A brand is much more important than it first seems, a logo, some nice colours and great fonts. But your brand is so much more than this, it should in fact be thought of as more like an identity, an identity for your business that distinguishes it from others, and has its own unique personality, tones, and values

With our world now more connected than ever, customers are exposed to new brands daily through social media platforms, which makes it much harder to stand out, and therefore an even more important part of your business.

Competition for business is harder today than it has ever been, and will only get harder, so businesses need to go the extra mile, they need to stand out from the crowd and be noticed. To do this, you need to invest in a strong brand, and with the right branding, you have a greater chance to control how your business is perceived, and therefore influence how likely someone is to make a purchase from you.

Branding improves recognition

One of the key reasons businesses need branding is to build recognition. If your business has a strong brand presence then people will take note, and naturally commit your brand into their memory, this works wonders for developing a strong customer base. A business without strong branding is easily forgotten, and therefore will not remain in someone’s mind for very long, which is not great if your looking to build a customer base or community from your brand.

The bits of a brand that are usually seen first, such as the logo, colours, and visual elements are all key to making a brand more memorable. If these stick out in some way and resonate with your customers then there’s a really good chance it won’t be forgotten, even if they are not yet ready to buy your products or services yet.

Branding improves trust

Trust is one of the most important things you need for you business, but it isn’t always easy to gain. A business missing key elements of branding will have a hard time getting people to trust them, because it is something that many of us have come to expect when we look at any business, and missing this could trigger a red flag. Without branding, you have little to show for your business.

If you had to choose between a business with clear, professional-looking branding, and a business that hasn’t made much of an effort, you probably know which one you’d trust more. That’s because branding helps you show potential customers that you’re an established, credible business. You can use this to your advantage in order to tell people very early on what they can expect from your business. Branding is an investment into your business to improve itself, and potential customers will recognise that the work has been put in to your brand.

Branding creates Invested employees

Branding can provide value within your business too. I’m sure you want your employees to love working for your company and feel like a part of the team. Without a strong brand in place how will they truest know what team they have joined, how would you ensure they share your brand values and help resonate them with your customers? A business with great branding makes it much easier to hire employees that feel like they’re joining something far more than just a job.

In addition to the external rand you share with the world you’ll want to make sure they also invest in things such as branded apparel, and merchandise that can transform the entire look and feel of your workplace, as well as providing employees with things to get excited about.

Branding creates customer loyalty

Customers who use your product or service once are probably not what you are looking for. If you want customers to keep returning to you then you’ll want to form a bond and connect with them on a more human level, this is pretty hard for a business to do, but not a brand.

Remember when we said a brand is like an identity? Well it is, and it just so happens that this identity can feel much more human centric, through messaging and tone of voice. In many ways this is the key area where people will connect with your brand and feel more connected with your business. Branding allows you to build these relationships with your audience, which in turn become customers, and even a community. It’s possible to build brands that people actually care about and this will put you ahead of businesses that aren’t using this to their advantage.

Branding strengthens advertising and marketing campaigns

Without advertising your business is unlikely to succeed. Branding and advertising go pretty much hand-in-hand. If you want your advertising campaigns to perform better, then you’ll need to have a strong brand first.

You most likely want your advertising to communicate something from your business, and therefore you’ll need to ensure it shares the same identity. This will help reinforce everything we’ve covered above, only this time your probably now looking to make a sale, and therefore it’s ever more important that your brand is strong in order to tie it all together. Advertising can be a challenge, especially if you haven’t taken the time to form a complete, strong brand.