Last week, we looked at what a brand really is. This week, we’ll address who needs a brand, and why.
Many business owners question whether they really need a brand at all. They might think of “branding” as an exercise that super slick tech startups or multi-national corporations throw millions of dollars at, and it’s hard to see if they got any results from it other than a simplified new logo that stirs some design controversy in niche magazines.
Here’s what every business owner MUST know about branding.
Branding protects your bottom line
- It takes about 20 exposures for a person to form a conscious impression of a brand.
- If your brand is inconsistent, that number goes up to 30, 40 or higher, and the impression that they eventually form of you is more likely to be negative. Inconsistency feels unprofessional, sometimes even untrustworthy.
That means that a company with an undefined brand spends more on marketing for lesser results.
If you’re a business owner or marketing manager, that should be sounding serious alarm bells! And this goes double for small businesses: smaller businesses can ill afford to waste money on marketing that achieves lesser results.
Branding creates value
- Want to charge more for your products or services?
- Want to attract a higher caliber of client?
- Want to create more loyalty with your existing customers?
- Want an easier time closing potential sales?
- Want your customers to refer more people to you, more often?
Big brands have proven with thousands of well-crafted studies: design has a major impact on consumers’ behaviors and can lead to all of the above — or tank it for you. Having a strong brand is a foundational step in shoring up and enhancing the overall value of your business, supporting all of your efforts to provide a better product or service.
Good branding means a better reputation with customers, wider recognition, the ability to command a better price, and more.
In conclusion
Defining a brand that excites your customers and serves your business for the long-term can be a challenging, sometimes expensive, task, but when the value is multiplied over every marketing action that you take for years to come, in both the short term (the immediate impact of advertising) and the long term (how many customers become repeat business, give referrals, and what price they are willing to pay), it becomes the obvious choice and the only one that makes sense.
Of course, it’s also important to create the right brand. Poor design decisions can outweigh the gains you make from consistency. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level with a strong and clearly defined brand, let’s talk! We’d love to help.
