Successful brands differentiate themselves in the face of direct competition. Think of Apple vs. Microsoft, McDonald’s vs. Burger King, etc. You cannot mistake one for the other, even though they sell and offer the same things. This is mainly because each brand has a distinct identity, which connects with and communicates with target consumers, eventually leaving a lasting impression.
But what exactly is brand identity? What does it do to your construction business? And how can you develop a strong brand identity that takes your company to the next level?
Read on to learn more about brand identity and how to create one for your business!
What is Brand Identity?
Brand identity is the collection of all elements that a company crafts to portray the right image to its target consumers. In other ways, the visible elements of a specific brand, like colors, logo, and design – distinguish and identify the brand in consumers’ minds.
When you combine all these elements, your company describes and expresses itself. A strong brand identity reinforces your company’s reputation, popularity, and presence in the ever-competitive market.
Elements of a Brand Identity
A brand’s identity encompasses a lot of aspects. In many cases, visual elements regarding brand identity are always top of mind, but aspects like voice and values are equally and essentially important. Here are the main elements of brand identity that you must know:
1. Logo
A well-designed logo can live for many years and outdo cultural and language barriers. Let’s just say you see this particular logo and know at first glance what that brand is. A logo is the shorthand of your construction brand – which is one reason why a lot of effort goes into the design.
Create a combination of logos around a symbol and your company name. Here are some best practices for logo designing that you should incorporate:
- Creating a balance
- Combining your brand color palette
- Communicating your brand personality
- Embracing white space
- Adding repetitive patterns
- Highlighting a strong focal point
- Building hierarchy to guide your audience via your design
2. Color scheme
Colors are a primary component of your brand and can differentiate you from your competitors. Colors can also influence the perception of your target customers towards your brand and their decision-making process. Consider what you want to convey with the color palette you choose for your brand. Choose the ones that are in tune with your company.
Here are the different types of brand colors you will be choosing:
- Primary palette: These colors you will use the most, and they will express your brand’s main voice.
- Secondary palette: These are the colors you will use the least for background colors in marketing materials and other visualizations.
- Text colors
- Accessible color combinations
- Background colors
In construction, colors blue, black, brown, and red are considered the best colors to be used in the logo. These palettes are ideal as they invoke strength, reliability, trustworthiness, cost-efficiency, and durability.
3. Typography
Typography is your choice of font and typeface for your brand, including the guidelines that govern how you use them. Picking the right typography for your construction logo can bolster your whole brand. The fonts you will use for any of these are the key to effective brand awareness.
Below are five main font families you will get to choose from. Each font family has its personality. Once you understand each font’s characteristics, you can decide which best represents your construction business.
- Serif: Conveys an air of formality and tradition. This font is ideal for all academic, financial, and editorial organizations.
- Sans-serif: Straightforward and easy to read. This font style is a popular option among start-up companies.
- Slab-serif: Bold and impactful. This font is usually used by car and tech companies.
- Script: This is best suited for businesses wanting to express and add a personal touch.
- Decorative: This font is fun, loud, and entertaining. They are perfect for logos that have shorter business names.
For construction, the best pick will be Sans-serif. However, play around with the many online fonts and try different combinations!
Pro Tip: It is best to stick to two types of fonts. It has become a golden rule among businesses today. If you consider having more than two, that can be slightly confusing.
4. Voice and tone
Both voice and tone can help you convey your brand personality in writing. If your visual makes your brand look like you, your tone and voice make your brand sound like you. It’s just that simple. Depending on how you want to communicate and connect to your audience, you may want to create a sense of authority, objectivity, and formality in your tone.
5. Imagery
Brand imagery includes photography, illustration, and iconography. Think of how your construction website’s product and background images can affect your brand overall. Ensure the photos you incorporate into your brand represent your company’s personality and reflect its values.
Create a Strong Brand Identity in Four Ways
1. Know who you are
Before you put all the tangible elements that make up your brand identity, it is important that you need to know first who you are as a construction brand. Here are some key elements that help you determine who you are as a brand:
- Your values: What beliefs drive your construction company?
- Your mission: What is your “Why’s”
- Your brand personality: If your construction brand was a person, what personality would it possess?
- Your unique positioning: How do you effectively differentiate your brand from the competition?
- Your brand voice: If your construction brand was a person, how would it communicate?
The above elements are what define your brand. So, before you begin developing your brand identity, you must understand each better and clearer. Do not worry if you are having trouble figuring out who you are, do not worry. Sometimes, you only need to partner with the right construction marketing agency to work closely with you at every stage – from defining, designing, and developing across all brand touchpoints and platforms.
ConstructionMarketing.io specializes in branding. Our agency elevates brands with top-tier digital experiences. We start by developing a targeted plan that produces great results and resonates with your audience. Call us today. We offer consultations for free!
2. Analyze your audience in depth
Brand identity is also about your audience. You must conduct a thorough audience analysis to know your target construction clients. Analyzing can help you dive deeper into the demographic profile and learn the pain points and challenges of your top-performing clients and your most engaged audience.
Also, if you are a small construction business owner, you largely depend on your local consumers to know your brand. Apart from doing an audience analysis, you can also integrate Local SEO into your overall brand strategy. Local Search engine optimization can help you target specific audiences within your geographic area.
3. Strengthen your brand image
In many scenarios, the barrier to your brand growth is usually due to your marketing team being the only one with the right fonts, codes, and brand-approved photos. With this setup, you are limiting your company from reaching a wider audience.
Make sure to strengthen your brand image. The stronger it is, the stronger your brand identity too, overall. Having a stronger brand identity means you can communicate:
- What you believe in or stand for
- What you exactly do and how you do things differently
- What you truly represent
The most successful brands integrate their brand identity into their marketing team, sales, and content – boosting brand awareness and loyalty.
4. Set up your goals and brand strategy
Let’s say you already know many things about your audience and have a plan to ensure brand integrity – your brand strategy will guide you to the overall evolution of your visual brand. Your brand strategy must be tailored to every medium of communication you choose, like social media, website, email marketing, PR, and offline media. Your content also has to match when it comes to the overall look, feel, and tone – working together to represent your brand better.
ConstructionMarketing.io Helps Brands
A successful brand can convey brand uniqueness and personality, inspire confidence, and encourage buying activities while delivering true value to the audience.
You may think that brand identity is a simple marketing concept, but in actuality, developing it is complex. If you want to be guided, ask for professional help from our agency.
ConstructionMarketing.io is a highly trusted digital marketing agency that can help support the creation and growth of your brand identity. From social media posting and landing pages to digital ads, our agency can help you develop a cohesive branding strategy that boosts your brand’s visibility, improves your lead acquisition, widens your reach, and takes your brand to another level!
We focus on brand sustainability. Thus, all our marketing solutions are designed for long-term growth.
A partnership with ConstructionMarketing.io means trusting your brand to the top experts. So, trust that we do what is best for your construction business. We are here to power up your brand!