Why The Role of Branding is More Important Than You Think

The importance of a strong, immediately recognisable brand cannot be overstated. Think about branding and logos, typefaces and colourways will likely spring to mind, but there’s much more to branding than those eye-catching first impressions.

Your brand summarises the perception that customers have of your company, and it’s vital if you’re to ensure that your products stand out from the competition.

The role of branding may well be more important than you think. Not only is branding great in terms of building awareness of your company and what you can do to help customers, but it’s also hugely valuable when it comes to building a loyal customer base and inspiring those who do purchase from you to sing your praises to their friends and family.

Branding is crucial in building both customer retention and referrals. It’s infinitely useful when it comes to helping to build an emotional connection with audiences too. Take a look at some of the key reasons why branding is so important for today’s businesses to learn more about the difference bold, original branding makes.

Branding makes your products recognisable

If you’re selling to consumers, a recognisable brand is vital. When a company has a strong visual identity, it makes it far easier for consumers to spot its products and pick them without much deliberation.

Consumers are of course more likely to choose products from brands they already know of, and great branding can easily sway these decisions.

The world’s best-known brands tend to rely on a single visual identity, which they carry through different product lines to ensure consumers always know which company is behind the products they’re looking at.

This identity is then backed up by clever advertising and marketing strategies, as well as memorable in-store and online shopping experiences.

Your brand sets you apart from your competitors

No matter what you’re selling, you’ll likely have competitors trying to outdo you at every turn. But great branding can help you stay ahead of your competition while helping to build awareness of your company and boost the strength of your reputation amongst shoppers.

In many industries, competitors fight for the attention of target audiences as they hope to sell products that aren’t hugely dissimilar.

Companies operating in these spaces rely heavily on branding to help them get their voices heard, as they try to ensure that consumers choose their product over one created by a competitor business.

A great brand will attract the best talent

It isn’t just the attention of consumers that today’s businesses need to attract. Companies also need to think carefully about how they can attract and retain talent to stay at the top of their game.

With so many companies now offering great packages for the most skilled and experienced staff, sometimes branding can be the thing that sets a role apart.

Look at the world’s most famous companies, and you’ll find that their branding doesn’t just speak of the quality of their product ranges.

They’re also well known for the great working conditions that they offer, and the unique perks that their staff enjoy.

This is another important aspect of branding that can really help businesses stay ahead of their competitors, by ensuring that the brightest minds in the industry are working for them.

Memorable branding boosts referrals

Word of mouth referrals are hugely powerful influencers in purchasing decisions. Far more powerful, in fact, than traditional advertising tends to be.

Consumers of course trust the opinions of their friends and family, and they’re more likely to be swayed by the opinions of those they choose to follow, as well as branded content shared by celebrities and social media influencers.

If your company’s branding is memorable, you stand a much better chance of being talked about for all the right reasons.

Because no matter how great a customer’s experience was, if they can’t remember your brand they’re not going to pass on the good news. Make sure your brand sticks in their mind and you’ll significantly improve the chances of them telling everyone about your products.

A brand helps to create an emotional connection

Emotional connections are particularly effective for B2C companies, where impulse decisions can easily be swayed by branding and advertising that appeals to consumers’ emotions.

If a company successfully makes an emotional connection with the clear brand messaging it shares, then branding really comes into its own.

Branding can be used to keep building on the strength of an existing emotional connection, serving as a continuous reminder of the feeling its message first evoked in the target audience.

Not only will this boost the power of the emotional connection itself, but it may also help to influence more buying decisions further down the line.

Branding shows customers what to expect

Customers who choose the same company over and over again do so because they’ve come to know what to expect when they see its branding on a product. Strong branding indicates a certain standard of customer experience, and a level of quality that should remain consistent to continue to appeal to repeat purchasers.

If a customer spots a new product but sees that it’s branded by a company they’ve shopped with several times before, they’re far more likely to take a risk and purchase it than they would be if they didn’t recognise the product or its branding at all.

Recognisable branding can therefore make all the difference in ensuring the success of new product ranges.

Key Takeaway – Branding matters

The role of branding may well be more important than you think. Branding is far more than just how your products look. It’s how they’re perceived by your customers. And customer perceptions really matter.

These perceptions hold huge sway in purchasing decisions, and they’re vital when it comes to boosting customer retention and referrals, too.

About the Author!

Sean Begg Flint is the founder of Position Digital, a digital marketing agency for ambitious startups and growing brands. He is passionate about purpose-driven content marketing and using outreach for good.