Your business’s brand is far more than just a collective of logos, colours and design elements. Rather, your branding holds your business’s core identity and gives your company a personality. While branding has always been important, now more than ever with social media, consumers are being exposed to new brands and businesses every single day. So they have a lot of options and will likely go with the one that makes them feel the most secure. In this way, a good brand encompasses many things that reaches beyond a memorable logo and knits with the company’s values, motivates and directs the team, encourages repeat business and eases the process of acquiring new customers. So what exactly does a brand entail and how do you harness this power to build your business.
Brand helps customers find and recognize you
The more your business is recognized, the better. If you have a strong brand then people will be more likely to stop and take note of you. On the flip side, a business without cohesive branding won't stay in someone’s mind very long.
Brands build trust
People won’t buy from you if they don’t feel like they can trust you. A strong brand gives a good impression, especially when it knits with your company values and output. Keep in mind that not investing in branding, doesn't mean you are exempt from this dynamic. In fact if your company has poor branding then this in itself is a communication, which will result in lack of trust and lost sales.
Brand improves advertising
Without advertising, your company won’t get very far. But before you can advertise your business you need a brand. This will ensure that you have a very cohesive message which will bolster your campaign and encourage recognition and repetitive business. Investing in advertising before you have secured your brand identity can result in alot of your advertising investment petering away.
Brand promotes connection with employees
People don’t just want to work for a business, they want to work for a brand. Often they will be drawn to a brand as a way of investing in themselves simply through association with the brand and what they would be working towards once there. In this way, the company’s brand ties into what is important for them and so working for a strong brand promotes team building and unifies staff to work for a cause rather than just a bottom line.
Brand promotes loyal customers
Repeat business is important and so you never just want once off customers. Rather you want customers who return time and time again. Good branding provides a human side to your service or product. This makes your offering more relatable and people will be more likely to identify with it and return. Further to this, good branding appeals to people’s emotions and this further promotes connectivity to the business. This in turn encourages loyalty to a brand that people actually care about.
Branding increases financial value
Perception matters and branding has the power to influence the value of your business as a whole. In fact having a strong brand can actually guarantee future business. This is why building a strong brand long term should be a direct initiative of every growing business.
The bottom line
Branding promotes connectivity with customers, improves perception around your business and strengthens the value of your offering. This is why it is so important to ensure that your business invests in your brand value on an ongoing basis. This often does not come easily to business owners and so it is wise to seek professional assistance in order to plug into your company’s value and then extract the qualities that will make for a strong brand identity. Once in place, these professionals can then create industry-appropriate designs which will communicate this message effectively. While this feels like a pricey undertaking, this is a growth-enhancing investment that will reward you in sales, loyalty and new customer acquisition. So to fund your business’s next brand development strategy, contact Merchant Capital, and let us serve your ambitious growth.
