Are you just starting your own business and doubting the importance of a professional corporate identity or are you an established entrepreneur but are ready for something new? Having a strong and good corporate identity is the foundation of your business and is therefore very important.
A professional corporate identity: what exactly is it?
No business is complete without corporate identity. Really not one. It is the way your company presents itself to the outside world. This is not just about the website or a business card. A good corporate identity is much more than that.
Corporate identity, also called corporate identity or brand identity, shows up in all layers of your organization: from the design of your website to your Instagram posts to the way you communicate to your customers and potential partners.
A professional corporate identity consists of three main elements: design, communication and behavior. We will come back to this in detail later.
The main purpose of a professional corporate identity is that it should appeal to the target audience, persuade and prompt action. The better your corporate identity is thought through and implemented, the more it contributes to the creation of a strong brand.
Why is a professional corporate identity important?
Having a professional corporate identity is super important, and there are several good reasons for that:
- Every year, many people start their own businesses. The market is becoming saturated tremendously fast because of this development. In the Netherlands, there are now some 2.2 million companies working hard to reach their target audience. But how do you do this when there are so many competitors? You probably guessed it: a professional corporate identity. A strong brand identity allows you to stand out from the competition.
- As a company, you are constantly working with people: customers, partners and colleagues. As humans, we almost always think in boxes when faced with new situations.
Unconsciously, we make all kinds of associations. Associations also take place when we come in contact with a brand and associated corporate identity. A strong, professional corporate identity ensures that the people you interact and work with recognize your company and will associate it with something positive! The moment of truth is the moment when your focus audience recognizes and remembers your corporate identity. Now your corporate identity starts to have real value.
- A good corporate identity reflects your business. At least it should. When the appearance of your brand identity is completely in line with your company, you unconsciously and automatically attract customers who fit in. Somehow, people will feel connected to you, your company and your offerings.
We’re not trying to convince you of the importance of a professional corporate identity for fun. There are numerous scientific studies showing that a professional corporate identity is immensely valuable in building a successful business. Read on quickly and find out what parts of your corporate identity need tinkering!
The different components of a professional corporate identity
The best corporate identities are simple and effective. With a corporate identity, you want to ensure that your focus audience recognizes and associates your brand with positive emotions.
As we just mentioned, a strong corporate identity consists of three different elements: the design, the communication and the behavior displayed. Let’s take a closer look at each of these components!
The design of a corporate identity
The visual identity of a professional corporate identity is the part of it that has to do with visual presentation. Pretty logical.
The colors you choose come back into your website and your social media statements. The logo shows up on your business card and maybe even your uniform, and the Visuals line up with the photography style and your Instagram posts. So design is a big and important part of your corporate identity.
The design – the visual identity – of a professional corporate identity can again be divided into several components. You can think of the following points:
- Logo
- Color palette
- Typography
- Visuals
Logo
A logo is not just a pretty picture or your company name in a fancy font. A logo is a graphic design that represents your business! It is actually the starting point of your brand identity.
Most people are visually oriented and are more likely to recognize a logo than a company’s name.
The iconic “N” most likely makes you immediately think of your favorite movie or series. When you see the YouTube logo you think of content creators and when you see the XXL Nutrition logo you probably get subconsciously motivated to go to the gym. Now that’s the power of a good, well-considered logo!
Color palette
The color palette is very important in building a visual identity. The chosen colors are reflected in the logo, in the design of the website and app, and in the packaging of your products.
Are you familiar with the term “color psychology“? Simply put, it means that colors have a great influence on our behavior and experiences.
For example, red often represents passion, energy and danger. Blue evokes a sense of trust, honesty and loyalty. This knowledge can be put to good use when creating and optimizing your professional corporate identity.
Typography
Many companies do not really consider the impact of typography when developing a professional corporate identity. Typography is more than one or two deliberately chosen fonts. It is everything that comes with formatting text, think here also, for example, white space and line spacing.
The right combination of typography elements ensures that a message can be conveyed in the desired way. Look at the example below.
This is the power of typography.
Visuals
“Visuals” is a very broad term. The umbrella term includes visual components including illustrations, animations, pictograms, icons and photographs. This is where the chosen corporate identity colors come to the fore again. As a result, connections are made faster and your brand is recognized more quickly.
Choosing to use photos can sometimes be tricky. After all, what is pictured is very decisive for the look of your identity. A photo with smiling people in a meadow gives a very different look than a photo taken in an industrial office building. So before using an image, think carefully. “Does this fit our identity?”
The communication of a corporate identity
What you say and how you do it is sometimes much more important than what you show. After all, people want to be graatly convinced. And this requires words. These words come back in your core message, in your social media posts, on the website, in advertising texts, press releases and your emails. So it is important to know how to communicate your story to the outside world.
The key points to think about carefully are these:
- Tone of voice
- Slogans – your core message
Tone of voice
The tone of voice is the way a company communicates with its focus audience. This “voice” is reflected in the texts on the website, the web copy, among other things.
Do you have a young audience that you can address with you and your in an informal tone or do you work in the legal profession and it is common to vousvoy and use jargon?
For the development of a professional corporate identity, it is important to know who your target audience is; only then will you know what method of communication is appropriate.
Slogan
A slogan is your company’s core message. A good key phrase contributes immensely to your company’s recognition. I don’t even need to remind you who has “I’m lovin’ it” as a slogan, right?
Creating a slogan is an important but tricky process. How can you powerfully communicate who you are and what you stand for in the shortest possible sentence? Here it is important to have a good understanding of your brand. How do you want to come across and what exactly do you have to offer?
When working on your slogan, it is important to keep it as simple as possible, but not deviate from your authenticity. Avoid clichés or promises you can’t keep anyway. Really focus only on what makes you unique and true.
And remember that the slogan should fit well with all elements of professional corporate identity, from design to communication to behavior.
Examples of slogans
- ‘Think Different’ – Apple
- ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ – KFC
- ‘Red Bull gives you wings!’ – Red Bull
- ‘Just Do It’ – Nike
- ‘There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.’ – MasterCard
- ‘Play On’ – Lego
The behavior of a corporate identity
A brand identity itself, of course, has no behavior, but it does have a corporate culture and a way of speaking to and with the customer. This is exactly what “behavior” is about. So, what are the key components of this behavior?
- Ethics and values
- Customer Service
- Network behavior
- Internal culture
Ethics and values
Ethics and values are at the core of your company’s identity. They each define how you and your colleagues operate and the choices you make. What exactly your values are, I can’t explain to you, but there are some parts of ethics and values that most people find very important.
Companies that pay attention to issues such as social engagement and sustainability are more likely to be perceived positively by customers and partners. The same goes for companies that are open and honest about their business processes. After all, this transparency creates trust.
Equality and inclusiveness are also an important issue under ethics. This is not only about diversity and equality in the workplace, but also in how you approach your customers.
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Customer Service
How you interact with your customers is a huge part of your business. It’s not just about answering questions, but also about creating positive experiences and building long-term collaborations and relationships.
The more positive the customer service experience is for one of your customers, the more it contributes to customer loyalty and satisfaction.
So make sure you are always easily accessible via your phone, email or social media. In addition, it is not only important that people can reach you, but also that you provide them with a response within a reasonably short time.
When talking to a customer, always think in terms of solutions. The customer is king, remember!
Network behavior
You probably know this, but networking as an entrepreneur is one of the most important things you can do. Therefore, your company’s networking behavior is also part of a professional corporate identity.
This behavior refers to how you, as a business, interact with partners, suppliers and others within your industry. The stronger your networking behavior, the more sustainable your business relationships become.
How to achieve the perfect networking behavior? By showing a willingness to cooperate, being open and honest and focusing on professionalism. It is also important to appear loyal and trustworthy and to be known as the innovative thinker.
The icing on the cake is negotiation style. Make sure you always look for the win-win situation rather than being primarily focused on your own self-interest.
Internal culture
Your company’s professional corporate identity is incomplete without an internal culture. This culture determines how employees interact with each other and the atmosphere among themselves. This has a huge impact on staff productivity and job satisfaction.
The quality of an internal culture determines not only how many people want to work for you, but also how motivated they remain.
When it comes to a company’s internal culture, you can look at leadership style, the quality of collaborations and development opportunities.
It is also important that there is room for open communication, a positive work environment and to what extent employees’ work-life balance is supported.
Common mistakes when creating a professional corporate identity
There is a lot involved in creating a professional corporate identity. This makes it difficult to get everything right at once. And that’s not a bad thing… But try to avoid the following mistakes!
- A lack of consistency
Using many different colors, logos, fonts and graphic elements can make potential customers fail to recognize you. At worst, they find your business confusing or even chaotic. This is repulsive. Of course, you don’t want that to happen. - Not enough research into your target audience
Yes, you can create a professional corporate identity based on what you like, but that doesn’t immediately speak to your target audience. What they like and what attracts them is the most important consideration when creating a brand identity. So do good research and make sure your corporate identity matches the expectations and preferences of your ideal target audience. - Prefer trends to timelessness
Your corporate identity is the foundation of your business. Once it is in place, you want to do as little to it as possible. It is therefore inadvisable to rely solely on the most modern trends. Trends change quickly and what is fun and interesting to look at now may not be in three months. So choose a timeless design that can last for years. - Making it too hard on yourself
Hey, don’t make it too hard on yourself. When you apply too many graphics, you make it hard on yourself when you create social posts. And when you develop too fancy a tone of voice (that doesn’t actually fit the company), your customers’ customer service experiences will be disappointing. Nobody likes speaking to someone who mixes up “you” and “you” and sounds like he or she doesn’t know what the words being said mean.
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Sharing your professional corporate identity with your colleagues
To ensure that the entire organization is aware of the brand identity and applies it correctly, it is useful to record all information regarding the corporate identity in a corporate identity manual. When everyone adheres to this manual, you ensure that a consistent look is used. Such a handbook contains information on logo proportions, colors used, fonts and more.
Having a corporate identity created for your business
Designing a corporate identity is a craft. Many budding entrepreneurs develop a corporate identity themselves or have a creative friend or acquaintance do it for them. Fine, but it often turns out later that adjustments need to be made. A professionally designed identity is very important for the initial growth and survival of a business.
At Gaia Digital, we are happy to help create your professional corporate identity. Here it is important to dwell on your company’s identity. Questions such as “Who are you and who do you want to be?”, “How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?”, “Who is your target audience?'” and “What core message do you want to convey to them?” will be asked.
A professional corporate identity can take a long time to think about, and we are happy to provide the extra help. Through close cooperation, together we arrive at a beautiful and strong professional corporate identity. We are looking forward to it! You too?
