Think of the most successful brands, and the #1 common thing among them is their branding. You could easily recognize these brands based on their colours, jingle, fonts, or even tone. A world-renowned company that is known for its branding is Apple.
Apple distinguishes itself from Microsoft using its advertising. When we picture Microsoft, we think of our average Joe in a checked light office shirt with khaki pants sitting in front of a desktop.
Now divert your focus to Apple. This usually comes with a picture of a cool dude in a white T-shirt effortlessly creating graphics with a MacBook.
Don’t get me wrong, none of these are bad in their own way. Both of these brands have created branding around their target audience. That said, regardless of the raving benefits of branding, my clients still ask me, “why is it important to invest in branding, anyway?”
In fact, this is where most small businesses go wrong. Therefore, to help you in this journey here’s a complete guide on why it is crucial to invest in branding.
What is Branding?
This is a tricky question to answer. Not because there isn’t information on this subject, but because there are a lot of a grey areas to cover. Think of branding as the magic element that can get you everything you want.
Higher prices? Oh yes! More sales? Of course! Better customer loyalty? Sure thing!
In definitive terms, branding refers to the emotional connection that customers have with your brand. It is shaped by creating a uniform visual appeal, verbal identity, marketing and advertising, and most importantly—the experience associated with your brand.
Or, as Jeff Bezos said,
Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.
Therefore, branding goes way beyond putting together an attractive logo and colour palette. Instead, go the extra mile to give a competitive edge to your customers and provide value to everything you do.
Unfortunately, all too often, branding is not considered a top priority for most small businesses. Here’s are the top 5 reasons why you need to create emotional bonding with your branding now!
Reasons Why Investing in Branding Is Worth It
1. Generate customer loyalty and ‘passive marketing.’
Branding and brand strategy works as a catalyst for all your business endeavours. As a general rule of thumb, people don’t buy products; they buy emotions attached to them. The same thing you need to apply to all of your marketing.
You can do this by:
● Creating eye-catching, consistent, and meaningful visual content across all platforms.
● Stick to your core values and implement them into your brand actions.
2. Gain competitive edge
Whether you are looking to expand your business or simply looking to get investors, a clear throughout brand strategy can help bankers and investors show that you are serious about your brand. This can help you gain the ever-needed competitive edge and justify your brand as a high-value entity. Remember, when you try to please everyone, you please no one. With branding, you get to figure out who your target audience is and then stop trying to appeal to anyone else except for them.
3. Your brand can command high prices for your product and services.
Marty Neumeier, the author of The Brand Gap, once said, “Customers trust your brand when their experiences consistently meet or beat their expectations.”
If you aren’t consistent with your branding, you will struggle to build trust with your customers.
When it comes to pricing, you only have to get money from your customers’ pockets to yours. And this is only possible by giving more value than the money.
How can you do that?
Start by offering extra sales services (mainly for free), give a thank you or a birthday call, or perhaps better quality or packaging to distinguish your brand from the rest.
4. Creates accountability
If you are struggling to make your employees productive, branding can help. Firstly, By setting up the core values of your company, you start to recruit people who stand with the same confections as you.
Secondly, a solid brand strategy helps you be accountable for your actions and stay focused on promoting your concepts. This way, instead of falling off track, it can help your employees refocus and get to work on similar goals faster.
5. Better marketing purpose
Think of it this way: unless you aren’t sure of your destination, you will spend thousands of dollars investing in different marketing campaigns that will lead you nowhere.
However, once you have a clear brand strategy laid in front of you, you will communicate the company’s core values effectivity and lure your employees into following the same route.
This way, your brand will naturally appeal to your quince, and your employees are more likely to stick to their sense of purpose.
So, What’s Next?
If I had to sum up branding in one word, it would be—Trust. Anyone who tries to transform their business into a reputable brand needs to carefully consider their brand image.
I'm particularly intrigued by the chances for small businesses to use branding to get the ever-needed competitive edge above the rest. Among large companies, the significance of marking—and branding—is as of now far-reaching. Yet, many small businesses haven’t caught on, which means there’s an ample opportunity for innovative founders and CEOs to get ahead.
Developing a brand strategy as an early bird can help you avoid many mistakes and save both time and money down the line. Besides that, creating a brand strategy as an established company can help you revitalize your business and tackle things from a new angle.
Here are some of the best takeaways I want you to have from this article:
● Ensures consistent branding across different channels
● Reduces investment in marketing efforts due to increased brand retention; well, thanks to successful messaging aimed at the right users
● Increases CTRs in search results and on-site,
● Build a loyal customer following
● Boosts trust in business clients and partners