Branding is one of those marketing concepts that are a bit challenging and can become perplexing the further you delve into it, even for those who have studied marketing.
In this article, we will take a close look at branding and understand its importance.
What Is Branding?
Branding refers to the different ways in which you establish an image of your product or service in the eyes of your customers.
By creating a website that describes your products and services, developing ads that promote your offering, choosing particular corporate colors that will be associated with your company, designing a logo, and featuring it on your social media handles, you are essentially branding your business. In simple terms, it is shaping how people perceive your company.
Keep in mind what your consumers and customers say about your brand (not what you would want them to say) is what matters most. It’s the image that enters their mind when they hear of your company’s name. It’s based on a feeling they have that’s largely dependent on the experiences they have had with you, either good or bad.
What’s the Use of Branding?
The key objective of branding is to easily and simply assist your customers in understanding what you offer and what makes you different. However, it’s not limited to a USP. Rather, it’s the combination of the different ways in which you communicate what you stand for.
Apart from your corporate colors and logo, you can communicate your brand message through your store atmosphere and environment, the products you sell, the price you charge, your product packaging, public relations, sponsorships, direct mail, non-profit partnerships, advertising, etc.
What your prospects and customers take away from all this shapes your brand.
Why Is Branding Important?
Here are some reasons why branding is so important.
Allows you to stand apart from the competition. Branding allows you to build the ways in which you’re special, unique, and different. It indicates to your prospects and customers why they should work with you rather than your competitors.
Enhances brand recognition. If you want to establish a successful brand, you have to be identifiable. The correct branding (including developing a compelling logo, website, etc.) allows you to create a unique style and enhances your brand recognition in the market.
Creates a coherent brand experience for your customers. For your business to be successful, you need to offer a coherent experience for your customers however they engage with your brand, whether that’s at an event or a website or by following your social media handles. Branding helps you shape how people experience and perceive your brand – and you can make sure that experience and perception stay coherent across all your brand touchpoints.
Generates New Customers. Branding typically means there’s a positive impression of the business amongst consumers, and they are likely to do business with you because of the credibility and assumed reliability of using a name they can trust. Once a particular brand perception is established in the market, a chain of word of mouth will pass the perception on and further reinforce the brand image.
Conclusion
Simply stated, a product is what you sell, whereas a brand is the perceived image of the product that you sell, and branding is the process to establish that image.
We hope this article helped you understand what branding means and why it’s essential to invest in it.
