Brand and Branding are terms often thrown around without considering what they mean in the grand scheme of things. Have you ever wondered what they exactly mean? I’m Yash Khatri, and I regularly demystify marketing for small businesses and individuals.
In this article, we’ll examine what branding entails and whether YOU should build a brand for your business or yourself.
According to Investopedia, a brand can be defined as “An identifying symbol, mark, logo, name, word and/or sentence that companies use to distinguish their product from others.” Essentially a logo or a graphic element. However, this statement isn’t true in isolation.
When reduced to its simplest form, your brand represents your customer’s perception of you and how they see you or your business. As a person, if your brand is perceived as very serious and sombre, you will have that brand, but if you are perceived as jovial and fun, then that becomes your “brand.”
Entrepreneur.com says, “Your brand is your promise to your customer.”
Creating a brand requires dedication and a long-term approach, which can span decades or even centuries, but it always pays off in the long run.
Why Building A Brand Can Be The Boost Your Business Needs – Five Reasons Explained
Most small and medium-sized businesses ignore branding, thereby wasting a golden opportunity. There are various ways to build a brand. So let’s take a look at a few reasons why you should build your brand.
1. Branding And Its Relation To Recognition
The foundation of human comfort is familiarity.
The reason people work with other people they are familiar with is that they do not have to step outside their comfort zone to achieve their goals. A brand that is easily recognizable and familiar to people will make new people less reluctant to work with you. Ultimately, this could and will boost your success.
2. Branding And Referrals
Have you ever asked your friends or family for suggestions for a particular product only to get almost the same answer? Try and recall when was the last time that this happened?
As long as your customers enjoy your product, they will promote your brand. This is the basis for referrals.
But Yash, how does a product come into play when talking about a brand? That’s an excellent question.
Your brand is your ultimate product. No matter how good or bad your physical product or service is, it’ll almost always be judged by the brand it’s associated with.
In recent years, the concept of brands has continued to gain popularity, and more and more people are becoming devoted to only using branded products. Think about the last time you thought of Coke when you wanted to buy a cola or Apple when you wished to buy a new phone. Their brands invoke emotion and action, regardless of the actual product.
3. Branding And Managing Your Customer Expectations
Anyone who buys a product or service from a well-known brand has a certain expectation from the purchase. It could be driven by internal factors or external influences.
Delivering on expectations is made easier with a strong brand value. By communicating transparently with your audience, you develop their trust and faith in what you offer. Having a clearly constructed brand also helps your customer ease into the buying process and acts as a catalyst for conversion since your customers know exactly what they should expect from you and your brand.
Sanjay Wadhwa – internationally certified business coach says: Brand is either automatic or deliberate. If businesses don’t consciously send brand messages, even then, some messages are being sent, and a brand is being built, and It may not match the vision or the values of the business. Now to avoid this automatic brand build, a conscious effort is required.
4. Branding And Emotional Connect
We tend to buy from brands that make us emotionally feel something about our purchases since purchasing something is an emotional process. It could be satisfaction, joy, or any other emotion on the spectrum.
We would prefer a company with a mission of helping underprivileged kids with every transaction over a company with a single aim, profit. Wouldn’t we?
A buyer’s emotional connection is a significant factor in their purchase decision and can help them purchase the product without hesitation.
5. Branding Creates Intangible Value For Business
Despite being a powerful and versatile asset, most people conveniently choose to ignore their brand. A business is greater than the sum of all its parts, physical or otherwise, and your brand plays a great role in adding a lot of value to your business.
You can find branding Ideas in the most basic human scenarios, so the next time you get an idea to improve your business or help you in branding your business, write it down. Who knows, it just may be the next big thing!
Brands Are Built On Ideas, And Ideas Are Bulletproof
Do mention what brands you subconsciously associate with certain products. Have you had any experience? Good or bad with a particular brand? Do let me know in the comments.