Why is branding so important to your business success?
Having a strong brand and brand strategy can position your business or personal career competitively in your market or industry. Without it, your company and website become another piece of noise on the Internet.
Branding is the art of actively shaping your brand. With creativity, skill and strategy, a brand can establish an identity that sets itself apart from the competition and sparks a connection with its audience. The goal of a brand is to differentiate your organization, product/services, and identity from that of the competition.
Branding tells your story
Build your identity by establishing brand-defining keywords and using these words to shape the company voice, tone and aesthetic. While developing the brand for your business, you, in turn, create a customer experience. Everything from your logo to the interactivity of your website is part of the total brand experience. The way your customer support team answers messages, the content published to your company’s social media profiles, the manner in which customers are onboarded for products and services – it all revolves around your brand.
Your brand has the power to construct a one-of-a-kind experience for your customers. This experience is extended through various online channels, in-person interactions with employees, and other instances.
Branding builds an emotional connection
By establishing yourself as a brand, you can deeply connect with customers, employees and the general public. This connection is a gradual process which happens with time, but it starts by establishing a good reputation, letting your audience get to know you and ultimately finding memorable ways to communicate.
Branding builds confidence
Great branding takes guts, strategy, intelligence—and sometimes—risk. To tell your customers what makes you “you,” confidence is essential. Think of it this way: some of the most successful brands in the world got to where they are because of a sense of confidence, not because they were offering a particularly unique product or experience.
Branding connects you to your audience
Highly successful businesses have well-established missions, visions and values. But it’s not just for big companies and do-gooder nonprofits. Smaller brands can take a more casual approach while still developing a core set of brand principles.
Your beliefs play a large role in upholding your brand identity and communicating it with others. Some brands strategist take a more subtle approach, while others opt to weave values into a logo itself.
Branding unites an audience
Connection on a deep, personal level is a reflection of a well-built brand. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: branding is everything. So be good to your brand and take the time to carefully curate your brand identity.
A brand strategy identifies the goals for your brand as well as how to best accomplish them using the various components of your brand including language, the logo, and trademarks (also known as a brand standards guide.)
While much of your brand strategy will focus on how to appropriately utilize the brand across marketing and company efforts, Hubspot also identifies 7 components all brand strategies must contain:
- Purpose: Define your company’s vision.
- Consistency: Ensure a seamless representation of your brand.
- Emotion: What is the tone of voice for your brand? How should your brand convey emotion?
- Loyalty: Discuss how to recognize and appreciate your loyal customers.
- Competitive Awareness: Analyze your competitors and determine how to differentiate your brand.
With a solidified brand strategy, you can move forward with developing and launching a website that represents your brand in a positive, accurate, and consistent manner.
Considering that consistent presentation of a brand increases revenue by 23% on average, it is vital for your business to have a defined brand. And, with 54% of shoppers turning to a brand’s website for product information, customer service, and personalized shopping, a brand website is more important than ever.