Why Brand Your Business?
Why bother to brand your business? Branding is how your company sets itself apart from your competition. While your company’s products and services are important, it is your brand that makes your company stand out in your industry.
And we’re not just talking about a pretty face here. Branding your business defines your mission in the eyes of your employees and customers, and a good brand is based on a foundation constructed from your positioning statement, brand attributes, and visual direction.
As we’ve said before, a brand is not necessarily something that you can completely control. It’s the perception that people have about your business after encountering anything related to your organization. So, it’s imperative that you seek to control all that you can in order to ensure that the perception of the public aligns with your brand position.
Practically speaking, the elements that fall within your ability to control include your logo design, the user experience on your website, your website interface design, your business cards, your social media presence, the service your employees supply, and more. Your brand is made up of images, content, marketing, design, and customer service. It’s everything.
Because we are passionate about how branding your business can impact a business, our branding experts are breaking down some of the reasons why you should brand your business.
Branding Your Business Strengthens Marketing and Advertising Efforts
Sales-driven marketing is a little bit like Tinder. Or whatever the prevailing dating app is of the day. Sales-driven marketing comes to you out of the blue with a desperate plea to connect. Often, when you encounter sales-driven marketing, you’re asked to engage and invest before you’re even acquainted.
Conversely, brand-driven marketing is a slower process of familiarization. It allows consumers to get to know a company and what they offer before being asked to invest. Brand-driven marketing embeds your positioning and brand attributes in the minds of the consumer. This way, when a need arises, you’re top of mind and they wouldn’t consider going elsewhere. For tacos, or anything else that you’re selling.
Additionally, clear branding makes marketing and advertising strategies much easier to develop. Marketing and advertising teams that know their brand have a strong foundation to build every campaign on. It also makes the reception of advertising and marketing more seamless for consumers: a cohesive message is easy to connect in the mind of a potential customer.
In order to engage in brand-driven marketing, you’ve got to have a brand in place. And this shouldn’t be something that you’re shooting from the hip on. Instead, we recommend that our clients start with Foundational Branding, and then allow us to cultivate the brand support based on the foundation. It makes sense.
Branding Underscores the Value of Your Products and Services
Great branding makes you more desirable to your potential audience. And once again, this is not just about aesthetics. Branding helps explain your value. If your branding presents a solid case for why you do what you do, then customers are more likely to pay you for it.
Investing in your positioning, attributes, and visual direction, and then aligning all brand support to that foundation, creates a clear and compelling message for your consumers. The brand positioning can speak to the quality of your products or services. And then all subsequent collateral will be laced with a message of quality.
Additionally, branding your business means consistency in visuals and voice. A consistent presence conveys a message of professionalism, which plays into the quality of your services.
Branding Your Business Builds Loyal Customers
Loyal customers will do business with you more frequently, spend more money when they do engage with you and are less expensive to market to. Also, a loyal customer base will often be your best source of new clients or customers, as raving fans tend to recommend businesses more than anyone else.
A big player in customer loyalty is consistency. The world’s most recognizable brands are also the most consistent in visuals, voice, product, and service. Think: Apple, McDonald’s, etc.
Loyalty emerges when trust is established. And trust is established through a relentless approach to consistency.
Let’s explore an example. Imagine that Chick-fil-a opened a restaurant with no drive-thru and staked a sign out front with a white and blue logo and decided to offer only burrito bowls. The inconsistency would confuse people. And if you confuse, you lose.
On the flip side, the reality is that you know that wherever you go in the world, you can expect to find the big red C, waffle fries, and fried chicken sandwiches with 2 pickles on a buttered bun. Smiling employees will be in polos and visors, and the restaurant will be relatively clean and friendly.
This consistency is what contributes to customer loyalty. It takes the friction out of the decision-making process for the customer. People know what to expect and probably already know what they will order once they arrive at the restaurant. The consistency appeals to the consumer’s logical and lazy brain, and that’s what keeps CFA in demand.
The consistency is the direct result of a solid brand and unwavering implementation of that brand. And this results in a loyal customer base.
Branding Creates Loyal Employees
Just like your branding can create loyal customers, it also can create loyal, satisfied employees. Happy employees often lead to happy customers. And less employee turnover cost.
Branding that conveys a cohesive purpose to your employees strengthens their sense of purpose at your company. With a clear brand, your employees are more likely to become brand advocates.
Plus, employees who have taken your brand to heart are able to act as ambassadors for your brand with clients and customers.
In order to convey your brand to your employees, you’ve got to brand your business to start with. Each and every employee should be able to spout off your positioning statement to anyone who asks, and those at the top should consider this position as they make pivotal decisions for the company.
Additionally, your brand attributes serve as internal beacons, providing guidance to your team that informs their speech, actions, appearance, demeanor, and more. It tells them who they are in the context of the work environment. While every employee is an individual, the brand attributes will unite your employees under a single umbrella that is your brand.
With a firm brand in place, conscientious employees will know what’s expected of them and will be able to thrive.
On the other hand, without branding your business, leadership will be waffling and decisions will oftentimes come down to personal opinion. Scenarios like this brandless environment we’ve described lead to disgruntled and deflated employees who end up leaving the company.
Contact Our Branding Firm in Nashville to Brand Your Business
If you’re not sure how your branding is working or where to start to improve it, reach out to a branding agency who can get to the heart of who you are and help you communicate that through your brand. Your company is unique, and your brand should be, too. Contact us today to get started.
