What is branding?

by | May 24, 2022 | Design, Marketing

Branding is an ultimate marketing practice that shapes the brand, but there is much more to it. Some people think branding is a logo. Others think it’s colours, fonts and a fancy website. They’re not wrong, but they’re only seeing part of the picture.

Branding is defined as the stuff that your business needs to break through and capture the customers’ attention. It’s how people recognise you, remember you and ultimately decide whether they trust you enough to buy from you. For small businesses, branding transforms first-time customers into repetitive or lifetime customers. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that branding is something that put you apart from the competition, makes an impact, and shift your business to a whole new level.

Understanding the concept behind branding

Branding is defined as the set of actions that a business takes to shape how people perceive the brand. For the most part, it’s thought that branding is only about the logo and aesthetics, but it’s also the gut feeling that a company elicits from the audience base. The brand is known to be a combination of perceptions that the audience has about the company, the feeling people get when they visit your website, see your signage, scroll through your social media or speak with your team and also includes the techniques needed to cultivate the brand.

Your brand is the perception people have of your business. Branding is everything you do to help shape that perception. So, if branding is all about shaping perception, what impact does that actually have on a business?

Create a competitive edge

It doesn’t matter which business niche you are operating in or what your target audience is, it’s obvious that you will always have competition, and it’s essential to stand above them, get noticed and make the sales your competition wont. Having said that, branding will help create a unique and special brand appearance and will reflect why your customers should choose you instead of the competition. It helps communicate what makes you different before you’ve even had a conversation.

Develop your brand’s identity

If you are trying to develop a successful brand, you need people to be able to recognise you. Correct branding will help you determine a specific style and improve the brand identity across your website design, logo, car or truck signage, business cards, letter heads, social media and marketing materials. Keep in mind that the right branding includes all of it for your business to becomes easier to identify and trust.

Consistency in your brand’s appearance

Imagine meeting someone who changes their personality every time you see them. That’s what inconsistent branding feels like. If you want to ensure your brand succeeds, you must create a consistent brand appearance for the customer, irrespective of how they interact with the brand. Whether someone finds you through Google, Facebook, your website or a printed flyer, the experience should feel familiar. Also, branding allows the users to control how the audience is perceiving your brand and directly impacts the brand experience customers have with your brand. For this reason, it’s important to ensure that brand appearance is consistent all around, including your website, social media, print and IRL.

Spark the connection

The brands people remember are usually the ones they connect with, the brands that create an emotional connection. That connection doesn’t happen by accident. The emotional connection ensures that the prospects are transformed into customers, and customers are transformed into repetitive brand consumers. For sparking this connection, branding is essential, everything from your tone of voice and messaging to your colours psychology , imagery and customer experience.

The branding elements

There are multiple elements of branding that’s needed to create something that cultivates a promising brand image. Things like your brand values, mission statement, logo, website, messaging and visual identity all work together to shape how people perceive your business. Then there are the things many people don’t think about, like vehicle signage, business cards, email signatures, social media graphics and even how your team communicates with customers. Also, the one-size-fits-all doesn’t work with branding, so make sure you are customising your product packaging, flyers, and business cards accordingly.

To wrap up

Branding is about being recognised, remembered and trusted. It is an action, which surely sounds daunting, but once you dive in, you will be able to create a memorable brand that empowers the brand message! When people know who you are, understand what you do and remember you when they need it, branding is doing its job. Sounds simple, but getting all those moving parts working together can be tricky. If you want help, or you want to palm it off completely, give Ben a call, he can help you out.