What is branding? Here’s why you should invest in branding

Branding underpins everything your business does – so it’s pretty important to get it right. But, believe it or not, there’s a lot more to branding your business than just getting your logo and colour scheme on point. But, what is branding actually? And, why should you invest in branding for your business?

 

 

 

What is branding? Why should you invest in branding?

What is branding? Why does it matter? And, why the heck should you invest in branding when there are so many other things to spend your money on?

I feel like I should have written about this AGES ago since branding really underpins pretty much everything you do in business. But, better late than never, right? This is the first in a 3-part series. Later this week, I'll be posting about how you can nail your brand look and feel and how to define your brand tone of voice.

What is branding?

Despite what many people think, branding is a lot more than just a logo, typefaces or colours. It truly runs a lot deeper than just the visual stuff. Don't get me wrong – the visuals are important – but, your brand is made up of everything from how your Instagram account looks and feels, to how you write emails to clients. From your team culture, to how you answer the phone. From what you believe in, to what you dream of achieving in 50 years' time.

In a nutshell, your branding isn't just something you can quickly throw together and hope that it sticks.

Why should you care about your business branding? Why should you invest in branding?

Firstly, good branding helps you stand out from your competitors. If you can find what your unique magic is and leverage it (rather than copying someone else's branding), you'll find it a heck of a lot easier to stand out. Even if you're in a saturated market.

Your natural instinct when entering a saturated market might be to compete on price. You might believe that in order to gain market share, you have to be the cheapest one out there. But, trust me here, if your brand has the power to capture your audience's emotions, then price isn't even a factor.

A strong brand can motivate someone to buy from you and keep them buying from you over and over again, without them even thinking about the price. Yep, that's right. Good branding can stop you having to compete on price and price alone.

A consistent, well thought out brand makes building trust and connection a whole lot easier because people know what to expect from you. Investing in good branding also shows people that you're serious about the whole business thing and you're not just another fly by night operator who's going to shut up shop tomorrow.

I've talked a bit about building brand advocates previously, but essentially, having a strong brand helps to develop that emotional connection with your audience. Which means they're more likely to become brand advocates and tell others that you.

Here's an example of what good branding can do:

When I first launched Wildbloom in May 2017, the branding was a DIY job. I'm pretty handy with Illustrator and Photoshop but I'm definitely no graphic designer. I had about 10c in my back pocket, so I didn't really want to invest and I wasn't even sure if anyone would want to work with me so I just threw together a simple logo and a simple website.

It looked alright but I hated it after about 6 months. As soon as I could afford it, I decided to get it completely professionally redone. I also spent a lot of time brainstorming brand values, brand tone of voice, brand look and feel, etc. Just to make sure everything was all aligned.

Within 2 months of the new branding being rolled out, we doubled our client list. We were getting so many inquiries it was ridiculous and I have no doubt it was all because of the power of this new cohesive brand.

Pin this?