What is Branding? And why Should Business Owners Care About It?
One of the terms that marketing professionals often talk about is branding. It is one of the concepts that might seem vague. In this article we will try to provide you with the answer on “What is branding”
To understand branding, you should first know what brands are. In most simple terms, a brand is an image or idea of a certain product or service that consumers connect with. Marketing that image or idea is branding, and its goal is to make the name or logo of the company recognisable.
There are times when it is not the logo of the company that comes to mind, but instead the packaging. Take for instance Tiffany’s. A lot of people don’t know the company’s logo, but they can recognise its blue box right away. Then they will think about luxury products and high-quality jewellery that the company is known for.
In short, branding is something that triggers something in consumers’ minds. It is about creating an identity for the company. The brand is something that sets the company apart from another. It is something that you can expect from the specific company. It is also the perception that consumers have of the company. To sum it up, branding is composed of all the elements that make up a brand that include logo, colours, packaging, reputation and a lot more.
The Value of Branding to Business Owners
One of the things that businesses should know is that branding fosters customer loyalty. It keeps consumers loyal to the brand and buys again and again. It also helps with awareness. It helps make consumers remember the company, and make its products stand out among the competition.
Because of the internet, consumers today have access to information at the tip of their hands. When they are shopping for something, they go to Google to find what they are looking for. They are bombarded with lots of choices. With a strong branding strategy, consumers are able to recognise your brand name in the search engine results and think of the positive factors that make it stand out. It is important to consider branding not as a replacement for sales or other marketing campaigns, but instead as a supporting tool that reinforces the marketing and sales strategies.
A lot of companies think that branding can be expensive. But on the contrary, it doesn’t need to be. There are some actions that business owners can do to develop a good brand. The first one is to determine what the brand stands for. It must be something that sets the company apart from the competitors.
Then audit the marketing materials that include the website, ads, brochures, and the social media accounts. It is important for the marketing materials to have a unified message. Consistency is the key to have a strong branding campaign. The campaign must be consistent not just in the message but in other elements as well, such as the logo, and colours, just to name a few.
Keep in mind that branding is not just for big companies. It is important for business owners to know what it is about to get the edge over competitors.
If you want to learn more about brands and how to develop one, contact me. I will be more than happy to assist you with your concerns about the subject. Feel free to contact me!