Often, you’ll see marketing experts talk about the importance of branding, but what does this mean? Also, why is it so important? You should have an answer to both questions by the end!
What’s Branding?
On a basic level, a brand is how consumers perceive your business. That perception could be based on many things, and one thing that really stands out are company logos. Businesses like these graphic designers in Canberra, specialize in logo design and visual branding. Consider an impactful logo design as you start to consider your branding options. Now, understand that, rather than something we control, it’s something we aim to create and influence as a business. At its most tangible point, perhaps you could talk about symbols, logos, colours, or a name. Therefore, branding is the idea of linking something easily identifiable to a business.
As an example, think of the name ‘McDonald’s’ and what do you see? In all likelihood, you see an image of a huge ‘M’ alongside yellow and red colours. On the other hand, the word ‘Starbucks’ immediately brings images of green. This isn’t a mistake, the companies have worked hard on branding and ensured that this is in our minds.
There are different types of branding because some businesses bring thoughts of colours and images while others bring ideas of great customer service or quality. For example, RACQ Insurance could be an example of brilliant customer service while Disney and Nike have a reputation for quality. With the Disney example, even adults feel all magical just hearing this word, and this is a result of strong branding from the marketing team over the years.
Value of Branding
In truth, there are lots of reasons why branding is important for a business. Below, you’ll see some of the biggest:
- Recognition – Firstly, strong branding allows your business to be known by consumers. While other companies are forgotten, branding can help people to remember your name. Whether a professional logo or a particular colour, it becomes the face of the company.
- New Customers – More often than not, good branding is linked to familiarity, trust, and credibility. With this in mind, you’ll have more success with new customers because they will have seen your name or logo in various places (and remembered them!).
- Value Proposition – As we’ve already discussed, branding is a good way to show value without having to explain directly. Again, branding is how customers perceive your company and service. This includes value as well as personality.
- Competition – Rather than being the name that people forget, you want to be the one that sticks in the mind of consumers, and branding is the way to achieve it. If done correctly, branding allows you to outperform the competition.
- Employee Satisfaction – Finally, employees indeed feel proud when working for a company with a strong brand. They feel part of a team, and this intensifies when a brand is known for something positive; this could be a contribution to good causes, positive customer service, or quality.
Tips for Successful Branding
To finish, here are some of the best tips for implementing a new branding strategy this year:
- Firstly, you should be consistent across all platforms. Do you ever see McDonald’s with a blue commercial or packaging? No, it uses the same colours absolutely everywhere. If you want good branding, consistency is key. This applies to your colours, logo, and personality across social media, physical interactions, and more.
- Secondly, don’t be afraid to ask how people perceive your brand right now. Instead of guessing, this is a good way to gauge your current position and implement a steady change (rather than shifting voice in articles instantly, for example).
- Thirdly, find your niche and implement this in everything you do. It’s impossible to please everybody, so find your own personality and value before then building awareness with ad campaigns and social media presence.