How to create a unique personality for your business

Branding

Harness the power of your brand by creating a unique brand identity with a persona that successfully connects with your audience.

You can’t just throw some seeds into the soil and expect it to grow into a beautiful plant and provide you with fruit if you don’t nurture it.

In this sense, your brand is very much like a plant. If you don’t pay attention to it, water it, place it in sunlight now and then again, and move it a bigger pot when it grows, you’ll end up killing it.

Pretty plants draw in new customers, and tasty fruit will keep them coming back for more. Don’t kill your plant (and brand identity) by neglecting it.

Here’s a 6-step guide to creating your very own unique brand personality that best suits your business.

1. Understand your audience

There’s an argument to be made that the first step is deciding who you are before understanding your audience. The downside is that you run the risk of developing a brand identity that clashes with your viewers.

Your audience is your potential customers, and you should investigate their likes and dislikes, as well as what they’re looking for in your product before creating your identity. Understanding this allows you to create your brand’s personality so that it connects strongly with them.

You wouldn’t target CEO’s or business owners as you would college students, which is why it’s essential to learn what your target audience wants from your product and create a brand that speaks to them.

This an excellent opportunity to also investigate your competitors. If you can identify some of their winning branding techniques, you’ll have a better understanding of what works, and what doesn’t. The same is true for competitors that don’t perform well.

2. Create a voice and personality

Think of your brand as a person and give them a personality with a specific tone of voice. Are they:

  • Funny
  • Serious
  • Sarcastic
  • Dry humor
  • Knowledgeable

You can also mix and match to create a tone for your brand identity that connects with your audience and represents your business.

If you get stuck trying to create a voice, make a list of words that describe your business. Pick the most important ones and imagine someone is telling you they represent all of them. How do you visualize this person? Really go into detail. Is it a man or a woman? Young or old? Has a moustache? Once you can imagine your brand as a person, it becomes easier to create a voice for them.

3. Create a logo and color scheme

Your logo is the most visually recognizable piece of your brand’s identity puzzle. It lets you bring your brand to life by giving it a strong visual representation that compliments the vibe given by your tone of voice. Creating a logo can be a tricky and pricy feat, however, thanks to a variety of logo maker softwares out there, it’s easier to design the main key points of a logo.

Icons – Using an icon or a symbol can help separate your brand from the competition and give it life. Stay away from abstract designs such as meaningless shapes. Instead, use imagery that represents your brand’s product and identity. So don’t use a fun looking icon if you’re a serious company.

Colors – Choose a color scheme that complements your brand’s personality and doesn’t clash with it. A law firm isn’t likely to use pink because it’s a fun color. Black is more professional and looks serious.

Don’t forget you’ll also be using your brand colors in all of your marketing. Every email, social media post, or magazine advert will have your brand’s colors.

Fonts – Whatever you do, don’t neglect to choose a font that’s unique and showcases who you are. Companies can use expressive fonts to showcase their personality. You must also use your font consistently, especially if you don’t have an icon in your logo.

Extra reading – How to Design a Logo (Even if You’re Not a Designer)

4. Document everything

Document all of your branding with a brand guide that you can send to everyone to follow. If you’re the only one in charge of creating brand assets, then it’s less of a problem. But if not, this will ensure that everyone can successfully create brand assets that strictly follow your brands chosen voice and identity, and it remains consistent.

5. Don’t be a copycat

If your biggest competitors have a strong brand of their own, don’t copy it. Your audience will most likely be able to tell what you’re doing, and it will reflect poorly on you. Instead, understand what they’re doing that works, and put your own twist on it to help your brand stand out even more.

6. Analyze and remain consistent

If you’re not tracking your performance, you won’t know what’s working and what’s not. Tools such as Google analytics, customer surveys, social media comments all help to understand how your brand is doing. Take note of positive results and identify what helped to make it a success.

If you’re not connecting with anyone or if your brand isn’t memorable, you can still fix it. But you won’t be able to adjust or implement new strategies if you’re not analyzing your current one.

Unique fonts, colors, tone of voice and a logo are all parts of the secret recipe for creating a unique brand personality that your audience will recognize and connect with.