Attract More Clients With A Brand Identity

You've probably heard that people buy products and services from people they know, like and trust. And, as I have done, you've probably wondered how you can foster more of this "Know-Like-Trust" factor in your business relationships. Pictures are tied to our emotions in powerful ways, so strategically using your logo and brand identity materials (business cards, letterhead, brochures, website, etc.) to enforce this connection is a great idea.

A brand identity kit contains many of the attributes that contribute to the "Know-Like-Trust" factor, in the following ways:

* Know - A creatively designed set of materials will make you stand out in your field. Symbolically designed materials, where the graphics are designed to communicate and tell your story, can lead to the prospect feeling that they understand who you are and what you do, helping them to form a connection with you and your business. This contributes to your memorability and breeds a feeling of familiarity.

Through the consistent, repetitive use of a logo and the supporting visual elements in your marketing materials, people will feel as though they "know" you and your business, even if you have never met face-to-face.

* Like - If you look at a business's materials, and you like their look and feel, you would probably find it easier to like both the business owner and to like doing business with them, as well. A logo with an icon attached to your company name can also make your company seem more approachable, friendly and fun. It can even endear your company name to your potential clients. Cartoon logos are highly effective in this capacity, though not appropriate for all professions.

You can also foster a feeling of compatibility through clear information in your designed materials - both in the type of information that you provide and the way that it's laid out and presented. People like to read text that is straightforward and well written.

* Trust - A high-quality, professionally printed brand identity kit can make you look capable, established, and enduring. Professional materials also impart an air of integrity to your business. If your materials look polished and put together, they lead people to believe that working with you will be similarly pleasant.

All of these factors compound to give you - and your business - greater credibility, which leads people to trust you with more and bigger projects, sales, or orders.

About the Author

Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. elf design offers the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one-on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and memorable - and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent way. For more information about elf design, please visit: Logo design at http://www.elf-design.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

Strategy and Tips for a Successful Logo Design
Visual processing is the most important way for gathering information for all human beings. A good design or graphics work is remembered for ages and that is what drives the multinational companies to spend millions of dollars on developing their logo and other branding material.
7 Branding Secrets: Ready or Not?
Every company has a brand (how people think of them) whether they created it through design or accident. By creating your brand through design, you shape the way you wish your company to be viewed by customers and potential customers.
Logo Files: Versions Of Your Logo That You Should Own
Your logo is the most important graphic element in which you will invest for your business. You should own the logo in many file formats.
The Trust Issue In Marketing
One of the prime motivating factors in the purchase decision making process is "trust". A consumer will at some point for however long or short of a time, ask the question, "Can I trust this company/person/product?"In today's ever-changing world of marketing, electronic media, email, and advertising innovations and intrusions, companies, and businesses are marketing to an ever increasingly suspicious consumer, who is conflicted between their desire not to be "sold" to and their desire to consume.
Naming Names... How to Name your Business
Sometimes the best inspiration comes from hearing about the deconstruction of other company's names. For you, I am happy to share how I came up with "Slice A Day :: your slice on marketing".
Power Your Word for Profit
Discovering and owning a powerful word that reflects you and your business is the true key of successful branding.Some organisations invest fortunes in this endeavour but there's nothing stopping any of us from doing the same at a fraction of the cost.
The Role of a Visual Vocabulary in Brand Identity Design
Visual elements are a major part of your business's brand identity design. The keystone of that design is the logo, but in many cases, the logo isn't enough to convey all of your brand attributes.
Company Vehicles Have Advertising on Them; Tips on Driving in Parking Lots
Try to avoid backing up whenever possible. Occasionally some one in a small car will park directly behind you at a gas station or stop sign.
What is Private Franchising? It is Nothing Someone Made It Up
The Federal Trade Commission has an obligation to the general public, their stated consumer education mission and to the over regulated franchising industry and the small business operators running Biz Ops to separate the two business models by way of legal definition. Any failure to completely separate them will trigger additional problems down the road and cause the current on-going process of rule review to continue, without any formalization for decades.
Branding Fiasco -- Better Be Who You Say You Are!
Our experience as customers offers great instruction into the concept of branding. Come with me on a recent "experience" and you'll see what I mean.
Brand Equity
Brand equity can be defined in many different ways. I have developed a simple, yet powerful, definition of brand equity.
Blonds Have More Fun!
In the book, The Blond Knight of Germany, American authors Toliver and Constable detail the life of the greatest fighter pilot to ever fly, Germany's Erich Hartmann. During WWII, Hartmann recorded 352 confirmed in-flight victories.
The Top 10 Strategies for the Positioning of Success
Many businesses of today are often driven to compete striclty on price, quality, and features of their products and services. Companies who prosper over the long term don't simply offer the best deals, the best quality, or the most impressive bells and whistles.
Your Business Logo and Color Scheme
My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them.
Whats In A Name? When It Comes To Your Business, Plenty!
Q: How important is the name of a business? Should the name of a business reflect what the business does or is it better to come up with something catchy and easy to remember?-- Randy P.A: What's in a name? When it comes to your business, Randy, a lot more than you might think.
Too Dull? Too Sharp?
You work hard getting the right cover message and words for your brochure. Now, you want to give it a look, an image.
Why You? -- Professional Identity Branding
You can have first-rate products and services, but if you can't establish the need, communicate the benefits and differentiate yourself from the competition in ways that make people want to do business with you, you'll forever be selling up hill.As Robert Krumroy, Identity Branding, Inc.
Setting the Right Price
One of the ways people get to know you is by the identity you project. Your company name, the way you present yourself, your business card and brochure, where you work, and other ways you conduct your business create an image that gives your customers information about you.
Introduction to A Branded World: Adventures in Public Relations and the Creation Of Superbrands
You'd have to labor to shield yourself from the power of Branding; it's hard to avoid it in today's business and social climate. Even in the backwoods of very, very small-town America, you couldn't emancipate yourself from the in-your-face concepts of Branding messages from all over the world.
Branding: Bring Back the Jingle!
Did you grow up in the '70s and '80s? If so, you probably have a slew of campy jingles from various TV commercials filed away in your brain. Today, advertisers still use jingles to help identify their brand, but not nearly as much as they did "back in the day.