Understanding Branding Importance in Marketing Your Business

branding
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You may have heard something about marketing “branding,” but maybe you don’t truly understand what that that means exactly.
Some people think branding is like positioning, but it is actually different. The main difference is that positioning is a fluid concept. In other words, you can position yourself at different times in different markets as different things. Branding is more set in stone– it’s a hard-core recognition factor.

Branding is more about following rules because if you don’t follow those rules, things don’t look the same and people won’t remember you. When you put out your marketing pieces, you want to create a similar look and feel so that people remember you. And you want that similar look and feel on every piece you put out.

The good thing is that you get to make the rules…colors are the same, style of lettering is the same, logo, etc. However, there is some flexibility as long as you follow the rules. You can’t go too far out of bounds, but you can change some things within the framework of what others can still recognize.

Branding in your marketing has to make you feel something. A technology company can’t have an old-style font — you might not think that they are very advanced.

A brand consists of eight basic building blocks:

  • The name
  • The logo (brand icon)
  • The brand’s colors
  • The slogan and brand messaging
  • The sound of the brand
  • The overall look and feel = the brand’s position
  • Packaging the brand
  • The brand experience

A brand is a greater sum of its parts. It is always more than just the nuts and bolts, the pieces; great brands are always the result of the whole equaling more than the sum of its parts.

Branding is about making the consumer or buyer more hip, more in the “know,” more cool than anybody else. We are a generation and a nation wanting to be special. We want to be richer, more beautiful, better dressed, and more effortlessly gorgeous than any other generation that we know.

Benefits of Branding

Your business needs to create a positive image in the minds of consumers. Contrary to what most people believe, branding isn’t just a logo. Your business’s purpose, focus, and image all combine to create your brand. Why should you make this effort? Below are a few benefits:

  • You are remembered: It’s hard to remember a company with a generic name. You may not be able to distinguish their purpose and business focus. And why would you call a company if you couldn’t tell what they did? Branding your business ensures that consumers will know what you’re about.

  • You gain customer loyalty: The fact is, people build close bonds with brand identities. Consumers want quality products that they can trust. So, your business should have an identity that your customers can cling to. If your company delivers great products and services and has a great brand identity, people will remember you. Additionally, they will often refer you to friends and family.

  • You become well-known: You want the people who have not done business with you to still know who you are and what you do. If they see your ads on billboards, hear them on the radio, see them on television, or any other media, they will know your brand identity. And when the time comes that they need your product or service, your company will be the first to come to mind.

  • Consumers pay for image: We are a very brand-aware society. People commonly associate brand names with quality and may only buy certain brands for that reason. If people only want one brand of a particular product, they are willing to pay a higher price. Having a great brand will make your company have a superior image and cause consumers to forget about the competition.

When you have distinguished your business through branding, the marketing has the capability of becoming so profound that little else is necessary. Developing your brand takes time and effort, but after it has been solidified, and after customers have had the chance to identify with it, your sales can increase naturally. You won’t have to spend as much time planning marketing strategies to attract the public.

Online Branding

Branding, as a whole, is essential for any serious business because a company’s brand is what distinguishes it from its competitors. In today’s computer age, it is necessary for most businesses to have an online presence to stay competitive. Effective Internet branding, just like its offline counterpart, helps bring awareness to your unique business offering and drive customer demand.

While Internet branding offers huge opportunities for business, in order for it to be effective, one needs to attract and engage its customers. This isn’t easy on the Internet. Branding is not as easy as putting up a website and adding your company logo and slogan. Your Internet branding strategy should make your online brand noticeable and apparent.

Branding utilizes hi-tech tools to create an online presence for your business. Graphics and animation, compelling web copy, and overall website design that reflect your company are some of the important elements that will bring your online brand alive. An attractive website that helps customers easily and quickly find the information they need is the key to getting customer interaction and eventually, business. Your branding plan should include good design elements and ease of use to create an effective overall impression.

A strong online image will make the difference between a customer who buys from you online or switches to your competitors. Remember that online customers can just leave your website and go to your competitors with the click of a mouse. A lot depends on the impression they get from your website. Branding seeks to convey an immediate unique message about your business to your target clients.

Promoting Your Brand

If you haven’t already initiated a brand for your company, now might be just the time. Use these simple techniques in the promotion of your special brand.

  • Make your brand as unique as possible: Catch the eye of the public by creating something different — something that people have not yet seen. Instead of doing what has already been done, go the opposite direction and be creative. Don’t forget the legal dangers of copyright infringement related to borrowing or stealing from another firm’s design.

  • Display stability: Take time in the development process to establish your brand and accomplish the look you really want. It’s better to spend sufficient time in the beginning fine-tuning your design for the desired outcome rather than to play with it after it’s been revealed to the public. Changing your brand, and all that’s involved with it, including colors, slogans, logos, and tag lines, doesn’t support an image of reliability and longevity.

  • Stability should be maintained with branding: If you have integrated a brand into your company’s marketing, use it all over the place. It should appear on all of your marketing materials, business cards, website, and printed items. The same is true for your packaging. Your brand should appear on all of your products.

  • Give your brand away to the public with diverse promotional products: You can help your brand to saturate the consumer population by handing out precious, yet low-cost, items. Promotional products encourage possible customers to keep in mind your brand and your gift every time they are used.

Conclusion

Branding is just like the old coat of arms that families used to have connected with their name. It instills respect, fear, and wealth. Likewise, a country’s flag gets people to feel a certain way about their country.

Think about what message you want to convey. What do you want recipients of your promotion to think about you? What image of your company do you want to put out there? That is your brand. When people see you continually as one thing, they begin to expect the same from you and they get used to you.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a complimentary assessment of your online presence, let’s have coffee.

Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

17 Responses

  1. Jim Neister says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Strategy, Marketing & Innovation Forum
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Excellent Michael…you nailed it!

    The only thing I would add is that authority building is a positioning strategy to increase conversions which will yield a higher ROI on any budget the brand puts toward Branding, SEO, PPC and Social Media.

    Imagine investing your money for Branding, SEO, PPC and Social Media and NOT getting nearly the kind of ROI you could because you’re not yet positioned as powerfully as you could be and should be?”

    While Authority Marketing’s primary function is for expert positioning and increased conversion, Branding, SEO, PPC and Social Media are for lead generation (more traffic).

    Again, we’re talking lead conversion (Authority Marketing) vs. lead generation (Branding, SEO, PPC, and Social Media).
    By Jim Neister

  2. Mitch Duckler says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Perhaps it’s helpful to distinguish between “branding” and “brand-building.” I agree the former consists of many of the tactical elements mentioned in the article (logo, tagline, experience, etc.). But building brands into valuable strategic assets is first and foremost a strategic exercise…closely tied to business strategy. Positioning is certainly one component of brand strategy, but so is brand architecture, brand extendibility, etc. Its this uber brand strategy that should drive the “branding activities” mentioned above and in the article.
    By Mitch Duckler

  3. Nimisha Basu says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    It’s not only important to conceive it but to communicate and spread it too!! Branding not only let the awareness expand but also it facilitates credibility in the mind of the customers. This leads to brand equity and hence it does benefit to business.
    By Nimisha Basu

  4. Brian Doyle says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Something we can’t forget as CMOs (but that business leaders sometimes do) is that we need to define who we want to be before we embark on (re)building our brand. I’ve seen a few instances where the business leader says, “You go work on brand while the rest of us work on the business’ strategy.” It doesn’t work that way – the strategy needs to feed the brand.
    By Brian Doyle

  5. Sasha Smile says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Marketing & Communication Network
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Always a critical factor to keep in the forefront of your mind before launching !
    By Sasha Smile

  6. Jennifer Greene says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Email Marketing & Social Media
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Branding is exceptionally important – it’s hard to convey sometimes that your brand is the essence of your business or company, it’s what people buy into you for.
    By Jennifer Greene

  7. Stan Garber says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Music Business Professionals
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    In addition to being how a company presents itself to its customers and positions itself against the competition (both of which are external), there’s also an internal aspect of branding – all members of the organization buying into the “brand” and fully delivering on the brand promise to its customers.
    By Stan Garber

  8. Dennis Callanan says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Social Selling | THE Mentoring Group for Sales & Marketing Prospecting Professionals
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Thanks for sharing this article. I spend a lot of my time at SCORE talking to start up entrepreneurs about the importance of building brand awareness around their business.I view this as the foundation that they can build their marketing & sales strategy. I couldn’t agree more about how critical consistency plays in branding. I plan to print out a copy of this article to share with start up entrepreneurs.
    By Dennis Callanan

  9. Jim Neister says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Strategy, Marketing & Innovation Forum
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    The best way to get attention is to be the Authority in your market…leverage your knowledge to gain authority status in your field. This authority status then allows you to dramatically amplify your message and convert your new audience into higher paying customers, and distinguish yourself as the #1 choice in your industry.
    By Jim Neister

  10. Francis Friedman says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    I believe you are confusing Graphic Standards with true branding as evidenced by your statements:

    A brand consists of eight basic building blocks:
    •The name
    •The logo (brand icon)
    •The brand’s colors
    •The slogan and brand messaging
    •The sound of the brand
    •The overall look and feel = the brand’s position
    •Packaging the brand

    These are really “Graphic Dress”. The BRAND consists of its intrinsic “reason for being” and market positioning. These are the core aspects of a brand. For example, ZAPPOS brand rationale is “customer service”. Cokes brand rationale (today) is “happiness” as defined by their Internationsl Brand strategist. (i.e people are happy when they consume a Coke).

    BRANDS, can have different campaigns, colors and promotional executions in different market segments. For example, YAMAHA (the Japanese company) has different positioning in motorcycles, musical instruments, and heavy equipment. YAMAHA brand reliability is based upon the core brand positioning of “excellence”…in any market they enter.

    In true branding, a change in graphic dress or ad campaigns does not reposition a brand…or as is a popular phrase today…re-brand the brand. These changes can refresh a brand or re-dress a brand. But unless there is an intrinsic re-positioning at the core focus of the brand its all graphics and copy updates.

    The most obvious re-positioning of a brand today is Caddillac. At the core of their product concept and market positioning they have changed from …”your fathers large oversized Caddillac”…to todays Cadillac for young modern professionals. Graphics, advertising and product demos FOLLOWED these changes in the core focus of this brand…they were not the brand.
    By Francis Friedman

  11. Michael Cain says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis)
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Branding lends legitimacy to a business.
    By Michael Cain

  12. Alexandra Keogh says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Future Social Media
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Because branding is the overall look and feel of the company. If your TV adds say one thing and your social media says another it looks like your company is inconsistent and your audience will be confused.
    By Alexandra Keogh

  13. Alex Goslar says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    There are misconceptions about what branding is and what it stands for. To me a brand represents who you are. If you engage in branding you are in fact representing core values. Marketing inspired branding carries the fundamental characteristics of your Brand.
    By Alex Goslar

  14. Pavan Kumar says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    I’ll go with the differentiation that Mitch brought in between ‘branding’ and ‘brand-building’. Appreciation of that differentiation underscores the importance of branding. As you grow your brand and build the equity of your brand (i.e. building the brand), over a 3 or a 5 year period, consistency in your branding is a must. All your brand building efforts will lose steam if your branding is wayward.

    Consistency need not be restricted to ‘graphic dress’, that Francis refers to so smarty, but it should include the core essence of the brand. Often, the concept of branding is restricted to visual format of the branding elements. But if you were to take the example of Nike, there is no fixed visual format. It is the consistency in its core essence and personality that helped to build the equity that it enjoys today.
    By Pavan Kumar

  15. Neak Wu says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    good a branding strategy will reward business with customer loyalty
    by Neak Wu

  16. Bill Hutzul says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    Group: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network – #1 Group for CMOs
    Discussion: Why is Branding Important in Marketing Your Business?

    Perception is reality, that’s why branding is important. But let’s make sure the rest of the company can back it up!
    By Bill Hutzul

  17. Geet Choudhary says:

    Great Article..Thank you for sharing.The multiple tools of
    marketing and advertising is an vital as well as necessary tool to bring a boost in the product
    business. Brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects.