Slidegenius, Inc.

Determining Your Brand’s Identity

Brand image is everything. Customers prefer companies they identify with. Your brand image is the fastest way for customers to connect with you.

At SlideGenius, we’ve been working with clients since 2012 to develop their message and reach customers while staying within their established brand identity.

Relatability fosters trust, which inspires loyalty. Brand image is how the consumers perceive your brand, and this perception is derived from your brand identity.

That said, how do you determine the right identity for your brand?

Define Your Principles

Decide what kind of company you are. What makes you different from your competitors?

Identify the unique element that you can bring to the table.  Before you can project the kind of image that you want to your consumers, you must know yourself first.

Ask yourself the following:

  • What are your company’s mission and vision?
  • What is your company’s core philosophy?
  • What are your company’s critical business goals?
  • Is there a key message that you want to advocate?

You need to carefully consider and answer the questions above. You are forming the foundation of your identity, the basis of the audience’s perception of your brand.

If you have the answers pat down, you can start outlining your PowerPoint.

Define Your Target Audience

After getting to know your company, the next step is determining the people you are selling to. Who is your target audience? What kind of consumers do you want to attract? What are their demographics?

Go into specifics. Take into consideration their age, their income bracket. Define all the possible data. Research your chosen audience so you can customize a strategy that will address what they want and what they need.

Once you have set the parameters on the kind of audience you would like to attract and have done the research, determine the elements that would appeal to them. Playful? Relaxed? Exclusive?

Define Your Brand’s Personality

What five words would describe you best? It’s a good time to sit and brainstorm on keywords, descriptors, adjectives that would apply to your brand. Consider the emotion or feeling that you want to evoke when people mention your brand.

Never underestimate the power of emotion, the driving force of human actions and motivations. Consumers purchase from brands they are comfortable with and have the same principles as they do.

To create a more compelling identity, take the descriptors that you have come up with and form a brand persona from there.

A persona can range from “cool hip uncle” to “health conscious millennial.” The persona you create should be consistent with your company’s core principles, mission, vision, and the type of audience that you want to attract. Keep your persona simple but significant to the message that you want to put across.

Once you have defined your brand’s principles, audience and persona, you now have a brand identity.

To reinforce the identity, design your logo, establish you company colors, craft the tone of your content and choose the typeface that will be identified with your brand.

Remember the identity that you have determined when making your visual choices, as every element will reinforce your identity.

Here at SlideGenius, our expertise in constructing PowerPoint presentations helps businesses reinforce their brand identity through presentations, content, and imagery. We’ve helped thousands of people stay true to their brand identity while helping to bring their value to their forefront of their messaging. If you find yourself struggling, contact us for a free quote today!

Reinforcing Your Brand Identity

You’ve probably heard the terms “brand identity” and “brand image.” They’re both important. But do you know the difference?

Your brand identity is how you want people to perceive your brand. Brand image, on the other hand, is how people currently see your brand.

At SlideGenius, we’ve spent years making sure that our clients are presenting themselves in the best possible manner. Each client gets their own dedicated design team.

If you’re a bit uncertain about telling your brand identity from your brand image, we have a few ideas for you.

Form Your Visual Signature

Humans are visual creatures. Our memories are deeply tied to what we see. We associate moments and feelings to colors, images, scenes. So, usually, when we talk about brands or companies, the first image that comes to mind is the logo.

Your logo will be an intrinsic part of your identity. It will appear on emails, stationery, ads and anything that connects to your company.

It must reflect the personality of your brand. Is it fun, creative and active?Or is it more subdued, minimalist and classic? Take the time to conceptualize your logo and, if you are able, hire a professional to design it.

Take note that your logo should reflect the company’s colors and your chosen typeface.

Choosing your company colors is as important as conceptualizing your logo.

Most people base their decisions on emotion. Apart from this, color psychology has been widely used in branding and marketing.

Consider what emotions you want your target audience to feel. Make sure that the chosen emotion also fits your brand’s identity.

The other element of your logo is the typeface.

Fonts carry layers of subliminal communication and meaning, much like color. Do you want your brand to exude strength and power? Consider a typeface with sharp and angled edges. Soft and graceful? Cursive might work well. Make sure that, like color, your chosen typeface matches your brand’s identity.

As a final touch, create your company’s tagline or slogan. Your tagline must be short, simple, and consistent with your brand’s identity.

If you’re having trouble with the design, consult with SlideGenius today. Branding is one of the areas we specialize in.

Content Is King

Once you have formed your visual signature, another avenue to reinforce your brand is to create a steady stream of content on all your company’s channels. Content is essential in your public relations, enabling the audience to know you better through blog posts, articles, white papers and other media such as videos and photos.

To create quality content, you have to determine your brand’s voice first. Is it friendly? Professional? Technical? Like your visual signature, your brand’s voice must match your brand identity so that your target market can relate and trust you more.

Once you have decided on a voice, use it to create your content, whether it be written, photos, or video. Keep it relatable but significant, whether in inspiring brand loyalty or upselling your services.

Social Expression

Finally, utilize social media to closely engage with your audience using your brand voice. Imprint your brand identity on your social media accounts. Utilize your logo, tagline, colors. Write and promote posts that align with your identity. Use your brand voice to converse with the audience.

Social media allows you to encourage conversation, providing a platform to promote and reinforce your identity to the world.

Find a Design Agency that Supports Your Brand Identity

Remember that you are telling your brand’s story. Integrate the elements of your brand’s identity in everything you do, whether it be on social media, presenting to a client, or talking to a large audience. Consistency is important, and in time your brand image will develop organically and inspire a loyal following.

At SlideGenius, we help businesses reinforce their brand identity and shape their brand image through presentations, content, and imagery. We have helped thousands of people create dynamic PowerPoint presentations that bring your value to the forefront while elevating your brand identity. We’ve helped people raise more than $500 million over the years. We can help you, too. Reach out to find out to find out if you can help.

Nightmare Fuel: How to Save Sales Presentations Gone Bad

Sometimes you lose prospective clients due to clunky sales presentations. You may have exerted all your effort on calling them and following up, but you may have already committed mistakes that cost you their trust. Don’t worry.

Once identified, it’ll be easy to wake up from these presentation nightmares:

Avoid the Information Quicksand

nightmare-fuel-sales-presentation-01

Rapid technological advancement and increased connectivity leads us to believe that oversharing is a good thing. In sales, it’s an entirely different story. While working with a narrative builds rapport and puts the audience at ease, overdoing it could trap you in a chatty, irrelevant loop that diverts your flow.

Stop boring your audience to death. List down at least three value propositions that are relevant to you and your target market. Make sure your visuals are simple and understandable, enough for anyone to immediately get your main message.

Find Your Core Identity

nightmare-fuel-sales-presentation-02

There’s plenty of competition out there. If you can’t make an impact on your leads, you’ll end up losing them. To avoid getting sucked into anonymity, highlight your brand’s best features and show how they’re unique from other offers. Supplement these with an engaging PowerPoint that both catches the eye and shows off your content.

You can add testimonials from past trusted customers who give positive feedback on your services. These will help draw your listeners’ attention to the benefits of investing in you.

Vanquish the Personal Bias Phantom

nightmare-fuel-sales-presentation-03

Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that your audience’s perspective automatically aligns with yours. Remember that these are people you have yet to win over. Since they aren’t invested yet in your services, they won’t appreciate a lengthy discussion of your history or anything that moves away from finding out your relevance to them.

Assume that you’re starting with a blank slate and you have to explain some things that would otherwise seem clear to you because of your knowledge of the company. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes. Do thorough research on their background, needs, and interests as early as your planning stage.

Let them know that you understand where they’re coming from, and that that’s where you’re headed, too.

Turn on the Night Light

nightmare-fuel-sales-presentation-04

Making a sales presentation can be very challenging. Plenty of presenters end up digging their own graves. But with enough practice and awareness, you’ll be able to map out feasible solutions. Stave off the nightmares with just a glimmer of light. Reel in prospects with the right amount of information that can showcase the best parts of your offer.

Don’t offend them by injecting too many personal assumptions in your presentation. Instead, convince people that you’re better than the rest. Make your brand look like the best option, and be the best option available.

 

References

“Conducting Market Research.” Entrepreneur. September 30, 2010. Accessed October 23, 2015. www.entrepreneur.com/article/217388

-->