Many gas engineers or electrical contractors spend several thousand pounds each year advertising their company online and in print. Yet many of these companies have never given any consideration as to how their brand comes across to potential customers.

In every town and city your business will have many competitors for the same work. It is very likely that the company who wins this work will have a strong brand identity.

What is a brand identity?

Brand identity is how you portray your business to your customers. This includes the business’ name, colours, font and logo. An effective brand identity will help to create a positive brand image and if you create a positive brand image your business will most likely succeed and grow.

Benefits of a strong brand identity

If you put the time into producing a well thought out brand identity your business will come across as professional and organized to customers. This will increase the trust level in customers, improve customer retention and make people more likely to recommend your company to others.

As can be seen from this Van for an electrical contractor, a strong brand identify can help present a company distinctly and professionally. Contrast this to most ‘white’ vans that are on the roads which have no identity attached to them.

Creating your brand identity

Now that you understand the benefits, here is a simple step by step guide to forming an effective brand identity.

1. Research

Before you start, you should make sure that you understand what you are selling and what your customers want to buy from you. Are you a plumber or a heating contractor? Do you only work on commercial or residential projects? Do you offer gas services and electrical services and if so is this clear from your brand identity?

You should evaluate your competitors brand identity to see what works well for them and also to identify the things that you may want to avoid. This will also help you understand what will make your business stand out in a crowded market, which is what you should emphasise in your brand identity in order to attract customers.

2. Create a colour palette

Colours have a crucial role in helping to define your brand identity. You can use a colour wheel to chose colours that work well together. For a bold look, you can use complementary colours which are directly opposite each other in the wheel. If you want a more harmonious effect, you can use colours that are close to each other.

Keep your colours choices minimal by only choosing 2 or 3 colours and making sure that they don’t clash. This will stop your colour palette from being distracting or overwhelming. It will also make it easy to incorporate across the brand such as you website, stationary, van livery and uniforms.

3. Choose a font

Although it is something you may not notice, consistently using the same font will help create a cohesive brand. Like colours, fonts can speak about the personality of the business.

Avoid hand-written fonts because they can be too difficult to read. You can find high-quality free fonts on Google Fonts. Once you have chosen a font, use it everywhere, including your logo, and try not to mix fonts.

4. Designing a logo

Crafting a logo is a vital part of the branding process since your logo should be the most recognisable part of your brand. When customers see your logo, they should have an instant association with your business.

A good logo should be memorable and unique. It should reflect on your company as it is integrated with everything you do. You can choose from three main types of logo: a symbol; the company name as the main feature or a combination of the company name and symbol.

The best logos are very simple. Think about the big-brand logos you know of. How many different colours, fonts and graphics do they use? The number is always low. It is about viewers getting the brand’s message at a glance. Whilst it is unlikely that your businesses will achieve global or even national status, you should be aiming to have a logo and brand identity that is identifyable in the region, city or town that you operate in.

5. Integration

Once you have set out the visual components, you need to extend them across the whole company. You may consider creating a template for emails, business cards and documents which includes your font, colour palette and logo. This will give a more credible, professional and unified impression. Don’t lose consistency between online and offline.

Getting started with your brand identity

Although creating a strong brand identity may seem like a lengthy and laborious process if you get these basics right you will be rewarded with increased sales and higher margin work.

Creating a strong brand does not need to cost a fortune and it is an investment that will serve you well. We would suggest that you come up with some basic ideas (company name, colours, logo ideas and potential fonts) and then work with a local branding agency to turn these into a brand identity. This should cost no more than a few hundred pounds.