Why is branding important for your business?

October 22, 2021

In simple terms, branding is defined as a marketing practise of creating and shaping your business into its own unique identity. However, branding isn’t just about aesthetic logos and designs which many still mistake it for. Branding is a tool for businesses to make a lasting and memorable impression. It creates feelings of familiarity and reassurance for potential clients to help your business build trusted relationships and keep them coming back for more.

Branding is a way that sets you apart from competitors and gives you the opportunity to clarify why you are the better choice for clients. When it comes to planning and designing a brand, you need to think about how you want your target audience to perceive you.

There are many opportunities to build and develop your brand apart from just having a pretty logo. Elements such as visuals, adverts, reputation, and customer service all contribute to building a successful brand. A common pattern that we see in relation to branding is that users typically need to make at least 8 touchpoints before generating a conversion. Therefore, if you have a great reputation, a memorable logo, perfect customer service and consistency present throughout, you will be on the right track to generating leads and conversions.

What is branding?

Branding is what we would define as a perpetual process of creating and shaping the perception of a business through cumulative assets and strategic actions (1). There are several strategic actions that are taken throughout the branding process to create a meaningful design. Here is a breakdown of the process:

1. Perpetual process
The beauty of branding is that it is ever-changing and continuous to evolve to keep up with the latest trends, market, industry, and people.

2. Analysis & design
Branding involves a heavy amount of research and analysis prior to the design process to help you position your business accordingly. Then comes the actual creation and a visual identity is established.

3. Perception
Once you have your unique identity, it is now time to nurture it. Your brand positioning needs to be translated into everything that you do such as marketing, customer service, advertisement, and client management. This is how you start to build a positive perception of your business.

Why is branding important?

Branding is one of the most crucial aspects of a business, it helps to drive and build a successful reputation for yourself. Imagine a brand like McDonald’s without the famous M with red and yellow brand colours or Pretty Little Thing without its pink unicorn packaging. Both brands had to first build their reputation on their visual identity and alongside strategic marketing, nurturing and good customer service. These are just two examples of internationally recognised brands.

Regardless of whether you are actively working on your reputation or not, it continues to build. By establishing a strong brand, you allow yourself to take the reins and control over how you want your reputation to be perceived. Therefore, it is advised to create your first brand before the launch of your business.

Business value increases

Many have a false understanding of branding thinking that it is just an “expensive marketing tactic that only big brands use” (2). In fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Branding not only helps to differentiate you from your fellow competitors, but it can heavily influence the status of your business and the type of audience which you attract.

A strong reputation paired with a strong brand is a recipe for success as that will translate into value. This is how businesses such as Porsche differentiate themselves from companies like Fiat despite both selling cars. Over time Porsche’s reputation alongside a strong brand has positioned them as a prestigious company aimed towards a higher and more expensive market compared to Fiat.

Brings new clients

A strong brand has no trouble receiving referrals. Word of the mouth is one of the most effective advertising techniques to help build your reputation and increase sales. Generating new and consistent leads is often a product of marketing that reflects on your visual identity. Once users become familiar with how you look, overtime it will create trust which in return leads to conversions.

Builds a trusted reputation of your business

The core of a business’s reputation boils down to how much trust clients have in your brand. The more trust that your business generates, the more established your reputation becomes. Trust is achieved through several processes such as strategic marketing, quality products and satisfactory customer service which all aim to keep your client happy. When all of those processes have been achieved, trust is built. For example, HelloFresh is a food delivery service that promises their clients fresh, quality ingredients and great recipes. This paired with their eye-catching branding, consistent marketing, great customer service and quality produce, builds trust. HelloFresh is now one of the UK’s leading recipe box companies.

Branding is an integral part of any business to help you position yourself accordingly within your industry. If you are looking for more information about branding and the process of establishing your visual identity, visit our branding page here. Alternatively, speak to one of our Creative Designers to see how we can help you build a credible brand for your business today, call us on 01562 747411 or email kidderminster@nettl.com

#TLDR

Too long didn’t read? Here’s what you need to know:

  1. Branding provides you with a unique visual identity.
  2. Branding increases your brand value.
  3. It helps to bring new clients and build a credible reputation.
  4. Gives you the reins to position yourself accordingly within your industry.

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