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Are you finding it hard to develop a brand identity? Or have you been falsely under the assumption that you fully understand the identity of your brand, even though it isn’t really clear to the general public?

Developing a brand identity is essential to the success of your business.

The Internet has more than 2.5 million active users on social media and more than 3 billion people access the web from their desktop computers, smart phones, tablets, and other devices.

Many of these people may be looking for your products and services, but they’ll never know your name unless you create a strong, trustworthy brand that customers can identify with.

Here is a simple three-step process to help you design a new brand identity.

1. Undergo a brand audit

Before you can begin redeveloping your brand, it’s time to step back, look closely at your current brand identity, and see how your current clients view your business. While you’re at it, to truly achieve success during the brand identity development stages, it’s also incredibly important to discover your ideal customer.

What drives the growth of your company? Is it a particular product or service? Why do customers buy this product or service? How do they view your company?

By taking time to answer these questions, you’ll be able to discover your ideal customer by determining what they find appealing about your business and the products and services you have to offer them.

Once you have determined this valuable information, you’ll be able to use it to craft a marketing message that your ideal target audience will respond to very positively.

We’re not done yet, though, because, now, you have to spend time performing competition analysis. Thoroughly review your competitors’ websites, check out their advertising, look at the brand identity they’ve created, see how they fare with search engine optimization, and anything else you can think of.

By thoroughly analyzing the competition, you’ll be able to determine who you are competing against for valuable market share. This will help you differentiate yourself from the crowd and it will even help you determine the best strategies to employ to compete in your market.

If you’re wondering, “What should I choose as the PMS color for my logo?” Looking over your competitors’ color schemes can also provide valuable insight into this important decision as well.

So take time to conduct an audit of your own brand and the competition, and then use the valuable information you learn to develop your own corporate identity.

2. Develop your message and unique value proposition

In this next step, you’ll find it nearly impossible to achieve success rebranding your company if you fail to identify your core philosophies.

By core philosophies, we mean understanding your company’s values, which you’ll use to create a mission statement for your customers to understand and for your team to live by.

But that’s not all, because you also have to figure out your brand value proposition and know what you have to offer your customers.

Once you’ve determined your core philosophy, mission statement, and unique value proposition, you’ll then be able to create a foundation that will allow you to build a brand representative of your company mission and what you’d like to present to the world.

As an example, let’s say you own an HVAC company in Miami, Florida. Your core philosophy could be that you never want your customers to go without air-conditioning for more than six hours. So, you’d have to work hard every day to make sure you repair your customers’ broken ACs quickly and efficiently.

In turn, your company’s unique value proposition could be 24/7/365 emergency air-conditioning services no matter if it’s early in the morning or the middle of the night.

You’ll set yourself apart from the rest of the competition by showing up to your customers’ homes when other HVAC companies are sleeping or eating dinner with their family or doing any number of other things besides repairing air-conditioners.

Your mission statement could be as follows:

At XYZ Miami HVAC Services, we vow to repair our customers’ air-conditioners no later than six hours after being notified of a problem. If it turns out our customer needs an entirely new air-conditioning system, we will provide a temporary AC unit until we install their new system. We promise to live up to our mission each and every day and will do our best to make sure our customers are always comfortable at home or work and they always have some form of air-conditioning keeping them cool day and night.

With a strong brand identity and message such as this, your company will definitely stand out amongst other HVAC service providers and customers will begin flocking to you in droves. It’s inevitable as long as you live up to your mission and stick to your message.

3. Refine your brand identity

Now that you’ve discovered your value to potential customers, you should occasionally analyze your brand identity and make tweaks accordingly if it will help create a stronger business model.

You have to do whatever it takes to remain competitive in your market, so remember to check in from time to time and look at your unique value proposition.

Is it still unique? Or have many of your competitors adopted the same attitude? Is the competition now providing the same level of service?

If your current brand identity isn’t as unique as it once was, it’s time to make some changes. Refine the promises you make to your customers and do something new to stand out and attract their attention.

Your brand identity is much more than just a mission statement; it reflects your values, character, and the way you think, too.

As you can see, designing a new brand identity is crucial to the success of your business. Take this process seriously and follow the steps we’ve shared with you today. Once you’re through, you’ll have no trouble standing out in your market and you’ll be able to deliver unique value to your customers that they will truly appreciate.