Branding is not just about logo design and your business name - it is so much more. It is about your tagline, your brand colours, design, packaging, your brand story, your brand voice… but it isn’t about any of these one things on its own, its about how you pull them all together to influence the way your customers, employees and competition perceive your business.

It also isn’t just for the Nike’s, Apple’s and Coca-Cola’s of the business world. It is a must for any business, whether you are a SMB, startup or a large corporation. It doesn’t need a large budget or a huge team to figure out what you believe in and value, who you want to serve and who you don’t, or what your “why” is. It just takes you. And if you like, the help of a brand specialist (like we just did!).

So, for you, we have highlighted 6 of the top reasons why you should invest in your businesses’ brand so that you move branding up on your to-do list.

#1. A Strong Brand Commands Higher Prices

Investing in your brand can help you increase your profits by charging higher prices. Yip, your branding can - and does - have an effect on your bottom line. The process of branding can help you to understand the unique value that you offer your customers, and it can help you define what makes you different to your competitors.

The ultimate goal of establishing a strong brand is to positively influence the way customers perceive your business, and brand perception is a big driver of price - people will pay more for a brand because of its perceived higher value and lower risk.

Take Coca-Cola, Apple and Sony for example - they each have competitors in the market that make similar products, maybe even products of equal quality. But their brand perception in the market is one of high quality, so people are willing to pay a higher price. Heck, some people are even willing to wait in a queue for days whenever they release new products. That is branding at its finest.

#2. A Strong Brand Provides Strategic Direction

Ok, strategy isn’t an exciting topic, we know. But, it is an essential one when you have a business because a good strategy will help you figure out your goals, and give you the direction you need to achieve them. And a branding strategy is an essential part to your overall business strategy, as it will help you answer core business questions like:

• Who are our best customers?

• Where should we invest our marketing budget?

• What should our website say?

• Who should we hire? etc.

If you already have clarity around your businesses’ purpose and vision, your preferred customers, your core offerings and the values or methods by which you operate, then answering these questions become easier.

#3. A Strong Brand Helps You Choose Your Customers

Branding allows you to control the type of customers or clients you want to attract. By figuring out who your ideal client is, and tailoring your marketing messages to speak directly to them, your brand will work to attract more of these ideal clients. And by attracting more of your ideal customers, you have more chance of converting them into paying customers, as well as building a loyal customer base.

#4. A Strong Brand Helps You Build a Strong Community

Off the back of point 3, a strong brand will help you turn first-time customers into repeat customers, as well as into brand advocates. And that is because brands matter to people. Think about yourself - do you have a type of coffee that you prefer? Do you always buy iPhones over Androids? Are you a Toyota person? Or maybe you will only work from a Mac computer? These are all conscious or subconscious choices we make, but whether we know it or not, every day people choose one brand over another, showing brand loyalty. So don’t you want them to choose your brand?

#5. A Strong Brand Has Reduced Marketing Costs

If you know who your customers are, what media they consume, and what messaging they respond to, you can say goodbye to the ol’ scattergun “spray and pray” marketing approach - and the costs that come with that - and implement a more targeted, tailored approach that will save you marketing bucks in the long run.

#6. A Strong Brand Can Pivot

Over the last 18 months, we’ve all become accustomed to the notion of “pivoting”. Making a shift in your business to suit the current climate (ahem, Covid). The restaurant that can no longer seat customers, and offers takeaway and a pop-up bakery instead. The graphic designer who is losing clients during tough times, and launches digital products to generate passive income. The breweries that started making hand sanitiser because they had the means and opportunity, even though it was outside of their “industry” experience.

This is a pivot. It doesn’t have to be a huge change. It just needs a strong brand to back it up.

No matter whether we are in times of upheaval (like in a pandemic), or it’s business as usual, businesses of all sizes need to be agile and adaptable in order to pivot to market changes, because you don’t know what the market, or your products or services, will look like in 10 years (or even this year). And when you build a brand, you become known for more than just your products or services, you become known for your purpose, vision, people or processes, because these are all aspects of your business that can be applied to any product or service you might sell now or in the future.

For example - National Geographic is known for being committed to helping the natural world, so changing formats from print (coffee-table magazine) to television (world-renowned documentary channel) didn’t break them - it made them stronger, because they were able to pivot from a dying industry into one that spoke to younger generations.

Defining your brand will have so many benefits for your business - not just the ones we have listed above. These days, consumers are so overwhelmed by brands, information, products and services, and is hard to stand out amongst all of that noise and clutter. But, a well defined, strong brand will help you do just that. It will help you engage meaningfully with your audience, no matter how big or small you may be, and it will help you build a strong following based on what makes your business unique.

If you need help defining your brand, get in touch with us today. We can run a branding workshop with you to help you get on the right path to building a strong brand for your business.

If you’re just starting out with establishing your brand, a logo is obviously a must-have. So watch this quick video on our must-haves for a strong logo!