If you’re a business owner, big or small, you know that it’s essential to have a strong brand identity and a distinctive visual identity. Both of these can be directly tied to your business success (or failure 😱).

A brand identity is what defines who you are and why you exist.

A brand identity is how you’re perceived by your target market and your competitors.

Quick refresh: It’s crucial that you have a clearly defined brand identity if you want your business (and brand) to survive. In addition, remember that your brand identity also needs to be flexible enough to grow as you do.

Your brand’s visual identity is just as, if not more, important than your brand identity. Think about it; all I have to do is say Apple, Wendy’s, Burger King, or McDonald’s and you’ll instantly have grey apples, red pigtails, flame-broiled hamburgers, or golden arches on your mind.

That’s the power of having a visual brand identity. When people see your logo, image, or even your colors, they immediately make the association in their head, and they can’t get it out!

Once you’ve established your visual brand identity, video and photography should be your next step. Video is undoubtedly, unquestionably, unfailingly THE future of digital marketing and will set your brand identity head and shoulders above the rest. (Am I being clear enough on this?)

Personalized video & photography helps to strengthen your visual brand identity in a one of a kind way that’s authentic to your business. Scroll through your Facebook feed or search Google for any topic; you’ll be hard-pressed to find a post without a video or photo, and chances are you’ll find at least one video included in the links at the top of the search engine results page.

Why? Because videos and photos are what people want.

Need more convincing? Consider these six reasons.

Videos/Photos bring you closer to your audience.

It’s the age of smartphones, video chatting, and social media. Smartphones brought digital marketing into a new generation, and businesses are now able to use video to reach customers on personal levels like never before. You’re literally in the palm of your audience’s hand, telling them about your service or your products while demonstrating how you can fit into their lives or their world.

Buyer habits have evolved.

Nothing is more powerful than creating a mental image in your audience’s head to perfectly illustrate how your service or product will improve their life. Modern buyers are so used to video or photo that they simply don’t/won’t buy without seeing a product first. Having videos on your site can increase conversions by 72% or more according to an article from Impact.

Videos enhance your brand’s legitimacy.

High-quality videos and photos go a long way towards establishing your brand’s legitimacy and presence. Once you’ve created a compelling visual brand identity, you can curate your videos and images to match your brand’s look and feel to send a cohesive message across all channels.

You’re the master of your visual brand.

While we’re talking about the importance of a compelling visual brand identity, we should stress the importance of using videos and images that feature you or your products. Anyone can buy stock videos or photos from an online warehouse, but only you own your brand’s assets. It’s best to include yourself or your product in every video or image every time.

Transparency is relatable.

Successful brands are using the power of video as a transparent way to educate buyers on products, announcements, and even as customer service. It’s much easier to engage with someone or something you can see.

Search engine optimization.

Here’s a statistic for you: Youtube is the second most used search engine in the world.

Yup. That’s right. When we’re talking about the top search engines, their order goes like this:

Furthermore, Google owns Youtube, so posting videos will also increase your search engine rankings.

Another bonus is you can start a Youtube channel for your brand and invite as many people to follow you as you’d like. When you post new videos, all of your followers are notified, keeping you and your visual brand in front of them at all times.

At Empire Creative Marketing, we love to learn about new products, services, or businesses. If you’re proud of your brand identity or you’ve got some videos or photos you’d like to show off, comment with a quick message or link(s).

If you’re ready to update your brand, message us. Our design team would love to send you their ideas!