As a business owner, it is important to realise that branding is one of the most vital components when it comes to marketing your business. You need to be able to build up a brand for a number of reasons, some of which we are going to be talking about in this article. But, what actually is branding? You need to understand the concept before you can start going about building yours and by the time you have finished reading this article, you are going to know everything you need to about what branding is, and why it is so important for your business. Keep reading if you want to find out more!
What Is Branding?
So, what is branding then? In short, branding is the way that a customer perceives your business. You need to be thinking about things like your website, your logo, social media, the way your employees answer the phone, colour continuity and so much more. Now, you might think that some of this isn’t a big deal, but it all comes together to create your business brand, which is why it is important. You need to take a step back and look at the way each of these things works in your business and then decide if that is the impression you want to give your customers. They can only go on what your business provides to them, so if you want to be well perceived by your customers, you need to be putting in the effort. Think about branding as a necessary tool for your business to succeed, and you will find that your standards in the company shoot up.
Helps To Set You Apart
Your brand is going to help set you apart from your competition on the market. For example, when someone sees a logo, you want them to know that it is yours. This is only going to happen if you market your business well and get people to know what your company logo is. You need to have an excellent graphic design when it comes to building your brand in order to make your business stand out so you should even consider hiring a professional to complete this task for you. By doing this, you ensure that you are getting the best logo possible for your company. This is just one example of a specific feature of your branding that will stand out to people, but it is not the only one.
It is crucial for you to be standing out of the crowd instead of just blending in, and your brand is going to be able to help you do this. Remember that your brand is now going to be competing against everyone else in the industry, and there needs to be a reason that they should pick you over another business. You might think that the reasons are fairly obvious, but if another company has strong branding, and your business does not, even if there are numerous benefits of choosing you, it won’t happen.
Builds Trust With Clients
If you sit back and think about all the brands you buy from, what do they all have in common? That’s right, you trust them, which is why you are making the purchase. Have you ever been in a store and thought that you would buy a specific named product over one that you have never heard of before? You’re not alone here because this is how most people make a choice about what they are going to buy. If you have never heard of the company, there is no way for you to know if they are any good, whether or not their product is reliable and so on which is why the branding of your item is so important. You want people to be standing in the store looking for a specific product that has your company name on it because they trust you to deliver them something amazing. Without good branding, this is never going to be the case.
Trust with your customers is vital to keeping your business running, and the only way to get them to trust you is to give them a reason to. Provide high-quality products and only put your name on something that you believe in 100%. You can then build your brand around this and build trust with your customers.
Growing Your Business
Growing your business is never easy. You need to find new customers who are interested in buying your products, and it usually involves expanding into a different demographic, but this is not going to be possible without the support of your existing customers. To build a brand, you need a loyal customer based and starting with a small one to then build on it is the way to do this. Like we said above, you need to make your business recognisable and irresistible to those who are not already using your products or services. To do this, you will be relying on quite a few factors, one of these being the word of mouth of customers who do use your business already.
Referrals are one of the best ways that you can grow your business, but people are not going to refer their friends and family to you if they don’t trust your brand. For example, if you buy a new product from someone you don’t know and you find that it is really good, you are more likely to tell your loved ones about it, right? Well, that’s what you need to happen, which is one of the things you need to consider with your brand. But, you need to think further than just referrals and realise that if someone has heard your business name before and they go on Google to find out some information, good reviews really can make you or break you. Yes, Google reviews do count to your business brand, so ensure that these are the best they can be.
Branding Creates Clarity
Who are you? What do you do? What can you offer a customer? Why should they choose you over your competition? These are all important questions, and ones that need to be conveyed through your brand. Going back to the logo example, people need to know that your logo belongs to your company, but from this, they should be able to identify you and what your business is about. It is no good having a farm logo if you are selling shoes, for example, because this is not relevant and doesn’t offer any kind of clarity about your business.
However, it is not just your customers that your brand will create clarity for, it is you and your employees also. It is always going to be easy to bounce around from idea to idea if you don’t have a set course, but a brand will change all of this. It will give your company a sense of direction which is necessary if you want to succeed. Having a brand will help your marketing efforts as well because it will show you where you need to be focusing, which will save you a lot of time and money.
Beyond The Physical Value
If we look beyond physical value for a moment, what is there left behind a company? The answer is the brand. Think of some of the top companies on the market right now, Apple, Amazon, Sony, and so on, the thing that they all have in common is a strong brand. If you take away the physical value that comes from their properties, assets and their stock, they are still left with a lot of value. They have built up a brand that goes beyond money, which will help them to stay afloat if they ever start to hit a rough patch at any point.
A brand creates a value that far exceeds that of physical value, and this is the true measure of how much your business is worth.
Branding Represents Your Business
Finally, your brand represents your business. It is how your customers perceive you, which means it will be how others perceive you, and this has the power to make or break your company. You are the brand, your staff is the brand, and if you have customers saying negative things about you, this is not going to be good for business. This is where things like answering the phone and how you speak to customers comes in because this is what they notice and what they will judge you on. Your brand, at the end of the day, tells customers who you are and what you can promise them. If you fall short, or you aren’t giving them enough, then your competition will have just gained another client.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see why branding is so important for your business in Australia. The best option to nail your brand down is with our Unlimited Design Service, allowing you the flexibility to creating as much branding material as you need. It doesn’t matter if you’re based in Perth like us or Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart or even overseas, we have the skills and experience to make your business shine over your competition.
Want to learn more about Branding on why it is so important? Check this article by Entrepreneur.com
