You've heard me say it before, but I'm going to say it again. Your brand is your company's most valuable asset. It is the sum total of how your organization is perceived by your customers, your employees, and beyond.
For better or worse, every interaction you, your employees, and your company has with a client helps develop your brand's identity. Let's say a potential new client finds you on Facebook and clicks on your page, where they see that you have a blurry and over-exposed cover photo and a shot of you from last summer, you're sending a very clear message. Without intending to, you could be telling them that looking professional isn't really all that important to you or that you're behind the times.
Quality clients, the ones who come to you for good service and not the lowest rate, want to know that they are handing their business over to the best of the best. Everything with your name and your business name attached to it could be the ONLY impression of you a prospective client sees. Think about that for a second.
First impressions have the ability to shape the perceptions of clients and this is key to influencing their behavior. And it's their behavior that ultimately impacts your bottom line. It stands to reason, then, that branding is one of the soundest investments a company can make. Especially if your company is in the midst of waning profits, high employee turnover, stagnant growth, or even just a good old existential crisis.
Branding shouldn't be seen as another marketing cost. Branding is an investment. An investment that if executed properly, can yield exponential returns over the lifetime of your business. So why invest in branding? Here are 6 reasons it's worth it and how it can positively impact your bottom line for years to come.
Close your eyes. Think of your biggest competitor. I'm willing to bet that they've invested in branding. Businesses who understand the true value of investing in branding and professional design understand that they'll get a return. If your competitor has invested in branding, they already have an edge over you. And if they're not investing? Well - what a perfect opportunity to make the first move.
Brand research helps you identify exactly who your customers are and if there are any types of customers that you should be going after. Clearly defined target audiences and customer personas enable you to tailor messaging specifically targeted at the right customers. When you market to everyone, you're marketing to no one. This is why it's crucial to understand who your customers really are because not only are the right customers more likely to purchase your product or service. They're also more loyal over the lifetime of their relationship with your brand. This loyalty becomes extremely valuable when your customers become brand advocates - convincing their friends and family to buy your product or services as well.
Putting all of the work into your product or perfecting your skills to offer a service, are only parts of the puzzle. A solid brand and marketing strategy is the roadmap that will guide you in making your business a success. You can get a logo done for $5 from somewhere overseas and it will do. You can create copy without brand guidelines. But building your brand from the start, backed up by research, and crafted by a professional is a surefire way you'll be taken seriously by your potential customers, important stakeholders, and investors.
The difference between trying to sell a boring outdated brand and a fresh boldly differentiated brand is like the difference between trying to sell a Datsun and a Tesla. Well-defined brands are easier to sell because their positioning is woven throughout their brand narrative. The language needed to sell your products or services has already been articulated through your brand platform. With a cohesive and compelling brand, most of the work is already done for the salesperson before an initial conversation with a potential client is ever had. Branding gives your sales team the language and advantages it needs to close deals with confidence and ease.
A cohesive, well-articulated brand increases the efficiency and effectiveness of your marketing initiatives. By better understanding your target audience, you can develop campaigns with highly relevant messaging targeted at the right customers. No more wasted effort - because when you market to everyone, you're marketing to no one. Furthermore, your brand's language and positioning emerge from the branding process, which helps ensure that you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you develop a new marketing initiative.
A brand is an intangible entity. But getting it right will impact a whole bunch of those tangible metrics that keep you up at night. Leads, website traffic, followers, cost per acquisition, sales, and referrals - are all impacted by your branding. It's all connected, which means having a clear brand platform, language, and identity are all connected to how profitable you are.
Think about it. Do you really think the Apples, Cokes, and Nikes of the world are successful just because they have the best product? Despite what you may read on the Internet, branding is more than just a logo. It's everything about your business, which kind of makes it a big deal and worth investing in.
