Why Branding is Important in any Business
A stronger brand means stronger marketing results, which means more leads, more sales, more long term customers, more revenue & ultimately more of a positive impact in your community, and industry as a whole.
The focus here goes beyond merely having temporary customers. More so, businesses want to have a lasting impression in the minds of their customers to the point that they can effortlessly recall and remember your business. This can be done with proper branding.
What is Branding?
Branding is the process of creating meaning for your company's products & services.
Branding or your brand identity helps customers and potential customers (leads) more quickly know, like and trust your business – which leads to faster, and more frequent, purchasing decisions.
Emotions drive buying decisions and people do business with brands they trust. So, a primary objective of your branding strategy should be to build massive trust & meaningful connections.
Your brand is your promise to your customers.
Your brand tells your customers what they can expect from your products, services, employees, etc.
Your brand will differentiate your offering from that of your competitors even if there isn't much difference – an iPhone is an iPhone wherever you buy it, but that doesn't mean the buying experience is the same.
Your brand is derived from who you are, the people on your team, and how you want to be perceived.
Branding is all the ways you establish an image of your company in your customers' eyes.
To understand more about branding and what makes a strong brand, please also read the Branding Guide from Devin Schumacher.That said, if you haven't emphasized the branding of your business, it's a good time for you to do so. That way, your business will also get to enjoy the following advantages:
1. Sets You Apart From The Competition
One of the challenges faced by businesses today has to do with the growing presence of competitors. Even if there are many products and services to sell, this doesn't mean that an idea will never be duplicated. There's still a chance that your products are the same or remotely similar to that of another business.
Fortunately, with branding, you can improve the recognition of your business, setting you apart from your competition because people can easily recognize you. For instance, your logo is the face of your brand. Even if there are a hundred other products out there the same as yours, if your brand is visible, then customers know that these are your products and not another's.
To start with, you can seek the help of professionals, such as the guys from Idea Dolls, to create your branding, packaging, and logo, among others.
2. Improves The Overall Perception About Your Brand
How the general public, or your consumers, perceive you are very important. For starters, you want that impression to be a good one. These impressions do last in their minds, and you wouldn't want this lasting impression to be a negative one. With a brand, your customers' perception of your business improves since there's now that added element of trust and professionalism.
People are most likely to purchase from a business that seems legitimate, professional, and polished. If you're not able to meet any of these standards, then you simply fail in favour of another business instead. Because you've taken the time to work on your brand, through your logo, image, vision, mission, and other facets of branding, you're perceived as a professional business that's in it in the long run.
3. Gets You Noticed
Think of the mobile and electronics giant, Apple. When you first see the Apple logo, you immediately know that it belongs to the Apple brand, selling top-of-the-line mobile phones, laptops, and iPads. Whenever the Apple logo is displayed, it's immediately noticed. For some people, there's that hype to walk in the store. With this, it's now safe to conclude that Apple has indeed aced the branding game.
This is what you should also aim for as well. You'll want the general public to notice you immediately. Simply by looking at your logo or your image, you'll want people to know that a product belongs to your business.
It's also for this reason that your logo should be eye-catching and robust as part of branding. You'll want to readily make that excellent first impression on your audience.
4. Helps Your Advertising Campaigns
Branding and advertising campaigns also go hand-in-hand. Even more specifically, advertising runs as a specific component of your brand. It's challenging for your business to have excellent advertising campaigns when you don't have that brand identity, which is uniquely yours.
For instance, what logo are you going to place in print ads and flyers? What theme are you going to go for on your social media sites and website? What colour palettes will you use for your products? Remember that your campaigns and your brand have to go hand-in-hand for it to be coherent. Else, your advertising campaigns will also be of poor quality.
5. Brings More Business In
This advantage applies to those of you that are consistently looking for investors for your company. There's no way that you can bring other businesses into trust your business when you haven't even made a positive name for yourself in the niche that you belong to. The only way for you to achieve this is by having a brand identity that's uniquely yours.
Because you've got a strong brand identity, you instantly become more attractive, not just to other customers, but even to other businesses as well. In effect, your marketability is also strengthened.
Conclusion
All these said, the bottom line on branding is that it enables you to have that memorable impression on your customers. It's much easier for you to have loyal customers when there's a brand associated with your products and services. Your buyers get to remember your name and your existence as a whole immediately.
Your business also becomes more effective in earning the profits that you desire. Therefore, if you haven't already, now's the time for you to discuss your branding strategies with your entire team.
