6 ways branding helps to grow your business
*This blog is relevant to anyone (businesses, freelancers, individuals etc) wishing to make more of a splash!
If you’re looking to grow and build a more consistent online presence and make it easier for people to find you, then branding is your friend. Good branding plays a crucial role in helping you grow your business and create strong relationships with potential clients, customers as well as peers and potential collaborators. In this blog, we’re diving into 6 ways branding helps to grow your business and with that, boost your online presence.
1. Branding improves recognition
Once you’ve found your audience, you’ll want to keep it! With a strong and consistent brand, your target audience will start to recognise and remember you – especially when you continue to show up online. For example, consistent messaging and brand values shared with your audience, alongside your brand identity elements, (colour palette, logo, fonts and imagery style etc), all go together into building a strong brand visibility. This creates a sense of familiarity and will help your customers recognise you and feel like they know you. This will help them remember you when at some point in the future they need what you offer!
2. Branding creates trust
I don’t know about you, but when I see a brand name written in different colours or fonts and with a lack of consistent messaging I don’t feel like I know who they are or how I fit in with their service or product.
Well-crafted, reliable brands build long-lasting relationships, they deliver on their promises and this creates credibility and confidence. This consistent credibility leads to a trusting bond between you and the consumer. Build a brand that’s in it for the long term and serves your customers. In return, a cycle of trust will become visible and help you attract new audiences, whilst reinforcing the loyalty of your brand to your customers. Your brand can work for you from day one.
3. Branding creates movement -> motivation and direction
In an oversaturated market, a brand can help to direct customers to your corner of the internet. Clear, crisp brand messaging could be the reason that someone sees and instantly connects with you and your story. The values and beliefs behind a company/business/individual often lead consumers to want to be a part of that brand experience, and consequentially buy the product or service.
When potential consumers find their “people”, they don’t need to be coaxed or sold into buying a product or service, they are already motivated to be a part of it because of the brand. Moving forward, this positive experience means consumers are more likely to refer, share or talk about your business, helping you grow your target audience without lifting a finger.
4. Branding creates an experience
Great brands create experiences. Typically, an experience is when you’re directly affected by someone or something through engagement, participation or observation. I like to think of experiences as an opportunity to immerse yourself – and that’s exactly how brands behave too. Once you are a fan or have found your “people” or community, you can often find yourself immersed in that world (Apple fans are a good example of this, and so are fan fiction writers and fantasy worlds for film/tv and books).
By creating a brand, you are inviting your audience into your world. The consistency in your brand across various marketing and messaging touchpoints strengthens this as a positive experience for your audience.
5. Branding helps create and provide value
Compelling brand design helps you stand out from the competition – it’s your most valued asset. Your brand value is a cumulative result of sales, equity, audience size and market potential. It is thought that companies who invest in building a strong brand generally perform higher in their industry.
It’s time to nurture your audience! There are lots of ways to provide and create value through your brand. A brand creates social, cultural, environmental and economic value through; community, content, curation and collaborations. How could you build on these areas in your business?
At any level, building and creating value can be simple to start with; a blog, community, membership, wiki/fandom, in-person events, workshops and education, podcasts, interviews, newsletters, giveaways and so on. Reinforcing valuable experiences for your audience might set you apart from other brands but it’s also a pretty great way to say thank you and help others.
6. Branding creates connection
Effective branding is about creating a connection through your brand values, your story and your brand personality. You can be doing this every day, through your daily tasks and conversations.
Brand connection isn’t really about aesthetics or logos – it’s about creating a vision for who and what you/your business represents. What do you want to be known for? Do you want to share something with the world? What do you want to stand for? Stick to that and your brand will work for itself.
In branding, I like to refer to my three C’s – clarity, consistency and connection. Once you’ve got your messaging right (clarity), and you regularly connect with your audience (consistency), you are able to start making real connections. Once you have a connection, that’s where your brand really helps you blossom. This consistency in your messaging, visuals, tone of voice and customer experience continues to strengthen your brand, ensuring a cohesive, memorable presence to your target audience.
Understanding how developing a brand will support you from the very beginning of your venture is crucial. With the strategic implementation of your brand across various online channels, you can start to grow your credibility and build a strong, recognisable brand. The only thing you really need to do is be consistent with your efforts, and over time you can begin to reap the rewards.
Further reading:
- What Should You Invest In First: Branding Or Website Design?
- 10 questions to help find your new business name
- The Value of Author Branding
- Why Authors Need a Website: Building Your Digital Author Platform
——
For more thoughts on branding and what’s involved in a brand project take a look here. Drop me a message to ask any questions or you can book a free consultation to talk about your project.
