Beyond a Logo: Having a Complete Visual Identity Can Transform Your Business
A lot of business owners, especially new small-business owners gearing up to launch for the first time, understand that they need a logo. A logo is definitely essential to communicating your brand to your audience, but if you only have that one component of your identity, that can lead to your marketing, communication, and other branded materials falling short of what they can truly be capable of.
In this previous post, I broke down what the differences are between a visual identity and a brand. That visible part of the iceberg doesn't just have "logo" inside it—it includes colors, fonts, graphics (patterns, textures, icons, etc.), and image treatments.
Here's why having more than just a logo serving as your identity can more effectively represent your brand and be transformative for your business:
Having a full suite of identity assets provides you (and any designers you work with) with the answers on how to create all of your branded touch points, from your website to your social media. Having just a logo may provide some info: say one or two colors and one or two fonts to use on collateral. This is possibly sufficient for a very small business that's just starting out. But a built out identity that includes a full color palette, guidance on how to use your brand fonts, plus assets like icons or patterns, paints a fuller picture of what your brand stands for. Plus, having a more holistic and complete identity gives you the flexibility to do more visually while still staying on-brand.
A complete identity distinguishes you from the rest of the market. Consider social media alone: over 91% of companies (with 100+ employees) use social media for marketing purposes; with small businesses, over half of the market engages on social actively. That's a lot of competition to deal with! Having a well-defined and cohesive identity will help differentiate your business from everyone else's. This is especially crucial online, but just as much offline—if you have a brick-and-mortar location, extending your identity in the space will also provide an experience that separates your business from any other similar business in the same neighborhood or city. For instance, if you run a coffee shop and offer the same kinds of drinks as, say, Starbucks, one enduring way to differentiate yourself from the Starbucks that is most likely around the corner is a unique identity. It's carried out in signage, furniture, decor, your menu design, etc. Having great coffee and excellent customer service is also important of course, and a specific and cohesive identity will only enhance those features by echoing the right tones and feelings you'd want your patrons to experience when they visit your shop.
A full visual identity helps you reach the right people. There are 4.55 billion people using social media. You certainly don't want to communicate to everyone, otherwise no one will hear you. A cohesive identity helps reach the right people in the right ways. Developing an identity requires a deep knowledge of your audience, and understanding their likes, dislikes, motivations, and other details will help you (and a designer) know exactly how to connect to those people through the visuals you project. And when your customers feel connected to you and your business, they'll purchase from you over and over again. This actually saves you money in the long run—it's less expensive to convert past customers than to convince new ones to purchase.
An identity that goes just beyond a logo helps legitimize your business. With a cohesion across all the materials that your identity is applied to, especially your marketing, your audience will start to recognize you more easily from other similar businesses. Over time, recognition becomes connection, because you're communicating the same tones of voice, the same ideas, the same values, consistently. Connection is anchored by trust, and that trust is needed for your audience to feel compelled to purchase from you.
A complete identity also represents you and your business' values more accurately and effectively. There's only so much a logo can say! Relying too much on a logo to carry your brand will make it difficult for anyone to connect to what you want to communicate. Color psychology explains how color can express A LOT. Having a full brand palette can help your audience feel the right emotions you'd want them to feel when looking at your website, social, product, etc, and emotion is a huge factor in someone making a purchase. Typography also does the same by extending a consistent tone of voice in your communication. If you want to come across as mature and professional, but your typography makes your words look funky and youthful, that clash will confuse your audience and make it more difficult for them to purchase.
There's so much more I could say about the power of a complete identity. Expect to read more of my thoughts on branding and identity design here on the blog—it's what I specialize in and am here to offer you! If you want to chat further about anything I've gone over here, let me know. I'd love to hear from you.
