People still seem to discard the importance of branding. Most of the time, it’s for one of two reasons: they don’t understand it, or it seems too difficult to get it right. 

The struggle is real – even the experts that now work at that prestigious branding agency struggled at first, which is why I’m here. I want to help you learn the basics and show you why it’s essential that you work on creating and improving your branding. 

But first, what is branding?

One of the common misconceptions about branding is that it involves only a company’s logo. Sure, when you see a bitten apple, you’ll think of the Apple company, but that’s not all. 

Branding is much more than that. It’s also about the colors you use, the message you send to your customers and employees, your vision, your values, and so much more.

Basically, branding is the process of creating a business image that evokes pleasant emotions. Every business has an identity, something people remember it by, and that’s what branding is essentially about.

Now that we’ve got this out of the way, let’s see why you should dig deeper into your brand’s image.

• Branding makes you stick to your promises.

When you started your business, you made a promise to yourself. You had an idea in your head about what it would be like in the future. You had a vision. 

However, as time goes, people forget about that and get caught up in other aspects of the business. You know what I’m talking about – paying taxes is no fun and games and neither are the supply shortages you face from time to time.

Don’t get me wrong – what you feel is normal. But, if you want to achieve what you aim for, you have to remember why you started doing it in the first place and then line up your business decisions with your vision and values. Let me give you an example. 

Imagine you’ve created a skincare line and you did it because you wanted to help women get in touch with themselves and feel beautiful. You wanted them to feel confident in their skin. In our example, you’ll pick models that have imperfect skin to show your customers that it is okay to be imperfect.

This way, you’ll not only keep the promise you made to yourself but also to your customers. People like to know what to expect and branding does just that.

• It brings out emotions.

If you want to sell your products, you should play the emotional card. People are emotional beings and they often make decisions based on how they feel.

Now, you must be wondering how. How do you get people to feel something about your brand that will make them buy your products? The answer is simple – you should create a story. 

Last year’s Coca-Cola advertisement was voted the year’s most effective Christmas ad. If you go and look at it right now, you’ll understand what this is about. This advertisement makes me feel warm and fuzzy every time I look at it. It’s the love and the family spirit that get me every time. These things, among others, are the reason why people buy Coca-Cola over Pepsi, for instance.

TV advertisements are, of course, just one way of telling a story. You can do it on your social media or your website, it doesn’t matter how you do it. The only thing that matters is that you deliver the message to your customers and get them to feel something.

• Branding affects your employees and attracts top talent.

Branding can influence your employees in multiple ways. Bad branding might turn them away from you, while good branding can make them more eager to invest their time in work.

Just to be clear, branding is not a magical solution to all your problems. If you’re constantly making your employees work overtime or not paying them enough, branding won’t help much. However, emitting a clear message and sharing your vision with them can help keep them motivated. 

Also, don’t forget that happy and motivated employees make great brand ambassadors. They spread the good word about your company, expand your customer base, and eventually attract top talent to your company.

You’ve probably heard of at least one company that can’t seem to find talented people no matter what they do. Well, that’s because their reputation precedes them, and not in a good way.

The good news is that a good reputation can generate more interest in your company and eventually attract top talent. And who doesn’t want that?

• It draws new customers.

Once your company has established a strong brand, consumers will have an overall positive association with your company. It’s only logical that people will more likely buy from you than from someone they know nothing about.

However, if you want to succeed and be able to draw more customers, you have to be realistic when making a promise and consistent when it comes to keeping it. 

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Not only do people never forget that, but they also may damage your reputation permanently by telling others about it.

• Branding increases the value of your business.

When I talk about value, I’m not just talking about monetary value, but also about influence, price premium, or mindshare. All these things affect your position on the market and improve your chances of acquiring good sponsors. 

Also, depending on your branding, you’ll be able to acquire new customers more easily, retain existing ones, or break into new markets.

Brand valuation seems to be a difficult task for many companies, but it is a necessary step if you want to determine how much your business is actually worth.

Now that you know why branding is essential, make it a new year’s resolution to work on your brand and improve it. After all, you never know what could happen – your business might just overrule Apple or Nike in 2022.