What is Branding?
The first thing to understand about this is that a brand is more than just a name with a logo. When we talk about “creating a name for yourself,” we’re talking about putting together the whole package—the tangible perception of your business, as well as the intangible—which is the result of focused, thoughtful marketing that, ideally, inspires consumers to trust your business as a reliable source for a given product or service. There are a variety of elements that contribute to the making of a good brand, including how you interface with the public, as well as generating a strategic look and feel for your logo, content, etc. What do people think when they see your business’ name? It’s worth investigating how customers perceive you to make sure you are sending the right message, and that you’re famous for the right things.
Why Brand Your Business?
New customers tend to go for a name that they know, first. When you’re looking for a place to buy a certain product, the business with a solid brand tends to be the most appealing, which is the reason that advertisers use the term, “trusted brand,” and it’s because that’s the whole point. If you have properly branded your business, your customers will regard you as an authority in the realm of whatever you’re selling.
Generate Unexpected Bonus Traffic
The highest level a company’s brand can reach is when someone trusts your business for any product even loosely related to what you produce. In the best case scenario, even if someone is not your customer yet, they are familiar with your company and will search for you first when looking to buy a product that seems like it’s within your area of business. These people may end up being your customers, even though they were looking for something else.
The Power of a Logo
One of the ways that a successful brand is proven is in how often people associate your business with a given product; strong product-brand association is a powerful asset. An effective logo subtly and clearly reflects, all at the same time: What your company does, its values, and most importantly—it gives customers a way to easily find you.
Reexamine Your Brand
It’s worth allocating some regular time for maintaining your brand because as your business grows or changes strategy, your brand must reflect that. Naturally, it is necessary to stay consistent, but if your business model shifts from strictly sales, to manufacturing, for example, you will likely want to adapt your image as well. As it is good to stay on top of these changes at all times (to avoid sending the wrong message) it helps if someone on your team is spending regular time examining how well your brand is communicating the core values of your business.
Are You an Authority?
Remember, developing a good brand is all about establishing yourself as an authority; it’s about standing out from any other similar organization, as a trusted source for your product. We see this principle at work all the time in academic and professional fields, wherein there are many voices but few authorities. Have you ever heard someone say that a certain person is “an authority on the subject”? They are essentially telling you that there are many people who have knowledge of this subject, but you should listen to the person they’re recommending to you because he or she is a superior source. The same applies for your brand. Once you become an “authority” within your field of business, that means you have created a successful brand that consumers rely on and trust.
Take your brand to the next level with quality web content! Here’s a guide to help you launch an effective content marketing campaign:
Conversion 101: Create Content that Attracts the Right People
Stephanie
Stephanie is the Marketing Director at Talkroute and has been featured in Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur as a leading authority on business and telecommunications.
Stephanie is also the chief editor and contributing author for the Talkroute blog helping more than 100k entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.