Branding—it’s the latest buzzword. It's actually beyond being a buzzword now because it has found lasting power in today's business world. But is it really that important? Is branding meant only for big businesses? How can a small business or a start-up benefit from branding? If you’ve got questions about branding, we’ve got the answers.
What Does Branding Mean?
Branding is perhaps the most important part of marketing. While most small businesses think branding is meant only for the big fish in the pond, it is, ironically, small businesses that need to play hard to build a brand for themselves.
As reported by Entrepreneur, research suggests that almost 50 percent of consumers would consider becoming more loyal to a brand during their very first purchase. And with that kind of influence, it’s worth digging deeper to understand what all the fuss is about. Branding defines your business, and it goes far beyond your logo or corporate colors. Branding stands for what you do, how you want your customers to see you, and what you want your customers to perceive your business. It plays an important role in every facet of your business. How you interact with your customers, how active you are on social media, and how you answer your phone—it’s all branding. And it all plays a key role in building your business.
What Can Branding Do for Your Company?
When done right, branding can give you recognition. Yes, it sells your product, but it also builds relationships with your customers. Through appropriate branding, your company can focus on reaffirming its credibility in the market, generate goodwill, build customer loyalty, establish an emotional connection with your audience and, ultimately, influence your customers to make a buying decision.
In this competitive and volatile market, standing out from the competition is a tough race. While brands are constantly working on improving their products or services, the ones that win the race are silently working on their branding efforts and building a loyal customer base.
As Brandingmag rightly mentions, branding helps to increase your business value, generate new customers, and make a positive impact on employee pride and satisfaction. Above all else, it aids in building trustworthiness—so much so that your product or service becomes synonymous with your brand name.
What Can Happen If You Don’t Create A Strong Brand?
Suppose a customer wants to buy a watch. You sell a watch with no branding effort put forward. Your competitor, on the other hand, sells the same watch but has already built a strong brand for itself.
When the customer has to make a buying decision, he will likely reach out to your competitor because he already knows about their brand. The customer is familiar with what they stand for, what they offer, the quality of their customer service, and all the other things that can help a buyer make an informed purchasing decision.
The competitor has built credibility.
So, The Answer Is Yes, Branding Is That Important
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room”– says Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com.
That’s exactly what branding is and why it’s so important for every business to strategically define their brand and strategize ways to build brand awareness effectively.
How To Build A Recognizable, Trustworthy Brand
If you’re on a tight budget, you can always work to define your brand on your own, but keep in mind that proper branding takes a lot of time and effort and a lot of skill. Not to mention that if gone wrong, it can completely ruin your business. If you’re serious about your business, you’ll definitely want to seek the experience of a professional creative branding agency.
Branding The Right Way
If you’re running a business with an ill-defined brand or no brand at all, you’re missing huge opportunities, not to mention wasting time and money. A creative branding agency can help you define your brand and help you get a strategy in place to take your business to the next level.
