The Importance Of Branding
We’ve all been there, right? Spending large portions of a budget on giveaways and prizes in order to draw people to your booth. Or spending weeks recruiting the right volunteers to go out and represent your name, inviting people to learn more about you and your company. Both of those efforts are resourceful and worth putting time into, but…come close…we have a secret to tell you. With good branding, people will come to you. Either out of intrigue or because they recognize who you are. There is a reason why design and branding jobs are in abundance – and the reason being that good branding alone can minimize your marketing efforts drastically, and quickly grow your business.
Don’t know where to start? Discovering your brand can be boiled down to a few key bullet points:
What are you selling/offering?
Quickly being upfront with what you offer and/or sell is key. Research shows that you have about 7 seconds to capture someone’s attention. People will want to know what you’re offering them right away. How can you make their life better with your product? What will you say to get that across?
Who is your target audience?
For example, if you’re offering life coaching to business professionals, you don’t want to have a brand that will attract…say…teenage girls. So your brand’s appearance (color scheme, website design, written content, social media etc…) really matters. It can attract the right people, or send them running.
https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-steps-to-defining-your-companys-audience
What is your business personality?
Are you funny? Are you serious? Academic? Masculine? Kid-friendly? These questions will be answered by identifying the audience you’re trying to reach. Will you want to write your content with some wit, or focus on research? Will you want your photography to be loud and colorful or clean and monotone? There are free resources out there to help you discover the base answers to these questions: https://www.bigbrandsystem.com/uncover-your-brand-personality-quiz/
Consistency is key.
“Focus plus consistency over time will produce a brand that endures forever, theoretically. You can see this formula at work with some of the biggest brands today. For instance, Coca-Cola has dominated the soft drink industry by staying focused (one product) and consistent (one formula, discounting the ‘new coke’ experiment that failed quickly) since it was introduced in 1886.” – The Wire
If your brand stays consistent across the board, with both digital and tangible marketing efforts, people will begin recognizing you. And the more often people recognize you, the more likely they are to eventually engage with your business.
Having a solid, recognizable, and consistent brand is extremely important when growing your business. We encourage any of you that feel overwhelmed by the thought of discovering your brand to hire professionals to help. You don’t need to be the expert in everything! Designers and marketing professionals are trained to guide you to answer these questions well.
By: Craig Koopersmith – May 17, 2017
