Why is branding important

So what is branding? And why is it so important for your business?

Brand­ing goes way beyond just a logo or graph­ic ele­ment. When you think about your brand, you real­ly want to think about your entire cus­tomer experience…everything from your logo, your web­site, your social media expe­ri­ences, the way you answer the phone, to the way your cus­tomers expe­ri­ence your staff. When you look at this broad def­i­n­i­tion of brand­ing, it can be a bit over­whelm­ing to think about what is involved in your brand.

In short, your brand is the way your cus­tomer per­ceives you.

It is crit­i­cal to be aware of your brand expe­ri­ence and have a plan to cre­ate the brand expe­ri­ence that you want to have… a good brand doesn’t just hap­pen… it is a well thought out and strate­gic plan.

Many small orga­ni­za­tions and start-ups neglect spend­ing nec­es­sary time think­ing about their brand in this broad sense and the impact it has on their busi­ness. Let’s look at 10 rea­sons why dig­ging into your brand is important:

BRANDING PROMOTES RECOGNITION.
Peo­ple tend to do busi­ness with com­pa­nies they are famil­iar with. If your brand­ing is con­sis­tent and easy to rec­og­nize, it can help peo­ple feel more at ease pur­chas­ing your prod­ucts or services.

YOUR BRAND HELPS SET YOU APART FROM THE COMPETITION.
In today’s glob­al mar­ket, it is crit­i­cal to stand apart from the crowd. You are no longer com­pet­ing on a local stage, your orga­ni­za­tion now com­petes in the glob­al econ­o­my. How do you stand out from the thou­sands or mil­lions of sim­i­lar orga­ni­za­tions around the world?

YOUR BRAND TELLS PEOPLE ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS DNA.
Your full brand expe­ri­ence, from the visu­al ele­ments like the logo to the way that your phones are answered, tell your cus­tomer about the kind of com­pa­ny that you are. Are all of these points of entry telling the right story?

YOUR BRAND PROVIDES MOTIVATION AND DIRECTION FOR YOUR STAFF.
A clear brand strat­e­gy pro­vides the clar­i­ty that your staff needs to be suc­cess­ful. It tells them how to act, how to win, and how to meet the organization’s goals.

A STRONG BRAND GENERATES REFERRALS.
Peo­ple love to tell oth­ers about the brands they like. Peo­ple wear brands, eat brands, lis­ten to brands, and they’re con­stant­ly telling oth­ers about the brands they love. On the flip side, you can’t tell some­one about a brand you can’t remem­ber. A strong brand is crit­i­cal to gen­er­at­ing refer­rals or viral traffic.

A STRONG BRAND HELPS CUSTOMERS KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.
A brand that is con­sis­tent and clear puts the cus­tomer at ease, because they know exact­ly what to expect each and every time they expe­ri­ence the brand.

YOUR BRAND REPRESENTS YOU AND YOUR PROMISE TO YOUR CUSTOMER.
It is impor­tant to remem­ber that your brand rep­re­sents you…you are the brand, your staff is the brand, your mar­ket­ing mate­ri­als are the brand. What do they say about you, and what do they say about what you’re going to deliv­er (promise) to the customer?

YOUR BRAND HELPS YOU CREATE CLARITY AND STAY FOCUSED.
It’s very easy to wan­der around from idea to idea with noth­ing to guide you…it doesn’t take long to be a long way from your orig­i­nal goals or plans. A clear brand strat­e­gy helps you stay focused on your mis­sion and vision as an orga­ni­za­tion. Your brand can help you be strate­gic and will guide your mar­ket­ing efforts sav­ing time and money.

YOUR BRAND HELPS YOU CONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS EMOTIONALLY.
A good brand con­nects with peo­ple at an emo­tion­al lev­el, they feel good when they buy the brand. Pur­chas­ing is an emo­tion­al expe­ri­ence and hav­ing a strong brand helps peo­ple feel good at an emo­tion­al lev­el when they engage with the company.

A STRONG BRAND PROVIDES YOUR BUSINESS VALUE.
A strong brand will pro­vide val­ue to your orga­ni­za­tion well beyond your phys­i­cal assets. Think about the brands that you pur­chase from (Coca-Cola, Wran­gler, Apple, Ford, Chick-Fil‑A, Quik­Trip)… are these com­pa­nies real­ly worth their equip­ment, their prod­ucts, their ware­hous­es, or fac­to­ries? No, these com­pa­nies are worth much more than their phys­i­cal assets…their brand has cre­at­ed a val­ue that far exceeds their phys­i­cal value.

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