, every single time. Why?
Visual Identity
Branding is the business equivalent of buttoning up. Even if a brand itself is fun or quirky, the branding should be deliberate and refined. You want to look the same—or at least similar—across every touch point.
Please, don’t read this as a recommendation to put everything on a boring, basic template. There are so many little things we can do to add a subtle twist to a brand while still maintaining its visual identity. Not only that, continually introducing new, on-brand elements helps to extend and solidify that identity. Think visual icons, a hint of a new color, custom photography, creatively designed collateral, etc.
Trust and Rapport
The value in a visual identity is much greater than people simply knowing your brand when they see it. A well-branded company is perceived as polished, professional, and the safer choice. An attorney with a pixelated logo on their flyer? Either they don’t notice, don’t have a team around them, don’t have time to fix it, or don’t see a problem with poor representation. Is that someone who lacks attention to detail the person you would like to hire to manage your legal matters? Go with the attorney who has a clean website, sharp business card and thoughtful welcome packet, all tied together through branding.
While brand consistency builds trust, the examples seen in the pictures above establish rapport. People begin to associate your identity with comfort or reassurance, which makes them more receptive to your message and offerings. There’s a strong argument (one that we ourselves make) to the inverse of that equation—that the meaning behind a brand is more important—but again, we’re talking pure “look and feel” for the purpose of this discussion.
Lead Generation and Conversions
If you’re investing in advertising but neglecting your brand, the disconnect will sabotage your efforts. Sure, you might have a phenomenal message that gets new customers to click on your banner ad. But more often, the click is one out of familiarity and not necessarily enticement. There is no single ad you can buy that will change the trajectory of your business; the name of the game is widespread and ongoing visibility.
Branding and advertising go hand in hand. The brand gets people to respond to the ad and visit the website. The website then reinforces the brand and lets people know they have come to the right place from the ad. So, how about we take a look at your brand and see if we spot any oddities? Contact us to get started.
