How much do you think of your brand? If you’re like most people, probably not much at all. Business branding isn’t something that most people think of when they aren’t looking to advance their business, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to your future success and happiness. What is branding? The simple answer is that branding refers to how you make others perceive you, both within your company and outside of it, and how you want others to see yourself.
WHAT IS BRANDING?
Business branding is designed to identify a business and increase its market share. Branding gives customers a reason to prefer one business over another without necessarily providing any additional product or service. Companies tend to focus on marketing at two levels: brand identity and product promotion. The brand identity encompasses all visual elements (such as business cards and letterhead), while product promotion focuses primarily on advertising, sales and public relations. The most successful businesses are those who do both well.
Why is it important for a business to Brand?
BENEFITS OF BUSINESS BRANDING
1) Increase Sales
Business brands exist primarily to increase sales. Any other activities and processes you employ as part of a business’s brand should somehow support increased sales. They shouldn’t be included as part of a business’s brand if they don’t. It’s as simple as that. Branding is about sales, first and foremost—everything else is secondary.
2) Build Trust in Your Business
The bottom line with business branding is trust. If people don’t know who you are or what your business does, how can they trust you to provide quality products and services? Building that crucial trust is through a professional logo representing your business and brand. A logo should be simple, memorable and convey an idea about your company. A good rule of thumb is to make sure it doesn’t have too many colours or fonts—you want it to be easy on viewers’ eyes!
3) Help Customers Recognize You
Branding helps you establish a reputation. It can help customers recognize you, making it easier to choose you over someone else. Many consumers make decisions about brands by comparing their products or services with those of their competitors, but having a recognizable brand can put you ahead in their eyes. When customers know and recognize your brand, they’re more likely to trust and turn to you when they need what it offers.
4) Generate Leads
A brand is an identity that communicates what you do, who you are and how you do it. It’s a promise to your customers. When you have a well-defined brand, It’s easier to convince consumers to engage with you because they have an expectation from your products or services. When people trust your brand, they’re more likely to buy from you and recommend you to others. This means more leads for your business.
5) Attract New Customers
When it comes to getting new customers, many businesses focus on winning over current ones. But to grow sustainably, you need to attract more customers than you lose—and it helps if they’re new. Branding can help give people positive associations with your company and establish you as an authority within your industry. This, in turn, will lead people who haven’t interacted with you before to take a closer look at what you have to offer.
6) Differentiate Yourself From Competitors
Your brand differentiates you from competitors—if people can’t immediately tell you apart, they won’t remember you. It also affects your reputation and how likely potential customers are to make a purchase. Branding is more than a logo, tagline or slogan; it’s everything that defines who you are as a company. It includes everything from customer experience to marketing campaigns and helps create an image in customers’ minds about what kind of product or service they can expect from you.
7) Boost Brand Authority
More than a tagline or a logo, a brand is a set of beliefs and values deeply ingrained in how you communicate with customers. The stronger and more consistent those values are, and how well they’re communicated, your brand becomes stronger. Over time, that can equate to increased sales, higher customer retention rates, and greater trust from prospects. While it might sound like a lot of work, there are plenty of ways to build (or rebuild) your brand without hiring an agency or spending months rebranding.
8) Streamline Business Processes
Consistent branding and messaging on different platforms can dramatically streamline processes. If you’re trying to get ahold of customers or employees, it’s much easier if they already know what you look like, feel like, and sound like. Creating a consistent image also makes it easier to spread awareness about who you are and what you do; if you always have high-quality branded materials on hand, then producing them becomes much simpler in a pinch.
9) Create Consistency across All Channels
Creating a unified identity across all channels makes sense if you’re looking to build brand awareness and loyalty. You should pick a logo, design a consistent aesthetic, and use that same colour palette everywhere. Experts say the more cohesive you are as a brand; the more likely consumers will trust you (which leads to higher sales). Having at least a social media account is also important—think Facebook or Instagram.
10) Make it Easy for Your Audience to Interact With You
Branding and identity are vital because it’s a way to let your audience know who you are and what you’re all about. You want people to work with your brand positively, so you need to present yourself as a trustworthy expert in whatever industry you’re operating in. Communicating that identity—and how customers can interact with you—in an appealing way will help set up those positive associations.
Conclusion
By creating a recognizable brand, you not only associate yourself with a consistent image but also let your customers know things they can expect from your product or service. From boosting sales to increasing customer retention, here are ten reasons branding is beneficial to any business.
English
Spanish