What is branding?
Branding, branding, branding, you’ve heard of it and it’s a word you hear all the time when people talk about companies or organizations. You know you need it, but you don’t really know what it is and why it’s so important.
Not to fear, Branding is a term that encompasses various different meanings. Let me break down what branding exactly is and what it can do for you.
What is branding?
First of all let's have a look at what branding exactly is: Branding is a process of creating a company identity that is recognized by consumers and helps you communicate your values to those consumers.
The goal is to connect your business and its values with your customers and their life. It’s not only how you look, it’s how you act, react and present yourself to your customers and the world. Because as a brand, customers connect with you on a higher level than just your product. More and more people are looking to connect with brand that have opinions and values that align to theirs.
Essentially branding for your business is creating a personality for your business that is different from other brands on the market. This with the help of your brand identity, brand strategy, marketing and your product.
Customers want to KNOW your business. And the best way to show everyone what you are about is through your brand. When I know your brand I'm more likely to trust you. I know what to expect and how to feel about your company and products.
Now we know what branding exactly is we need to touch upon the benefits of branding.
What are the benefits of branding?
1. SEPARATE YOU FROM THE COMPETITION
I mentioned shortly that branding helps you stand out from the competition. Having a brand gives your product/service/company a unique identity that can withstand the test of time and maintains the originality of your business.
Your company needs branding to stand out from the competition and get recognized by your customers. This is also where brand consistency comes into play. By keeping your brand consistent, time and time again customers will position your business you the same way and it will help them recognize you faster. Customers see your logo or your brand colors or any social media posts and they know what to expect, they know what you stand for and they know what to feel towards you. It makes your company human and humans are easier to relate to than companies that are strictly business. A business that does not have consistent branding is not going to stay in someone's mind for long.
“Consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by up to 23 percent.” — FORBES, 2018
“Brand consistency is making sure that your brand values, image, and messaging is consistent across all channels. Customers appreciate it when a business has a consistent brand. In fact, consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33 percent.” — LUCIDPRESS, 2019
2. BUILD TRUST & BRAND LOYALTY
You make hundreds of micro decisions all day. That's no different when buying products. To make your life easier you veer to products you know, like and 'understand'. Everyone has built-in loyalty for certain products.
If you had to choose between two companies, Company A has a clean, friendly and professional looking brand identity. And company B has not. Which would you choose? The majority of people will go for Company A as it feels more trustworthy, credible and established. Company A has put in the work of creating a brand you can trust. Gen-Zers and Millennials put a lot of importance into brands that are authentic and transparent. Brands who deliver that, draw the attention of customers and build trust with them, which in the long run turns into loyalty.
“When consumers buy from brands, they put their trust in them. 81 percent of consumers said that they need to be able to trust the brand in order to buy from them.” — EDELMAN, 2019
3. BRAND AWARENESS
I'm going to ask you to think of some recognizable brands around the world. What is the brand you think of when you think computers? What about Soft Drinks? Cereal? Affordable Furniture? Changes are you have named a couple of large global companies. When asking these questions did you see them? Did you picture their logos, brand colors and their products? Maybe you named a couple of smaller companies that have not (yet) reached global market leader status. But these larger brands all started out with a strong brand that evolved over time and which people are now aware of.
It's simple actually, more people know who you are and what you stand for, the more customers and business you'll get. Of course you should also be delivering quality products or services, but combined with a large brand awareness you'll grow a lot faster.
“77% of consumers make purchasing decisions because of the brand.” — CROWDSPRING
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